Ari Vatanen

WRC driver
Name = Ari Vatanen


Caption =Ari Vatanen
Nationality = flagicon|Finland Finnish
Years = 1974 - 1998, 2003
Teams = Ford, Opel, Peugeot, Subaru, BMW, Mitsubishi
Races = 101
Championships = 1 (1981)
Wins = 10
Podiums = 27
Stagewins = 527
Points = 518
First race = 1974 1000 Lakes Rally
First win = 1980 Acropolis Rally
Last win = 1985 Swedish Rally
Last race = 2003 Neste Oil Rally Finland

Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen (Audio|Fi-Ari_Vatanen.ogg|pronunciation) (born April 27, 1952 in Tuupovaara) is a Finnish rally driver turned politician and Member of the European Parliament. Vatanen won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981 and the Paris Dakar Rally four times.

Biography

Vatanen was born and grew up in rural Tuupovaara in Eastern Finland. His debut year in professional rallying was 1970, and he debuted in the World Rally Championship at the 1974 1000 Lakes Rally. He won the British Rally Championship in 1976 and 1978 with Peter Bryant and David Richards. In 1977, Vatanen became a regular privateer contestant in the WRC with a Ford Escort RS1800. For the 1979 season, he was signed by Rothmans Rally Team. Continuing with an RS1800, he took his debut win at the 1980 Acropolis Rally and became the World Rally Champion in 1981. From 1979 until the end of 1981, Vatanen was co-driven by David Richards, who went on to become chairman of Prodrive, the Banbury based motorsport team and one of the most influential figures in British (and worldwide) motorsport. In the 1982 season, Vatanen did not defend his title and competed in only three world rallies.

In 1984, Vatanen signed to drive the Peugeot 205 T16 for Peugeot's factory team. From the 1984 1000 Lakes Rally to 1985 Swedish Rally, Vatanen won five world rallies in a row. Close to death after a major accident on the 1985 Rally Argentina, Vatanen spent 18 months winning a personal health battle over serious injury and depression. He went on to make a complete recovery and his return to motorsport in 1987 saw him go on to win the Paris-Dakar Rally four times; with Peugeot in 1987, 1989 and 1990, and with Citroën in 1991. He became the centre of controversy when his car was stolen whilst leading the same rally in 1988.

With Peugeot, Vatanen also won the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, after Peugeot stopped participating in the World Rally Championship in 1986, due to the demise of Group B rallying. Peugeot used the lessons learnt from its 205 T16 to create the 405 T16. With at least 600bhp, large aerofoils, four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering, Vatanen took the car up the hill in record time, his efforts being captured in the award-winning short film "Climb Dance".

Vatanen's autobiography "Every Second Counts", detailing his life and career up until that point, was published in 1988 (SAF Publishing, ISBN 0-946719-04-7) and instantly became a best seller.

Vatanen continued competing in the World Rally Championship more or less actively until the 1998 season. He drove for Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe in four events in 1989 and in five events in 1990. His best result with the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 was second at the 1990 1000 Lakes Rally. From 1992 to 1993, he competed for Subaru in 11 events, finishing second three times, including on the debut event of the first Subaru Impreza in Finland. He later returned to the wheel of an Escort, driving now the Ford Escort WRC for Ford's factory team in a few events, most notably finishing on the podium at the 1994 Rally Argentina and at the 1998 Safari Rally. [cite web | title=Ari Vatanen | work=RallyBase | url=http://www.rallybase.nl/index.php?type=profile&driverid=2464 | accessdate=2007-01-30] He then briefly returned to a works Subaru for the season-ending Rally of Great Britain, marking his 100th World Rally Championship event.

Following his years of working with a French rally team, in 1993 he settled in southern France where he bought a farm and a winery. He soon developed an interest in politics, and in 1999 he was elected to the European Parliament from the list of the conservative Finnish National Coalition party, despite continuing to live in France. The issues he has worked on include car taxation, traffic policies, development aid, and agricultural policy.

In 2004 he was re-elected, this time from the list of the conservative French Union for a Popular Movement. His hunger for motorsport had not left him completely however, and Vatanen joined Nissan in the Paris-Dakar in 2003, finishing seventh. He also made an appearance at the 2003 Rally Finland with a Bozian Racing-prepared Peugeot 206 WRC, and finished eleventh. In 2004 and 2005, Vatanen drove the Dakar for Nissan as well, and in 2007 he made another attempt with Volkswagen, but retired on the seventh stage. [cite web | url=http://www.dakar.com/2007/DAK/LIVE/us/800/classement/ABA.html |title=Dakar 2007 Withdrawals]

In September 2008, Vatanen took part in the "Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally", a round of the Scottish Rally Championship centred in Perth in Scotland. His co-driver was once again David Richards and they competed in the same Rothmans sponsored Ford Escort RS1800 that they drove in 1981. He was one of a number of ex-world champions to take part in the event in memory of McRae, who died in 2007.

WRC victories

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References

External links

* [http://www.arivatanen.com Ari Vatanen's official website]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3368948773832597270 Climb Dance at Google Video]
* [http://www.rallybase.nl/index.php?type=profile&driverid=2464 Profile at RallyBase]