The 1989 World Rally Championship was the 17th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). The season consisted of 13 rallies, with some adjustments to the schedule versus the previous season. The WRC ended its participation in North America by removing the Olympus Rally from the schedule, implementing in its place Rally Australia. An anomaly in the schedule was that 1989 was the only year in which the Swedish Rally and the Rallye de Monte Carlo were switched in place, with the Swedish event taking place to start the year. This made it the second and last time that Monte Carlo would not mark the first event of the WRC season until the 2009 season.

Martini Lancia continued their domination of the sport for a third year in 1989, winning the first six rallies in which manufacturer points were awarded, and ultimately winning the title with plenty of room to spare. Italian Miki Biasion, Finn Markku Alén and Frenchman Bruno Saby returned to the team, while other successful drivers employed by the team through the year included French native Didier Auriol, Swede Mikael Ericsson, and Argentine driver Jorge Recalde. The team drove the Lancia Delta Integrale through the year. The car also remained the one of choice for the Jolly Club team's main drivers, Italians Alex Fiorio and Dario Cerrato. Complementing the manufacturer's success in the standings, Lancia drivers placed well throughout the top ranks in the drivers championship as well. Biasion seized the championship handily, becoming the WRC's second repeat champion, while Fiorio settled for a distant second, a position fought for through the year against Toyota's driver, Kankkunen. Other successful Lancia pilots included Mikael Ericsson in fourth and Auriol behind him in fifth place.

Toyota Team Europe represented the only serious challenge to Martini and the Lancias with it Toyota Celica GT-Four and a stable of drivers that included former world champion Finn Juha Kankkunen and the only Group A winner, Swede Kenneth Eriksson, as well as a rising star from Spain, Carlos Sainz. All three had successes during the year, though the team was never able to overcome Lancia's early domination of the manufacturer title race. Kankkunen challenged for second overall, but ultimately had to settle for third place, while Kenneth Eriksson took sixth and Sainz finished in eighth.

After an initial win in Sweden by its main driver, Swede Ingvar Carlsson, Mazda Rally Team Europe was unable to repeat their success, yet still captured third overall amongst manufacturers while Carlsson took seventh in the driver championship standings. Mitsubishi's competitive team Ralliart made its entrance to the WRC scene, taking two rally wins with its Galant VR-4 car, one by Swede Mikael Ericsson in Finland and a second by Finn Pentti Airikkala in England. Ericsson's victory in Finland followed his win in the previous round in Argentina driving a Lancia, giving him the distinction of being the first winner of consecutive WRC events for different manufacturers. Mitsubishi was able to obtain fourth place overall in the standings. The Audi Quattro continued to be competitive in the hands of privateers during the early part of the season, garnering the maker with enough points for fifth, while Simon Racing's Renault 5 GT Turbo powered their driver, Frenchman Alain Oreille to victory in the Ivory Coast and 10th place in the driver standings while securing sixth for the manufacturer.

For 1989, the number of rallies for which manufacturer points would be awarded was reduced to ten of the thirteen events, with events in Sweden, the Ivory Coast, and New Zealand only counting towards the driver titles.

Teams and Drivers[edit]

