Juha Kankkunen
Encyclopedia
Juha Matti Pellervo Kankkunen (born 2 April 1959 in Laukaa
) is a Finnish
former rally
driver. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship
lasted from 1983 to 2002. He won 23 world rallies and four drivers' world championship titles, which were both once records in the series. Sébastien Loeb
has since collected more world titles, but no driver has so far been able to repeat Kankkunen's feat of becoming a world champion with three different manufacturers.
Kankkunen was signed by Toyota in 1983 and he took his first WRC win in his third year in the team. His performances got him a deal with the defending champions Peugeot for 1986, and Kankkunen was soon crowned the series' youngest-ever champion. As Peugeot withdrew from the championship following the ban of Group B
, Kankkunen moved to Lancia
and became the first driver to successfully defend his title. After a two-year stint back at Toyota, he returned to Lancia and won a record third title in 1991.
In 1993, Kankkunen re-joined Toyota and won his fourth title. Following Toyota's disqualification and 12-month ban in 1995, Kankkunen did not return to active participation in the series until joining Ford half-way through the 1997 season. After moving to Subaru
for 1999, he took his first win in over five years. Before retiring after the 2002 season, he competed part-time for Hyundai
.
Kankkunen's achievements outside the WRC include winning the Dakar Rally
in 1988 and the Race of Champions
in 1988 and 1991. Following his retirement from active rallying, he has worked in the fields of business and politics. From 2007 to 2011, Kankkunen held the world speed record on ice in a Bentley Continental GT
.
in Central Finland
, near the route of the Rally Finland
. His father had rallying and ice racing
as a hobby, and taught Juha how to drive on an ice racing track. Kankkunen began to drive when he was seven years old, and owned his first car at the age of 12. He debuted in rallying in 1978 and competed in his first World Rally Championship
event at the 1979 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland, finishing 14th in a Ford Escort RS2000. Kankkunen was coached by Timo Mäkinen
, a friend of his father's, and was able to compete often and gain experience with financial help from Timo Jouhki, future manager for many Finnish rally drivers such as Tommi Mäkinen
and Mikko Hirvonen
.
. In his first season in the Toyota Celica
Twincam Turbo, as teammate to the 1979 world champion Björn Waldegård
, his three outings in the championship resulted in a sixth place at the 1000 Lakes, a seventh place at the RAC Rally in Great Britain and a retirement at the Rallye Côte d'Ivoire
. The following year
, Kankkunen competed in four WRC events with Fred Gallagher
as his new regular co-driver, retiring in three and finishing fifth in his home event. In 1985
, he started his season with a surprise victory at the Safari Rally
, becoming the first driver to win the event on the first attempt. He went on to compete in four more rallies and take his second win at WRC's second endurance event, the Rallye Côte d'Ivoire, where he finished with the same amount of penalty minutes (4 hours and 46 minutes) as his teammate Waldegård but took the win by a tiebreaker.
Kankkunen's performances with the Celica earned him his chance to come to the fore with the defending manufacturers' and drivers' champions Peugeot. The team signed him for the 1986 season
to replace Ari Vatanen
who was still recovering from his nearly fatal accident during the previous season. Kankkunen duly seized his opportunity, taking the second evolution of the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 to victory in the Swedish Rally
, the Acropolis Rally and the Rally New Zealand
and finishing on the podium in three more events. The season ended in controversy, when first Group B
cars were banned for the next season after Henri Toivonen
's fatal accident at the Tour de Corse
, which outraged Peugeot team principal Jean Todt
, and later the French Peugeot team were excluded at the Rallye Sanremo
in Italy, resulting in a triple win for home country's Lancia. Despite the 205 T16s passing the pre-rally scrutiny, the stewards had decreed on re-examination that the cars' underbody fins were in fact illegal side skirts. Going into the season-ending Olympus Rally
in the United States, Lancia's Markku Alén
led Kankkunen by one point. Although Alén beat Kankkunen to the win, he was the world champion only for eleven days, until Peugeot's appeal went through. The FIA
deemed the team's Sanremo exclusion illegal and annulled the results of the event, making Kankkunen the youngest champion in the history of the series.
, Lancia's factory WRC team. He was quickly comfortable in the car and led his Lancia debut in Monte Carlo
until the very last stage, when Lancia boss Cesare Fiorio
controversially forced him to finish second behind teammate Miki Biasion. Kankkunen later won the Olympus Rally
by beating Biasion by only 12 seconds in a six-hour event. In a close battle for the drivers' world championship title, he edged out his teammates Biasion and Alén by winning the season-ending RAC Rally. At the Autosport Awards
, Kankkunen was presented the "International Rally Driver Award" for the second year running. Despite becoming the first driver to successfully defend the world title, Kankkunen's uneasy acceptance of team orders designed to benefit Biasion, the Italian star in an Italian car, pre-empted a move elsewhere for the 1988 season
.
at the Safari Rally
, his title defense quickly proved unsuccessful. Toyota debuted the new Toyota Celica GT-Four
ST165 at the Tour de Corse
, but the car was suffering from reliability issues. Kankkunen retired due to engine problems in three consecutive rallies and did not add to his points tally, finishing only 37th in the drivers' standings. However, outside the World Rally Championship, he achieved much success. Returning to the wheel of a Peugeot 205 T16, he won the Dakar Rally
on his first attempt after compatriot and teammate Ari Vatanen
's 405 T16
was famously stolen while he was leading the event. Kankkunen also competed for Peugeot at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb
, finishing runner-up to again-teammate Vatanen, and at the first-ever Race of Champions
, beating the 1985 world rally champion and former Peugeot teammate Timo Salonen
in the final to become the first "Champion of Champions". The 1989 season
saw an improved Toyota. Kankkunen gave the GT-Four its first victory in the Rally Australia
and finished third at the Tour de Corse and at the RAC. His results placed him third in the drivers' championship, behind Lancia drivers Biasion and Alex Fiorio
. Toyota took career-best second place in the manufacturers' standings.
By the time Kankkunen had taken the long-awaited win for Toyota, he had already signed a deal to reacquaint himself with Lancia for the 1990 season
. Half-way through the season, Kankkunen found himself only fourth in the championship and Toyota in the lead with their new star driver Carlos Sainz
. Although Kankkunen later repeated his win in Australia and collected his fifth podium of the season in Sanremo
, Sainz went on to take a dominant title. Kankkunen placed third in the drivers' world championship, between his teammates Didier Auriol
and the defending world champion Biasion. Lancia edged out Toyota to take a record fourth manufacturers' title in a row.
In the 1991 season
, Kankkunen won the Safari Rally
, the Acropolis Rally, his home event 1000 Lakes Rally for the first time and the Rally Australia for the third year in a row. Before the season-ending RAC Rally, Toyota's Sainz led Kankkunen by one point in the championship. By winning the RAC ahead of Kenneth Eriksson
and Sainz, Kankkunen became the first man to seal a third drivers' title since the World Rally Championship's 1973 inauguration. His 150 points during the season is still the record for most points in a single season. This was also the first time that two drivers took five wins during a WRC season. In the Race of Champions
, Kankkunen became the second two-time winner after beating Auriol in the final.
In 1992, Kankkunen placed on the podium in each of the nine WRC events that he participated in, but took his only win at the Rally Portugal. The title fight again went down to the wire. Before the final rally, Sainz led Kankkunen by two points and Auriol, who had taken a record six wins during the season, by three points. Sainz's victory in the RAC ahead of Ari Vatanen
and Kankkunen, combined with Auriol's retirement, confirmed the title in favour of the Spaniard.
After Lancia withdrew from the WRC after the 1992 season, Kankkunen rejoined Toyota to drive the Toyota Celica GT-Four
ST185 with which Sainz had defeated him last year. Despite having to fare from mid-season with two substitute co-drivers after Juha Piironen suffered a brain hemorrhage, Kankkunen went on to take a record fourth drivers' title by winning five of his ten WRC events; the Safari Rally
with Piironen, the Rally Argentina
, the Rally Australia
and the RAC Rally with his new co-driver Nicky Grist
, and the 1000 Lakes Rally with Denis Giraudet due to Grist's pre-arrangement with Armin Schwarz
. Kankkunen's win at the RAC marked his career 20th in the series, breaking compatriot Markku Alén
's record for most wins. Kankkunen and his third-placed teammate Didier Auriol
brought Toyota the manufacturers' crown, the first for a Japanese manufacturer. He also became only the second motorsportsman to be voted the Finnish Sportsman of the Year
, after the 1982 F1 world champion Keke Rosberg
.
In 1994, Kankkunen started well with a runner-up spot in Monte Carlo
and a win in Portugal. In the Safari Rally
, he crashed out from the lead after hitting a pothole made by rain at 180 km/h (112 mph). At the season's half-way point, Kankkunen and Subaru
's Sainz tied the lead in the championship, but a few poor results soon dropped him out of the title fight; in Argentina and Sanremo, he suffered from mechanical problems and in Finland, he won the opening stage but lost 20 minutes on stage two after rolling his car. He climbed back into the points by finishing ninth. Finishing behind Auriol and Sainz in the overall standings, Kankkunen had to watch a teammate take the title for the only time in his career.
