.jpg) Markku Alén (r.) and navigatorIlkka Kivimäki (1976) | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Finnish |
| Born | (1951-02-15)15 February 1951 (age 74) Helsinki, Finland |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 1973–1993, 2001 |
| Co-driver | Juhani Toivonen Ilkka Kivimäki Atso Aho Paul White Ilkka Riipinen |
| Teams | Ford,Fiat,Lancia,Subaru,Toyota |
| Rallies | 129 |
| Championships | 1 (1978) |
| Rally wins | 19 |
| Podiums | 56 |
| Stage wins | 801[1] |
| Total points | 840 |
| First rally | 1973 1000 Lakes Rally |
| First win | 1975Rally Portugal |
| Last win | 1988RAC Rally |
| Last rally | 2001 Rally Finland |
Markku Allan Alén (born 15 February 1951) is aFinnish formerrally andrace car driver. He drove forFiat,Lancia,Subaru andToyota in theWorld Rally Championship, and held therecord for most stage wins (801) in the series, untilSébastien Loeb overtook it at the2011 Rally Catalunya. Alén's phrase "now maximum attack" became well known.[2]
Alén never won the world championship itself, despite being for a long time the driver with the most wins to his credit. However, he did win theFIA Cup for Drivers in1978, the precursor to theWorld Championship for Drivers established in1979. In1986, he was the world champion for eleven days, untilPeugeot's appeal went through and the results ofRallye Sanremo, which Alén had won, were annulled.[2]
Alén's interest in motorsport came from his father, who was the 1963 Finnish champion inice racing. Alén started his rallying career in 1969 driving aRenault 8Gordini, and finished ninth at the1000 Lakes Rally at his first attempt. After getting a contract with the Finnish Volvo importer to drive theVolvo 142, he finished third at the 1000 Lakes in 1971 and 1972. At hisWorld Rally Championship debut at the1973 1000 Lakes Rally, he took second place behindTimo Mäkinen.
Alén's performances at his home event caught the attention of bothFiat andFord. With Ford'sEscort RS 1600, he established his reputation as a hard-charger on the 1973RAC Rally by finishing third, despite rolling his car on the first day and dropping to 178th place. This resulted in a "dream contract" with Fiat, with a very large salary. Alén also became the first rally driver to be assigned a personal fitness program.[3]
In1974 and1975, Alén drove theFiat 124 Abarth Rallye, achieving several podiums and then his debut WRC win at the 1975Rally Portugal. During the1976 season, Fiat debuted the newFiat 131 Abarth, which would prove to be a big improvement over its predecessor. Alén won the 1976 1000 Lakes and the 1977 Rally Portugal, and helped Fiat to their firstmanufacturers' title in 1977.
Then in1978, Alén took the car to two wins and five consecutive podiums. In theRallye Sanremo, he debuted in Alitalia Fiat'sLancia Stratos HF and won his third world rally of the season. These performances brought him the FIA Cup for Drivers title, well ahead of main rivalsJean-Pierre Nicolas andHannu Mikkola, and Fiat their second manufacturers' title. Alén continued with Fiat for the next three years, taking a win each season.
After Fiat wound up their works rally team, Alén moved to the related Lancia team. In1982 he debuted the marque's first of twoGroup B categoryhomologated models, theLancia 037, a rear-wheel drive car which was, in consequence, a particular performer on the championship's asphalt rounds. Alén's several wins with it in1983 helped Lancia narrowly pipAudi and their four-wheel drive long wheelbaseQuattro to that year'sconstructors' championship. Indeed, it was Alén who was responsible for the car's final victory, on the1984Tour de Corse, in a year in which Audi retook both of the title honours, before it was replaced by the four-wheel driveLancia Delta S4 from the final round, inGreat Britain, of the1985 season.
Having become unequivocal team leader in the aftermath of teammateHenri Toivonen's death inCorsica the following year, Alén narrowly lost the1986World Rally Championship to rival driver,Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 pilotJuha Kankkunen. Late in the season, Alén had been victorious on theRallye Sanremo only after Kankkunen'sPeugeot team was excluded by the organisers on a controversial technicality. Peugeot subsequently appealed the exclusion to theFISA, which eventually annulled the results of the rally, stripping Alén of the World Championship title which he had held for just eleven days, which led to Alén famously boycotting the 1987 Monte Carlo Rally.[4][5]
Alén remained at Lancia after the abolition of Group B at the end of 1986, and adapted successfully to the replacementGroup A formula. He won three events in theLancia Delta HF 4WD in1987, but lost his chance to take second place in the world driver's championship after rolling his car in front of the TV cameras on the 1987RAC Rally. He won another three events thefollowing year, culminating in an emotional first victory in the RAC, an event he had been trying to win for fifteen years. It was to be his last world championship victory.
In1990, Alén moved to the burgeoningProdrive-runSubaru World Rally Team, and was responsible for many of theSubaru Legacy's early successes, including fourth in the 19901000 Lakes Rally, and a third and two fourth places thefollowing season. For1992 he moved to theToyota team, but found himself playing very much a supporting role toCarlos Sainz. The1993 season found Alén without a full-time position, and he drove for Toyota and Subaru early in the season, taking second place for Toyota in theSafari Rally and 4th for Subaru inPortugal. Along with fellow veteran and1981 World ChampionAri Vatanen, he drove theSubaru Impreza on its debut event, the 1000 Lakes Rally. Unfortunately for Alén, he crashed on the first stage of the event. This effectively marked the end of his career as a top-line rally driver.
He drove two races of theInternational Touring Car Championship of 1995 forAlfa Romeo, driving the same number of races inDTM earlier that year. He also drove inTrophy Andros in 1996 and 1997.To celebrate his 50th birthday in2001, he entered that year'sNeste Rally Finland in August, finishing in a respectable 16th place overall with aFord Focus WRC. He has also participated in theParis-Dakar rally twice in the truck class, one of which was for Iveco in 2006 alongside team-mateMiki Biasion. He competed in the event in a car for the manufacturer Izusu team in 2007.[6] His sonAnton Alén, drove aSuper 2000 classFiat Punto in theIntercontinental Rally Challenge series.
In March 2010,Luca di Montezemolo hired Alén as a Ferrari test driver. He started with snow tests on theFerrari 458 Italia.[7]
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 |  Scuderia Lancia Corse | Gianfranco BrancatelliPiercarlo Ghinzani | Lancia Montecarlo Turbo | Gr. 5 SP 2.0 | 26 | DNF | DNF |
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Autosport International Rally Driver Award 1988 | Succeeded by |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by | FIA Cup for Rally Drivers champion 1978 | Succeeded by |
| Records | ||
| Preceded by | Youngest rally winner 24 years, 156 days (1975Rallye de Portugal) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Most rally wins 19 wins, 19th at the1988RAC Rally | Succeeded by |
Authority control databases: National |
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