Team	Constructor	Car	Tyre	Drivers	Rounds
Mazda Rally Team Europe	Mazda	323 4WD	M	Timo Salonen	1–2, 9, 13
				Ingvar Carlsson	1, 7, 10, 13
				Hannu Mikkola	2, 9, 13
				Mikael Sundström	1, 9, 13
				Thorbjörn Edling	1, 9
				Grégoire de Mévius	1–4, 6, 9, 11–13
				Ray Wilson	7, 10
				Rod Millen	7, 10
Martini Lancia	Lancia	Delta HF Integrale Delta HF Integrale 16v	M	Mikael Ericsson	1, 8
				Bruno Saby	2, 5
				Miki Biasion	2–4, 6, 9, 11
				Didier Auriol	2–3, 5–6, 9, 11
				Markku Alén	3, 9–10
				Jorge Recalde	4, 8
				Yves Loubet	5
Toyota Team Europe	Toyota	Celica GT-Four ST165 Supra Turbo	P	Kenneth Eriksson	1, 6, 9–10, 13
				Leif Asterhag	1
				Juha Kankkunen	2–3, 5–6, 9–11, 13
				Björn Waldegård	2–4
				Patrick Snijers	2, 5–6, 11
				Carlos Sainz	2–3, 5–6, 9, 11, 13
				Ian Duncan	4
				David Llewellin	13
				Graham Middleton	13
GM Euro Sport	Vauxhall Opel	Astra GTE Kadett GSI 16V	M	Malcolm Wilson	1, 7, 10, 13
				Mats Jonsson	1, 7, 9, 13
				Björn Johansson	1
				Hakan Eriksson	1
				Sepp Haider	9–10, 13
				Louise Aitken-Walker	13
Ford Motor Company	Ford	Sierra RS Cosworth	M P	Colin McRae	1, 7, 13
				Joaquim Santos	3
				Pierre-César Baroni	5
				Gianfranco Cunico	5, 13
				Mark Lovell	5, 13
				Jimmy McRae	7, 13
				Russell Brookes	13
Jolly Club	Lancia	Delta HF Integrale	M	Alex Fiorio	2–4, 6, 8, 10–11
				Dario Cerrato	2, 11
				Paolo Andreucci	3, 6
Mitsubshi Ralliart Europe	Mitsubishi	Galant VR-4	M	Ari Vatanen	2, 6, 9, 13
				Kenjiro Shinozuka	3, 6–7, 10
				Jimmy McRae	6
				Ross Dunkerton	7, 10
				Mikael Ericsson	9
				Pentti Airikkala	13
Audi Sport	Audi	90 Quattro 200 Quattro Coupé Quattro	M	Paola de Martini	2–3, 5–6, 11–12
				Georg Fischer	3, 8
				Rudi Stohl	4, 6, 10, 12
				Armin Schwarz	6, 9, 11, 13
				Malcolm Stewart	7
Bastos Motul BMW	BMW	M3	P	Marc Duez	2–3, 5, 9, 11
				Bernard Béguin	5
				François Chatriot	5
Simon Racing	Renault	5 GT Turbo	M	Alain Oreille	2, 5, 10–12
				Claude Balesi	5
				Richard Frau	5
Nissan Motorsports International	Nissan	200SX	D	Per Eklund	4
				Mike Kirkland	4
				Vic Preston Jr	4
				Jayant Shah	4
				Státhis Iorgakis	6
				Alain Ambrosino	12
Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	Golf GTI 16V	P	Stig Blomqvist	4
				Erwin Weber	4
				Konstantinos Apostolou	6
Subaru Technica International	Subaru	RX Turbo	D	Peter 'Possum' Bourne	4, 7–8, 10
				Patrick Njiru	4
				Jim Heather-Hayes	4
				José Celsi	8

Events[edit]

1989 World Rally Championship event map

Black = Tarmac	Brown = Gravel	Blue = Snow/Ice	Red = Mixed Surface

1989 World Rally Championship schedule and results

Round	Rally name	Stages	Podium finishers
			Rank	Driver	Co-driver	Team	Car	Time
1	Swedish Rally[1] (6–8 January)	37 stages 504 km Snow/Ice	1	Ingvar Carlsson	Per Carlsson	Mazda Rally Team Europe	Mazda 323 4WD	4:58.15
			2	Per Eklund	Dave Whittock	Clarion Team Europe	Lancia Delta Integrale	4:59.18
			3	Kenneth Eriksson	Staffan Parmander	Toyota Team Sweden	Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165	4:59.57
2	Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo (21–26 January)	24 stages 613 km Tarmac	1	Miki Biasion	Tiziano Siviero	Martini Lancia	Lancia Delta Integrale	7:13.27
			2	Didier Auriol	Bernard Occelli	Martini Lancia	Lancia Delta Integrale	7:19.54
			3	Bruno Saby	Jean-François Fauchille	Martini Lancia	Lancia Delta Integrale	7:21.08
3	Rallye de Portugal (28 February–4 March)	37 stages 577 km Tarmac/Gravel	1	Miki Biasion	Tiziano Siviero	Martini Lancia	Lancia Delta Integrale	6:47.01
			2	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Martini Lancia	Lancia Delta Integrale	6:57.19
			3	Alex Fiorio	Luigi Pirollo	Jolly Club	Lancia Delta Integrale	7:10.19
4	Safari Rally (31 March–4 April)	85 controls 4539 km Gravel	1	Miki Biasion	Tiziano Siviero	Martini Lancia	Lancia Delta Integrale	+6:55.27 pen
			2	Mike Kirkland	Robin Nixon	Nissan Motorsports International	Nissan 200SX	+8:16.11 pen
			3	Stig Blomqvist	Björn Cederberg	Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V	+9:17.39 pen
5	Tour de Corse (23–26 April)	33 stages 627 km Tarmac	1	Didier Auriol	Bernard Occelli	Martini Lancia	Lancia Delta Integrale	7:12.39
			2	François Chatriot	Michel Périn	Bastos Motul BMW	BMW M3	7:14.36
			3	Juha Kankkunen	Juha Piironen	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165	7:16.29
6	Acropolis Rally (27 May–1 June)	42 stages 590 km Gravel	1	Miki Biasion	Tiziano Siviero	Martini Lancia	Lancia Delta Integrale	7:31.43
			2	Didier Auriol	Bernard Occelli	Martini Lancia	Lancia Delta Integrale	7:33.41
			3	Alex Fiorio	Luigi Pirollo	Jolly Club	Lancia Delta Integrale	7:35.14
7	Rally New Zealand[1] (15–18 July)	42 stages 595 km Gravel	1	Ingvar Carlsson	Per Carlsson	Mazda Rally Team Europe	Mazda 323 4WD	6:59.55
			2	Rod Millen	Tony Sircombe	Rod Millen Motorsport	Mazda 323 4WD	7:02.37
			3	Malcolm Wilson	Ian Grindrod	GM Euro Sport	Vauxhall Astra GTE	7:03.24
8	Rally Argentina (1–5 August)	30 stages 564 km Gravel	1	Mikael Ericsson	Claes Billstam	Martini Lancia	Lancia Delta Integrale	7:06.00
			2	Alex Fiorio	Luigi Pirollo	Jolly Club	Lancia Delta Integrale	7:08.26
			3	Jorge Recalde	Jorge del Bouno	Martini Lancia	Lancia Delta Integrale	7:19.42
9	1000 Lakes Rally (25–27 August)	43 stages 507 km Gravel	1	Mikael Ericsson	Claes Billstam	Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe	Mitsubishi Galant VR-4	4:42.03
			2	Timo Salonen	Voitto Silander	Mazda Rally Team Europe	Mazda 323 4WD	4:43.44
			3	Carlos Sainz	Luis Moya	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165	4:44.38
10	Rally Australia (14–17 September)	32 stages 544 km Gravel	1	Juha Kankkunen	Juha Piironen	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165	5:32.09
			2	Kenneth Eriksson	Staffan Parmander	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165	5:33.16
			3	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Martini Lancia	Lancia Delta Integrale	5:34.22
11	Rallye Sanremo (8–12 October)	34 stages 544 km Tarmac/Gravel	1	Miki Biasion	Tiziano Siviero	Martini Lancia	Lancia Delta Integrale 16V	6:48.30
			2	Alex Fiorio	Luigi Pirollo	Jolly Club	Lancia Delta Integrale	6:48.35
			3	Carlos Sainz	Luis Moya	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165	6:48.55
12	Rallye Côte d'Ivoire[1] (29 October–2 November)	87 controls 3528 km Gravel	1	Alain Oreille	Gilles Thimonier	Simon Racing	Renault 5 GT Turbo	+8:32.54 pen
			2	Patrick Tauziac	Claude Papin	Ralliart	Mitsubishi Starion Turbo	+11:36.50 pen
			3	Adolphe Choteau	Jean-Pierre Claverie	Toyota	Toyota Corolla GT	+13:41.07 pen
13	RAC Rally (19–23 November)	55 stages 603 km Gravel/Tarmac	1	Pentti Airikkala	Ronan McNamee	Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe	Mitsubishi Galant VR-4	6:19.22
			2	Carlos Sainz	Luis Moya	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165	6:20.50
			3	Juha Kankkunen	Juha Piironen	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165	6:23.11

Championship for manufacturers[edit]

Pos.	Manufacturer	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	GBR	Points
1	Lancia	20	20	20	20	20	20	(8)	(14)	20	-	140
2	Toyota	10	-	12	14	-	-	14	20	14	17	101
3	Mazda	12	12	-	-	-	-	17	10	8	8	67
4	Mitsubishi	-	-	-	-	12	-	20	6	-	20	58
5	Audi	2	12	-	3	8	12	6	-	-	-	43
6	BMW	4	10	-	17	-	-	-	-	6	-	37
7	Renault	9	-	-	11	-	-	-	-	10	-	30
8	Nissan	-	-	17	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	18
9	Volkswagen	-	-	14	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14
10	Renault Argentina	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	15
11	Vauxhall	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	1	9
12	Subaru	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	7
13	Ford	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
14	Fiat Argentina	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	3
15	Volkswagen Argentina	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	1
Pos.	Manufacturer	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	GBR	Points

Schedule of points by place:

Championship for drivers[edit]

