1984 World Rally Championship

The 1984 World Rally Championship was the 12th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). 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 Mikkola to the drivers' title. Audi took their second manufacturers' title, ahead of Lancia and the debuting Peugeot.

Summary

Walter Röhrl at the 1984 Rally Portugal

German team Audi Sport put together four of the top drivers in the world, with the defending world champion Hannu Mikkola returning to the team along with Stig Blomqvist. Michèle Mouton had a part-time contract and two-time champion Walter Röhrl was added from Martini Racing. Lancia Martini kept Markku Alén as their primary driver for the season and also featured Miki Biasion and Attilio Bettega. Lancia boss Cesare Fiorio had also signed Henri Toivonen from Porsche, stating that "Audi will have four top drivers next year so it would be very difficult competing with only two."[1]

Michèle Mouton at the 1984 RAC Rally

Blomqvist and Mikkola dominated the season in the Audi Quattro A2, with Blomqvist proving the best with five rally wins. Audi established an early lead, winning six of the first eight events, including sweeping the podium at the first two rallies. Mikkola had to settle for second overall despite a consistently strong season in which he took eight podium finishes. Alén was only able to reach third place, only capturing a single rally win in his Lancia Rally 037.

Late in the season, Ari Vatanen returned to the world rally scene in a Peugeot 205 T16, winning three of the final four rallies and reaching fourth place in the overall standings. His performance showed that Peugeot Sport, headed by Jean Todt, had a winner that could beat the Audi, which they would do in the coming years of Group B dominance.

As with previous seasons, while all twelve events were calculated for tallying the drivers' scores, only ten of the events applied to the championship for manufacturers. The two events in 1984 which applied only to driver standings were the Swedish Rally and the Rallye Côte d'Ivoire.

Teams and drivers

Team Manufacturer Car Tyre Drivers Rounds
Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2
Quattro Sport
M
P
Germany Walter Röhrl 1, 3, 5–7, 10
Finland Hannu Mikkola 1, 3–4, 6–9, 11–12
Sweden Stig Blomqvist All
Sweden Per Eklund 2, 9
France Michèle Mouton 2, 4, 6, 9, 12
Finland Lasse Lampi 2, 9
South Africa Sarel van der Merwe 3
