Rallye Sanremo 1984
Round 10 of the 1984 World Rally Championship · 30 September – 5 October 1984
Ari Vatanen won Sanremo for Peugeot; Attilio Bettega was second in what would be his best world championship result.
Episode 3 — The Peugeot Revolution: 205 Turbo 16, Todt & Vatanen (1984–85)
The Rallye Sanremo 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
Ligurian tarmac and Tuscan gravel.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki — Lancia Rally 037 Evo (Martini Racing)
- #2 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #3 Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (Peugeot-Talbot Sport)
- #4 Attilio Bettega / Maurizio Perissinot — Lancia Rally 037 Evo (Martini Racing)
- #5 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #6 Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero — Lancia Rally 037 (Jolly Club)
- #7 Adartico Vudafieri / Luigi Pirollo — Lancia Rally 037 (Jolly Club)
- #8 Jean-Pierre Nicolas / Charley Pasquier — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (Peugeot-Talbot Sport)
Ari Vatanen won Sanremo for Peugeot; Attilio Bettega was second in what would be his best world championship result.
How the rally unfolded
The 205 T16 beat Lancia on home ground. Vatanen won by 5 minutes 27 seconds from Bettega, with Biasion third in a Jolly Club 037. Jean-Pierre Nicolas was fifth in the second Peugeot.
Alén’s 037 broke its engine on stage 27. Audi lost both Sport Quattros: Blomqvist with engine failure and Röhrl in an accident. Blomqvist’s lead in the standings was nevertheless enough.
The decisive moment
Vatanen’s second win in a row confirmed the 205 T16 as the new benchmark.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | Peugeot-Talbot Sport | B | 8:44:34 |
| 2 | 4 | Attilio Bettega / Maurizio Perissinot | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Martini Racing | B | +5:27 |
| 3 | 6 | Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero | Lancia Rally 037 | Jolly Club | B | +9:24 |
| 4 | 11 | Fabrizio Tabaton / Luciano Tedeschini | Lancia Rally 037 | Grifone | B | +23:19 |
| 5 | 8 | Jean-Pierre Nicolas / Charley Pasquier | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | Peugeot-Talbot Sport | B | +28:42 |
| 6 | 16 | Kalle Grundel / Peter Diekmann | Volkswagen Golf GTI | Volkswagen Motorsport | A | +58:56 |
| 7 | 22 | Massimo Ercolani / Paolo Amati | Opel Ascona 400 | Massimo Ercolani | B | +1:05:28 |
| 8 | 31 | Gerhard Kalnay / Franz Zehetner | Opel Ascona 400 | Gerhard Kalnay | B | +1:13:13 |
| 9 | 24 | Michele Rayneri / Ergy Bartolich | Fiat Ritmo | Jolly Club | A | +1:20:31 |
| 10 | 42 | Werner Grissmann / Jörg Pattermann | Audi 80 Quattro | Werner Grissmann | A | +1:28:49 |
Retirements of note
- #1 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki (Lancia Rally 037 Evo) — engine, stage 27
- #2 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg (Audi Sport Quattro) — engine, stage 41
- #5 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer (Audi Sport Quattro) — accident, stage 49
- #7 Adartico Vudafieri / Luigi Pirollo (Lancia Rally 037) — accident, stage 18
- #9 Gianfranco Cunico / Max Sghedoni (Lancia Rally 037) — accident, stage 45
- #10 Dario Cerrato / Giuseppe Cerri (Opel Manta 400) — accident, stage 48
- #12 Maurice Chomat / Didier Breton (Citroën Visa) — engine, stage 37
- #14 Christian Rio / Jean-Bernard Vieu (Citroën Visa) — accident, stage 9
Jonkka’s World Rally Archive gives no leader summary or stage-win counts for this rally.
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: 1000 Lakes Rally 1984
- Next round: Ivory Coast Rally 1984
- Cars: Peugeot 205 T16, Lancia 037
- Teams: Peugeot Talbot Sport, Lancia Martini, Other Teams
- 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 (November 1984): Rally review EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's November 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: Rallye Sanremo EN · archive
History of the Rallye Sanremo with its list of winners over the decades. - Rallye Sanremo (official site) IT · event
Today's organiser of the Rallye Sanremo, with information about the current event.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Rallye Sanremo 1984: event page — https://www.juwra.com/san_remo_1984.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/san_remo_1984_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/san_remo_1984_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/sanremo_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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