Pos.	Driver	SWE	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV	GBR	Points
1	Miki Biasion	-	1	1	1	-	1	-	-	6	-	1	-	-	106
2	Alex Fiorio	-	Ret	3	10	-	3	-	2	-	4	2	-	-	65
3	Juha Kankkunen	-	5	Ret	-	3	-	-	-	-	1	5	-	3	60
4	Mikael Ericsson	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	50
5	Didier Auriol	-	2	Ret	-	1	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	50
6	Kenneth Eriksson	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	2	-	-	4	47
7	Ingvar Carlsson	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	8	43
8	Carlos Sainz	-	Ret	Ret	-	Ret	-	-	-	3	-	3	-	2	39
9	Markku Alén	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	27
10	Alain Oreille	-	10	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	9	1	-	26
11	Rod Millen	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	5	-	-	-	23
12	Timo Salonen	22	Ret	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	6	21
13	Marc Duez	-	8	5	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	7	-	-	21
14	Pentti Airikkala	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	20
15	Stig Blomqvist	5	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	20
	Jorge Recalde	-	-	-	Ret	-	8	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	20
17	Georg Fischer	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	20
18	Malcolm Wilson	13	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	6	-	-	10	19
19	Per Eklund	2	Ret	-	Ret	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	16
20	Mike Kirkland	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15
	François Chatriot	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15
	Patrick Tauziac	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	15
23	Dario Cerrato	-	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	14
24	Kenjiro Shinozuka	-	-	18	-	-	7	6	-	-	7	-	-	-	14
25	Bruno Saby	-	3	-	-	Ret	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12
	Adolphe Choteau	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	12
27	Hannu Mikkola	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	12
28	Patrick Snijers	-	6	-	-	Ret	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	12
29	Björn Waldegård	-	Ret	Ret	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10
	Yves Loubet	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10
	Jimmy McRae	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10
	Mats Jonsson	12	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	10
	André Segolen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	10
34	Ian Duncan	-	-	-	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
	Bernard Béguin	-	-	-	-	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
	Colin McRae	15	-	-	-	-	-	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
	Ernesto Soto	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	-	-	-	-	-	8
	Thorbjörn Edling	Ret	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	-	-	-	-	8
	Patrice Servant	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	-	8
	Ari Vatanen	-	Ret	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	8
41	Armin Schwarz	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	7	-	-	-	-	7
42	Sebastian Lindholm	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
	Carlos Bica	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
	Vic Preston Jr	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
	Rudi Stohl	-	-	-	Ret	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
	Fernando Stella	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	6
	José Graziani	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	6
48	Stig-Olov Walfridsson	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	6
49	Grégoire de Mévius	-	12	7	Ret	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	-	5
	Gustavo Trelles	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	7	-	-	-	-	-	5
	Possum Bourne	-	-	-	7	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	5
52	Leif Asterhag	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
	Gianfranco Cunico	-	-	-	-	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
	Ray Wilson	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
	Benoît Antoine	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	-	4
	Mikael Sundström	Ret	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	4
57	Paola De Martini	-	9	Ret	-	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
58	Paolo Andreucci	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Erwin Weber	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Saeed Al-Hajri	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Juan Maria Traverso	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Wayne Bell	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	3
	Paolo Alessandrini	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	3
64	Björn Johansson	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Fredrik Skoghag	-	Ret	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Jim Heather-Hayes	-	-	-	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Jigger	-	-	-	-	-	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Ross Dunkerton	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Jorge Bescham	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Risto Buri	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	-	-	-	-	2
	Ed Ordynski	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	-	-	-	2
72	Hakån Eriksson	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Claude Balesi	-	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Ken Adamson	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Edio Fuchter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Esa Saarenpää	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	1
Pos.	Driver	SWE	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV	GBR	Points

Schedule of points by place:

Cup for production car drivers[edit]

Pos.	Driver	SWE	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV	GBR	Points
1	Alain Oreille	-	13	-	-	13	-	-	-	-	7	13	13	-	59
2	Grégoire de Mévius	4	10	13	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11	-	13	51
3	Gustavo Trelles	7	-	5	-	-	1	-	13	13	-	-	-	-	39
4	Fredrik Skoghag	-	-	7	-	-	2	-	-	2	10	-	-	-	21
5	Kiyoshi Inoue	-	-	3	-	-	13	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	18
6	Sören Nilsson	13	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13
	Ken Adamson	-	-	-	-	-	-	13	-	-	-	-	-	-	13
	Ed Ordynski	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13	-	-	-	13
9	Marc Hopf	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	-	7	12
10	Patrice Servant	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11	-	11
Pos.	Driver	SWE	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV	GBR	Points