WRC career (1975–2002) at the 1986
Monte Carlo Rally Salonen achieved his first podium place in the World Rally Championship by driving his
Fiat 131 Abarth to second place at the 1977
1000 Lakes Rally. He went on to win the next rally, the 1977
Critérium du Québec, which was only his fifth WRC event and his first outside his home country. Salonen's factory team career at World Championship level began with
Nissan, mainly on long-distance events. In
1984, however, he achieved a string of top-ten finishes, resulting in
Jean Todt inviting him to drive for
Peugeot in the
1985 season. He began that year playing a supporting role to
Ari Vatanen but quickly proved capable of being in a leading role, especially after Vatanen's near-fatal accident in
Argentina. Salonen set a record by winning four world rallies in a row – unmatched and unbroken until
Sébastien Loeb's six wins in a row in 2005 – and went on to win the World Championship with a record 52-point margin ahead of second-placed
Stig Blomqvist. Salonen then remained at Peugeot for the
1986 season, and finished third in the drivers' championship, behind his new team-mate
Juha Kankkunen and
Lancia driver
Markku Alén. He has remained the most successful driver of Group B with his seven rally wins and one World Rally Championship. In the turbulent world of post-
Group B rallying, Salonen starred for
Mazda, taking a popular win on the 1987
Swedish Rally. His last WRC event in action was the 1992
Rally Portugal in a
Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 until he made a one-time comeback at the 2002
Neste Rally Finland. He managed his
Peugeot 206 WRC to 14th place overall. Salonen was mainly
co-driven by
Seppo Harjanne, who would later go on to achieve even more success with
Tommi Mäkinen (the pairing of Tommi Mäkinen and Seppo Harjanne achieved 2 championship titles from 1996 to 1997 by 1 point until Harjanne was replaced by
Risto Mannisenmäki from 1998 to 2001). After retiring from rallying, Salonen has worked as the CEO for his car sales company Autotalo Timo Salonen in Finland.
Rally Raid career (1992–1995) Following his full-time WRC career, he drove for Guy Fréquelin's Citroën rally raid team. During the 1992 Paris-Moscow-Beijing rally raid, Salonen's ZX burnt to the ground. In 1993, he then competed regularly for the squad, winning the 1993 Pharaohs Rally Raid in the works ZX and helping the team win the Cross-Country World Cup manufacturers' title. That same season, Salonen also finished fourth on the Baja Aragon Raid, second on the Atlas Rally Raid and third on the United Arab Emirates Desert Challenge. He would withdraw from the 1993 Paris-Dakar rally, however, when co-driver
Fred Gallagher (co-driver) injured his back after a heavy landing. For the following season, the Finn could not compete in 1994's Paris-Dakar-Paris. Citroën and the event organisers disagreed about the running of the event, the French marque entering a reduced squad of just two ZXs in protest. He did still drive for the team during the World Cup, finishing second on the Tunisia Rally Raid, following a penultimate stage crash that robbed him of the win, taking the victory on the Baja Aragón and providing a test drive for
Top Gear (1977 TV series)'s
Jeremy Clarkson. In the 1995 Granda-Dakar rally, he finished fifth, after losing over five hours when his ZX lost drive to its front wheels. Salonen also finished third on the Atlas Rally that season and second on the Baja España-Aragón. ==Complete WRC results==