Rally de Portugal 1984
Round 3 of the 1984 World Rally Championship · 7–10 March 1984
Hannu Mikkola beat Markku Alén by just 27 seconds after one of the most open battles of the season.
Episode 3 — The Peugeot Revolution: 205 Turbo 16, Todt & Vatanen (1984–85)
The Rally de Portugal 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: Jiří Sedláček via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Photo: Miloslav Rejha via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
Tarmac and dirt in the Sintra hills near Estoril, then gravel stages further north.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #2 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki — Lancia Rally 037 Evo (Martini Racing)
- #3 Björn Waldegård / Hans Thorszelius — Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo (Toyota Team Europe)
- #4 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #5 Attilio Bettega / Maurizio Perissinot — Lancia Rally 037 Evo (Martini Racing)
- #6 Erkki Pitkänen / Seppo Harjanne — Nissan 240RS (Team Nissan Europe)
- #7 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #8 Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero — Lancia Rally 037 Evo (Jolly Club)
Hannu Mikkola beat Markku Alén by just 27 seconds after one of the most open battles of the season.
How the rally unfolded
Five different drivers led during the rally. Henri Toivonen, in his first season with Lancia, led the first five stages before crashing. Alén, Biasion and Bettega then all led for Lancia, until Mikkola took over on stage 28 and held on to the finish.
Bettega and Biasion finished third and fourth, ahead of Jean Ragnotti’s Renault 5 Turbo. Röhrl was a distant sixth; Blomqvist crashed on stage 7.
The decisive moment
Mikkola’s lead from stage 28 was narrow, and Alén closed in until the end. Twenty-seven seconds after 685 km of stages decided it.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz | Audi Quattro A2 | Audi Sport | B11 | 7:35:32 |
| 2 | 2 | Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Martini Racing | B11 | +0:27 |
| 3 | 5 | Attilio Bettega / Maurizio Perissinot | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Martini Racing | B11 | +22:49 |
| 4 | 8 | Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Jolly Club | B11 | +23:50 |
| 5 | 9 | Jean Ragnotti / Pierre Thimonier | Renault 5 Turbo | Renault Portuguese | B10 | +38:10 |
| 6 | 4 | Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer | Audi Quattro A2 | Audi Sport | B11 | +45:50 |
| 7 | 17 | Kalle Grundel / Peter Diekmann | Volkswagen Golf GTI | Volkswagen Motorsport | A7 | +1:03:28 |
| 8 | 22 | Jorge Ortigão / João Batista | Toyota Corolla | Traffic-S. Caetano | A6 | +1:44:12 |
| 9 | 27 | Christian Dorche / Gilles Thimonier | Citroën Visa | Christian Dorche | B10 | +1:49:31 |
| 10 | 20 | Russell Gooding / Rodger Jenkins | Vauxhall Chevette 2300HSR | Russell Gooding | B11 | +1:59:35 |
Retirements of note
- #3 Björn Waldegård / Hans Thorszelius (Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo) — propshaft, stage 30
- #6 Erkki Pitkänen / Seppo Harjanne (Nissan 240RS) — differential, stage 15
- #7 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg (Audi Quattro A2) — accident, stage 7
- #10 Henri Toivonen / Juha Piironen (Lancia Rally 037 Evo) — accident, stage 5
- #11 Juha Kankkunen / Fred Gallagher (Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo) — steering, stage 28
- #12 Sarel van der Merwe / Franz Boshoff (Audi Quattro A2) — accident, stage 4
- #14 Joaquim Santos / Miguel Oliveira (Ford Escort RS) — withdrew (unknown), stage 25
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: Swedish Rally 1984
- Next round: Safari Rally 1984
- Cars: Audi Quattro, Lancia 037
- Teams: Audi 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 (April 1984): Portugal Rally EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's April 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: Rally de Portugal EN · archive
History of the Rally de Portugal with its list of winners over the decades.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Rally de Portugal 1984: event page — https://www.juwra.com/portugal_1984.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/portugal_1984_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/portugal_1984_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/portugal_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); Jiří Sedláček (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Marlis Decker (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); sv1ambo (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Rutger van der Maar (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Kieran White from Manchester, England (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Rally Paradise (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Clive Horsman (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); © 1971markus (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); _morgado (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Thesupermat (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).