In 1995, with two more rallies to go, Kankkunen's consistent performances during the season had kept him in the lead of the championship seven points ahead of Subaru's Colin McRae
. At the penultime round, the Rally Catalunya
, he was leading by almost a minute over Sainz and McRae and seemed to be heading towards his first WRC victory on tarmac, as well as closing in on his fifth title. However, a pacenote
mistake by either him or his co-driver Grist resulted in a crash and a retirement. After the event, Toyota were found guilty of the implementation of illegal turbo restrictor bypasses on their ST205 cars. The team was given a 12-month ban by the FIA
. Toyota drivers Kankkunen, Auriol and Armin Schwarz
were also stripped of all points in the championships. FIA president Max Mosley
stated that "there is no suggestion the drivers were aware of what was going on." In the following year, Kankkunen competed for private Toyota teams in three events and finished fourth in Sweden
, third in Indonesia
and second in Finland.
Halfway through the 1997 season, Kankkunen joined the Ford Motor Company factory team to replace a disappointing Armin Schwarz
. Joining the M-Sport
-run team too late to challenge for the title himself, Kankkunen's role was to support Ford and his teammate Carlos Sainz
in their title fights. He started well by leading his second event with the team, the Acropolis Rally in Greece, until having to drop behind Sainz due to a team order. Kankkunen went on to finish only seconds behind Sainz also in Indonesia and New Zealand. In his home rally in Finland, he lost the win to the defending world champion, Mitsubishi
's Tommi Mäkinen
, by only seven seconds. This is still the narrowest winning margin in the history of the event. A fourth runner-up spot followed in the season-ending RAC Rally, now ahead of the Spaniard who had by then lost the title to Mäkinen.
Kankkunen stayed with Ford for the 1998 season with Belgian driver Bruno Thiry
as his new teammate, after Sainz had opted to re-join Toyota. Ford was already moving resources into developing the new Ford Focus WRC
and the team's last year with the Escort WRC was winless. Kankkunen drove the car on the podium on seven occasions, and both Ford and Kankkunen finished fourth in their respective championships. For the 1999 season, Ford signed the Subaru World Rally Team
star Colin McRae
and Kankkunen moved to replace him at Subaru.
and Finland
. In Argentina, he took his first win in over five years, overtaking teammate Richard Burns
on the last stage to win by a mere 2.4 seconds. Kankkunen was prepared to accept a team order in the form of a deliberate 10-second time penalty, but with the TV cameras filming, Subaru team principal David Richards
stated that there would be no team orders. In his home event, Kankkunen beat Burns to what would be his final victory in the WRC. Despite a one-two for Subaru again at the season-ending RAC, Subaru lost the manufacturers' crown to Toyota by four points. For the third year in a row, Kankkunen placed fourth in the drivers' championship, while Mäkinen equalled Kankkunen's record of four titles. Kankkunen's 2000 season was a disappointment. His best result was second in the Safari Rally
behind Burns. With only two other podium finishes to his name, Kankkunen placed eighth in the drivers' standings.
Subaru and Kankkunen did not reach a deal for 2001, and Kankkunen ended up competing in only one world rally during the season, the Rally Finland for the Hyundai
factory team. He retired after his Accent WRC incurred several technical problems. For the 2002 season, Hyundai initially offered Kankkunen a full 14-event programme, which did not interest him, and the deal was modified to include only the nine gravel rallies. Despite a new evolution of the Accent WRC, Hyundai were unable to challenge the top teams: Peugeot, Ford and Subaru. Kankkunen's fifth place in the Rally New Zealand
was the team's best result of the season. However, Kankkunen and the team's full-time drivers Freddy Loix
and Armin Schwarz
did narrowly give Hyundai its career-best fourth place in the manufacturers' world championship. Kankkunen retired from the WRC after the season.
Following his retirement, Kankkunen announced his intention to enter politics, echoing the career path of rallying compatriot Ari Vatanen
. In 2004, he ran for the European Parliament
as a candidate of the conservative National Coalition Party
. While Vatanen was re-elected, Kankkunen's 17,815 votes were not enough to gain a seat. Kankkunen, a Flying Finn
himself, was one of the shareholders in the now-bankrupt Flying Finn
airline, the first low cost airline in Finland. The company's first airplane was named after him. Kankkunen, along with former NHL
star Jari Kurri
, has also been a shareholder in a company that builds luxury real estate
in Ruka, Finland.
In early 2007, Kankkunen set a new world speed record on ice in his privately owned Bentley Continental GT
on the frozen Gulf of Bothnia
near Oulu
, Finland. He averaged 321.65 kilometre per hour in both directions on the "flying kilometer", reaching a maximum speed of 331 kilometre per hour. Previously the record was 296.34 kilometre per hour held by a Bugatti EB110
Supersport. The Bentley was largely standard except a rollcage, some aerodynamic improvements and low-temperature fuel and calibration. Tires were from Nokian Tyres with spikes. Technical support was provided by Nokian and Bentley Motors. Kankkunen bettered the record to 330.695 km/h (205.48 mph) in 2011, driving an E85
-powered Bentley Continental Supersports convertible. Bentley will release a limited edition of the Supersports to celebrate the achievement. The 100 models will be the most powerful road cars Bentley has ever produced.
It was announced on 23 July 2010 that Kankkunen would take part in the 2010 Rally Finland
to mark the sixtieth jubilee of the event. He was joined by his long-time co-driver Juha Repo driving a Ford Focus WRC
for the Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team. At just over 51 years old, Kankkunen finished an impressive 8th, beating many WRC regulars.
but also spends time on his family farm in Laukaa, which includes a large country house and hundreds of hectares of land. He has a large car collection, which includes six Ferraris such as the F40
and the 288 GTO
, as well as all the four rally cars with which he won the world championship. Kankkunen and his wife Pirjo filed for divorce in 2008.
Laukaa
Laukaa is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Western Finland, next to Jyväskylä and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water. The population density is....
) is a Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
former rally
Rallying
Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...
driver. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
lasted from 1983 to 2002. He won 23 world rallies and four drivers' world championship titles, which were both once records in the series. Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb is a French rally driver currently driving for the Citroën World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship...
has since collected more world titles, but no driver has so far been able to repeat Kankkunen's feat of becoming a world champion with three different manufacturers.
Kankkunen was signed by Toyota in 1983 and he took his first WRC win in his third year in the team. His performances got him a deal with the defending champions Peugeot for 1986, and Kankkunen was soon crowned the series' youngest-ever champion. As Peugeot withdrew from the championship following the ban of Group B
Group B
Group B was a set of regulations introduced in 1982 for competition vehicles in sportscar racing and rallying regulated by the FIA. The Group B regulations fostered some of the quickest, most powerful and sophisticated rally cars ever built. However, a series of major accidents, some fatal, were...
, Kankkunen moved to Lancia
Lancia
Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Some modern Lancias are seen as presenting a more...
and became the first driver to successfully defend his title. After a two-year stint back at Toyota, he returned to Lancia and won a record third title in 1991.
In 1993, Kankkunen re-joined Toyota and won his fourth title. Following Toyota's disqualification and 12-month ban in 1995, Kankkunen did not return to active participation in the series until joining Ford half-way through the 1997 season. After moving to Subaru
Subaru World Rally Team
The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003...
for 1999, he took his first win in over five years. Before retiring after the 2002 season, he competed part-time for Hyundai
Hyundai World Rally Team
Hyundai entered motorsport by competing in the F2 class of the World Rally Championship in 1998 and 1999. In September 1999, Hyundai unveiled the Accent WRC, a World Rally Car based on the Hyundai Accent...
.
Kankkunen's achievements outside the WRC include winning the Dakar Rally
Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation...
in 1988 and the Race of Champions
Race of Champions
The Race of Champions is an international motorsport event held at the end of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers...
in 1988 and 1991. Following his retirement from active rallying, he has worked in the fields of business and politics. From 2007 to 2011, Kankkunen held the world speed record on ice in a Bentley Continental GT
Bentley Continental GT
-Flying Spur:The four door Continental Flying Spur saloon was first displayed at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. The Flying Spur utilizes most of the technical underpinnings of the Bentley Continental GT, and was introduced to European and North American markets in the summer of 2005...
.
Career
Kankkunen grew up on his family's farm in LaukaaLaukaa
Laukaa is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Western Finland, next to Jyväskylä and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water. The population density is....
in Central Finland
Central Finland
Central Finland is a region in Finland. It borders to the regions Päijänne Tavastia, Pirkanmaa, Southern Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Northern Ostrobothnia, Northern Savonia and Southern Savonia....
, near the route of the Rally Finland
Rally Finland
The Neste Oil Rally Finland is a rally event driven in the Jyväskylä area in Central Finland. It is the biggest annually organised public event in the Nordic countries, gathering over 500,000 spectators every year....
. His father had rallying and ice racing
Ice racing
Ice racing is a form of racing that uses cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles, All-terrain vehicles, or other motorized vehicles. Ice racing takes place on frozen lakes or rivers, or on carefully groomed frozen lots...
as a hobby, and taught Juha how to drive on an ice racing track. Kankkunen began to drive when he was seven years old, and owned his first car at the age of 12. He debuted in rallying in 1978 and competed in his first World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
event at the 1979 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland, finishing 14th in a Ford Escort RS2000. Kankkunen was coached by Timo Mäkinen
Timo Mäkinen
Timo Mäkinen was one of the original "Flying Finns" of motor rallying. He is most famous for his hat-tricks of wins in the RAC Rally and the 1000 Lakes Rally-Career:...
