1989 World Rally Championship

1989 World Rally Championship
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The 1989 World Rally Championship was the 17th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). The season consisted of 13 rallies, with some adjustments to the schedule versus the previous season. The WRC ended its participation in North America by removing the Olympus Rally from the schedule, implementing in its place Rally Australia. An anomaly in the schedule was that 1989 was the only year in which the Swedish Rally and the Rallye de Monte Carlo were switched in place, with the Swedish event taking place to start the year. This made it the second and last time that Monte Carlo would not mark the first event of the WRC season until the 2009 season.

Martini Lancia continued their domination of the sport for a third year in 1989, winning the first six rallies in which manufacturer points were awarded, and ultimately winning the title with plenty of room to spare. Italian Miki Biasion, Finn Markku Alén and Frenchman Bruno Saby returned to the team, while other successful drivers employed by the team through the year included French native Didier Auriol, Swede Mikael Ericsson, and Argentine driver Jorge Recalde. The team drove the Lancia Delta Integrale through the year. The car also remained the one of choice for the Jolly Club team's main drivers, Italians Alex Fiorio and Dario Cerrato. Complementing the manufacturer's success in the standings, Lancia drivers placed well throughout the top ranks in the drivers championship as well. Biasion seized the championship handily, becoming the WRC's second repeat champion, while Fiorio settled for a distant second, a position fought for through the year against Toyota's driver, Kankkunen. Other successful Lancia pilots included Mikael Ericsson in fourth and Auriol behind him in fifth place.

Toyota Team Europe represented the only serious challenge to Martini and the Lancias with it Toyota Celica GT-Four and a stable of drivers that included former world champion Finn Juha Kankkunen and the only Group A winner, Swede Kenneth Eriksson, as well as a rising star from Spain, Carlos Sainz. All three had successes during the year, though the team was never able to overcome Lancia's early domination of the manufacturer title race. Kankkunen challenged for second overall, but ultimately had to settle for third place, while Kenneth Eriksson took sixth and Sainz finished in eighth.

After an initial win in Sweden by its main driver, Swede Ingvar Carlsson, Mazda Rally Team Europe was unable to repeat their success, yet still captured third overall amongst manufacturers while Carlsson took seventh in the driver championship standings. Mitsubishi's competitive team Ralliart made its entrance to the WRC scene, taking two rally wins with its Galant VR-4 car, one by Swede Mikael Ericsson in Finland and a second by Finn Pentti Airikkala in England. Ericsson's victory in Finland followed his win in the previous round in Argentina driving a Lancia, giving him the distinction of being the first winner of consecutive WRC events for different manufacturers. Mitsubishi was able to obtain fourth place overall in the standings. The Audi Quattro continued to be competitive in the hands of privateers during the early part of the season, garnering the maker with enough points for fifth, while Simon Racing's Renault 5 GT Turbo powered their driver, Frenchman Alain Oreille to victory in the Ivory Coast and 10th place in the driver standings while securing sixth for the manufacturer.

For 1989, the number of rallies for which manufacturer points would be awarded was reduced to ten of the thirteen events, with events in Sweden, the Ivory Coast, and New Zealand only counting towards the driver titles.

