# Who is the best Finnish WRC rally driver of all time?

> Group B heroes share this list with modern Toyota stars and a few names only rally diehards will recognise. Four-time champions sit next to one-win wonders, and every Finn here has beaten the world on gravel.

*By YPB Team · Published October 24, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/who-is-the-best-finnish-wrc-rally-driver-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Juha Kankkunen** — score 1000/1000
   Four-time world champion (1986, 1987, 1991, 1993) who won titles with three different manufacturers.
2. **Tommi Mäkinen** — score 875/1000
   Won four consecutive world titles with Mitsubishi from 1996 to 1999, a record run at the time.
3. **Hannu Mikkola** — score 700/1000
   The 1983 world champion with Audi Quattro and winner of 18 WRC rallies across the 1970s and 80s.
4. **Esapekka Lappi** — score 642/1000
   Won Rally Finland in 2017 in only his fourth top-level start and later took podiums for Toyota and Hyundai.
5. **Toni Gardemeister** — score 577/1000
   Reliable points scorer for Skoda and Ford who stood on six WRC podiums in the 2000s.
6. **Timo Mäkinen** — score 409/1000
   The original Flying Finn who won the RAC Rally three years running from 1973 to 1975 for Ford.
7. **Kalle Rovanperä** — score 409/1000
   Became the youngest world champion in history in 2022 and defended the title in 2023 with Toyota.
8. **Harri Rovanperä** — score 409/1000
   Kalle's father, who won Rally Sweden in 2001 for Peugeot and scored 12 WRC podiums.
9. **Ari Vatanen** — score 300/1000
   The 1981 world champion in a privateer Ford Escort, widely rated the fastest driver of the Group B era.
10. **Marcus Grönholm** — score 300/1000
   Two-time world champion with Peugeot in 2000 and 2002 who took 30 WRC wins.
11. **Mikko Hirvonen** — score 300/1000
   Ford's lead driver who finished championship runner-up four times and won 15 rallies.
12. **Juho Hänninen** — score 300/1000
   Intercontinental Rally Challenge and S-WRC champion who scored WRC podiums with Toyota in 2017.
13. **Markku Alén** — score 0/1000
   Fiat and Lancia stalwart who won 19 WRC rallies and held the record for most stage wins for decades.
14. **Jari-Matti Latvala** — score 0/1000
   Winner of 18 WRC rallies and three-time championship runner-up who now runs Toyota's works team.
15. **Teemu Suninen** — score 0/1000
   Took several WRC podiums for M-Sport Ford between 2018 and 2020.

Tags: drivers, motorsport, wrc, rally, finland