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 edit

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 edit

TeamManufacturerCarTyreDriversRounds
Audi SportAudiQuattro A2
Quattro Sport
M
P
Walter Röhrl1, 3, 5–7, 10
Hannu Mikkola1, 3–4, 6–9, 11–12
Stig BlomqvistAll
Per Eklund2, 9
Michèle Mouton2, 4, 6, 9, 12
Lasse Lampi2, 9
Sarel van der Merwe3
Franz Wittmann4, 7
Bernard Darniche5
John Buffum6, 12
Jorge Recalde8
Rubén Luis di Palma8
Martini RacingLanciaRally 037 evoP Markku Alén1, 3–7, 9–10
Jean-Claude Andruet1, 5
Attilio Bettega1, 3, 5–6, 10
Henri Toivonen3, 6, 9
Vic Preston Jr4
Greg Criticos4
Team Nissan EuropeNissan240RSD Timo Salonen1, 4, 6–7, 12
Terry Kaby1, 9, 12
Sören Nilsson2
Erkki Pitkanen3, 9
Shekhar Mehta4, 6, 11–12
Mike Kirkland4
Jayant Shah4, 6
George Moschous6
Stratis Hatzipanayiotou6
Reg Cook7
Pentti Airikkala9
Peter Geitel9, 12
Renault ElfRenault5 TurboM
P
Jean-Luc Thérier1
Bruno Saby1, 5, 9
François Chatriot1, 5
Dany Snobeck1
Jean Ragnotti3, 5
Joaquim Moutinho3
Jean-Pierre Manzagol5
Didier Auriol5
Camille Bartoli5
Jolly ClubLanciaRally 037 evoP Miki Biasion1, 3, 5–6, 10
Adartico Vudafieri5, 10
Mazda Rally Team EuropeMazdaRX-7P Achim Warmbold1, 6
Minna Sillankorva1
Ingvar Carlsson6, 12
Philippe Wambergue12
Marianne Hoepfner12
Citroën CompétitionsCitroënVisaM Christian Dorche1, 3
Maurice Chomat4, 9–10
Philippe Wambergue4, 9–10
Christian Rio4, 9–10
Oliver Tabatoni5–6, 9
Mark Lovell12
Opel Euro TeamOpelAscona 400
Manta 400
M Mats Jonsson2, 12
Alex Jackson2
Guy Frequelin4–5
Rauno Aaltonen4
Yasuhiro Iwase4, 8
Alain Ambrosino11
Jimmy McRae12
Russell Brookes12
Phil Collins12
Bertie Fisher12
Toyota Team EuropeToyotaCelica TCTP Björn Waldegård3–4, 7, 9, 12
Juha Kankkunen3, 7, 9, 12
Per Eklund4, 12
Sandro Munari4
Peugeot Talbot SportPeugeot205 Turbo 16M Ari Vatanen5–6, 9–10, 12
Jean-Pierre Nicolas5–6, 10
Rothmans Porsche Rally TeamPorsche911SC RSM Saeed Al-Hajri6, 12
Roger Clark12
Volkswagen MotorsportVolkswagenGolf GTiP Kalle Grundel1–3, 5, 9–10, 12