, a friend of his father's, and was able to compete often and gain experience with financial help from Timo Jouhki, future manager for many Finnish rally drivers such as Tommi Mäkinen
Tommi Mäkinen
"Turbo" Tommi Antero Mäkinen , tied with Juha Kankkunen and behind Sébastien Loeb , and fifth in wins .He is a four-time World Rally Champion, a series he first won, and then successfully defended, continuously throughout 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999, on all occasions driving the Ralliart Mitsubishi...
and Mikko Hirvonen
Mikko Hirvonen
Mikko Hirvonen is a Finnish rally driver currently driving for the Citroën Total World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship. He placed third in the drivers' championship and helped Ford to the manufacturers' title in both 2006 and 2007. In 2008, 2009 and 2011, he finished runner-up to...
.
1983-85: Toyota
Due to good results for Toyota Finland in local events, Kankkunen was signed by the Toyota Team Europe, Toyota's factory WRC team headed by Ove AnderssonOve Andersson
Ove Andersson was a Swedish rally driver and the first head of Toyota's F1 program. His nickname was "Påven" .-Early life:...
. In his first season in the Toyota Celica
Toyota Celica
The Toyota Celica name has been applied to a series of coupes made by the Japanese company Toyota. The name is ultimately derived from the Latin word coelica meaning "heavenly" or "celestial"....
Twincam Turbo, as teammate to the 1979 world champion Björn Waldegård
Björn Waldegård
Björn Waldegård from Rimbo is a former Swedish rally driver, and the winner of the inaugural World Rally Championship for drivers in 1979...
, his three outings in the championship resulted in a sixth place at the 1000 Lakes, a seventh place at the RAC Rally in Great Britain and a retirement at the Rallye Côte d'Ivoire
Rallye Côte d'Ivoire
The Rallye Côte d'Ivoire is a rally race held annually in Côte d'Ivoire in Africa. In common with other races on the continent, it is known for its arduous conditions and high attrition rate among competitors. It was part of the World Rally Championship for drivers and manufacturers from 1978 to...
. The following year
1984 World Rally Championship season
The 1984 World Rally Championship season was the 12th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 12 rallies following the same schedule as the previous season. Stig Blomqvist beat the defending world champion and Audi teammate Hannu...
, Kankkunen competed in four WRC events with Fred Gallagher
Fred Gallagher (co-driver)
Fred Gallagher is a World Rally Championship winning co-driver and motorsport personality.-Career:Gallagher's first WRC rally was the 1975 RAC Rally alongside Norwegian driver John Haugland in a Škoda 120...
as his new regular co-driver, retiring in three and finishing fifth in his home event. In 1985
1985 World Rally Championship season
The 1985 World Rally Championship season was the 13th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 12 rallies following the same schedule as the previous season. Peugeot Sport's Timo Salonen beat Audi Sport's Stig Blomqvist and Walter...
, he started his season with a surprise victory at the Safari Rally
Safari Rally
The Safari Rally is considered by many to be the world's toughest rally. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II...
, becoming the first driver to win the event on the first attempt. He went on to compete in four more rallies and take his second win at WRC's second endurance event, the Rallye Côte d'Ivoire, where he finished with the same amount of penalty minutes (4 hours and 46 minutes) as his teammate Waldegård but took the win by a tiebreaker.
1986: Peugeot
1986 World Rally Championship season
The 1986 World Rally Championship season was the 14th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 13 rallies, including all twelve venues of the previous season as well as the addition of the Olympus Rally...
to replace Ari Vatanen
Ari Vatanen
Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen is a Finnish rally driver turned politician and Member of the European Parliament 1999–2009. Vatanen won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981 and the Paris Dakar Rally four times....
who was still recovering from his nearly fatal accident during the previous season. Kankkunen duly seized his opportunity, taking the second evolution of the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 to victory in the Swedish Rally
Swedish Rally
The Uddeholm Swedish Rally , formerly the Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in Värmland, Sweden in early February. First held in 1950, when it was called the Rally to the Midnight Sun with start and finish at separate locations, seventeen years later both start and finish...
, the Acropolis Rally and the Rally New Zealand
Rally New Zealand
The Rally New Zealand was first held in Taupo in 1969, and was subsequently staged in Canterbury, before moving back to the North Island in 1971.The rally was included as a round of the World Championship in 1977...
and finishing on the podium in three more events. The season ended in controversy, when first Group B
Group B
Group B was a set of regulations introduced in 1982 for competition vehicles in sportscar racing and rallying regulated by the FIA. The Group B regulations fostered some of the quickest, most powerful and sophisticated rally cars ever built. However, a series of major accidents, some fatal, were...
cars were banned for the next season after Henri Toivonen
Henri Toivonen
Henri Pauli Toivonen was a Finnish rally driver born in Jyväskylä, the home of Rally Finland. His father, Pauli Toivonen, was the 1968 European Rally Champion for Porsche and his brother, Harri Toivonen, became a professional circuit racer.Toivonen's first World Rally Championship victory came...
's fatal accident at the Tour de Corse
Tour de Corse
The Tour de Corse - Rallye de France is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was part of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season to 2008. The name "Tour de Corse" refers to the fact that in the early days it was run around the island; nowadays it only features...
, which outraged Peugeot team principal Jean Todt
Jean Todt
Jean Todt was born on February 25, 1946, in Pierrefort, Cantal, France. After a successful career as a rally co-driver he made his reputation in motor sport management, first with Peugeot Talbot Sport, then with Scuderia Ferrari, before being appointed Chief Executive Officer of Ferrari from 2004...
, and later the French Peugeot team were excluded at the Rallye Sanremo
Rallye Sanremo
Rallye Sanremo is a rally competition held in Sanremo, Italy. Except for the 1995 event, the event was part of the FIA World Rally Championship schedule from the 1973 season to the 2003 season. Currently, it is a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and the Italian national rally...
in Italy, resulting in a triple win for home country's Lancia. Despite the 205 T16s passing the pre-rally scrutiny, the stewards had decreed on re-examination that the cars' underbody fins were in fact illegal side skirts. Going into the season-ending Olympus Rally
Olympus Rally
The Olympus Rally is an event in the motorsport of rallying. While it has usually been run as a national rally, in 1986-1988, it was a round in the FIA World Rally Championship, the most recent time a WRC rally has been run in the United States....
in the United States, Lancia's Markku Alén
Markku Alén
Markku Allan Alén is a Finnish former rally and race car driver. He drove for Fiat, Lancia, Subaru and Toyota in the World Rally Championship, and held the record for most stage wins in the series until 2011...
led Kankkunen by one point. Although Alén beat Kankkunen to the win, he was the world champion only for eleven days, until Peugeot's appeal went through. The FIA
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
deemed the team's Sanremo exclusion illegal and annulled the results of the event, making Kankkunen the youngest champion in the history of the series.
1987: Lancia
Following the FIA's decision to ban Group B, Peugeot withdrew from the WRC and Kankkunen moved to drive the Lancia Delta HF 4WD for Lancia MartiniMartini Racing
Martini Racing is the name under which various motor racing teams raced when sponsored by the Martini & Rossi distillery that produces Martini vermouth. Martini's sponsorship program began in 1968...
, Lancia's factory WRC team. He was quickly comfortable in the car and led his Lancia debut in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo Rally
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rally Monte Carlo is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and...
until the very last stage, when Lancia boss Cesare Fiorio
Cesare Fiorio
Cesare Fiorio is a former Formula One sporting director for Ferrari, Ligier and Minardi, and former team manager of Lancia's factory World Rally Championship team. He is currently employed as a TV commentator...
controversially forced him to finish second behind teammate Miki Biasion. Kankkunen later won the Olympus Rally
Olympus Rally
The Olympus Rally is an event in the motorsport of rallying. While it has usually been run as a national rally, in 1986-1988, it was a round in the FIA World Rally Championship, the most recent time a WRC rally has been run in the United States....
by beating Biasion by only 12 seconds in a six-hour event. In a close battle for the drivers' world championship title, he edged out his teammates Biasion and Alén by winning the season-ending RAC Rally. At the Autosport Awards
Autosport Awards
The Autosport Awards are a series of awards given out by motor racing magazine Autosport to drivers that have impressed throughout the previous season. These awards are also influenced by the general public, as they can vote for the driver that has excelled to them throughout the year, before the...
, Kankkunen was presented the "International Rally Driver Award" for the second year running. Despite becoming the first driver to successfully defend the world title, Kankkunen's uneasy acceptance of team orders designed to benefit Biasion, the Italian star in an Italian car, pre-empted a move elsewhere for the 1988 season
1988 World Rally Championship season
The 1988 World Rally Championship season was the 16th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship...
.
1988-89: Toyota
Kankkunen chose to move back to Toyota Team Europe. Although he finished fifth in his first event with the Toyota Supra TurboToyota Supra in motorsport
During its history the Toyota Supra has enjoyed considerable success in a variety of different motorsports.- Drag racing :The Supra has a history of professional drag racing, mainly in Japan and the United States. The HKS team have used both the Mk III and Mk IV to showcase its products, known as...
at the Safari Rally
Safari Rally
The Safari Rally is considered by many to be the world's toughest rally. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II...
, his title defense quickly proved unsuccessful. Toyota debuted the new Toyota Celica GT-Four
Toyota Celica GT-Four
The Toyota Celica GT-Four is a high performance model of the Celica liftback, with a turbocharged 3S-GTE engine, and full-time AWD. It was created to compete in the World Rally Championship, whose regulations dictate that a manufacturer must build road-going versions of the vehicle in sufficient...
ST165 at the Tour de Corse
Tour de Corse
The Tour de Corse - Rallye de France is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was part of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season to 2008. The name "Tour de Corse" refers to the fact that in the early days it was run around the island; nowadays it only features...
