The 1989 Race of Champions was the second event and took place on December 2–3 at the Nürburgring in memory of Henri Toivonen, who died while leading the 1986 Tour de Corse. This event featured the world’s first ever parallel rally track with drivers competing head-to-head in identical cars.
Participants
Before start of the main event Spanish Rally Champion of 1987 and 1988 Carlos Sainz crashed on practice in Toyota Celica GT-4 (ST165) (number plate K-AM 6320). Sepp Haider replased Spaniard. All participants are below.
DriverTitles Juha KankkunenWorld Rally champion in 1986, 1987 Timo SalonenWorld Rally champion in 1985 Stig BlomqvistWorld Rally champion in 1984 Kenneth ErikssonGroup A Rally champion in 1986, 2WD Rally champion in 1987 Sepp HaiderGerman Rally champion in 1989 Björn WaldegårdWorld Rally champion in 1979 Hannu MikkolaWorld Rally champion in 1983 Marc DuezBelgian Rally champion in 1982 and 1989 Ari VatanenWorld Rally champion in 1981 Walter RöhrlWorld Rally champion in 1980, 1982
Race of Champions
Qualification round
Cars Opel Kadett E 2.0 GSi Group A with number plates Opel GSI 16V.
Race 1
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Juha Kankkunen +0:01.479 Walter Röhrl 1:30.177
Race 2
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Ari Vatanen +0:00.469 Timo Salonen 1:31.180
Race 3
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Marc Duez 1:30.156 Stig Blomqvist +0:01.270
Race 4
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Hannu Mikkola +0:00.610 Kenneth Eriksson 1:30.586
Race 5
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Björn Waldegård +0:00.736 Sepp Haider 1:29.938
Race 6
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Stig Blomqvist 1:29.863 Björn Waldegård +0:00.638
Quarterfinals
Cars Toyota Celica GT-4 (ST165) with number plates K-AM 4135, K-AM 5265, K-AM 8582.
Quarterfinal 1 Race 1
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Sepp Haider (K-AM 4135) 1:26.344 Kenneth Eriksson (K-AM 8582) +0:00.441
Race 2
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Kenneth Eriksson (K-AM 8582) 1:26.762 Sepp Haider (K-AM 4135) +0:00.054
Race 3
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Sepp Haider (K-AM 4135) 1:25.919 Kenneth Eriksson (K-AM 8582) +0:00.086
Winner: Sepp Haider.
Quarterfinal 2 Race 1
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Walter Röhrl (K-AM 4135) +0:00.246 Stig Blomqvist (K-AM 5265) 1:26.558
Race 2
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Stig Blomqvist (K-AM 5265) 1:25.565 Walter Röhrl (K-AM 4135) +0:00.084
Winner: Stig Blomqvist.
Quarterfinal 3 Race 1
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Marc Duez ? Timo Salonen ?
Race 2
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Timo Salonen ? Marc Duez ?
Winner: Marc Duez.
The last semi-finalist is Walter Röhrl.
Semi-finals Cars Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 without number plates.
Semi-final 1 Race 1
First attempt was cancelled due to technical issues with the starting procedure of Marc Duez. Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Marc Duez +0:03.959 Stig Blomqvist 1:23.592
Race 2
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Marc Duez +0:01.346 Stig Blomqvist 1:22.601 Winner: Stig Blomqvist.
Semi-final 2
One of couple races ended with the next result: Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Sepp Haider +0:00.169 Walter Röhrl 1:23.054 Winner: Walter Röhrl.
Finals
Cars 2 Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2: plate 287 FPF 75 (FRA) for Walter Röhrl and plate 311 FPF 75 (FRA) for Stig Blomqvist in the first run. Then drivers switched cars for 2nd run.
Race 1
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Stig Blomqvist 1:22.218 Walter Röhrl +0:01.630
Race 2
Driver A Time A Driver B Time B Stig Blomqvist 1:21.929 Walter Röhrl +0:02.893 Winner: Stig Blomqvist.
References