Swedish Rally 1985
Round 2 of the 1985 World Rally Championship · 15–17 February 1985
Ari Vatanen won in Sweden, with Peugeot now beating Audi on snow.
Episode 3 — The Peugeot Revolution: 205 Turbo 16, Todt & Vatanen (1984–85)
The Swedish Rally 1985 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: Calreyn88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: _morgado via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0Photo: _morgado via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
Snow and ice roads in the Värmland forests.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #2 Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #3 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #4 Per Eklund / David Whittock — Audi Quattro A2 (Per Eklund)
- #5 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #6 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #7 Lasse Lampi / Pentti Kuukkala — Audi Quattro A2 (Lasse Lampi)
- #8 Ingvar Carlsson / Benny Melander — Mazda RX-7 (Mazda Rally Team Europe)
Ari Vatanen won in Sweden, with Peugeot now beating Audi on snow.
How the rally unfolded
Vatanen won 16 of 29 stages and beat Blomqvist by 1 minute 49 seconds; Salonen was third. The result showed that the 205 T16, with its mid-mounted engine and short wheelbase, was now faster than the Quattro even on the snow where four-wheel drive had once given Audi its edge.
Röhrl’s Sport Quattro retired with engine failure on stage 20. Ingvar Carlsson finished eighth in a Mazda RX-7. From 1985 the Swedish Rally counted for the manufacturers’ championship as well as the drivers’.
The decisive moment
Vatanen’s speed on the faster stages was decisive. It was his fifth win in a row with the 205 T16.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | B | 4:38:49 |
| 2 | 1 | Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg | Audi Sport Quattro | Audi Sport | B | +1:49 |
| 3 | 6 | Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | B | +3:26 |
| 4 | 3 | Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz | Audi Sport Quattro | Audi Sport | B | +11:43 |
| 5 | 4 | Per Eklund / David Whittock | Audi Quattro A2 | Per Eklund | B | +17:01 |
| 6 | 19 | Gunnar Pettersson / Arne Pettersson | Audi 80 Quattro | Gunnar Pettersson | A | +23:14 |
| 7 | 12 | Mikael Ericsson / Johnny Johansson | Audi 80 Quattro | Mikael Ericsson | A | +24:27 |
| 8 | 8 | Ingvar Carlsson / Benny Melander | Mazda RX-7 | Mazda Rally Team Europe | B | +29:46 |
| 9 | 9 | Mats Jonsson / Åke Gustavsson | Opel Ascona 400 | Mats Jonsson | B | +30:18 |
| 10 | 23 | Kenneth Eriksson / Bo Thorszelius | Opel Kadett GSI | Kenneth Eriksson | A | +31:33 |
Retirements of note
- #5 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer (Audi Sport Quattro) — engine, stage 20
- #7 Lasse Lampi / Pentti Kuukkala (Audi Quattro A2) — withdrew (too far behind), end of leg 1
- #10 Malcolm Wilson / Nigel Harris (Audi Quattro A1) — overheating, stage 18
- #11 David Llewellin / Phil Short (Audi Quattro A2) — accident, stage 5
- #13 Ola Strömberg / Per Carlsson (Opel Kadett GSI) — accident, stage 7
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: Monte Carlo Rally 1985
- Next round: Rally de Portugal 1985
- Cars: Peugeot 205 T16, Audi Quattro
- Teams: Peugeot Talbot Sport, Audi Sport
- 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
- Motor Sport (April 1985): Rally review EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's April 1985 issue, written as the season unfolded. - WRC.com season archive 1985 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1985 season: calendar, winners and both championship tables. - Wikipedia: Swedish Rally EN · archive
History of the Swedish Rally with its list of winners over the decades. - Rally Sweden (official site) EN · event
Today's organiser of the Swedish Rally, with information about the current event.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Swedish Rally 1985: event page — https://www.juwra.com/sweden_1985.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/sweden_1985_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/sweden_1985_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/sweden_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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