1000 Lakes Rally 1984
Round 9 of the 1984 World Rally Championship · 24–26 August 1984
Ari Vatanen won the 1000 Lakes — Peugeot’s first world championship win with the 205 Turbo 16.
Episode 3 — The Peugeot Revolution: 205 Turbo 16, Todt & Vatanen (1984–85)
The 1000 Lakes Rally 1984 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: Miloslav Rejha via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: _morgado via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0Photo: Miloslav Rejha via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
High-speed gravel roads with jumps and crests in central Finland.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #2 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki — Lancia Rally 037 Evo (Martini Racing)
- #3 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #4 Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (Peugeot-Talbot Sport)
- #5 Björn Waldegård / Hans Thorszelius — Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo (Toyota Team Europe)
- #6 Per Eklund / David Whittock — Audi Quattro A2 (Clarion)
- #7 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #8 Pentti Airikkala / Seppo Harjanne — Nissan 240RS (Team Nissan Europe)
Ari Vatanen won the 1000 Lakes — Peugeot’s first world championship win with the 205 Turbo 16.
How the rally unfolded
Blomqvist and Alén led the first twelve stages, but Vatanen took over on stage 13 and led to the end. He won 31 of the 51 stages and beat Alén by two minutes. Henri Toivonen made it two 037s on the podium.
Blomqvist was fourth. Mikkola’s Sport Quattro retired with steering trouble on stage 25 and Mouton crashed on stage 20. Juha Kankkunen was fifth for Toyota.
The decisive moment
Vatanen took the lead on stage 13 — and from then on the 205 T16 was simply faster. Four-wheel drive, a mid-mounted engine and a short wheelbase had been combined in one car.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | Peugeot-Talbot Sport | B | 4:08:49 |
| 2 | 2 | Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Martini Racing | B | +2:00 |
| 3 | 10 | Henri Toivonen / Juha Piironen | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Martini Racing | B | +4:08 |
| 4 | 3 | Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg | Audi Quattro A2 | Audi Sport | B | +5:12 |
| 5 | 11 | Juha Kankkunen / Fred Gallagher | Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo | Toyota Team Europe | B | +10:50 |
| 6 | 6 | Per Eklund / David Whittock | Audi Quattro A2 | Clarion | B | +11:29 |
| 7 | 12 | Erkki Pitkänen / Rolf Mesterton | Nissan 240RS | Team Nissan Finland | B | +25:09 |
| 8 | 15 | Bruno Saby / Jean-François Fauchille | Renault 5 Turbo | Philips Auto-Radio | B | +26:37 |
| 9 | 23 | Jouko Pöysti / Reijo Savolin | Opel Ascona 400 | Fotolux-Hebert Oy/Akai | B | +27:48 |
| 10 | 24 | Kalevi Aho / Timo Hakala | Opel Manta 400 | Empty Pocket Racing Team | B | +28:02 |
Retirements of note
- #1 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz (Audi Sport Quattro) — steering, stage 25
- #5 Björn Waldegård / Hans Thorszelius (Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo) — engine, stage 25
- #7 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons (Audi Sport Quattro) — accident, stage 20
- #8 Pentti Airikkala / Seppo Harjanne (Nissan 240RS) — gearbox, stage 23
- #9 Lasse Lampi / Pentti Kuukkala (Audi Quattro A2) — engine, stage 1
- #13 Antero Laine / Risto Virtanen (Audi Quattro A2) — driveshaft, stage 23
Results, retirements, stage wins and leaders are taken from Jonkka’s World Rally Archive. Names are given with their correct spelling; the archive itself omits diacritics.
Related pages
- 1984 season overview
- All 1984 rallies
- Previous round: Rally Argentina 1984
- Next round: Rallye Sanremo 1984
- Cars: Peugeot 205 T16, Lancia 037
- Teams: Peugeot Talbot Sport, Lancia Martini
- Iconic moments · Timeline · Statistics
All rounds of 1984
In pictures 4 photos
Photos from this event where free-licensed pictures exist; otherwise the podium cars, photographed on the occasion stated in each caption.
Further resources
- Motor Sport (October 1984): The Rally of the Thousand Lakes EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's October 1984 issue, written as the season unfolded. - WRC.com season archive 1984 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1984 season: calendar, winners and both championship tables. - Wikipedia: 1000 Lakes Rally / Rally Finland EN · archive
History of the 1000 Lakes Rally / Rally Finland with its list of winners over the decades. - Rally Finland (official site, the former 1000 Lakes) FI · event
Today's organiser of the 1000 Lakes Rally / Rally Finland, with information about the current event.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), 1000 Lakes Rally 1984: event page — https://www.juwra.com/finland_1984.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/finland_1984_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/finland_1984_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/finland_1984_stage_winners.html
- Wikipedia (EN), 1984 World Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_World_Rally_Championship
All text is original writing for Grouve Sports Management Group, based on the sources above. Facts checked on 21 October 2026.
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SubscribeThumbnail photos on this page: Miloslav Rejha (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); _morgado (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Marlis Decker (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); sv1ambo (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); MPW57 (Wikimedia Commons, Public domain); Rutger van der Maar (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Rally Paradise (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Clive Horsman (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC0).