Pauli Toivonen

Pauli Johannes Toivonen (22 August 1929 – 14 February 2005) was a Finnish rally car driver. He drove for Citroën, Lancia and Porsche and had many successes to his credit. Toivonen had two sons, Harri and Henri, both also rally drivers.

Toivonen was awarded a controversial first place on the 1966 Monte Carlo Rally - the top three placing Minis of Timo Mäkinen, Rauno Aaltonen and Paddy Hopkirk and Roger Clark's 4th place Ford Cortina were disqualified. Rally officials determined the headlamp bulbs were not homologated, following a last minute rule change. The winner therefore became Toivonen's Citroën DS.

As a result, Toivonen did not brag about his victory in the prestigious Monte Carlo rally because he felt he had not deserved the victory. However, when his son, Henri came in first at the same event twenty years later — this time in a convincing manner — Toivonen said, "Now the name of Toivonen has been cleared." Toivonen was European Rally champion in 1968 and won four other events for Porsche in the same year.

Notable results

Year Rally Finish Car Co-driver 1961 1000 Lakes Rally 2nd Citroën DS Jaakko Kallio 1962 1000 Lakes Rally 1st Citroën DS19 Jaakko Kallio 1963 Monte Carlo Rally 2nd Citroën DS19 A. Jarvi 1965 1000 Lakes Rally 3rd Volkswagen 1500S Kalevi Leivo 1966 Monte Carlo Rally 1st Citroën DS21 E. Mikander 1967 Swedish Rally 6th Lancia Ahava Tour de Corse 2nd Lancia M. Tiukkanen 1000 Lakes Rally 7th Lancia Salonen 1968 Monte Carlo Rally 2nd Porsche 911T M. Tiukkanen Acropolis Rally 3rd Porsche 911T M. Kolari West German Rally 1st Porsche 911T M. Kolari East German Rally 1st Porsche 911T M. Kolari San Remo Rally 1st Porsche 911T M. Tiukkanen Castrol-Danube Rally 1st Porsche 911T M. Tiukkanen Geneva Rally 1st Porsche 911T Vihervaara European Champion 1969 Acropolis 1st Porsche 911S M. Kolari

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 1966 Société Automobiles Alpine Berndt Jansson Alpine A210 P 1.3 217 DNF DNF