Markku Alén

Markku Alén

Nation:	Finland
World Rally Championship (WRC)
First rally:	Rally Finland 1973
Last rally:	Rally Finland 2001
Co-driver:	Illka ​​Kivimäki Atso Aho Paul White
Team:	Blue Rose Team 555 Subaru WRT Toyota Team Europe Subaru Rally Team Europe Martini Lancia Fiat Italia Ford WRT
Vehicle:	Fiat 124 Abarth Rallye Volvo 142 Ford Escort RS1600 Fiat 131 Abarth Lancia Stratos HF Lancia 037 Rally Lancia Delta S4 Subaru Legacy RS Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD Subaru Impreza 555 Ford Focus RS WRC
Rallies Victories Podiums WP 129 19th 56 798
Championship title:	1978
Points:	840
Status: no longer active

Markku Allan Alén [ ˈmɑrkːu ɑˈlɛːn ] (born February 15, 1951 in Helsinki ) is a Finnish rally driver .

Career

Markku Alén and Ilkka Kivimäki (Fiat 131 Abarth) at the 1978 1000 Lakes Rally

Alén's career began in 1969 at the wheel of a Renault 8 Gordini . He finished ninth in the 1000 Lakes Rally .

1974 and 1975 Alén drove several podium places with the Fiat 124 Abarth Rally . In 1975 he won the first World Rally Championship round with the Rally Portugal .

In 1977 he won the Manufacturers ' World Rally Championship for the first time with Fiat .

Alén had become the unofficial world champion in 1978 , a year before the official World Rally Championship for drivers was introduced . From 1978 to 1980 he won the Rally Finland three times in a row and again twice in 1987 and 1988 . His most successful career year, 1987, brought him victories at the Rally Sweden and the Rally Greece . His long-term co-driver was, with a few exceptions, Ilkka Kivimäki.

In 1995 Alén drove a few races for Alfa Romeo in the ITC / DTM . However, without any notable success. He competed in the Trophée Andros in 1996 and 1997. In addition, he repeatedly took part in the Dakar Rally . Together with his rally colleague Juha Kankkunen , Alén contested the races for the Finnish Rallycross Championship in a BMW M3 in 2004 and in the end he was runner-up ahead of Kankkunen.

On his 50th birthday, in 2001, Markku Alén entered the Rally Finland again . He finished 16th with a Ford Focus WRC. This was the last World Rally Championship run he contested.

In March 2010, Luca di Montezemolo hired Alén as a Ferrari test driver. Among other things, he did snow tests with a Ferrari 458 Italia.

Personal

The young Finnish rally driver Anton Alén is the son of Markku Alén.

statistics

WRC victories

No.	rally	year	Co-driver	automobile
01	Rally Portugal	1975	Ilkka Kivimäki	Fiat Abarth 124 rally
02	Rally Finland	1976	Ilkka Kivimäki	Fiat Abarth 131 rally
03	Rally Portugal	1977	Ilkka Kivimäki	Fiat Abarth 131 rally
04th	Rally Finland	1978	Ilkka Kivimäki	Fiat Abarth 131 rally
05	Rally Portugal	1978	Ilkka Kivimäki	Fiat Abarth 131 rally
06th	Rally San Remo	1978	Ilkka Kivimäki	Lancia Stratos HF
07th	Rally Finland	1979	Ilkka Kivimäki	Fiat Abarth 131 rally
08th	Rally Finland	1980	Ilkka Kivimäki	Fiat Abarth 131 rally
09	Rally Portugal	1981	Ilkka Kivimäki	Fiat Abarth 131 rally
10	Rally France	1983	Ilkka Kivimäki	Lancia Rally 037
11	Rally San Remo	1983	Ilkka Kivimäki	Lancia Rally 037
12	Rally France	1984	Ilkka Kivimäki	Lancia Rally 037
13	Rally USA	1986	Ilkka Kivimäki	Lancia Delta S4
14th	Rally Portugal	1987	Ilkka Kivimäki	Lancia Delta HF 4WD
15th	Rally Greece	1987	Ilkka Kivimäki	Lancia Delta HF
16	Rally Finland	1987	Ilkka Kivimäki	Lancia Delta HF 4WD
17th	Rally Sweden	1988	Ilkka Kivimäki	Lancia Delta HF 4WD
18th	Rally Finland	1988	Ilkka Kivimäki	Lancia Delta Integrale
19th	Rally Great Britain	1988	Ilkka Kivimäki	Lancia Delta Integrale