, but the car was suffering from reliability issues. Kankkunen retired due to engine problems in three consecutive rallies and did not add to his points tally, finishing only 37th in the drivers' standings. However, outside the World Rally Championship, he achieved much success. Returning to the wheel of a Peugeot 205 T16, he won the Dakar Rally
Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation...
on his first attempt after compatriot and teammate Ari Vatanen
Ari Vatanen
Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen is a Finnish rally driver turned politician and Member of the European Parliament 1999–2009. Vatanen won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981 and the Paris Dakar Rally four times....
's 405 T16
Peugeot 405
The Peugeot 405 is a large family car released by the French automaker Peugeot in July 1987 and which continues to be manufactured under licence outside France. It used TU/XU petrol and XUD diesel engines....
was famously stolen while he was leading the event. Kankkunen also competed for Peugeot at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb
Pikes Peak International Hillclimb
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb , also known as The Race to the Clouds, is an annual automobile and motorcycle hillclimb to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, a distance of over 156 turns, climbing from the start at Mile 7 on Pikes Peak Highway at on grades averaging 7% over...
, finishing runner-up to again-teammate Vatanen, and at the first-ever Race of Champions
Race of Champions
The Race of Champions is an international motorsport event held at the end of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers...
, beating the 1985 world rally champion and former Peugeot teammate Timo Salonen
Timo Salonen
Timo Salonen is a Finnish former rally driver and the 1985 world champion for Peugeot. It was commented of him that he stood out from other drivers, because he was overweight, wore thick glasses and smoked heavily, but still remained one of the fastest and most competitive drivers in the sport...
in the final to become the first "Champion of Champions". The 1989 season
1989 World Rally Championship season
The 1989 World Rally Championship season was the 17th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 13 rallies, with some adjustments to the schedule versus the previous season...
saw an improved Toyota. Kankkunen gave the GT-Four its first victory in the Rally Australia
Rally Australia
Rally Australia is an automobile rally event which was held in and around Perth, Western Australia from 1988 until 2006, when that state's tourism commission severed its collaboration with the event. The rally was part of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in 1988 and the World Rally Championship...
and finished third at the Tour de Corse and at the RAC. His results placed him third in the drivers' championship, behind Lancia drivers Biasion and Alex Fiorio
Alex Fiorio
Alessandro "Alex" Fiorio is an Italian rally driver. He debuted in the World Rally Championship in 1986. Driving the dominant Lancia Delta Integrale for the Lancia "B-team" Jolly Club, he finished third in the drivers' world championship in 1988 and second in 1989...
. Toyota took career-best second place in the manufacturers' standings.
1990-92: Lancia
1990 World Rally Championship season
The 1990 World Rally Championship season was the 18th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 12 rallies. The drivers' world championship was won by Carlos Sainz in a Toyota Celica GT-Four, ahead of Didier Auriol and Juha Kankkunen...
. Half-way through the season, Kankkunen found himself only fourth in the championship and Toyota in the lead with their new star driver Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz Cenamor is a Spanish rally driver. He won the World Rally Championship drivers' title with Toyota in 1990 and 1992, and finished runner-up four times...
. Although Kankkunen later repeated his win in Australia and collected his fifth podium of the season in Sanremo
Rallye Sanremo
Rallye Sanremo is a rally competition held in Sanremo, Italy. Except for the 1995 event, the event was part of the FIA World Rally Championship schedule from the 1973 season to the 2003 season. Currently, it is a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and the Italian national rally...
, Sainz went on to take a dominant title. Kankkunen placed third in the drivers' world championship, between his teammates Didier Auriol
Didier Auriol
Didier Auriol is a French rally driver.Born in Montpellier, and initially an ambulance driver, Auriol made his name as a French rally driver in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1990s. He became World Rally Champion in 1994, the first from his country to do so...
and the defending world champion Biasion. Lancia edged out Toyota to take a record fourth manufacturers' title in a row.
In the 1991 season
1991 World Rally Championship season
The 1991 World Rally Championship season was the 19th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 14 rallies. The drivers' world championship was won by Juha Kankkunen in a Lancia Delta Integrale 16V, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Didier...
, Kankkunen won the Safari Rally
Safari Rally
The Safari Rally is considered by many to be the world's toughest rally. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II...
, the Acropolis Rally, his home event 1000 Lakes Rally for the first time and the Rally Australia for the third year in a row. Before the season-ending RAC Rally, Toyota's Sainz led Kankkunen by one point in the championship. By winning the RAC ahead of Kenneth Eriksson
Kenneth Eriksson
Kenneth Eriksson is a now retired World Rally Championship rally driver. He drove for several manufacturer teams, including the Subaru World Rally Team, Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Škoda...
and Sainz, Kankkunen became the first man to seal a third drivers' title since the World Rally Championship's 1973 inauguration. His 150 points during the season is still the record for most points in a single season. This was also the first time that two drivers took five wins during a WRC season. In the Race of Champions
Race of Champions
The Race of Champions is an international motorsport event held at the end of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers...
, Kankkunen became the second two-time winner after beating Auriol in the final.
In 1992, Kankkunen placed on the podium in each of the nine WRC events that he participated in, but took his only win at the Rally Portugal. The title fight again went down to the wire. Before the final rally, Sainz led Kankkunen by two points and Auriol, who had taken a record six wins during the season, by three points. Sainz's victory in the RAC ahead of Ari Vatanen
Ari Vatanen
Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen is a Finnish rally driver turned politician and Member of the European Parliament 1999–2009. Vatanen won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981 and the Paris Dakar Rally four times....
and Kankkunen, combined with Auriol's retirement, confirmed the title in favour of the Spaniard.
1993-96: Toyota
Toyota Celica GT-Four
The Toyota Celica GT-Four is a high performance model of the Celica liftback, with a turbocharged 3S-GTE engine, and full-time AWD. It was created to compete in the World Rally Championship, whose regulations dictate that a manufacturer must build road-going versions of the vehicle in sufficient...
ST185 with which Sainz had defeated him last year. Despite having to fare from mid-season with two substitute co-drivers after Juha Piironen suffered a brain hemorrhage, Kankkunen went on to take a record fourth drivers' title by winning five of his ten WRC events; the Safari Rally
Safari Rally
The Safari Rally is considered by many to be the world's toughest rally. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II...
with Piironen, the Rally Argentina
Rally Argentina
The Rally Argentina is an Argentine rally competition that has been both a round of the World Rally Championship and also the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The rally is also a round of the South American Rally Championship and the Argentine Rally Championship...
, the Rally Australia
Rally Australia
Rally Australia is an automobile rally event which was held in and around Perth, Western Australia from 1988 until 2006, when that state's tourism commission severed its collaboration with the event. The rally was part of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in 1988 and the World Rally Championship...
and the RAC Rally with his new co-driver Nicky Grist
Nicky Grist
Nicky Grist is a Welsh former rally co-driver, born in Ebbw Vale. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1993 to 2002. He won 21 rallies and one World championship titles, with more than one driver....
, and the 1000 Lakes Rally with Denis Giraudet due to Grist's pre-arrangement with Armin Schwarz
Armin Schwarz
Armin Schwarz is a German rally driver. He competed in the World Rally Championship from 1988 to 2005, winning the 1991 Rally Catalunya and taking six other podium finishes...
. Kankkunen's win at the RAC marked his career 20th in the series, breaking compatriot Markku Alén
Markku Alén
Markku Allan Alén is a Finnish former rally and race car driver. He drove for Fiat, Lancia, Subaru and Toyota in the World Rally Championship, and held the record for most stage wins in the series until 2011...
's record for most wins. Kankkunen and his third-placed teammate Didier Auriol
Didier Auriol
Didier Auriol is a French rally driver.Born in Montpellier, and initially an ambulance driver, Auriol made his name as a French rally driver in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1990s. He became World Rally Champion in 1994, the first from his country to do so...
brought Toyota the manufacturers' crown, the first for a Japanese manufacturer. He also became only the second motorsportsman to be voted the Finnish Sportsman of the Year
Finnish Sportspersonality of the year
The Finnish Sportspersonality of the Year is chosen annually since 1947 by the national sports journalists. In addition, the best female athlete is nominated each year.-Winners:- Best females :...
, after the 1982 F1 world champion Keke Rosberg
Keke Rosberg
Keijo Erik Rosberg , nicknamed "Keke", is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series. Rosberg grew up in Oulu and Iisalmi, Finland...
.
In 1994, Kankkunen started well with a runner-up spot in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo Rally
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rally Monte Carlo is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and...
and a win in Portugal. In the Safari Rally
Safari Rally
The Safari Rally is considered by many to be the world's toughest rally. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II...
, he crashed out from the lead after hitting a pothole made by rain at 180 km/h (112 mph). At the season's half-way point, Kankkunen and Subaru
Subaru World Rally Team
The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003...
's Sainz tied the lead in the championship, but a few poor results soon dropped him out of the title fight; in Argentina and Sanremo, he suffered from mechanical problems and in Finland, he won the opening stage but lost 20 minutes on stage two after rolling his car. He climbed back into the points by finishing ninth. Finishing behind Auriol and Sainz in the overall standings, Kankkunen had to watch a teammate take the title for the only time in his career.
In 1995, with two more rallies to go, Kankkunen's consistent performances during the season had kept him in the lead of the championship seven points ahead of Subaru's Colin McRae
Colin McRae
Colin Steele McRae, MBE was a Scottish rally driver born in Lanark.The son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and brother of rally driver Alister McRae, Colin McRae was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion and, in 1995, became the first British person and the youngest to win the...