Austria Franz Wittmann 4, 7
France Bernard Darniche 5
United States John Buffum 6, 12
Argentina Jorge Recalde 8
Argentina Rubén Luis di Palma 8
Italy Martini Racing Lancia Rally 037 evo P Finland Markku Alén 1, 3–7, 9–10
France Jean-Claude Andruet 1, 5
Italy Attilio Bettega 1, 3, 5–6, 10
Finland Henri Toivonen 3, 6, 9
Kenya Vic Preston Jr 4
Kenya Greg Criticos 4
Japan Team Nissan Europe Nissan 240RS D Finland Timo Salonen 1, 4, 6–7, 12
United Kingdom Terry Kaby 1, 9, 12
Sweden Sören Nilsson 2
Finland Erkki Pitkanen 3, 9
Kenya Shekhar Mehta 4, 6, 11–12
Kenya Mike Kirkland 4
Kenya Jayant Shah 4, 6
Greece George Moschous 6
Greece Stratis Hatzipanayiotou 6
New Zealand Reg Cook 7
Finland Pentti Airikkala 9
Finland Peter Geitel 9, 12
France Renault Elf Renault 5 Turbo M
P
France Jean-Luc Thérier 1
France Bruno Saby 1, 5, 9
France François Chatriot 1, 5
France Dany Snobeck 1
France Jean Ragnotti 3, 5
Portugal Joaquim Moutinho 3
France Jean-Pierre Manzagol 5
France Didier Auriol 5
France Camille Bartoli 5
Italy Jolly Club Lancia Rally 037 evo P Italy Miki Biasion 1, 3, 5–6, 10
Italy Adartico Vudafieri 5, 10
Japan Mazda Rally Team Europe Mazda RX-7 P Germany Achim Warmbold 1, 6
Finland Minna Sillankorva 1
Sweden Ingvar Carlsson 6, 12
France Philippe Wambergue 12
France Marianne Hoepfner 12
France Citroën Compétitions Citroën Visa M France Christian Dorche 1, 3
France Maurice Chomat 4, 9–10
France Philippe Wambergue 4, 9–10
France Christian Rio 4, 9–10
France Oliver Tabatoni 5–6, 9
United Kingdom Mark Lovell 12
Germany Opel Euro Team Opel Ascona 400
Manta 400
M Sweden Mats Jonsson 2, 12
United Kingdom Alex Jackson 2
France Guy Frequelin 4–5
Finland Rauno Aaltonen 4
Japan Yasuhiro Iwase 4, 8
France Alain Ambrosino 11
United Kingdom Jimmy McRae 12
United Kingdom Russell Brookes 12
United Kingdom Phil Collins 12
United Kingdom Bertie Fisher 12
Japan Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica TCT P Sweden Björn Waldegård 3–4, 7, 9, 12
Finland Juha Kankkunen 3, 7, 9, 12
Sweden Per Eklund 4, 12
Italy Sandro Munari 4
France Peugeot Talbot Sport Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 M Finland Ari Vatanen 5–6, 9–10, 12
France Jean-Pierre Nicolas 5–6, 10
Germany Rothmans Porsche Rally Team Porsche 911SC RS M Qatar Saeed Al-Hajri 6, 12
United Kingdom Roger Clark 12
Germany Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTi P Sweden Kalle Grundel 1–3, 5, 9–10, 12

