Rally de Portugal 1985
Round 3 of the 1985 World Rally Championship · 6–9 March 1985
Timo Salonen won in Portugal after Walter Röhrl, who had led for 21 stages, lost the lead late on.
Episode 3 — The Peugeot Revolution: 205 Turbo 16, Todt & Vatanen (1984–85)
The Rally de Portugal 1985 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 2.0
Photo: Calreyn88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 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 in central and northern Portugal.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #2 Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #3 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #4 Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero — Lancia Rally 037 (Jolly Club)
- #5 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #6 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #8 Joaquim Moutinho / Edgar Fortes — Renault 5 Turbo (Renault Galp)
- #9 Jochi Kleint / Werner Hohenadel — Volkswagen Golf GTI (Volkswagen Motorsport)
- #10 Joaquim Santos / Miguel Oliveira — Ford Escort RS (Joaquim Santos)
Timo Salonen won in Portugal after Walter Röhrl, who had led for 21 stages, lost the lead late on.
How the rally unfolded
Röhrl and Miki Biasion (Jolly Club 037) swapped the lead in the first half. Röhrl won 23 stages and led from stage 20 to stage 40, but Salonen took over on stage 41 and won by 4 minutes 47 seconds from Biasion. Röhrl was third.
Vatanen’s engine failed on stage 21. The local driver Joaquim Moutinho retired his Renault 5 Turbo with engine failure, a year before his famous win.
The decisive moment
Salonen’s move into the lead on stage 41 came after Röhrl lost time; Salonen then controlled the last seven stages.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | B | 8:07:25 |
| 2 | 4 | Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero | Lancia Rally 037 | Jolly Club | B | +4:47 |
| 3 | 5 | Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer | Audi Sport Quattro | Audi Sport | B | +5:58 |
| 4 | 3 | Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg | Audi Sport Quattro | Audi Sport | B | +23:46 |
| 5 | 16 | Werner Grissmann / Jörg Pattermann | Audi Quattro A2 | Werner Grissmann | B | +1:05:55 |
| 6 | 15 | José Miguel Leite Faria / José Nascimento | Ford Escort RS1800 | Rodamsport | B | +1:13:17 |
| 7 | 14 | Carlos Bica / João Sena | Ford Escort RS1800 | Duriforte Construcoes | B | +1:21:06 |
| 8 | 20 | Santinho Mendes / Rui Cunha | Nissan 240RS | Santinho Mendes | B | +1:32:57 |
| 9 | 23 | Jorge Ortigão / João Batista | Toyota Corolla | Team Toyota | A | +1:45:00 |
| 10 | 36 | Pedro Leite Faria / Antonio Manuel | Ford Escort RS2000 | Rodamsport | A | +2:05:51 |
Retirements of note
- #2 Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman (Peugeot 205 Turbo 16) — engine, stage 21
- #8 Joaquim Moutinho / Edgar Fortes (Renault 5 Turbo) — engine, stage 38
- #9 Jochi Kleint / Werner Hohenadel (Volkswagen Golf GTI) — gearbox, stage 24
- #11 Franz Wittmann / Ferdinand Hinterleitner (Volkswagen Golf GTI) — throttle, stage 22
The cause of Röhrl’s late time loss is not given in our primary data.
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: Swedish Rally 1985
- Next round: Safari Rally 1985
- Cars: Peugeot 205 T16, Lancia 037, Audi Quattro
- Teams: Peugeot Talbot Sport, Other Teams, Audi Sport
- Iconic moments · Timeline · Statistics
All rounds of 1985
In pictures 6 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: 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 1985: event page — https://www.juwra.com/portugal_1985.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/portugal_1985_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/portugal_1985_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/portugal_1985_stage_winners.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.
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SubscribeThumbnail photos on this page: Miloslav Rejha (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Thesupermat (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); _morgado (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Rikita (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); 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); Rutger van der Maar (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); © 1971markus (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); MPW57 (Wikimedia Commons, Public domain).