Teams and Drivers

Team Constructor Car Tyre Drivers Rounds
Japan Mazda Rally Team Europe Mazda 323 4WD M Finland Timo Salonen 1–2, 9, 13
Sweden Ingvar Carlsson 1, 7, 10, 13
Finland Hannu Mikkola 2, 9, 13
Finland Mikael Sundström 1, 9, 13
Sweden Thorbjörn Edling 1, 9
Belgium Grégoire de Mévius 1–4, 6, 9, 11–13
New Zealand Ray Wilson 7, 10
New Zealand Rod Millen 7, 10
Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale
Delta Integrale 16V
M Sweden Mikael Ericsson 1, 8
France Bruno Saby 2, 5
Italy Miki Biasion 2–4, 6, 9, 11
France Didier Auriol 2–3, 5–6, 9, 11
Finland Markku Alén 3, 9–10
Argentina Jorge Recalde 4, 8
France Yves Loubet 5
Japan Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165
Supra Turbo
P Sweden Kenneth Eriksson 1, 6, 9–10, 13
Sweden Leif Asterhag 1
Finland Juha Kankkunen 2–3, 5–6, 9–11, 13
Sweden Björn Waldegård 2–4
Belgium Patrick Snijers 2, 5–6, 11
Spain Carlos Sainz 2–3, 5–6, 9, 11, 13
Kenya Ian Duncan 4
United Kingdom David Llewellin 13
United Kingdom Graham Middleton 13
United Kingdom GM Euro Sport Vauxhall
Opel
Astra GTE
Kadett GSI 16V
M United Kingdom Malcolm Wilson 1, 7, 10, 13
Sweden Mats Jonsson 1, 7, 9, 13
Sweden Björn Johansson 1
Sweden Hakan Eriksson 1
Austria Sepp Haider 9–10, 13
United Kingdom Louise Aitken-Walker 13
United Kingdom Ford Motor Company Ford Sierra RS Cosworth M
P
United Kingdom Colin McRae 1, 7, 13
Portugal Joaquim Santos 3
France Pierre-César Baroni 5
Italy Gianfranco Cunico 5, 13
United Kingdom Mark Lovell 5, 13
United Kingdom Jimmy McRae 7, 13
United Kingdom Russell Brookes 13
Italy Jolly Club Lancia Delta Integrale M Italy Alex Fiorio 2–4, 6, 8, 10–11
Italy Dario Cerrato 2, 11
Italy Paolo Andreucci 3, 6
Japan Mitsubshi Ralliart Europe Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 M Finland Ari Vatanen 2, 6, 9, 13
Japan Kenjiro Shinozuka 3, 6–7, 10
United Kingdom Jimmy McRae 6
Australia Ross Dunkerton 7, 10
Sweden Mikael Ericsson 9
Finland Pentti Airikkala 13
Germany Audi Sport Audi 90 Quattro
200 Quattro
Coupé Quattro
M Italy Paola de Martini 2–3, 5–6, 11–12
Austria Georg Fischer 3, 8
Austria Rudi Stohl 4, 6, 10, 12
Germany Armin Schwarz 6, 9, 11, 13
New Zealand Malcolm Stewart 7
France Bastos Motul BMW BMW M3 P Belgium Marc Duez 2–3, 5, 9, 11
France Bernard Béguin 5
France François Chatriot 5
France Simon Racing Renault 5 GT Turbo M France Alain Oreille 2, 5, 10–12
France Claude Balesi 5
France Richard Frau 5
Japan Nissan Motorsports International Nissan 200SX D Sweden Per Eklund 4
Kenya Mike Kirkland 4
Kenya Vic Preston Jr 4
Kenya Jayant Shah 4
Greece Státhis Iorgakis 6
France Alain Ambrosino 12
Germany Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V P Sweden Stig Blomqvist 4
Germany Erwin Weber 4
Greece Konstantinos Apostolou 6
Japan Subaru Technica International Subaru RX Turbo D New Zealand Possum Bourne 4, 7–8, 10
Kenya Patrick Njiru 4
Kenya Jim Heather-Hayes 4
Chile José Celsi 8