Events

Map

Black = Tarmac Brown = Gravel Blue = Snow/ice Red = Mixed surface

Schedule and results

Round Rally name Stages Podium finishers
Rank Driver Co-driver Team Car Time
1 Monaco Rallye Monte Carlo
(21–27 January)
30 stages
722 km
Tarmac
1 West Germany Walter Röhrl West Germany Christian Geistdörfer West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 8:52:29
2 Sweden Stig Blomqvist Sweden Björn Cederberg West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 8:53:42
3 Finland Hannu Mikkola Sweden Arne Hertz West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 9:05:09
2 Sweden Swedish Rally[2]
(10–12 February)
27 stages
450 km
Snow/Ice
1 Sweden Stig Blomqvist Sweden Björn Cederberg West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 4:16:45
2 France Michèle Mouton Italy Fabrizia Pons West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 4:24:12
3 Sweden Per Eklund United Kingdom Dave Whittock West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 4:33:27
3 Portugal Rallye de Portugal
(6–11 March)
45 stages
684 km
Gravel/Tarmac
1 Finland Hannu Mikkola Sweden Arne Hertz West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 7:35:32
2 Finland Markku Alén Finland Ilkka Kivimäki Italy Martini Racing Lancia Rally 037 evo 7:35:59
3 Italy Attilio Bettega Italy Maurizio Perissinot Italy Martini Racing Lancia Rally 037 evo 7:58:21
4 Kenya Safari Rally
(19–23 April)
105 controls
5254 km
Gravel
1 Sweden Björn Waldegård Sweden Hans Thorszelius Japan Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica TCT +2:02 pen
2 Finland Rauno Aaltonen Kenya Lofty Drews West Germany Opel Euro Team Opel Manta 400 +2:13 pen
3 Finland Hannu Mikkola Sweden Arne Hertz West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 +2:25 pen
5 France Tour de Corse
(3–5 May)
30 stages
1119 km
Tarmac
1 Finland Markku Alén Finland Ilkka Kivimäki Italy Martini Racing Lancia Rally 037 evo 13:24:56
2 Italy Miki Biasion Italy Tiziano Siviero Italy Jolly Club Lancia Rally 037 evo 13:29:11
3 France Jean Ragnotti France Pierre Thimonier France Renault Elf Renault 5 Turbo 13:33:16
6 Greece Acropolis Rally
(28–31 May)
47 stages
830 km
Gravel
1 Sweden Stig Blomqvist Sweden Björn Cederberg West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 10:41:51
2 Finland Hannu Mikkola Sweden Arne Hertz West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 10:44:58
3 Finland Markku Alén Finland Ilkka Kivimäki Italy Martini Racing Lancia Rally 037 evo 10:56:01
7 New Zealand Rally New Zealand
(23–26 June)
45 stages
1044 km
Gravel
1 Sweden Stig Blomqvist Sweden Björn Cederberg West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 10:40:41
2 Finland Markku Alén Finland Ilkka Kivimäki Italy Martini Racing Lancia Rally 037 evo 10:45:28
3 Finland Hannu Mikkola Sweden Arne Hertz West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 10:48:10
8 Argentina Rally Argentina
(27 July – 1 August)
23 stages
948 km
Gravel
1 Sweden Stig Blomqvist Sweden Björn Cederberg West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 10:33:38
2 Finland Hannu Mikkola Sweden Arne Hertz West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 10:36:54
3 Argentina Jorge Recalde Argentina Jorge del Bouno West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 10:38:48
9 Finland 1000 Lakes Rally
(24–26 August)
50 stages
457 km
Gravel
1 Finland Ari Vatanen United Kingdom Terry Harryman France Peugeot Talbot Sport Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 4:07:27
2 Finland Markku Alén Finland Ilkka Kivimäki Italy Martini Racing Lancia Rally 037 evo 4:08:26
3 Finland Henri Toivonen Finland Juha Piironen Italy Martini Racing Lancia Rally 037 evo 4:10:19
10 Italy Rallye Sanremo
(30 September – 5 October)
46 stages
777 km
Gravel/Tarmac
1 Finland Ari Vatanen United Kingdom Terry Harryman France Peugeot Talbot Sport Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 8:44:34
2 Italy Attilio Bettega Italy Maurizio Perissinot Italy Martini Racing Lancia Rally 037 evo 8:50:01
3 Italy Miki Biasion Italy Tiziano Siviero Italy Jolly Club Lancia Rally 037 evo 8:53:58
11 Ivory Coast Rallye Côte d'Ivoire[2]
(31 October – 5 November)
46 controls
4012 km
Gravel
1 Sweden Stig Blomqvist Sweden Björn Cederberg West Germany Audi Sport Audi Sport Quattro +5:24 pen
2 Finland Hannu Mikkola Sweden Arne Hertz West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 +5:46 pen
3 Kenya Shekhar Mehta Kenya Yvonne Mehta Japan Team Nissan Europe Nissan 240RS +6:28 pen
12 United Kingdom RAC Rally
(November 25–29)
56 stages
863 km
Gravel/Tarmac
1 Finland Ari Vatanen United Kingdom Terry Harryman France Peugeot Talbot Sport Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 9:19:48
2 Finland Hannu Mikkola Sweden Arne Hertz West Germany Audi Sport Audi Quattro A2 9:20:29
3 Sweden Per Eklund United Kingdom Dave Whittock Japan Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica TCT 9:37:07

