Timo Salonen

Timo Salonen
Salonen in 2017.
Personal information
NationalityFinland Finnish
Born (1951-10-08) 8 October 1951 (age 73)
Helsinki, Finland
World Rally Championship record
Active years1974 – 1992, 2002
Co-driverFinland Seppo Harjanne
Finland Jaakko Markkula
Finland Erkki Nyman
South Africa Stuart Pegg
Finland Voitto Silander
Finland Launo Heinonen
TeamsFiat, Datsun, Nissan, Peugeot, Mazda, Mitsubishi
Rallies95
Championships1 (1985)
Rally wins11
Podiums24
Stage wins256
Total points524
First rally1974 1000 Lakes Rally
First win1977 Rally Canada
Last win1987 Swedish Rally
Last rally2002 Neste Rally Finland

Timo Salonen (born 8 October 1951) is a Finnish former rally driver who won the 1985 World Rally Championship season for Peugeot. It was commented of him that he stood out from other drivers, because he was overweight, wore thick glasses and smoked heavily, but still remained one of the fastest and most competitive drivers in the sport. He was also known for his relaxed attitude and for his habit of steering his rally car with one hand only. These factors led to the nickname Löysä ("Slack").[1] With his 11 rally wins he remained the most successful driver of Group B era (1983–1986) of WRC.

  1. ^ "Timo Salonen, ensimmäisen luokan ajaja". Suomen Moottoriurheilumuseo (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2008.