Markku Allan Alén (born 15 February 1951) is a
Finnish former
rally
Rally or rallye may refer to:
Gatherings
* Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade
* Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event
Sport ...
and
race car
Race, RACE or The Race may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
driver. He drove for
Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...
,
Lancia
Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe, which is the European subsidiary of Stellantis. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganise ...
,
Subaru
is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first largest aut ...
and
Toyota
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
in the
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...
, and held the
record for most stage wins (801) in the series, until
Sébastien Loeb overtook it at the
2011 Rally Catalunya. Alén's phrase "now maximum attack" became well known.
Alén never won the world championship itself, despite being for a long time the driver with the most wins to his credit. However, he did win the
FIA Cup for Drivers in
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
, the precursor to the
World Championship for Drivers established in
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
. In
1986, he was the world champion for eleven days, until
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...
's appeal went through and the results of
Rallye Sanremo, which Alén had won, were annulled.
Career
Early
Alén's interest in motorsport came from his father, who was the 1963 Finnish champion in
ice racing. Alén started his rallying career in 1969 driving a
Renault 8
The Renault 8 (Renault R8 until 1964) is a rear-engined, rear-wheel drive small family car produced by the French manufacturer Renault in the 1960s and early 1970s. It also formed the basis for the larger Renault 10, introduced in 1965.
The ...
Gordini
Gordini () is a division of Renault Sport Technologies (Renault Sport). In the past, it was a sports car manufacturer and Car tuning, performance tuner, established in 1946 by Amédée Gordini (1899–1979), nicknamed "Le Sorcier" (The Sorcerer) ...
, and finished ninth at the
1000 Lakes Rally at his first attempt. After getting a contract with the Finnish Volvo importer to drive the
Volvo 142, he finished third at the 1000 Lakes in 1971 and 1972. At his
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...
debut at the
1973 1000 Lakes Rally, he took second place behind
Timo Mäkinen.
Fiat (1974–81)
Alén's performances at his home event caught the attention of both
Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...
and
Ford. With Ford's
Escort RS 1600, he established his reputation as a hard-charger on the 1973
RAC Rally
Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) cal ...
by finishing third, despite rolling his car on the first day and dropping to 178th place. This resulted in a "dream contract" with Fiat, with a very large salary. Alén also became the first rally driver to be assigned a personal fitness program.
In
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...
and
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
, Alén drove the
Fiat 124 Abarth Rallye, achieving several podiums and then his debut WRC win at the 1975
Rally Portugal. During the
1976 season, Fiat debuted the new
Fiat 131 Abarth, which would prove to be a big improvement over its predecessor. Alén won the 1976 1000 Lakes and the 1977 Rally Portugal, and helped Fiat to their first
manufacturers' title in 1977.

Then in
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
, Alén took the car to two wins and five consecutive podiums. In the
Rallye Sanremo, he debuted in Alitalia Fiat's
Lancia Stratos HF and won his third world rally of the season. These performances brought him the FIA Cup for Drivers title, well ahead of main rivals
Jean-Pierre Nicolas and
Hannu Mikkola
Hannu Olavi Mikkola (24 May 1942 − 25 February 2021) was a Finns, Finnish champion world rallying, rally driver. He was a seven-time winner of the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland and won the RAC Rally in Great Britain four times.
Career
Mikkola ...
, and Fiat their second manufacturers' title. Alén continued with Fiat for the next three years, taking a win each season.
Lancia (1982–89)
After Fiat wound up their works rally team, Alén moved to the related Lancia team. In
1982
Events
January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
he debuted the marque's first of two
Group B
Group B was a set of regulations for Grand tourer, grand touring (GT) cars used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World S ...
category
homologated models, the
Lancia 037, a rear-wheel drive car which was, in consequence, a particular performer on the championship's asphalt rounds. Alén's several wins with it in
1983
1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
helped Lancia narrowly pip
Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
The origins of the compa ...
and their four-wheel drive long wheelbase
Quattro to that year's
constructors' championship. Indeed, it was Alén who was responsible for the car's final victory, on the
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
Tour de Corse
The Tour de Corse is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was the French round of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season until 2008, was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2011 to 2012, and ...
, in a year in which Audi retook both of the title honours, before it was replaced by the four-wheel drive
Lancia Delta S4 from the final round, in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
, of the
1985 season.