. At the penultime round, the Rally Catalunya
Rally Catalunya
The Rally Catalunya is a rally competition on the World Rally Championship schedule. Now held on the wide, smooth and sweeping asphalt roads around the town of Salou, Catalonia, Spain, it was previously held around the region of Costa Brava...
, he was leading by almost a minute over Sainz and McRae and seemed to be heading towards his first WRC victory on tarmac, as well as closing in on his fifth title. However, a pacenote
Pacenotes
In rallying, pacenotes are a commonly used method of accurately describing the route to be driven in extreme detail. As well as dictating the general route to be taken, in terms of turnings, junctions, etc, all notable features of the route which might affect the way it is driven at speed are...
mistake by either him or his co-driver Grist resulted in a crash and a retirement. After the event, Toyota were found guilty of the implementation of illegal turbo restrictor bypasses on their ST205 cars. The team was given a 12-month ban by the FIA
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
. Toyota drivers Kankkunen, Auriol and Armin Schwarz
Armin Schwarz
Armin Schwarz is a German rally driver. He competed in the World Rally Championship from 1988 to 2005, winning the 1991 Rally Catalunya and taking six other podium finishes...
were also stripped of all points in the championships. FIA president Max Mosley
Max Mosley
Max Rufus Mosley is the former president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile , a non-profit association that represents the interests of motoring organisations and car users worldwide...
stated that "there is no suggestion the drivers were aware of what was going on." In the following year, Kankkunen competed for private Toyota teams in three events and finished fourth in Sweden
Swedish Rally
The Uddeholm Swedish Rally , formerly the Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in Värmland, Sweden in early February. First held in 1950, when it was called the Rally to the Midnight Sun with start and finish at separate locations, seventeen years later both start and finish...
, third in Indonesia
Rally Indonesia
Rally Indonesia is the largest rallying event held in Indonesia. Currently part of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship , it has twice been incorporated into the World Rally Championship calendar, in 1996 and 1997...
and second in Finland.
1997-98: Ford
Armin Schwarz
Armin Schwarz is a German rally driver. He competed in the World Rally Championship from 1988 to 2005, winning the 1991 Rally Catalunya and taking six other podium finishes...
. Joining the M-Sport
M-Sport
M-Sport is a large and successful motorsport team based in Cockermouth, Cumbria in England. Formed in 1979 by former WRC driver Malcolm Wilson, and originally known as Malcolm Wilson Motorsport, the team has had varying success running cars in several rally championships...
-run team too late to challenge for the title himself, Kankkunen's role was to support Ford and his teammate Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz Cenamor is a Spanish rally driver. He won the World Rally Championship drivers' title with Toyota in 1990 and 1992, and finished runner-up four times...
in their title fights. He started well by leading his second event with the team, the Acropolis Rally in Greece, until having to drop behind Sainz due to a team order. Kankkunen went on to finish only seconds behind Sainz also in Indonesia and New Zealand. In his home rally in Finland, he lost the win to the defending world champion, Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi Motors
is a multinational automaker headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. In 2009 it was the fifth-largest Japan-based automaker and the 17th-largest in the world measured by production...
's Tommi Mäkinen
Tommi Mäkinen
"Turbo" Tommi Antero Mäkinen , tied with Juha Kankkunen and behind Sébastien Loeb , and fifth in wins .He is a four-time World Rally Champion, a series he first won, and then successfully defended, continuously throughout 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999, on all occasions driving the Ralliart Mitsubishi...
, by only seven seconds. This is still the narrowest winning margin in the history of the event. A fourth runner-up spot followed in the season-ending RAC Rally, now ahead of the Spaniard who had by then lost the title to Mäkinen.
Kankkunen stayed with Ford for the 1998 season with Belgian driver Bruno Thiry
Bruno Thiry
Bruno Thiry is a Belgian rally driver. He was born in St. Vith, Province of Liège.He began his career as an amateur in 1981, driving a Simca, and quickly became very successful in the Belgian Rally Championship. In 1994, he joined the Ford team to contest the World Rally Championship, driving a...
as his new teammate, after Sainz had opted to re-join Toyota. Ford was already moving resources into developing the new Ford Focus WRC
Ford Focus WRC
The Ford Focus RS WRC is a car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford and M-Sport and based on the Ford Focus Climate 2-litre production hatchback, developed to compete in the World Rally Championship. The RS stands for Rallye Sport and the WRC for World Rally Car, the car's FIA specification...
and the team's last year with the Escort WRC was winless. Kankkunen drove the car on the podium on seven occasions, and both Ford and Kankkunen finished fourth in their respective championships. For the 1999 season, Ford signed the Subaru World Rally Team
Subaru World Rally Team
The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003...
star Colin McRae
Colin McRae
Colin Steele McRae, MBE was a Scottish rally driver born in Lanark.The son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and brother of rally driver Alister McRae, Colin McRae was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion and, in 1995, became the first British person and the youngest to win the...
and Kankkunen moved to replace him at Subaru.
1999-2000: Subaru
Kankkunen's first year with the Subaru World Rally Team and the Subaru Impreza WRC led to victories in ArgentinaRally Argentina
The Rally Argentina is an Argentine rally competition that has been both a round of the World Rally Championship and also the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The rally is also a round of the South American Rally Championship and the Argentine Rally Championship...
and Finland
Rally Finland
The Neste Oil Rally Finland is a rally event driven in the Jyväskylä area in Central Finland. It is the biggest annually organised public event in the Nordic countries, gathering over 500,000 spectators every year....
. In Argentina, he took his first win in over five years, overtaking teammate Richard Burns
Richard Burns
Richard Alexander Burns was an English rally driver. He was born in Reading, Berkshire. He was the 2001 World Rally Champion, having previously finished runner-up in the series in 1999 and 2000. He also helped Mitsubishi to the world manufacturers' title in 1998, and Peugeot in 2002...
on the last stage to win by a mere 2.4 seconds. Kankkunen was prepared to accept a team order in the form of a deliberate 10-second time penalty, but with the TV cameras filming, Subaru team principal David Richards
David Richards (racing)
David Pender Richards CBE is the chairman of Prodrive and Aston Martin, and a former team principal of the BAR and Benetton Formula One motor racing teams. He lives with his wife, Karen, in Warwickshire and has three children....
stated that there would be no team orders. In his home event, Kankkunen beat Burns to what would be his final victory in the WRC. Despite a one-two for Subaru again at the season-ending RAC, Subaru lost the manufacturers' crown to Toyota by four points. For the third year in a row, Kankkunen placed fourth in the drivers' championship, while Mäkinen equalled Kankkunen's record of four titles. Kankkunen's 2000 season was a disappointment. His best result was second in the Safari Rally
Safari Rally
The Safari Rally is considered by many to be the world's toughest rally. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II...
behind Burns. With only two other podium finishes to his name, Kankkunen placed eighth in the drivers' standings.
Later career
Hyundai World Rally Team
Hyundai entered motorsport by competing in the F2 class of the World Rally Championship in 1998 and 1999. In September 1999, Hyundai unveiled the Accent WRC, a World Rally Car based on the Hyundai Accent...
factory team. He retired after his Accent WRC incurred several technical problems. For the 2002 season, Hyundai initially offered Kankkunen a full 14-event programme, which did not interest him, and the deal was modified to include only the nine gravel rallies. Despite a new evolution of the Accent WRC, Hyundai were unable to challenge the top teams: Peugeot, Ford and Subaru. Kankkunen's fifth place in the Rally New Zealand
Rally New Zealand
The Rally New Zealand was first held in Taupo in 1969, and was subsequently staged in Canterbury, before moving back to the North Island in 1971.The rally was included as a round of the World Championship in 1977...
was the team's best result of the season. However, Kankkunen and the team's full-time drivers Freddy Loix
Freddy Loix
Freddy Loix is a Belgian rally driver.Loix's career in motor sport began in karting at the age of 15...
and Armin Schwarz
Armin Schwarz
Armin Schwarz is a German rally driver. He competed in the World Rally Championship from 1988 to 2005, winning the 1991 Rally Catalunya and taking six other podium finishes...
did narrowly give Hyundai its career-best fourth place in the manufacturers' world championship. Kankkunen retired from the WRC after the season.
Following his retirement, Kankkunen announced his intention to enter politics, echoing the career path of rallying compatriot Ari Vatanen
Ari Vatanen
Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen is a Finnish rally driver turned politician and Member of the European Parliament 1999–2009. Vatanen won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981 and the Paris Dakar Rally four times....
. In 2004, he ran for the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
as a candidate of the conservative National Coalition Party
National Coalition Party (Finland)
The National Coalition Party is a liberal conservative political party in Finland founded in 1918.The National Coalition Party is one of the four largest parties in Finland, along with the Social Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the True Finns...
. While Vatanen was re-elected, Kankkunen's 17,815 votes were not enough to gain a seat. Kankkunen, a Flying Finn
Flying Finn (athlete)
"The Flying Finn" is a nickname given to several Finnish athletes. Originally, it was given to several Finnish middle and long-distance runners...
himself, was one of the shareholders in the now-bankrupt Flying Finn
Flying Finn (airline)
Flying Finn Ltd was a low cost airline, based at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, Finland. It ceased operations in 2004.- History :The airline was established in December 2002 and started operations on 16 March 2003. Its cheap air fares were based on the fact that the e-tickets were only sold through...
airline, the first low cost airline in Finland. The company's first airplane was named after him. Kankkunen, along with former NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
star Jari Kurri
Jari Kurri
Jari Pekka Kurri is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey right winger and a five-time Stanley Cup champion. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001. He is currently the general manager of Team Finland....
