# Rauno Aaltonen

Rauno August Aaltonen (born 7 January 1938), also known as "The Rally Professor", is a Finnish former professional rally driver who competed in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1970s.

## Career

Before WRC was established Aaltonen competed in the European Rally Championship. He won the championship in 1965, with Tony Ambrose as his co-driver. He also won the Finnish Rally Championship in 1961 and 1965. In 1966, he partnered Bob Holden in Australia to win the premier touring car race, the Gallaher 500, in a Mini Cooper S at Mount Panorama in New South Wales.
Aaltonen finished second on six occasions in the Safari Rally, which is considered one of the most difficult courses in rallying. In 1985, he was leading the rally by two hours when his engine broke down before the last few special stages. His other merits include winning the 1000 Lakes Rally in 1961, the RAC Rally in 1965, the Monte Carlo Rally in 1967, the Southern Cross Rally in 1977, and a Coupe des Alpes at the Alpine Rally in 1963 and 1964.
Despite now being remembered as one of the Flying Finns of rallying, Aaltonen started his career on speed boats and later moved on to motorcycles competing in road racing, speedway and motocross. Before he became the first Finnish European Rally Champion, he was the first Finn to win a Grand Prix motorcycle racing competition.
Aaltonen was a proponent of left-foot braking. In 2010, he was among the first four inductees into the Rally Hall of Fame, along with Erik Carlsson, Paddy Hopkirk and Timo Mäkinen.
The technique of rotating a car by 360 degrees, while maintaining trajectory, was named after him.

## Career results
### Complete IMC results

| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 1970 | Ford Deutschland | Ford Capri RS2600 | MON | SWE | ITA | KEN Ret | AUT | GRE | | | |
| 1970 | Nissan Datsun | Datsun 240Z | | | | | | | GBR 7 | | |
| 1971 | Yhtymä Oy Autokeskus | Datsun 240Z | MON 5 | SWE | ITA | | | | | | |
| 1971 | Nissan Motor Company Ltd | Datsun 240Z | | | | KEN 7 | MAR | | | | |
| 1971 | Nissan Europe Rally Team | Datsun 240Z | | | | | | | | GBR Ret | |
| 1971 | BMW AG | BMW 2002 TI | | | | | | AUT Ret | GRE | | |
| 1972 | Nissan Motor Company Ltd | Datsun 240Z | MON 3 | SWE | KEN 6 | | | | | | |
| 1972 | Nissan Europe Rally Team | Datsun 240Z | | | | | | | | | GBR 11 |
| 1972 | Citroën Compétitions | Citroën SM | | | | MAR Ret | | | | | |
| 1972 | Sears Roebuck Ltd | BMW 2002 TI | | | | | GRE Ret | | | | |
| 1972 | BMW AG | BMW 3.0 CSL | | | | | | AUT Ret | ITA | USA | |

### Complete WRC results

| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | WDC | Points |
| 1973 | Nissan Motor Company Ltd | Datsun 240Z | MON 18 | SWE | POR | KEN Ret | | | | | | | | | | N/A | N/A |
| 1973 | Fiat S.p.A | Fiat 124 Abarth Spider | | | | | MOR Ret | GRE 2 | POL | FIN | AUT | ITA | USA | | | N/A | N/A |
| 1973 | Irmscher Tuning | Opel Ascona | | | | | | | | | | | | GBR Ret | FRA | N/A | N/A |
| 1974 | African Roadways Ltd | Datsun 1800 SSS | MON C | SWE C | POR | KEN 6 | GRE C | FIN | ITA | CAN | USA | | | | | N/A | N/A |
| 1974 | Fiat S.p.A | Fiat 124 Abarth Spider | | | | | | | | | | GBR 12 | FRA | | | N/A | N/A |
| 1975 | Opel Euro Händler Team | Opel Ascona | MON | SWE | KEN Ret | GRC Ret | MOR Ret | POR 4 | FIN | ITA Ret | FRA | | | | | N/A | N/A |
| 1975 | Opel Euro Händler Team | Opel Kadett GT/E | | | | | | | | | | GBR Ret | | | | N/A | N/A |
| 1976 | Opel Euro Händler Team | Opel Kadett GT/E | MON | SWE | POR | KEN Ret | GRC | MOR | FIN | ITA | FRA | GBR Ret | | | | N/A | N/A |
| 1977 | D.T. Dobie & Co (EA) Ltd | Datsun 160J | MON | SWE | POR | KEN 2 | NZL | GRC | FIN | CAN | ITA | FRA | GBR | | | N/A | N/A |
| 1978 | D.T. Dobie & Co (EA) Ltd | Datsun 160J | MON | SWE | KEN 3 | POR | GRC | FIN | CAN | ITA | CIV | FRA | GBR | | | N/A | N/A |
| 1979 | D.T. Dobie / Team Datsun | Datsun 160J | MON | SWE | POR | KEN 5 | GRC | NZL | FIN | CAN | ITA | FRA | GBR | CIV | | 28th | 8 |
| 1980 | D.T. Dobie / Team Datsun | Datsun 160J | MON | SWE | POR | KEN 2 | GRC | ARG | FIN | NZL | ITA | FRA | GBR | CIV | | 16th | 15 |
| 1981 | D.T. Dobie / Team Datsun | Datsun 160J | MON 13 | SWE | POR | | | | | | | | | | | 19th | 15 |
| 1981 | D.T. Dobie / Team Datsun | Datsun Violet GT | | | | KEN 2 | FRA | GRC | ARG | BRA | FIN | ITA | CIV | GBR | | 19th | 15 |
| 1982 | Rothmans Opel Rally Team | Opel Ascona 400 | MON | SWE | POR | KEN Ret | FRA | GRC | NZL | BRA | FIN | ITA | CIV | GBR | | NC | 0 |
| 1983 | Rothmans Opel Rally Team | Opel Ascona 400 | MON | SWE | POR | KEN Ret | FRA | GRC | NZL | ARG | FIN | ITA | CIV | GBR | | NC | 0 |
| 1984 | Opel Euro Team | Opel Ascona 400 | MON | SWE | POR | KEN 2 | FRA | GRC | NZL | ARG | FIN | ITA | CIV | GBR | | 15th | 15 |
| 1985 | Opel Euro Team | Opel Ascona 400 | MON | SWE | POR | KEN 4 | FRA | GRC | NZL | ARG | FIN | ITA | CIV | GBR | | 22nd | 10 |
| 1987 | GM Euro Sport | Opel Kadett GSi | MON | SWE | POR | KEN 9 | FRA | GRC | USA | NZL | ARG | FIN | CIV | ITA | GBR | 58th | 2 |

### Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
| 1964 | Donald Healey Motor Company | Clive Baker | Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite | P 1.5 | 256 | DNF | DNF |

### Complete Bathurst 500/1000 results

| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
| 1966 | BMC Australia | Bob Holden | Morris Cooper S | C | 130 | 1st | 1st |
| 1991 | Bob Holden Motors | Bob Holden Dennis Rogers | Toyota Corolla | 3 | 124 | 20th | 4th |

### Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos. | Pts | Class |
| 1970 | Ford Köln | Ford Capri 2300 GT | D | BRH | SNE | THR | SIL | CRY | SIL | SIL 27 | CRO | BRH | OUL | BRH | BRH | NC | 0 | NC |
| Source: |||||||||||||||||||

## Gallery

* Aaltonen at the 1965 1000 Lakes Rally
* Aaltonen behind Timo Mäkinen at the 1000 Lakes
* Aaltonen with co-driver Anssi Järvi
* An ex-Aaltonen BMW 2002tii
* Aaltonen pictured in 2008