Events

1989 World Rally Championship event map
Black = Tarmac Brown = Gravel Blue = Snow/Ice Red = Mixed Surface
1989 World Rally Championship schedule and results
Round Rally name Stages Podium finishers
Rank Driver Co-driver Team Car Time
1 Sweden
39th International Swedish Rally[1]
(6–8 January)
37 stages
504 km
Snow/Ice
1 Sweden Ingvar Carlsson Sweden Per Carlsson Japan Mazda Rally Team Europe Mazda 323 4WD 4:58.15
2 Sweden Per Eklund United Kingdom Dave Whittock Sweden Clarion Team Europe Lancia Delta Integrale 4:59.18
3 Sweden Kenneth Eriksson Sweden Staffan Parmander Sweden Toyota Team Sweden Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 4:59.57
2 Monaco
57ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo
(21–26 January)
24 stages
613 km
Tarmac
1 Italy Miki Biasion Italy Tiziano Siviero Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 7:13.27
2 France Didier Auriol France Bernard Occelli Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 7:19.54
3 France Bruno Saby France Jean-François Fauchille Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 7:21.08
3 Portugal
23º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto
(28 February–4 March)
37 stages
577 km
Tarmac/Gravel
1 Italy Miki Biasion Italy Tiziano Siviero Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 6:47.01
2 Finland Markku Alén Finland Ilkka Kivimäki Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 6:57.19
3 Italy Alex Fiorio Italy Luigi Pirollo Italy Jolly Club Lancia Delta Integrale 7:10.19
4 Kenya
37th Marlboro Safari Rally
(31 March–4 April)
85 controls
4539 km
Gravel
1 Italy Miki Biasion Italy Tiziano Siviero Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale +6:55.27 pen
2 Kenya Mike Kirkland Kenya Robin Nixon Japan Nissan Motorsports International Nissan 200SX +8:16.11 pen
3 Sweden Stig Blomqvist Sweden Björn Cederberg Germany Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V +9:17.39 pen
5 France
33ème Tour de Corse - Rallye de France
(23–26 April)
33 stages
627 km
Tarmac
1 France Didier Auriol France Bernard Occelli Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 7:12.39
2 France François Chatriot France Michel Périn France Bastos Motul BMW BMW M3 7:14.36
3 Finland Juha Kankkunen Finland Juha Piironen Japan Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 7:16.29
6 Greece
36th Acropolis Rally
(27 May–1 June)
42 stages
590 km
Gravel
1 Italy Miki Biasion Italy Tiziano Siviero Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 7:31.43
2 France Didier Auriol France Bernard Occelli Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 7:33.41
3 Italy Alex Fiorio Italy Luigi Pirollo Italy Jolly Club Lancia Delta Integrale 7:35.14
7 New Zealand
19th Rothmans Rally New Zealand[1]
(15–18 July)
42 stages
595 km
Gravel
1 Sweden Ingvar Carlsson Sweden Per Carlsson Japan Mazda Rally Team Europe Mazda 323 4WD 6:59.55
2 New Zealand Rod Millen New Zealand Tony Sircombe New Zealand Rod Millen Motorsport Mazda 323 4WD 7:02.37
3 United Kingdom Malcolm Wilson United Kingdom Ian Grindrod United Kingdom GM Euro Sport Vauxhall Astra GTE 7:03.24
8 Argentina
9º Rally Argentina
(1–5 August)
30 stages
564 km
Gravel
1 Sweden Mikael Ericsson Sweden Claes Billstam Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 7:06.00
2 Italy Alex Fiorio Italy Luigi Pirollo Italy Jolly Club Lancia Delta Integrale 7:08.26
3 Argentina Jorge Recalde Argentina Jorge del Bouno Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 7:19.42
9 Finland
39th 1000 Lakes Rally
(25–27 August)
43 stages
507 km
Gravel
1 Sweden Mikael Ericsson Sweden Claes Billstam Japan Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 4:42.03
2 Finland Timo Salonen Finland Voitto Silander Japan Mazda Rally Team Europe Mazda 323 4WD 4:43.44
3 Spain Carlos Sainz Spain Luis Moya Japan Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 4:44.38
10 Australia
2nd Commonwealth Bank Rally Australia
(14–17 September)
32 stages
544 km
Gravel
1 Finland Juha Kankkunen Finland Juha Piironen Japan Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 5:32.09
2 Sweden Kenneth Eriksson Sweden Staffan Parmander Japan Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 5:33.16
3 Finland Markku Alén Finland Ilkka Kivimäki Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 5:34.22
11 Italy
31º Rallye Sanremo - Rallye d'Italia
(8–12 October)
34 stages
544 km
Tarmac/Gravel
1 Italy Miki Biasion Italy Tiziano Siviero Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta Integrale 16V 6:48.30
2 Italy Alex Fiorio Italy Luigi Pirollo Italy Jolly Club Lancia Delta Integrale 6:48.35
3 Spain Carlos Sainz Spain Luis Moya Japan Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 6:48.55
12 Ivory Coast
20ème Rallye Côte d'Ivoire[1]
(29 October–2 November)
87 controls
3528 km
Gravel
1 France Alain Oreille France Gilles Thimonier France Simon Racing Renault 5 GT Turbo +8:32.54 pen
2 France Patrick Tauziac France Claude Papin Japan Ralliart Mitsubishi Starion Turbo +11:36.50 pen
3 France Adolphe Choteau France Jean-Pierre Claverie Japan Toyota Toyota Corolla GT +13:41.07 pen
13 United Kingdom
38th Lombard RAC Rally
(19–23 November)
55 stages
603 km
Gravel/Tarmac
1 Finland Pentti Airikkala United Kingdom Ronan McNamee Japan Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 6:19.22
2 Spain Carlos Sainz Spain Luis Moya Japan Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 6:20.50
3 Finland Juha Kankkunen Finland Juha Piironen Japan Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 6:23.11
  1. 1 2 3 Event not included in the Manufacturers' Championship