, has also been a shareholder in a company that builds luxury real estate
Luxury real estate
Luxury real estate is the real estate market niche targeted at the highest socio-economic group of consumers. -Definition:The characteristics that define luxury real estate differ among countries...
in Ruka, Finland.
In early 2007, Kankkunen set a new world speed record on ice in his privately owned Bentley Continental GT
Bentley Continental GT
-Flying Spur:The four door Continental Flying Spur saloon was first displayed at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. The Flying Spur utilizes most of the technical underpinnings of the Bentley Continental GT, and was introduced to European and North American markets in the summer of 2005...
on the frozen Gulf of Bothnia
Gulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It is situated between Finland's west coast and Sweden's east coast. In the south of the gulf lie the Åland Islands, between the Sea of Åland and the Archipelago Sea.-Name:...
near Oulu
Oulu
Oulu is a city and municipality of inhabitants in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world....
, Finland. He averaged 321.65 kilometre per hour in both directions on the "flying kilometer", reaching a maximum speed of 331 kilometre per hour. Previously the record was 296.34 kilometre per hour held by a Bugatti EB110
Bugatti EB110
The Bugatti EB110 is a mid-engine sports car from Bugatti Automobili SpA. It was unveiled on September 15, 1991, in both Versailles and in front of the Grande Arche at La Défense in Paris, France, exactly 110 years after Ettore Bugatti's birth....
Supersport. The Bentley was largely standard except a rollcage, some aerodynamic improvements and low-temperature fuel and calibration. Tires were from Nokian Tyres with spikes. Technical support was provided by Nokian and Bentley Motors. Kankkunen bettered the record to 330.695 km/h (205.48 mph) in 2011, driving an E85
E85
E85 is an abbreviation for an ethanol fuel blend of up to 85% denatured ethanol fuel and gasoline or other hydrocarbon by volume. E85 is commonly used by flex-fuel vehicles in the US, Canada, and Europe. Some of the benefits of E85 over conventional gasoline powered vehicles include the potential...
-powered Bentley Continental Supersports convertible. Bentley will release a limited edition of the Supersports to celebrate the achievement. The 100 models will be the most powerful road cars Bentley has ever produced.
It was announced on 23 July 2010 that Kankkunen would take part in the 2010 Rally Finland
2010 Rally Finland
The 2010 Neste Oil Rally Finland was the 60th Rally Finland and the eighth round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over July 29–31, and is based in Jyväskylä, the capital of the Central Finland region...
to mark the sixtieth jubilee of the event. He was joined by his long-time co-driver Juha Repo driving a Ford Focus WRC
Ford Focus WRC
The Ford Focus RS WRC is a car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford and M-Sport and based on the Ford Focus Climate 2-litre production hatchback, developed to compete in the World Rally Championship. The RS stands for Rallye Sport and the WRC for World Rally Car, the car's FIA specification...
for the Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team. At just over 51 years old, Kankkunen finished an impressive 8th, beating many WRC regulars.
Personal life
Kankkunen currently lives in MonacoMonaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
but also spends time on his family farm in Laukaa, which includes a large country house and hundreds of hectares of land. He has a large car collection, which includes six Ferraris such as the F40
Ferrari F40
The Ferrari F40 is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-door coupé sports car produced by Ferrari from 1987 to 1992 as the successor to the Ferrari 288 GTO. From 1987 to 1989 it was Ferrari's fastest, most powerful, and most expensive car...
and the 288 GTO
Ferrari 288 GTO
The Ferrari GTO is an exotic homologation of the Ferrari 308 GTB produced from 1984 through 1986, designated GT for Gran Turismo and O for Omologato .- Background :...
, as well as all the four rally cars with which he won the world championship. Kankkunen and his wife Pirjo filed for divorce in 2008.
WRC victories
| Number | Event | Season | Co-driver | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kenya 33rd Marlboro Safari RallySafari Rally The Safari Rally is considered by many to be the world's toughest rally. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II... |
1985 1985 World Rally Championship season The 1985 World Rally Championship season was the 13th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 12 rallies following the same schedule as the previous season. Peugeot Sport's Timo Salonen beat Audi Sport's Stig Blomqvist and Walter... |
Fred Gallagher Fred Gallagher (co-driver) Fred Gallagher is a World Rally Championship winning co-driver and motorsport personality.-Career:Gallagher's first WRC rally was the 1975 RAC Rally alongside Norwegian driver John Haugland in a Škoda 120... |
Toyota Celica TCT Toyota Celica The Toyota Celica name has been applied to a series of coupes made by the Japanese company Toyota. The name is ultimately derived from the Latin word coelica meaning "heavenly" or "celestial".... |
| 2 |  Côte d'Ivoire 17ème Rallye Côte d'IvoireRallye Côte d'Ivoire The Rallye Côte d'Ivoire is a rally race held annually in Côte d'Ivoire in Africa. In common with other races on the continent, it is known for its arduous conditions and high attrition rate among competitors. It was part of the World Rally Championship for drivers and manufacturers from 1978 to... |
1985 1985 World Rally Championship season The 1985 World Rally Championship season was the 13th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 12 rallies following the same schedule as the previous season. Peugeot Sport's Timo Salonen beat Audi Sport's Stig Blomqvist and Walter... |
Fred Gallagher | Toyota Celica TCT |
| 3 |  Sweden 36th International Swedish RallySwedish Rally The Uddeholm Swedish Rally , formerly the Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in Värmland, Sweden in early February. First held in 1950, when it was called the Rally to the Midnight Sun with start and finish at separate locations, seventeen years later both start and finish... |
1986 1986 World Rally Championship season The 1986 World Rally Championship season was the 14th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 13 rallies, including all twelve venues of the previous season as well as the addition of the Olympus Rally... |
Juha Piironen | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 |
| 4 |  Greece 33rd Acropolis Rally |
1986 1986 World Rally Championship season The 1986 World Rally Championship season was the 14th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 13 rallies, including all twelve venues of the previous season as well as the addition of the Olympus Rally... |
Juha Piironen | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 |
| 5 |  New Zealand 16th AWA Clarion Rally of New ZealandRally New Zealand The Rally New Zealand was first held in Taupo in 1969, and was subsequently staged in Canterbury, before moving back to the North Island in 1971.The rally was included as a round of the World Championship in 1977... |
1986 1986 World Rally Championship season The 1986 World Rally Championship season was the 14th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 13 rallies, including all twelve venues of the previous season as well as the addition of the Olympus Rally... |
Juha Piironen | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 |
| 6 |  United States 22nd Olympus RallyOlympus Rally The Olympus Rally is an event in the motorsport of rallying. While it has usually been run as a national rally, in 1986-1988, it was a round in the FIA World Rally Championship, the most recent time a WRC rally has been run in the United States.... |
1987 1987 World Rally Championship season The 1987 World Rally Championship season was the 15th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 13 rallies in the same venues of the previous season... |
Juha Piironen | Lancia Delta HF 4WD |
| 7 | 36th Lombard RAC Rally Rally GB Wales Rally GB is the largest and most high profile motor rally in the United Kingdom. It is a round of the FIA World Rally Championship and was formerly a round of the MSA British Rally Championship and is based in and around the city of Cardiff in Wales... |
1987 1987 World Rally Championship season The 1987 World Rally Championship season was the 15th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 13 rallies in the same venues of the previous season... |
Juha Piironen | Lancia Delta HF 4WD |
| 8 |  Australia 2nd Commonwealth Bank Rally AustraliaRally Australia Rally Australia is an automobile rally event which was held in and around Perth, Western Australia from 1988 until 2006, when that state's tourism commission severed its collaboration with the event. The rally was part of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in 1988 and the World Rally Championship... |
1989 1989 World Rally Championship season The 1989 World Rally Championship season was the 17th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 13 rallies, with some adjustments to the schedule versus the previous season... |
Juha Piironen | Toyota Celica GT-Four Toyota Celica GT-Four The Toyota Celica GT-Four is a high performance model of the Celica liftback, with a turbocharged 3S-GTE engine, and full-time AWD. It was created to compete in the World Rally Championship, whose regulations dictate that a manufacturer must build road-going versions of the vehicle in sufficient... |
| 9 | Australia 3rd Commonwealth Bank Rally Australia Rally Australia Rally Australia is an automobile rally event which was held in and around Perth, Western Australia from 1988 until 2006, when that state's tourism commission severed its collaboration with the event. The rally was part of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in 1988 and the World Rally Championship... |