Having become unequivocal team leader in the aftermath of teammate
Henri Toivonen's death in
Corsica
Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
the following year, Alén narrowly lost the
1986 World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...
to rival driver,
Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 pilot
Juha Kankkunen. Late in the season, Alén had been victorious on the
Rallye Sanremo only after Kankkunen's
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...
team was excluded by the organisers on a controversial technicality. Peugeot subsequently appealed the exclusion to the
FISA
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA, , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence on domestic soil. , which eventually annulled the results of the rally, stripping Alén of the World Championship title which he had held for just eleven days, which led to Alén famously boycotting the 1987 Monte Carlo Rally.
Alén remained at Lancia after the abolition of Group B at the end of 1986, and adapted successfully to the replacement
Group A
Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles wer ...
formula. He won three events in the
Lancia Delta HF 4WD in
1987
Events January
* January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency.
* January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade.
* January 3 – Afghan leader ...
, but lost his chance to take second place in the world driver's championship after rolling his car in front of the TV cameras on the 1987
RAC Rally
Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) cal ...
. He won another three events the
following year, culminating in an emotional first victory in the RAC, an event he had been trying to win for fifteen years. It was to be his last world championship victory.
Later career

In
1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
, Alén moved to the burgeoning
Prodrive
Prodrive is an England, English motorsport and advanced engineering group based in Banbury,
Oxfordshire.
History
Prodrive was founded in 1984 by Ian Parry and David Richards (motorsport executive), David Richards.
Prodrive sold its 51% s ...
-run
Subaru World Rally Team, and was responsible for many of the
Subaru Legacy
The is a mid-size car built by Japanese automobile manufacturer Subaru from 1989 to 2025. The maker's flagship car, it is unique in its class for offering all-wheel drive as a standard feature, and Subaru's traditional boxer engine. The Leg ...
's early successes, including fourth in the 1990
1000 Lakes Rally, and a third and two fourth places the
following season. For
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
he moved to the
Toyota
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
team, but found himself playing very much a supporting role to
Carlos Sainz. The
1993 season
The General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its calendar advanced 24 hours to th ...
found Alén without a full-time position, and he drove for Toyota and Subaru early in the season, taking second place for Toyota in the
Safari Rally
The Safari Rally is an automobile rally held in Kenya. It was first held in 1953 as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The event was part of the World Rally Championship from 1973 until 2002, before returning in 2021. It is h ...
and 4th for Subaru in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
. Along with fellow veteran and
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
World Champion
Ari Vatanen
Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen (; born 27 April 1952) is a Finns, Finnish rally (sports), rally driver turned politician and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1999 to 2009. He won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981 and t ...
, he drove the
Subaru Impreza on its debut event, the 1000 Lakes Rally. Unfortunately for Alén, he crashed on the first stage of the event. This effectively marked the end of his career as a top-line rally driver.
He drove two races of the
International Touring Car Championship of 1995 for
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...
, driving the same number of races in
DTM earlier that year. He also drove in
Trophy Andros in 1996 and 1997.
To celebrate his 50th birthday in
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
, he entered that year's
Neste Rally Finland in August, finishing in a respectable 16th place overall with a
Ford Focus WRC. He has also participated in the
Paris-Dakar rally twice in the truck class, one of which was for Iveco in 2006 alongside team-mate
Miki Biasion. He competed in the event in a car for the manufacturer Izusu team in 2007. His son
Anton Alén, drove a
Super 2000
Super 2000 is an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA powertrain specification used in the World Rally Championship, the British Touring Car Championship, the World Touring Car Championship, and other touring car racing, touring car ...
class
Fiat Punto in the
Intercontinental Rally Challenge
The Intercontinental Rally Challenge was an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-sanctioned rallying series organised by SRW Events and Eurosport, Eurosport Events, and aimed to "give new opportunities to young or amateur rally drivers ...
series.
In March 2010,
Luca di Montezemolo hired Alén as a Ferrari test driver. He started with snow tests on the
Ferrari 458 Italia.
Complete WRC results
WRC wins
24 Hours of Le Mans results
References
External links
*
Profile at RallyBase
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alen, Markku
1951 births
Living people
Lancia people
World Rally Champions
World Rally Championship drivers
Finnish rally drivers
Finnish racing drivers
Racing drivers from Helsinki
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
World Sportscar Championship drivers
Rally raid truck drivers
Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers