Ari Vatanen
Ari Vatanen is a Finnish rally driver, born in Tuupovaara on 1952-04-27. 1981 wrc world champion is the short version of the record; the long version, season by season, is below.
Ari Vatanen: Career Record And Results At A Glance
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | Ari Vatanen |
| Born | 1952-04-27 — Tuupovaara |
| Nationality | Finland |
| Discipline | rally driver, politician |
| Teams on record | Ford World Rally Team, Opel Rally Team, Peugeot Sport, Ralliart, Subaru World Rally Team |
| Honours | Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class, Knight First Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland, Officer of the National Order of Merit |
| Stories in the last 30 days | 0 |
Those fields are Wikidata claims. Each carries its own item identifier, so any of them can be re-checked at source. A missing field means neither source holds it. Nothing here is estimated.
Ari Vatanen Career Wins On Record
5 wins are listed on the career record. Those 5 wins are given as they appear in the source — event, season and co-driver where a co-driver applies — rather than summarised into a career total, because a summarised total is the kind of number that goes quietly out of date. The results below are the record itself — each win, the season it was won in, and the co-driver alongside him for it. A career of 5 wins reads differently depending on how many starts it took, which is why the season results follow rather than a standalone win total.
| Number | Event | Season | Co-driver | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Acropolis Rally | 1980 | David Richards | Ford Escort RS1800 |
| 2 | Acropolis Rally | 1981 | ||
| 5 | Safari Rally | 1983 | Terry Harryman | Opel Ascona 400 |
| 6 | 1000 Lakes Rally | 1984 | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | |
| 9 | Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo | 1985 |
Ari Vatanen Career Results, Season By Season
Ari Vatanen season by season from 1974 to 2007: which team, which car, and where each campaign finished. On the rally side the columns are the individual rounds, so a blank means he did not start that event and a number means he did. Wins, podiums and championship positions are in the same table rather than summarised above it.
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Ari Vatanen | Opel Ascona 19 | MON C | SWE C | POR | KEN | GRE C | FIN Ret | ITA | CAN | USA | GBR | FRA |
| 1975 | Ford Motor Company Ltd | Ford Escort RS1600 | MON | SWE | KEN | GRC | MOR | POR | FIN Ret | ITA | FRA | ||
| 1976 | Ford Motor Company Ltd | Ford Escort RS1800 | MON | SWE | POR | KEN | GRC | MOR | FIN Ret | ITA | FRA | GBR Ret | |
| 1977 | Ford Motor Company Ltd | Ford Escort RS1800 | MON | SWE | POR Ret | KEN Ret | NZL 2 | GRC Ret | FIN Ret | CAN Ret | ITA Ret | FRA | GBR Ret |
| 1978 | Ford Motor Company Ltd | Ford Escort RS1800 | MON | SWE 5 | KEN | POR Ret | GRC | FIN Ret | CAN | ITA | CIV | FRA | |
| 1979 | Rothmans Ford Rally Team | Ford Fiesta 1600 | MON 10 | ||||||||||
| 1980 | Publimmo Racing | Ford Escort RS1800 | MON Ret | ||||||||||
| 1981 | Rothmans Ford Rally Team | Ford Escort RS1800 | MON Ret | SWE 2 | POR Ret | KEN | FRA | GRC 1 | ARG Ret | BRA 1 | FIN 1 | ITA 7 | CIV 9 |
| 1982 | David Sutton Motorsport | Ford Escort RS1800 | MON | SWE 2 | POR | KEN | FRA | GRC | NZL | BRA | |||
| 1983 | Rothmans Opel Rally Team | Opel Ascona 400 | MON 5 | SWE 6 | POR | KEN 1 | FRA | ||||||
| 1984 | Shell Peugeot Talbot Sport | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | MON | SWE | POR | KEN | FRA Ret | GRC Ret | NZL | ARG | FIN 1 | ITA 1 | CIV |
| 1985 | Shell Peugeot Talbot Sport | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | MON 1 | SWE 1 | POR Ret | KEN Ret | FRA Ret | ||||||
| 1987 | Fuji Heavy Industries | Subaru RX Turbo | MON | SWE | POR | KEN 10 | FRA | GRC | USA | NZL | ARG | ||
| 1988 | Prodrive BMW | BMW M3 | MON | SWE | POR | KEN | FRA | GRC | USA | NZL | ARG | FIN Ret | CIV |
| 1989 | Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe | Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 | SWE | MON 87 | POR | KEN | FRA | GRC Ret | NZL | ARG | FIN Ret | AUS | ITA |
Early career and breakthrough
Ari Vatanen began his rallying career in 1970. His World Rally Championship (WRC) debut occurred in 1974 at the 1000 Lakes Rally. That same year, Vatanen won the Nortti Rally, driving an Opel Ascona, notably ahead of Hannu Mikkola.
His first international rally was the 1975 Rothmans 747 Rally in Jamaica. Vatanen, co-driven by Gerry Phillips in a Datsun 120Y, finished 12th. This performance led to a professional drive offer from Ford, in an Escort RS1800, for the RAC Rally. He retired from this event but secured a seat with the Ford works team for the British Rally Championship in 1976.
Vatanen won the British Rally Championship in 1976. He repeated this achievement in 1980, with David Richards as co-driver. Between these titles, Vatanen competed in selected WRC events, initially for Ford World Rally Team and then for the Rothmans Rally Team after Ford's official withdrawal. His maiden WRC victory came at the 1980 Acropolis Rally. Vatanen secured the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981.
Peak performance and resilience
Following his 1981 WRC title, Vatanen and co-driver David Richards separated. Vatanen then partnered with Terry Harryman for several seasons. He did not defend his world title in 1982, instead competing in the British Championship. In 1983, he joined Opel Rally Team, driving the Opel Ascona and Opel Manta. Despite these vehicles being two-wheel-drive, Vatanen won the Safari Rally.
In 1984, Vatanen signed with Peugeot Sport to drive the Peugeot 205 T16. From the 1984 1000 Lakes Rally to the 1985 Swedish Rally, he achieved five consecutive WRC victories. He was a contender for the 1985 world title but trailed teammate Timo Salonen due to accidents and mechanical issues. A severe accident at the Rally Argentina, where his car somersaulted at over 120 mph, caused significant injuries and internal bleeding. He spent 18 months in recovery.
Vatanen returned to motorsport in 1987. He went on to win the Paris-Dakar Rally four times: in 1987, 1989, and 1990 with Peugeot, and in 1991 with Citroën. In 1988, his car was stolen while leading the Paris-Dakar. Vatanen also won the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb with Peugeot after their WRC exit. He drove the Peugeot 405 T16, a car derived from the 205 T16, with over 600 bhp, four-wheel drive, and four-wheel steering, setting a record time for the ascent. In 1997, Vatanen won the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies with a Citroën ZX Rallye-raid, alongside navigator Fred Gallagher.
Later career and post-rallying life
Vatanen continued to compete in the WRC until the 1998 season. In 1989, he contested four events with Mitsubishi Ralliart, and five events in 1990. His best result with the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 was a second-place finish at the 1990 1000 Lakes Rally. From 1992 to 1993, he competed for Subaru World Rally Team in 11 events, achieving second place three times. This included a second-place finish at the debut event of the first Subaru Impreza in Finland, where he briefly led before being overtaken by Juha Kankkunen. Subaru dropped him at the end of the 1993 season in favor of Carlos Sainz.
In 1994, Vatanen returned to Ford, driving an Escort RS Cosworth for a semi-private team. He later joined the factory Ford World Rally Team as a stand-in for the injured Francois Delecour. He secured a podium finish at Rally Argentina, nine years after his major accident at the same event. From 1995, Vatanen's WRC appearances became less frequent. He achieved a podium finish at the 1998 Safari Rally and participated in his 100th WRC event at the season-ending Rally of Great Britain with Subaru.
Vatanen competed in the Paris-Dakar Rally with Nissan in 2003, finishing seventh. He also made an appearance at the 2003 Rally Finland in a Bozian Racing-prepared Peugeot 206 WRC, finishing eleventh. He drove for Nissan in the Dakar in 2004 and 2005. In 2007, he made another attempt with Volkswagen, but retired on the seventh stage due to a fire. In September 2008, Vatanen participated in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, co-driven by David Richards in the same Rothmans-sponsored Ford Escort RS1800 from 1981, as a tribute to Colin McRae.
Beyond motorsport, Ari Vatanen was elected to the European Parliament in 1999 from Finland's National Coalition party. He was re-elected in 2004, this time from France's Union for a Popular Movement. He ran again in 2009 for the National Coalition party but was not elected. In 2009, Vatanen ran for the presidency of the FIA, ultimately losing to Jean Todt. He holds the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class, is a Knight First Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland, and an Officer of the National Order of Merit. Vatanen, born on April 27, 1952, in Tuupovaara, Finland, holds Finnish citizenship.
Every Driver From The Same Country Racing In 2026
11 of them are contesting a professional championship this season. This is the field a driver is measured against at home, and where his own career sits in it. The bars are 30-day story counts from our own tracking: they show how much attention a driver is getting, not how quick he is.
| Driver | Series | Team | Stories, 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sami Pajari | WRC | Toyota | 39 |
| Valtteri Bottas | F1 | Cadillac | 28 |
| Teemu Suninen | ERC/WRC2 | Hyundai | 16 |
| Kalle Rovanperä | single-seaters/GT | – | 9 |
| Esapekka Lappi | WRC | Hyundai | 9 |
| Tuukka Taponen | FIA F3 | Ferrari Driver Academy | 7 |
| Jari-Matti Latvala | WRC | Toyota (team principal) | 5 |
| Roope Korhonen | WRC junior | – | 2 |
| Marcus Amand | Porsche Supercup | – | 2 |
| Lauri Joona | WRC2 | – | 2 |
| Emil Lindholm | WRC2 | – | 1 |
Finland's World Rally Champions
Finland has produced more World Rally Championship drivers' titles than any other country, and the list is short enough to give in full. Every name here has a page on this site.
| Driver | Titles | Record on this site |
|---|---|---|
| Juha Kankkunen | 4 (1986, 1987, 1991, 1993) | four WRC world titles |
| Tommi Mäkinen | 4 (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999) | four WRC world titles |
| Marcus Grönholm | 2 (2000, 2002) | two WRC world titles |
| Kalle Rovanperä | 2 (2022, 2023) | two WRC world titles |
| Ari Vatanen | 1 (1981) | 1981 WRC world champion |
| Timo Salonen | 1 (1985) | 1985 WRC world champion |
Ari Vatanen holds 1 titles on that list. Six drivers are on it against one Finn currently in Formula 1, and six more are contesting the World Rally Championship this season. That is the ratio this site has to be built around, and it is why the rally desk is not a sideline to the F1 desk.
Teams Ari Vatanen Has Driven For
The teams carried on this driver's record, most recent first where the record orders them: Ford World Rally Team, Opel Rally Team, Peugeot Sport, Ralliart, Subaru World Rally Team. A team list is a blunt instrument on its own — it says nothing about which car was competitive — which is why the season-by-season results table above gives his finishing positions alongside each one.
Following Ari Vatanen Through The 2026 Season
Our Finnish drivers desk covers every round he contests. The 2026 calendar carries each session in Helsinki time. His results land in the results archive.
Ari Vatanen is one of the drivers tracked on the driver index. Start there for the whole picture: one on the Formula 1 grid and six in the World Rally Championship — a ratio that would have looked absurd twenty years ago. The junior ladder is where the next ones come from.
Every driver page here is generated from the same record, so the figures are comparable across them. The method is set out in the editorial policy, and the desk that maintains these pages is the Finnish Desk.
Career fields are Wikidata claims (birth date, birthplace, teams, honours) and the results tables are the career-statistics tables from the same entity's reference article, source. Formula 1 career totals are from our own Finnish F1 dataset; 2026 finishes are the official classification via the Jolpica Ergast mirror. Checked 26 August 2026. Where a figure is absent it is because the record does not carry it.