1990 1990 World Rally Championship season The 1990 World Rally Championship season was the 18th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 12 rallies. The drivers' world championship was won by Carlos Sainz in a Toyota Celica GT-Four, ahead of Didier Auriol and Juha Kankkunen... |
Juha Piironen | Lancia Delta Integrale 16V |
| 10 | Kenya 39th Martini Safari Rally Kenya Safari Rally The Safari Rally is considered by many to be the world's toughest rally. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II... |
1991 1991 World Rally Championship season The 1991 World Rally Championship season was the 19th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 14 rallies. The drivers' world championship was won by Juha Kankkunen in a Lancia Delta Integrale 16V, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Didier... |
Juha Piironen | Lancia Delta Integrale 16V |
| 11 | Greece 38th Acropolis Rally |
1991 1991 World Rally Championship season The 1991 World Rally Championship season was the 19th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 14 rallies. The drivers' world championship was won by Juha Kankkunen in a Lancia Delta Integrale 16V, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Didier... |
Juha Piironen | Lancia Delta Integrale 16V |
| 12 |  Finland 41st 1000 Lakes RallyRally Finland The Neste Oil Rally Finland is a rally event driven in the Jyväskylä area in Central Finland. It is the biggest annually organised public event in the Nordic countries, gathering over 500,000 spectators every year.... |
1991 1991 World Rally Championship season The 1991 World Rally Championship season was the 19th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 14 rallies. The drivers' world championship was won by Juha Kankkunen in a Lancia Delta Integrale 16V, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Didier... |
Juha Piironen | Lancia Delta Integrale 16V |
| 13 | Australia 4th Commonwealth Bank Rally Australia Rally Australia Rally Australia is an automobile rally event which was held in and around Perth, Western Australia from 1988 until 2006, when that state's tourism commission severed its collaboration with the event. The rally was part of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in 1988 and the World Rally Championship... |
1991 1991 World Rally Championship season The 1991 World Rally Championship season was the 19th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 14 rallies. The drivers' world championship was won by Juha Kankkunen in a Lancia Delta Integrale 16V, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Didier... |
Juha Piironen | Lancia Delta Integrale 16V |
| 14 | 47th Lombard RAC Rally Rally GB Wales Rally GB is the largest and most high profile motor rally in the United Kingdom. It is a round of the FIA World Rally Championship and was formerly a round of the MSA British Rally Championship and is based in and around the city of Cardiff in Wales... |
1991 1991 World Rally Championship season The 1991 World Rally Championship season was the 19th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 14 rallies. The drivers' world championship was won by Juha Kankkunen in a Lancia Delta Integrale 16V, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Didier... |
Juha Piironen | Lancia Delta Integrale 16V |
| 15 |  Portugal 26° Rallye de PortugalRally de Portugal The Rally de Portugal is a rally competition held in Portugal. First held in 1967, the seventh running of the race, the 7º TAP Rallye de Portugal was the third event in the inaugural FIA World Rally Championship in 1973... |
1992 | Juha Piironen | Lancia Delta HF Integrale |
| 16 | Kenya 41st Trustbank Safari Rally Safari Rally The Safari Rally is considered by many to be the world's toughest rally. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II... |
1993 | Juha Piironen | Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD |
| 17 |  Argentina 13° Rally ArgentinaRally Argentina The Rally Argentina is an Argentine rally competition that has been both a round of the World Rally Championship and also the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The rally is also a round of the South American Rally Championship and the Argentine Rally Championship... |
1993 | Nicky Grist Nicky Grist Nicky Grist is a Welsh former rally co-driver, born in Ebbw Vale. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1993 to 2002. He won 21 rallies and one World championship titles, with more than one driver.... |
Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD |
| 18 | Finland 43rd 1000 Lakes Rally Rally Finland The Neste Oil Rally Finland is a rally event driven in the Jyväskylä area in Central Finland. It is the biggest annually organised public event in the Nordic countries, gathering over 500,000 spectators every year.... |
1993 | Denis Giraudet | Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD |
| 19 | Australia 6th Telecom Rally Australia Rally Australia Rally Australia is an automobile rally event which was held in and around Perth, Western Australia from 1988 until 2006, when that state's tourism commission severed its collaboration with the event. The rally was part of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in 1988 and the World Rally Championship... |
1993 | Nicky Grist | Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD |
| 20 | 49th Network Q RAC Rally Rally GB Wales Rally GB is the largest and most high profile motor rally in the United Kingdom. It is a round of the FIA World Rally Championship and was formerly a round of the MSA British Rally Championship and is based in and around the city of Cardiff in Wales... |
1993 | Nicky Grist | Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD |
| 21 | Portugal 28° TAP Rallye de Portugal Rally de Portugal The Rally de Portugal is a rally competition held in Portugal. First held in 1967, the seventh running of the race, the 7º TAP Rallye de Portugal was the third event in the inaugural FIA World Rally Championship in 1973... |
1994 | Nicky Grist | Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD |
| 22 | Argentina 19° Rally Argentina Rally Argentina The Rally Argentina is an Argentine rally competition that has been both a round of the World Rally Championship and also the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The rally is also a round of the South American Rally Championship and the Argentine Rally Championship... |
1999 | Juha Repo | Subaru Impreza WRC |
| 23 | Finland 49th Neste Rally Finland Rally Finland The Neste Oil Rally Finland is a rally event driven in the Jyväskylä area in Central Finland. It is the biggest annually organised public event in the Nordic countries, gathering over 500,000 spectators every year.... |
1999 | Juha Repo | Subaru Impreza WRC |
Complete WRC results
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Juha Kankkunen | Ford Escort RS2000 | MON | SWE | POR | KEN | GRC | NZL | FIN 14 |
CAN | ITA | FRA | GBR | CIV | - | 0 | ||
| 1982 1982 World Rally Championship season The 1982 World Rally Championship season was the tenth season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 12 rallies. By this time, the schedule format had become generally stable, with only one or two changes to venues year to year... |
Juha Kankkunen | Opel Manta GT/E Opel Manta The Opel Manta was a rear-wheel-drive sports coupé motor vehicle built by Opel, from 1970 to 1988.-1970–75: Opel Manta A:The Manta A was released in September 1970, two months ahead of the then new Opel Ascona on which it was based... |
MON | SWE | POR | KEN | FRA | GRC | NZL | BRA | FIN Ret |
ITA | CIV | - | 0 | |||
| Intereconomics | GBR Ret |
|||||||||||||||||
| 1983 | Toyota Team Europe | Toyota Celica TCT Toyota Celica The Toyota Celica name has been applied to a series of coupes made by the Japanese company Toyota. The name is ultimately derived from the Latin word coelica meaning "heavenly" or "celestial".... |
MON | SWE | POR | KEN | FRA | GRC | NZL | ARG | FIN 6 |
ITA | 19th | 10 | ||||
| Premoto Toyota | CIV Ret |
|||||||||||||||||
| Toyota Team Great Britain | GBR 7 |
|||||||||||||||||
| 1984 1984 World Rally Championship season The 1984 World Rally Championship season was the 12th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 12 rallies following the same schedule as the previous season. Stig Blomqvist beat the defending world champion and Audi teammate Hannu... |
Toyota Team Europe | Toyota Celica TCT Toyota Celica The Toyota Celica name has been applied to a series of coupes made by the Japanese company Toyota. The name is ultimately derived from the Latin word coelica meaning "heavenly" or "celestial".... |
MON | SWE | POR Ret |
KEN | FRA | GRC | ARG | FIN 5 |
ITA | CIV | 24th | 8 | ||||
| Toyota New Zealand | NZL Ret |
|||||||||||||||||
| Toyota Team Great Britain | GBR Ret |
|||||||||||||||||
| 1985 1985 World Rally Championship season The 1985 World Rally Championship season was the 13th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 12 rallies following the same schedule as the previous season. Peugeot Sport's Timo Salonen beat Audi Sport's Stig Blomqvist and Walter... |
Westland Motors | Toyota Celica TCT Toyota Celica The Toyota Celica name has been applied to a series of coupes made by the Japanese company Toyota. The name is ultimately derived from the Latin word coelica meaning "heavenly" or "celestial".... |
MON | SWE | POR | KEN 1 |
FRA | GRC | 5th | 48 | ||||||||
| Toyota New Zealand | NZL Ret |
ARG | ||||||||||||||||
| Toyota Team Europe | FIN Ret |
ITA | GBR 5 |
|||||||||||||||
| Premoto Toyota | CIV 1 |
|||||||||||||||||
| 1986 1986 World Rally Championship season The 1986 World Rally Championship season was the 14th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 13 rallies, including all twelve venues of the previous season as well as the addition of the Olympus Rally... |
Peugeot Talbot Sport | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | MON 5 |
SWE 1 |
POR Ret |
KEN 5 |
FRA | GRC 1 |
NZL 1 |
ARG Ret |
FIN 2 |
CIV | ITA Ret |
GBR 3 |
USA 2 |
1st | 118 | |
| 1987 1987 World Rally Championship season The 1987 World Rally Championship season was the 15th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 13 rallies in the same venues of the previous season... |
