Ivory Coast Rally 1985
Round 11 of the 1985 World Rally Championship · 30 October – 3 November 1985
Juha Kankkunen led a Toyota one-two in the Ivory Coast, beating Björn Waldegård on a tie-break.
Episode 7 — The Underdogs: Toyota, Opel, Nissan, Mazda, Renault, Citroën, Porsche & Ferrari
The Ivory Coast Rally 1985 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: Alf van Beem via Wikimedia Commons, Public domainPhoto: Alf van Beem via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: 先従隗始 via Wikimedia Commons, CC0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
About 4,100 km of roads and tracks, timed between controls.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Björn Waldegård / Hans Thorszelius — Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo (Toyota Premoto)
- #2 Michèle Mouton / Arne Hertz — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #3 Juha Kankkunen / Fred Gallagher — Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo (Toyota Premoto)
- #4 Mike Kirkland / Rob Combes — Nissan 240RS (Mike Kirkland)
- #5 Alain Ambrosino / Daniel le Saux — Nissan 240RS (Alain Ambrosino)
- #6 Patrick Tauziac / Alain Olinger — Mitsubishi Colt (Patrick Tauziac)
- #7 Samir Assef / Christian Boy — Opel Manta 400 (Samir Assef)
- #9 Eugene Salim / Clément Konan — Mitsubishi Lancer 2000 Turbo (Eugene Salim)
Juha Kankkunen led a Toyota one-two in the Ivory Coast, beating Björn Waldegård on a tie-break.
How the rally unfolded
Only eight cars finished. Kankkunen and Waldegård finished with exactly the same penalty total, 4 hours 46 minutes, and Kankkunen was placed first on a tie-break. Alain Ambrosino was third for Nissan.
Michèle Mouton, with Arne Hertz co-driving, withdrew her Sport Quattro. Jonkka’s World Rally Archive gives the reason as ‘mystery’. The rally counted only for the drivers’ championship.
The decisive moment
The win was Kankkunen’s second of the year — both in Africa.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Penalty time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Juha Kankkunen / Fred Gallagher | Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo | Toyota Premoto | B | 4 h 46 min |
| 2 | 1 | Björn Waldegård / Hans Thorszelius | Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo | Toyota Premoto | B | +0 min |
| 3 | 5 | Alain Ambrosino / Daniel le Saux | Nissan 240RS | Alain Ambrosino | B | +1 h 33 min |
| 4 | 4 | Mike Kirkland / Rob Combes | Nissan 240RS | Mike Kirkland | B | +3 h 50 min |
| 5 | 9 | Eugene Salim / Clément Konan | Mitsubishi Lancer 2000 Turbo | Eugene Salim | B | +11 h 50 min |
| 6 | 20 | Alessandro Molino / Christian Massela | Subaru Leone 4WD | Alessandro Molino | A | +15 h 07 min |
| 7 | 49 | Gilles Petit de Granville / Denis Carrascosa | Toyota Celica | Gilles Petit de Granville | A | +17 h 48 min |
| 8 | 33 | Doic Dieval / Lois Cournil | Mitsubishi Lancer | Doic Dieval | A | +20 h 38 min |
On the Safari and the Ivory Coast Rally, crews were ranked by penalty time accumulated on timed road sections, not by special-stage times.
Retirements of note
- #2 Michèle Mouton / Arne Hertz (Audi Sport Quattro) — withdrew (mystery), time control 62
- #6 Patrick Tauziac / Alain Olinger (Mitsubishi Colt) — rear suspension, time control 37
- #7 Samir Assef / Christian Boy (Opel Manta 400) — excluded (over the time limit), time control 9
The reason for Mouton’s withdrawal is not documented in our sources.
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
- 1985 season overview
- All 1985 rallies
- Previous round: Rallye Sanremo 1985
- Next round: RAC Rally 1985
- Cars: Toyota Celica TCT, Nissan 240RS
- Iconic moments · Timeline · Statistics
All rounds of 1985
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
- WRC.com season archive 1985 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1985 season: calendar, winners and both championship tables. - Wikipedia: Rallye Côte d'Ivoire EN · archive
History of the Rallye Côte d'Ivoire with its list of winners over the decades.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Ivory Coast Rally 1985: event page — https://www.juwra.com/ivory_coast_1985.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/ivory_coast_1985_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/ivory_coast_1985_entries.html
- Wikipedia (EN), 1985 World Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_World_Rally_Championship
All text is original writing for Grouve Sports Management Group, based on the sources above. Facts checked on 21 October 2026.
Follow Grouve Sport on YouTube — rally Shorts now, Group B documentaries soon.
SubscribeThumbnail photos on this page: 先従隗始 (Wikimedia Commons, CC0); Thesupermat (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); _morgado (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); _morgado (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Thesupermat (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Mr.choppers (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Michael Barera (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); MrWalkr (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC0); Rally Paradise (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Steffs88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).