Timo Salonen and
Peugeot's classic
205 were invincible in the
World Rally Championship series of
1985. Together with his co-driver
Seppo Harjanne they took victory in 5 of the season events and scored a podium finish in 3 more!
Salonen (born in Helsinki, Finland in 1951) was already a seasoned driver when he won the title. Since the mid 70's he'd been competing for Fiat, Datsun and Nissan scoring several good results and even victories.
After his spectacular title year, Salonen continued racing for Peugeot (third place in the Championship in 1986) until the termination of the Group B cars. He then moved on to Mazda's reliable but under-powered work's car scoring mainly mediocre results expect for a few podium finishes and one victory in the Swedish Rally of 1987.
Before retiring from the WRC series, Salonen had one full season with the up-and-coming Mitsubishi team. 1991 was a disapppointing season coloured with mechanical failures and 1992 was limited to two rallies.
Like his fellow countryman, Ari Vatanen, Salonen also found success in the demanding condiditons of rally raids, such as the Paris - Dakar for a number of years. In long events, the experience, patience and years of racing with over-powered cars in lousy conditions paid off handsomely.
Salonen's personality is an interesting contrast. While seemingly ultra-calm, up to the point of being slightly flegmatic, he displays a burning passion and speed once behind the wheel.