Martini Martini Racing Martini Racing is the name under which various motor racing teams raced when sponsored by the Martini & Rossi distillery that produces Martini vermouth. Martini's sponsorship program began in 1968... Lancia Lancia Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Some modern Lancias are seen as presenting a more... |
Lancia Delta HF 4WD | MON 2 |
SWE 3 |
POR 4 |
KEN | FRA | GRC 2 |
USA 1 |
NZL | ARG | FIN 5 |
CIV | ITA | GBR 1 |
1st | 100 | |
| 1988 1988 World Rally Championship season The 1988 World Rally Championship season was the 16th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship... |
Toyota Team Europe | Toyota Supra Turbo Toyota Supra in motorsport During its history the Toyota Supra has enjoyed considerable success in a variety of different motorsports.- Drag racing :The Supra has a history of professional drag racing, mainly in Japan and the United States. The HKS team have used both the Mk III and Mk IV to showcase its products, known as... |
MON | SWE | POR | KEN 5 |
37th | 8 | ||||||||||
| Toyota Celica GT-Four Toyota Celica GT-Four The Toyota Celica GT-Four is a high performance model of the Celica liftback, with a turbocharged 3S-GTE engine, and full-time AWD. It was created to compete in the World Rally Championship, whose regulations dictate that a manufacturer must build road-going versions of the vehicle in sufficient... |
FRA Ret |
GRC Ret |
USA | NZL | ARG | FIN Ret |
CIV | ITA Ret |
GBR Ret |
|||||||||
| 1989 1989 World Rally Championship season The 1989 World Rally Championship season was the 17th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 13 rallies, with some adjustments to the schedule versus the previous season... |
Toyota Team Europe | Toyota Celica GT-Four Toyota Celica GT-Four The Toyota Celica GT-Four is a high performance model of the Celica liftback, with a turbocharged 3S-GTE engine, and full-time AWD. It was created to compete in the World Rally Championship, whose regulations dictate that a manufacturer must build road-going versions of the vehicle in sufficient... |
SWE | MON 5 |
POR Ret |
KEN | FRA 3 |
GRC Ret |
NZL | ARG | FIN Ret |
AUS 1 |
ITA 5 |
CIV | GBR 3 |
3rd | 60 | |
| 1990 1990 World Rally Championship season The 1990 World Rally Championship season was the 18th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 12 rallies. The drivers' world championship was won by Carlos Sainz in a Toyota Celica GT-Four, ahead of Didier Auriol and Juha Kankkunen... |
Martini Martini Racing Martini Racing is the name under which various motor racing teams raced when sponsored by the Martini & Rossi distillery that produces Martini vermouth. Martini's sponsorship program began in 1968... Lancia Lancia Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Some modern Lancias are seen as presenting a more... |
Lancia Delta Integrale 16V | MON Ret |
POR 3 |
KEN 2 |
FRA | GRC 2 |
NZL | ARG Ret |
FIN 5 |
AUS 1 |
ITA 2 |
CIV | GBR Ret |
3rd | 85 | ||
| 1991 1991 World Rally Championship season The 1991 World Rally Championship season was the 19th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 14 rallies. The drivers' world championship was won by Juha Kankkunen in a Lancia Delta Integrale 16V, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Didier... |
Martini Martini Racing Martini Racing is the name under which various motor racing teams raced when sponsored by the Martini & Rossi distillery that produces Martini vermouth. Martini's sponsorship program began in 1968... Lancia Lancia Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Some modern Lancias are seen as presenting a more... |
Lancia Delta Integrale 16V | MON 5 |
SWE | POR 4 |
KEN 1 |
FRA | GRC 1 |
NZL 2 |
ARG 4 |
FIN 1 |
AUS 1 |
ITA Ret |
CIV | ESP 2 |
GBR 1 |
1st | 150 |
| 1992 | Martini Racing Martini Racing Martini Racing is the name under which various motor racing teams raced when sponsored by the Martini & Rossi distillery that produces Martini vermouth. Martini's sponsorship program began in 1968... |
Lancia Delta HF Integrale | MON 3 |
SWE | POR 1 |
KEN 2 |
FRA | GRC 2 |
NZL | ARG | FIN 2 |
AUS 2 |
ITA 2 |
CIV | ESP 2 |
GBR 3 |
2nd | 134 |
| 1993 | Toyota Castrol Team | Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD | MON 5 |
SWE 2 |
POR | KEN 1 |
FRA | GRC Ret |
ARG 1 |
NZL 5 |
FIN 1 |
AUS 1 |
ITA | ESP 3 |
GBR 1 |
1st | 135 | |
| 1994 | Toyota Castrol Team | Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD | MON 2 |
POR 1 |
KEN Ret |
FRA 4 |
GRC 3 |
ARG Ret |
NZL 2 |
FIN 9 |
3rd | 93 | ||||||
| Toyota Celica GT-Four Toyota Celica GT-Four The Toyota Celica GT-Four is a high performance model of the Celica liftback, with a turbocharged 3S-GTE engine, and full-time AWD. It was created to compete in the World Rally Championship, whose regulations dictate that a manufacturer must build road-going versions of the vehicle in sufficient... |
ITA 7 |
GBR 2 |
||||||||||||||||
| 1995 | Toyota Castrol Team | Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 | MON 3 |
SWE 4 |
POR 2 |
FRA 10 |
NZL 3 |
AUS 3 |
ESP Ret |
GBR | DSQ | 62 | ||||||
| 1996 | Toyota Castrol Team Sweden | Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 | SWE 4 |
KEN | 7th | 37 | ||||||||||||
| Toyota Team Australia | IDN 3 |
GRC | ARG | |||||||||||||||
| Team Toyota Castrol Finland | FIN 2 |
AUS | ITA | ESP | ||||||||||||||
| 1997 | Ford Motor Co | Ford Escort WRC | MON | SWE | KEN | POR | ESP | FRA | ARG Ret |
GRC 2 |
NZL 3 |
FIN 2 |
IDN 2 |
ITA 6 |
AUS Ret |
GBR 2 |
4th | 29 |
| 1998 | Ford Motor Co | Ford Escort WRC | MON 2 |
SWE 3 |
KEN 2 |
POR 7 |
ESP Ret |
FRA 9 |
ARG 3 |
GRC 3 |
NZL 4 |
FIN 3 |
ITA Ret |
AUS 5 |
GBR 2 |
4th | 39 | |
| 1999 | Subaru World Rally Team Subaru World Rally Team The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003... |
Subaru Impreza WRC99 | MON 2 |
SWE 6 |
KEN Ret |
POR Ret |
ESP 6 |
FRA | ARG 1 |
GRC Ret |
NZL 2 |
FIN 1 |
CHN 4 |
ITA 6 |
AUS Ret |
GBR 2 |
4th | 44 |
| 2000 | Subaru World Rally Team Subaru World Rally Team The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003... |
Subaru Impreza WRC99 | MON 3 |
SWE 6 |
KEN 2 |
8th | 20 | |||||||||||
| Subaru Impreza WRC2000 | POR Ret |
ESP Ret |
ARG 4 |
GRC 3 |
NZL Ret |
FIN 8 |
CYP 7 |
FRA | ITA | AUS Ret |
GBR 5 |
|||||||
| 2001 | Hyundai Castrol WRT Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai entered motorsport by competing in the F2 class of the World Rally Championship in 1998 and 1999. In September 1999, Hyundai unveiled the Accent WRC, a World Rally Car based on the Hyundai Accent... |
Hyundai Accent WRC2 | MON | SWE | POR | ESP | ARG | CYP | GRC | KEN | FIN Ret |
NZL | ITA | FRA | AUS | GBR | - | 0 |
| 2002 | Hyundai Castrol WRT Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai entered motorsport by competing in the F2 class of the World Rally Championship in 1998 and 1999. In September 1999, Hyundai unveiled the Accent WRC, a World Rally Car based on the Hyundai Accent... |
Hyundai Accent WRC2 | MON | SWE 8 |
FRA | ESP | 14th | 2 | ||||||||||
| Hyundai Accent WRC3 | CYP Ret |
ARG 7 |
GRC Ret |
KEN 8 |
FIN Ret |
GER | ITA | NZL 5 |
AUS Ret |
GBR 9 |
||||||||
| 2010 2010 World Rally Championship season The 2010 World Rally Championship season was the 38th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 13 rallies, beginning with Rally Sweden on 11 February and ended Wales Rally GB on 14 November.... |
Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team | Ford Focus RS WRC 08 | SWE 2010 Rally Sweden The 2010 Rally Sweden was the opening round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. It was the season's first and only event held on snow- and ice-covered gravel roads. The rally was held over February 11–14, beginning with a Super Special Stage in the event's base town of Karlstad... |
MEX 2010 Rally México The 2010 Rally México was the 23rd Rally Mexico and the second round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over March 5–7, and was based in León, in the Guanajuato region of the country. The event was part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Mexican... |
JOR 2010 Jordan Rally The 2010 Jordan Rally was the third round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over April 1–3, and was based beside the Dead Sea, some from the country's capital, Amman. The rally was also the third round of both the Production Car World Rally Championship, and the... |
TUR 2010 Rally of Turkey The 2010 Rally of Turkey was the fourth round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over April 16–18, and was based in the country's largest city, Istanbul... |
NZL 2010 Rally New Zealand The 2010 Rally New Zealand was the fifth round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 7–9 May and is based in the country's largest city, Auckland... |
POR 2010 Rally de Portugal The 2010 Rally de Portugal was the 44th Rally de Portugal and the sixth round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over May 27–30, and was based in Faro, the capital city of the Algarve region... |
BUL 2010 Rally Bulgaria The 2010 Rally Bulgaria was the seventh round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over July 9–11, and was based in Borovets, around outside the capital city, Sofia. The rally was also the third round of the Junior World Rally Championship.Rally Bulgaria made its début... |
FIN 2010 Rally Finland The 2010 Neste Oil Rally Finland was the 60th Rally Finland and the eighth round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over July 29–31, and is based in Jyväskylä, the capital of the Central Finland region... 8 |
DEU 2010 Rallye Deutschland The 2010 ADAC Rallye Deutschland was the 28th Rallye Deutschland and the ninth round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over August 20–22, and is based in Trier. It was the first of two WRC rounds where all WRC support series competed in the same round... |
JPN 2010 Rally Japan The 2010 Rally Japan, was the 10th round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The 26 stage gravel rally took place on 9 – 12 September 2010 and was based in the city of Sapporo... |
FRA | ESP 2010 Rally Catalunya The 2010 Rally Catalunya was the twelfth and penultimate round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 22–24 October 2010, and was based in Salou, the second biggest city in the Province of Tarragona in Catalonia... |
GBR | 16th | 4 | |