Events edit

Map edit

Black = TarmacBrown = GravelBlue = Snow/iceRed = Mixed surface

Schedule and results edit

RoundRally nameStagesPodium finishers
RankDriverCo-driverTeamCarTime
1 Rallye Monte Carlo
(21–27 January)
30 stages
722 km
Tarmac
1 Walter Röhrl Christian Geistdörfer Audi SportAudi Quattro A28:52:29
2 Stig Blomqvist Björn Cederberg Audi SportAudi Quattro A28:53:42
3 Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz Audi SportAudi Quattro A29:05:09
2 Swedish Rally[2]
(10–12 February)
27 stages
450 km
Snow/Ice
1 Stig Blomqvist Björn Cederberg Audi SportAudi Quattro A24:16:45
2 Michèle Mouton Fabrizia Pons Audi SportAudi Quattro A24:24:12
3 Per Eklund Dave Whittock Audi SportAudi Quattro A24:33:27
3 Rallye de Portugal
(6–11 March)
45 stages
684 km
Gravel/Tarmac
1 Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz Audi SportAudi Quattro A27:35:32
2 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Martini RacingLancia Rally 037 evo7:35:59
3 Attilio Bettega Maurizio Perissinot Martini RacingLancia Rally 037 evo7:58:21
4 Safari Rally
(19–23 April)
105 controls
5254 km
Gravel
1 Björn Waldegård Hans Thorszelius Toyota Team EuropeToyota Celica TCT+2:02 pen
2 Rauno Aaltonen Lofty Drews Opel Euro TeamOpel Manta 400+2:13 pen
3 Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz Audi SportAudi Quattro A2+2:25 pen
5 Tour de Corse
(3–5 May)
30 stages
1119 km
Tarmac
1 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Martini RacingLancia Rally 037 evo13:24:56
2 Miki Biasion Tiziano Siviero Jolly ClubLancia Rally 037 evo13:29:11
3 Jean Ragnotti Pierre Thimonier Renault ElfRenault 5 Turbo13:33:16
6 Acropolis Rally
(28–31 May)
47 stages
830 km
Gravel
1 Stig Blomqvist Björn Cederberg Audi SportAudi Quattro A210:41:51
2 Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz Audi SportAudi Quattro A210:44:58
3 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Martini RacingLancia Rally 037 evo10:56:01
7 Rally New Zealand
(23–26 June)
45 stages
1044 km
Gravel
1 Stig Blomqvist Björn Cederberg Audi SportAudi Quattro A210:40:41
2 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Martini RacingLancia Rally 037 evo10:45:28
3 Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz Audi SportAudi Quattro A210:48:10
8 Rally Argentina
(27 July – 1 August)
23 stages
948 km
Gravel
1 Stig Blomqvist Björn Cederberg Audi SportAudi Quattro A210:33:38
2 Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz Audi SportAudi Quattro A210:36:54
3 Jorge Recalde Jorge del Bouno Audi SportAudi Quattro A210:38:48
9 1000 Lakes Rally
(24–26 August)
50 stages
457 km
Gravel
1 Ari Vatanen Terry Harryman Peugeot Talbot SportPeugeot 205 Turbo 164:07:27
2 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Martini RacingLancia Rally 037 evo4:08:26
3 Henri Toivonen Juha Piironen Martini RacingLancia Rally 037 evo4:10:19
10 Rallye Sanremo
(30 September – 5 October)
46 stages
777 km
Gravel/Tarmac
1 Ari Vatanen Terry Harryman Peugeot Talbot SportPeugeot 205 Turbo 168:44:34
2 Attilio Bettega Maurizio Perissinot Martini RacingLancia Rally 037 evo8:50:01
3 Miki Biasion Tiziano Siviero Jolly ClubLancia Rally 037 evo8:53:58
11 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire[2]
(31 October – 5 November)
46 controls
4012 km
Gravel
1 Stig Blomqvist Björn Cederberg Audi SportAudi Sport Quattro+5:24 pen
2 Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz Audi SportAudi Quattro A2+5:46 pen
3 Shekhar Mehta Yvonne Mehta Team Nissan EuropeNissan 240RS+6:28 pen
12 RAC Rally
(November 25–29)
56 stages
863 km
Gravel/Tarmac
1 Ari Vatanen Terry Harryman Peugeot Talbot SportPeugeot 205 Turbo 169:19:48
2 Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz Audi SportAudi Quattro A29:20:29
3 Per Eklund Dave Whittock Toyota Team EuropeToyota Celica TCT9:37:07

Standings edit

Drivers' championship edit

RankDriverEventTotal
points

MON

SWE

POR

KEN

FRA

GRC

NZL

ARG

FIN

ITA

CIV

GBR
1 Stig Blomqvist152000(8)202020100200125
2 Hannu Mikkola12201215(12)1501515104
3 Markku Alén3151020121515090
4 Ari Vatanen0020202060
5 Attilio Bettega8124101549
6 Miki Biasion6101501243
7 Per Eklund12061230
8 Björn Waldegård02080028
9 Shekhar Mehta08412327
10 Timo Salonen14610627
11 Walter Röhrl206000026
12 Michèle Mouton150001025
13 Jean Ragnotti81220
14 Jean-Pierre Nicolas100818
15 Rauno Aaltonen1515
16 Jorge Recalde-1212
Henri Toivonen0012
18 Kalle Grundel20406012
19 Jean-Luc Thérier1010
Mats Jonsson100
Mario Stillo10
Fabrizio Tabaton10
Alain Ambrosino10
24 Lars-Erik Torph808
John Buffum80
Yasuhiro Iwase8
Juha Kankkunen0080
David Horsey8
Russell Brookes8
30 Björn Johansson66
Vic Preston, Jr.6
Jean-Claude Andruet06
Reg Cook6
Miguel Torrás6
Patrick Tauziac6
36 Bernard Darniche404
Kenneth Eriksson40
Malcolm Stewart4
Carlos Bassi4
Erkki Pitkänen04
Massimo Ercolani4
Jimmy McRae4
43 Stig Andervang303
Jorge Ortigão3
Franz Wittmann30
François Chatriot03
Iórgos Moschous3
'Possum' Bourne3
Hugo Hernández3
Bruno Saby0030
Gerhard Kalnay3
52 Yoshio Iwashita213
53 Gunnar Pettersson22
Christian Dorche02
Guy Fréquelin02
Achim Warmbold02
Tony Teesdale2
Monnenmacher Pérez2
Jouko Pöysti20
Michele Rayneri2
Bertie Fisher2
62 Jerry Åhlin101
Russell Gooding10
Basil Criticos1
Yves Loubet01
Blair Robson1
Walter d'Agostini1
Kalevi Aho1
Werner Grissmann01
Mikael Ericsson001

Manufacturers' championship edit

RankManufacturersEventTotal
points

MON

POR

KEN

FRA

GRC

NZL

ARG

FIN

ITA

GBR
1 Audi181814(10)18181816120
2 Lancia(10)16121814161616108
3 Peugeot12818181874
4 Toyota101810101462
5 Renault12101415455
6 Opel16211271048
7 Nissan2108126846
8 Volkswagen9121334
9 Subaru1111
10 Alfa Romeo99
Fiat99
12 Ford66
13 Citroën44
14 Vauxhall22
Mazda22
Mitsubishi22

Pointscoring systems edit

Drivers' championship edit

Points awarded by finish1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th
20151210864321

Manufacturers' championship edit

Overall
finish
Group finish
12345678910
118
21716
3161514
415141312
51413121110
61312111098
71211109876
81110987654
91098765432
109876543211

References edit

External links edit