Championship for manufacturers

1989 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers
Rank Manufacturers Event Total
points
Monaco
MON
Portugal
POR
Kenya
KEN
France
FRA
Greece
GRC
Argentina
ARG
Finland
FIN
Australia
AUS
Italy
ITA
United Kingdom
GBR
1 Italy Lancia 20 20 20 20 20 20 (8) (14) 20 - 140
2 Japan Toyota 10 - 12 14 - - 14 20 14 17 101
3 Japan Mazda 12 12 - - - - 17 10 8 8 67
4 Japan Mitsubishi - - - - 12 - 20 6 - 20 58
5 Germany Audi 2 12 - 3 8 12 6 - - - 43
6 Germany BMW 4 10 - 17 - - - - 6 - 37
7 France Renault 9 - - 11 - - - - 10 - 30
8 Japan Nissan - - 17 - 1 - - - - - 18
9 Germany Volkswagen - - 14 - - - - - - - 14
10 Argentina Renault Argentina - - - - - 10 - - - - 15
11 United Kingdom Vauxhall - - - - - - - 8 - 1 9
12 Japan Subaru - - 6 - - - - 1 - - 7
13 United Kingdom Ford - - - 6 - - - - - - 6
14 Argentina Fiat Argentina - - - - - 3 - - - - 3
15 Argentina Volkswagen Argentina - - - - - 1 - - - - 1
1989 World Rally Championship point awards for manufacturers
Points awarded by finish 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
20 17 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

Championship for drivers

1989 World Rally Championship for Drivers
Rank Driver Event Total
points
Sweden
SWE
Monaco
MON
Portugal
POR
Kenya
KEN
France
FRA
Greece
GRC
New Zealand
NZL
Argentina
ARG
Finland
FIN
Australia
AUS
Italy
ITA
Ivory Coast
CIV
United Kingdom
GBR
1 Italy Miki Biasion - 1 1 1 - 20 - - 6 - 20 - - 106
2 Italy Alex Fiorio - Ret 3 10 - 12 - 15 - 10 15 - - 65
3 Finland Juha Kankkunen - 5 Ret - 3 - - - - 20 8 - 12 60
4 Sweden Mikael Ericsson 4 - - - - - - 20 20 - - - - 50
5 France Didier Auriol - 2 Ret - 1 15 - - - - - - - 50
6 Sweden Kenneth Eriksson 3 - - - - - - - 10 15 - - 10 47
7 Sweden Ingvar Carlsson 1 - - - - - 20 - - - - - 3 43
8 Spain Carlos Sainz - Ret Ret - Ret - - - 12 - 12 - 15 39
9 Finland Markku Alén - - 2 - - - - - - 12 - - - 27
10 France Alain Oreille - 10 - - 8 - - - - - 2 20 - 26
11 New Zealand Rod Millen - - - - - - 15 - - 8 - - - 23
12 Finland Timo Salonen 22 Ret - - - - - - 15 - - - 6 21
13 Belgium Marc Duez - 8 5 - 6 - - - - - 4 - - 21
14 Finland Pentti Airikkala - - - - - - - - - - - - 20 20
15 Sweden Stig Blomqvist 5 - - 3 - - - - - - - - - 20
Argentina Jorge Recalde - - - Ret - 8 - 12 - - - - - 20
17 Austria Georg Fischer - - 4 - - - - 10 - - - - - 20
18 United Kingdom Malcolm Wilson 13 - - - - - 12 - - 6 - - 1 19
19 Sweden Per Eklund 2 Ret - Ret - 1 - - - - - - - 16
20 Kenya Mike Kirkland - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - 15
France François Chatriot - - - - 2 - - - - - - - - 15
France Patrick Tauziac - - - - - - - - - - - 15 - 15
23 Italy Dario Cerrato - 7 - - - - - - - - 10 - - 14
24 Japan Kenjiro Shinozuka - - 18 - - 4 6 - - 4 - - - 14
25 France Bruno Saby - 3 - - Ret - - - - - - - - 12
France Adolphe Choteau - - - - - - - - - - - 12 - 12
27 Finland Hannu Mikkola - 4 - - - - - - - - - - 2 12
28 Belgium Patrick Snijers - 6 - - Ret - - - - - 6 - - 12
29 Sweden Björn Waldegård - Ret Ret 4 - - - - - - - - - 10
France Yves Loubet - - - - 4 - - - - - - - - 10
United Kingdom Jimmy McRae - - - - - 10 - - - - - - - 10
Sweden Mats Jonsson 12 - - - - - 10 - - - - - - 10
France André Segolen - - - - - - - - - - - 10 - 10
34 Kenya Ian Duncan - - - 5 - - - - - - - - - 8