Standings

Drivers' championship

Rank Driver Event Total
points
Monaco
MON
Sweden
SWE
Portugal
POR
Kenya
KEN
France
FRA
Greece
GRC
New Zealand
NZL
Argentina
ARG
Finland
FIN
Italy
ITA
Ivory Coast
CIV
United Kingdom
GBR
1 Sweden Stig Blomqvist 15 20 0 0 (8) 20 20 20 10 0 20 0 125
2 Finland Hannu Mikkola 12 20 12 15 (12) 15 0 15 15 104
3 Finland Markku Alén 3 15 10 20 12 15 15 0 90
4 Finland Ari Vatanen 0 0 20 20 20 60
5 Italy Attilio Bettega 8 12 4 10 15 49
6 Italy Miki Biasion 6 10 15 0 12 43
7 Sweden Per Eklund 12 0 6 12 30
8 Sweden Björn Waldegård 0 20 8 0 0 28
9 Kenya Shekhar Mehta 0 8 4 12 3 27
10 Finland Timo Salonen 1 4 6 10 6 27
11 West Germany Walter Röhrl 20 6 0 0 0 0 26
12 France Michèle Mouton 15 0 0 0 10 25
13 France Jean Ragnotti 8 12 20
14 France Jean-Pierre Nicolas 10 0 8 18
15 Finland Rauno Aaltonen 15 15
16 Argentina Jorge Recalde - 12 12
Finland Henri Toivonen 0 0 12
18 Sweden Kalle Grundel 2 0 4 0 6 0 12
19 France Jean-Luc Thérier 10 10
Sweden Mats Jonsson 10 0
Argentina Mario Stillo 10
Italy Fabrizio Tabaton 10
France Alain Ambrosino 10
24 Sweden Lars-Erik Torph 8 0 8
United States John Buffum 8 0
Japan Yasuhiro Iwase 8
Finland Juha Kankkunen 0 0 8 0
Kenya David Horsey 8
United Kingdom Russell Brookes 8
30 Sweden Björn Johansson 6 6
Kenya Vic Preston, Jr. 6
France Jean-Claude Andruet 0 6
New Zealand Reg Cook 6
Argentina Miguel Torrás 6
France Patrick Tauziac 6
36 France Bernard Darniche 4 0 4
Sweden Kenneth Eriksson 4 0
New Zealand Malcolm Stewart 4
Argentina Carlos Bassi 4
Finland Erkki Pitkänen 0 4
San Marino Massimo Ercolani 4
United Kingdom Jimmy McRae 4
43 Sweden Stig Andervang 3 0 3
Portugal Jorge Ortigão 3
Austria Franz Wittmann 3 0
France François Chatriot 0 3
Greece Iórgos Moschous 3
New Zealand 'Possum' Bourne 3
Argentina Hugo Hernández 3
France Bruno Saby 0 0 3 0
Austria Gerhard Kalnay 3
52 Japan Yoshio Iwashita 2 1 3
53 Sweden Gunnar Pettersson 2 2
France Christian Dorche 0 2
France Guy Fréquelin 0 2
West Germany Achim Warmbold 0 2
New Zealand Tony Teesdale 2
Argentina Monnenmacher Pérez 2
Finland Jouko Pöysti 2 0
Italy Michele Rayneri 2
United Kingdom Bertie Fisher 2
62 Sweden Jerry Åhlin 1 0 1
United Kingdom Russell Gooding 1 0
Kenya Basil Criticos 1
France Yves Loubet 0 1
New Zealand Blair Robson 1
Argentina Walter d'Agostini 1
Finland Kalevi Aho 1
Austria Werner Grissmann 0 1
Sweden Mikael Ericsson 0 0 1

Manufacturers' championship

Rank Manufacturers Event Total
points
Monaco
MON
Portugal
POR
Kenya
KEN
France
FRA
Greece
GRC
New Zealand
NZL
Argentina
ARG
Finland
FIN
Italy
ITA
United Kingdom
GBR
1 West Germany Audi 18 18 14 (10) 18 18 18 16 120
2 Italy Lancia (10) 16 12 18 14 16 16 16 108
3 France Peugeot 12 8 18 18 18 74
4 Japan Toyota 10 18 10 10 14 62
5 France Renault 12 10 14 15 4 55
6 West Germany Opel 16 2 11 2 7 10 48
7 Japan Nissan 2 10 8 12 6 8 46
8 West Germany Volkswagen 9 12 13 34
9 Japan Subaru 11 11
10 Italy Alfa Romeo 9 9
Italy Fiat 9 9
12 United States Ford 6 6
13 France Citroën 4 4
14 United Kingdom Vauxhall 2 2
Japan Mazda 2 2
Japan Mitsubishi 2 2

Pointscoring systems

Drivers' championship

Points awarded by finish 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1

Manufacturers' championship

Overall
finish
Group finish
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 18
2 17 16
3 16 15 14
4 15 14 13 12
5 14 13 12 11 10
6 13 12 11 10 9 8
7 12 11 10 9 8 7 6
8 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4
9 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1

References

  1. ^ Collins, Peter (2008). Lancia 037: The Development & Rally History of a World Champion. Veloce Publishing Ltd. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-84584-076-1.
  2. ^ a b Event not included in the Manufacturers' Championship