Rauno Aaltonen
Rauno August Aaltonen
Aaltonen in the late 1970s
Personal information
NationalityFinland Finnish
Born (1938-01-07) 7 January 1938 (age 86)
Turku, Finland
World Rally Championship record
Active years1973–1987
Co-driverUnited Kingdom Paul Easter
United Kingdom John Davenport
United Kingdom Robin Turvey
West Germany Wolfgang Stiller
West Germany Edgar Herrmann
Sweden Claes Billstam
West Germany Willi-Peter Pitz
Kenya Lofty Drews
United Kingdom Kevin Gormley
TeamsDatsun, Fiat, Opel
Rallies26
Rally wins0
Podiums6
Stage wins11
Total points65
First rally1973 Monte Carlo Rally
Last rally1987 Safari Rally

Rauno August Aaltonen (born 7 January 1938), also known as "The Rally Professor", is a Finnish former professional rally driver who competed in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1970s.

Career

Before WRC was established Aaltonen competed in the European Rally Championship. He won the championship in 1965, with Tony Ambrose as his co-driver. He also won the Finnish Rally Championship in 1961 and 1965. In 1966, he partnered Bob Holden in Australia to win the premier touring car race, the Gallaher 500, in a Mini Cooper S at Mount Panorama in New South Wales.

Aaltonen finished second on six occasions in the Safari Rally, which is considered one of the most difficult courses in rallying. In 1985, he was leading the rally by two hours when his engine broke down before the last few special stages. His other merits include winning the 1000 Lakes Rally in 1961, the RAC Rally in 1965, the Monte Carlo Rally in 1967, the Southern Cross Rally in 1977, and a Coupe des Alpes at the Alpine Rally in 1963 and 1964.[1]

Despite now being remembered as one of the Flying Finns of rallying, Aaltonen started his career on speed boats and later moved on to motorcycles competing in road racing, speedway and motocross. Before he became the first Finnish European Rally Champion, he was the first Finn to win a Grand Prix motorcycle racing competition.

Aaltonen was a proponent of left-foot braking.[2] In 2010, he was among the first four inductees into the Rally Hall of Fame, along with Erik Carlsson, Paddy Hopkirk and Timo Mäkinen.[3]

Technique of rotating a car by 360 degrees, while maintaining trajectory, was named after him.

Career results

Complete IMC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1970 Ford Deutschland Ford Capri RS2600 MON SWE ITA KEN
Ret 		AUT GRE
Nissan Datsun Datsun 240Z GBR
7
1971 Yhtymä Oy Autokeskus Datsun 240Z MON
5 		SWE ITA
Nissan Motor Company Ltd KEN
7 		MAR
Nissan Europe Rally Team GBR
Ret
BMW AG BMW 2002 TI AUT
Ret 		GRE
1972 Nissan Motor Company Ltd Datsun 240Z MON
3 		SWE KEN
6
Nissan Europe Rally Team GBR
11
Citroën Compétitions Citroën SM MAR
Ret
Sears Roebuck Ltd BMW 2002 TI GRE
Ret
BMW AG BMW 3.0 CSL AUT
Ret 		ITA USA

Complete WRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WDC Points
1973 Nissan Motor Company Ltd Datsun 240Z MON
18 		SWE POR KEN
Ret 		N/A N/A
Fiat S.p.A Fiat 124 Abarth Spider MOR
Ret 		GRE
2 		POL FIN AUT ITA USA
Irmscher Tuning Opel Ascona GBR
Ret 		FRA
1974 African Roadways Ltd Datsun 1800 SSS MON SWE POR KEN
6 		GRE FIN ITA CAN USA N/A N/A
Fiat S.p.A Fiat 124 Abarth Spider GBR
12 		FRA
1975 Opel Euro Händler Team Opel Ascona MON SWE KEN
Ret 		GRC
Ret 		MOR
Ret 		POR
4 		FIN ITA
Ret 		FRA N/A N/A
Opel Kadett GT/E GBR
Ret
1976 Opel Euro Händler Team Opel Kadett GT/E MON SWE POR KEN
Ret 		GRC MOR FIN ITA FRA GBR
Ret 		N/A N/A
1977 D.T. Dobie & Co (EA) Ltd Datsun 160J MON SWE POR KEN
2 		NZL GRC FIN CAN ITA FRA GBR N/A N/A
1978 D.T. Dobie & Co (EA) Ltd Datsun 160J MON SWE KEN
3 		POR GRC FIN CAN ITA CIV FRA GBR N/A N/A
1979 D.T. Dobie / Team Datsun Datsun 160J MON SWE POR KEN
5 		GRC NZL FIN CAN ITA FRA GBR CIV 28th 8
1980 D.T. Dobie / Team Datsun Datsun 160J MON SWE POR KEN
2 		GRC ARG FIN NZL ITA FRA GBR CIV 16th 15
1981 D.T. Dobie / Team Datsun Datsun 160J MON
13 		SWE POR 19th 15
Datsun Violet GT KEN
2 		FRA GRC ARG BRA FIN ITA CIV GBR
1982 Rothmans Opel Rally Team Opel Ascona 400 MON SWE POR KEN
Ret 		FRA GRC NZL BRA FIN ITA CIV GBR NC 0
1983 Rothmans Opel Rally Team Opel Ascona 400 MON SWE POR KEN
Ret 		FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR NC 0
1984 Opel Euro Team Opel Ascona 400 MON SWE POR KEN
2 		FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR 15th 15
1985 Opel Euro Team Opel Ascona 400 MON SWE POR KEN
4 		FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR 22nd 10
1987 GM Euro Sport Opel Kadett GSi MON SWE POR KEN
9 		FRA GRC USA NZL ARG FIN CIV ITA GBR 58th 2

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1964 United Kingdom Donald Healey Motor Company United Kingdom Clive Baker Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite P 1.5 256 DNF DNF

Complete Bathurst 500/1000 results

Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
pos.
1966 Australia BMC Australia Australia Bob Holden Morris Cooper S C 130 1st 1st
1991 Australia Bob Holden Motors Australia Bob Holden
Australia Dennis Rogers 		Toyota Corolla 3 124 20th 4th

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos. Pts Class
1970 Ford Köln Ford Capri 2300 GT D BRH SNE THR SIL CRY SIL SIL
27 		CRO BRH OUL BRH BRH NC 0 NC
Source:[4]

Gallery

References

  1. ^ Pfundner, Martin (2005). Alpine Trials & Rallies: 1910 to 1973. Veloce Publishing Ltd. pp. 90–91.
  2. ^ "Driving Legends". theitalianjob.com. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  3. ^ "New Inductees to Rally Hall of Fame". Neste Oil Rally Finland. 9 February 2011. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  4. ^ de Jong, Frank. "British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993. Retrieved 12 October 2022.

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Sporting positions Preceded byTom Trana European Rally Champion 1965 Succeeded byG1: Lillebror Nasenius G2: Sobiesław Zasada G3: Günter Klass Preceded byBarry Seton Midge Bosworth Winner of the Bathurst 500 1966 (with Bob Holden) Succeeded byHarry Firth Fred Gibson
Bathurst 1000 winners
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