France Bernard Béguin - - - - 5 - - - - - - - - 8
United Kingdom Colin McRae 15 - - - - - 8 - - - - - - 8
Argentina Ernesto Soto - - - - - - - 8 - - - - - 8
Sweden Thorbjörn Edling Ret - - - - - - - 8 - - - - 8
France Patrice Servant - - - - - - - - - - - 8 - 8
Finland Ari Vatanen - Ret - - - - - - - - - - 8 8
41 Germany Armin Schwarz - - - - - 3 - - 4 - - - - 7
42 Finland Sebastian Lindholm 6 - - - - - - - - - - - - 6
Portugal Carlos Bica - - 6 - - - - - - - - - - 6
Kenya Vic Preston Jr - - - 6 - - - - - - - - - 6
Austria Rudi Stohl - - - Ret - 6 - - - - - - - 6
Argentina Fernando Stella - - - - - - - 6 - - - - - 6
France José Graziani - - - - - - - - - - - 6 - 6
48 Sweden Stig-Olov Walfridsson 8 - - - - - - - 3 - - - - 6
49 Belgium Grégoire de Mévius - 12 7 Ret - - - - - - 1 - - 5
Uruguay Gustavo Trelles - - 10 - - - - 4 - - - - - 5
New Zealand Possum Bourne - - - 7 - - - - - 1 - - - 5
52 Sweden Leif Asterhag 7 - - - - - - - - - - - - 4
Italy Gianfranco Cunico - - - - 7 - - - - - - - - 4
New Zealand Ray Wilson - - - - - - 4 - - - - - - 4
France Benoît Antoine - - - - - - - - - - - 4 - 4
Finland Mikael Sundström Ret - - - - - - - - - - - 4 4
57 Italy Paola De Martini - 9 Ret - 9 - - - - - - - - 4
58 Italy Paolo Andreucci - - 8 - - - - - - - - - - 3
Germany Erwin Weber - - - 8 - - - - - - - - - 3
Qatar Saeed Al-Hajri - - - - - - 3 - - - - - - 3
Argentina Juan Maria Traverso - - - - - - - 3 - - - - - 3
Australia Wayne Bell - - - - - - - - - 3 - - - 3
Italy Paolo Alessandrini - - - - - - - - - - 3 - - 3
64 Sweden Björn Johansson 9 - - - - - - - - - - - - 2
Sweden Fredrik Skoghag - Ret 9 - - - - - - - - - - 2
Kenya Jim Heather-Hayes - - - 9 - - - - - - - - - 2
Greece Jigger - - - - - 2 - - - - - - - 2
Australia Ross Dunkerton - - - - - - 2 - - - - - - 2
Argentina Jorge Bescham - - - - - - - 2 - - - - - 2
Finland Risto Buri - - - - - - - - 2 - - - - 2
Australia Ed Ordynski - - - - - - - - - 2 - - - 2
72 Sweden Hakån Eriksson 10 - - - - - - - - - - - - 1
France Claude Balesi - - - - 10 - - - - - - - - 1
New Zealand Ken Adamson - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - 1
Brazil Edio Fuchter - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - 1
Finland Esa Saarenpää - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - 1
1989 World Rally Championship point awards for drivers
Points awarded by finish 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1

Cup for production car drivers

1989 FIA Cup for Drivers of Production Cars
Rank Driver Event Total
points
Sweden
SWE
Monaco
MON
Portugal
POR
Kenya
KEN
France
FRA
Greece
GRC
New Zealand
NZL
Argentina
ARG
Finland
FIN
Australia
AUS
Italy
ITA
Ivory Coast
CIV
United Kingdom
GBR
1 France Alain Oreille - 13 - - 13 - - - - 7 13 13 - 59
2 Belgium Grégoire de Mévius 4 10 13 - - - - - - - 11 - 13 51
3 Uruguay Gustavo Trelles 7 - 5 - - 1 - 13 13 - - - - 39
4 Sweden Fredrik Skoghag - - 7 - - 2 - - 2 10 - - - 21
5 Japan Kiyoshi Inoue - - 3 - - 13 - - - 2 - - - 18
6 Sweden Sören Nilsson 13 - - - - - - - - - - - - 13
New Zealand Ken Adamson - - - - - - 13 - - - - - - 13
Australia Ed Ordynski - - - - - - - - - 13 - - - 13
9 Switzerland Marc Hopf - - - - - - - - - - 5 - 7 12
10 France Patrice Servant - - - - - - - - - - - 11 - 11

See also

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