Individual results WRC

year	team	vehicle	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	Points	rank
1973	Oy Volvo-Auto Ab	Volvo 142	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	MAR	GRE	POLE	FIN	AUT	ITA	United States	GBR	FRA		-	-
										2
	Motorcraft	Ford Escort RS1600
														3
1974	Fiat SpA	Fiat 124 Abarth Spider	POR	KEN	FIN	ITA	CAN	United States	GBR	FRA							-	-
			C.	C.	3		C.	3	DNF	DNF	2		DNF
	Ford World Rally Team	Ford Escort RS1600
												DNF
1975	Fiat SpA	Fiat 124 Abarth Spider	MON	SWE	KEN	GRE	MAR	POR	FIN	ITA	FRA	GBR					-	-
			3	6th				1		DNF		DNF
	Datsun	Datsun Violet 160J
									DNF
1976	Fiat SpA	Fiat 124 Abarth Spider	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	GRE	MAR	FIN	ITA	FRA	GBR					-	-
			6th
		Fiat 131 Abarth
								12		DNF		DNF
		Autonovo Oy
									1
1977	Fiat SpA	Fiat 131 Abarth Spider	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	NZL	GRE	FIN	CAN	ITA	FRA	GBR				-	-
			54	DNF	1		3	DNF		DNF			DNF
		Autonovo Oy
									DNF
1978	Alitalia Fiat	Fiat 131 Abarth	MON	SWE	KEN	POR	GRE	FIN	CAN	ITA	CIV	FRA	GBR				-	-
				3		1	2	1	2
		Lancia Stratos HF
										1			DNF
1979	Alitalia Fiat	Fiat 131 Abarth	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	GRE	NZL	FIN	ITA	CAN	FRA	GBR	CIV			68	3
			3	4th		3			1		6th
	Lancia GB	Lancia Stratos HF
													5
1980	Fiat Italia	Fiat 131 Abarth	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	GRE	ARG	FIN	NZL	ITA	FRA	GBR	CIV			47	6th
			DNF		2		3	DNF
	Fiat Rally / ASA
									1
	4 Rombi Corse
											DNF
1981	Fiat Auto Torino	Fiat 131 Abarth	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	ARG	BRA	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR			56	4th
			7th		1			2			2	9
	Team Chardonnet	Lancia Stratos HF
														DNF
1982	Martini Racing	Lancia Rally 037	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	BRA	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR			12	21st
							9	DNF			DNF	DNF		4th
1983	Martini Racing	Lancia Rally 037	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR			100	3
			2		4th		1	2		5	3	1
1984	Martini Racing	Lancia Rally 037 Evo II	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR			90	3
			8th		2	4th	1	3	2		2	DNF
1985	Martini Racing	Lancia Rally 037 Evo II	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR			37	5
						DNF	DNF				3	4th
		Lancia Delta S4
														2
1986	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta S4	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	CIV	ITA	GBR	United States		104	2
			DNF	2	DNF		DNF	DNF	2	2	3			2	1
		Lancia Rally 037 Evolution II
						3
1987	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta HF	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	United States	NZL	ARG	FIN	CIV	ITA	GBR		88	3
				5	1			1	3			1		DNF	5
1988	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta HF	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	United States	NZL	ARG	FIN	CIV	ITA	GBR		86	2
				1
		Lancia Delta Integrale
					6th			4th				1		4th	1
1989	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta Integrale	SWE	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	OUT	ITA	CIV	GBR		27	9
					2						DNF	3
1990	Subaru Technica International	Subaru Legacy RS	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	OUT	ITA	CIV	GBR			20th	10
					DNF		DNF			4th		DNF		DNF
1991	Subaru Technica International	Subaru Legacy RS	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	OUT	ITA	CIV	ESP	GBR	40	8th
				3	5			DNF	4th		DNF	4th				DNF
1992	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	OUT	ITA	CIV	ESP	GBR	50	5
			DNF		4th	5		DNF			3					4th
		Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165
				4th
1993	Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Legacy RS	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	ARG	NZL	FIN	OUT	ITA	ESP	GBR		25th	11
					4th
		Subaru Impreza
											DNF
	Toyota Castrol team	Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD
						2
2001	Blue Rose team	Ford Focus RS WRC	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	ARG	NZL	FIN	OUT	ITA	ESP	GBR		-	-
											16

The first official driver world title was awarded in 1979.

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Le Mans result

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1980	Scuderia Lancia Corse	Lancia Beta Montecarlo	Piercarlo Ghinzani	Gianfranco Brancatelli	failure	Oil pump

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th
1979	Lancia	Lancia Beta Montecarlo	DAY	SEB	MUG	VALLEY	DIJ	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	BY	DAY	WAT	SPA	BRH	ROA	VAL	ELS
																		DNF
1980	Lancia	Lancia Beta Monte Carlo	DAY	BRH	SEB	MUG	MON	RIV	SIL	ONLY	LEM	DAY	WAT	SPA	MOS	ROA	VAL	DIJ
											DNF

Web links

Commons : Markku Alén  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ewrc-results.com: Markku Alén , September 6, 2014
2. ↑ iltalehti.fi: Markku Alén testaa luksus-Ferraria , September 6, 2014