Toni Gardemeister

Toni Gardemeister

Gardemeister at the 2008 Rally of New Zealand.
Personal information
Nationality Finland Finnish
Born (1975-03-31) 31 March 1975
Kouvola, Finland
World Rally Championship record
Active years 1996–2010
Teams SEAT, Mitsubishi, Škoda, Ford, Suzuki
Rallies 112
Championships 0
Rally wins 0
Podiums 6
Stage wins 16
Total points 128
First rally 1996 Rally Finland
Last rally 2010 Rally Finland

Toni Gardemeister (born 31 March 1975 in Kouvola, Finland), is a professional rally driver in the World Rally Championship. After previously competing for SEAT's, Mitsubishi's, Škoda's and Ford's factory teams, as well as for privateer teams, he joined the Suzuki World Rally Team for the 2008 season.

Career

Early

Gardemeister driving a Lancer Evo at the 2001 Rally Finland.

From the outset of his career Gardemeister had shown himself as a driver of some promise. He won the Finnish Rally Championship Group a (under 2000 cc) title in 1997 behind the wheel of a Nissan Sunny and was driving for the Spanish car firm SEAT for limited outings in 1998 with the Ibiza.

He was to become a world championship mainstay by the year 2000 in the firm's Córdoba WRC as team-mate to former world champion Didier Auriol. Gardemeister's impressive drives include a third place in New Zealand in 1999, and a fourth place on the 2000 Monte Carlo Rally.

With SEAT's surprise withdrawal from the 'works' scene for 2001 came two privateer opportunities in a Peugeot 206 WRC, in which Gardemeister scored drivers' points on both the Monte Carlo Rally and the Swedish Rally, finishing fifth and fourth, respectively.

Škoda (2002–04)

These performances attracted the attention of Škoda to whom Gardemeister then moved. He was to drive the Octavia WRC throughout 2002 and 2003, reuniting with Auriol, as well as the Fabia WRC in 2004. His best results with the Octavia were fifth places at the 2002 Rally Argentina and 2003 Rally New Zealand. With the Fabia WRC, he finished seventh at the 2004 Rallye Deutschland.

Ford (2005)

Gardemeister with a Ford Focus RS WRC 04 at the 2005 Cyprus Rally.

After securing a contract with the BP Ford World Rally Team, Ford's factory effort, for the 2005 season, Gardemeister drove his Ford Focus RS WRC 04 to a string of podiums and other points-scoring positions. A second place in Monte Carlo on his debut and a third in Sweden a month later were complemented by another second place, this time in the Acropolis Rally in the Spring of that year.

Finishing second once more on the Rallye de France in Corsica to the all-conquering Sébastien Loeb was thought to have aided Gardemeister's claim to retaining his drive with Ford for the 2006 season. However, with former Peugeot star Marcus Grönholm already signed to drive the 2006-specification factory Focus RS WRC, the news in November 2005 that Mikko Hirvonen had been signed to drive the second car in 2006 meant that Gardemeister would have to find a drive elsewhere. He finished the season a career-best fourth in the drivers' world championship, scoring twice as many points as his team-mate Roman Kresta.

2006–07

Gardemeister with a Citroën Xsara WRC at the 2006 Cyprus Rally.

Driving for the privateer Astra Racing team in a Peugeot 307 WRC with co-driver Jakke Honkanen, Gardemeister finished third in the 2006 Monte Carlo Rally, the first rally of the season. He went on to compete in three more world rallies driving a Citroën Xsara WRC, finishing fourth in Greece and Germany, and finishing fifth in Cyprus.

In the 2007 season, Gardemeister competed in five world rallies with a Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 and one with a Citroën Xsara WRC. With the Lancer WRC05, he finished seventh in Monte Carlo and then sixth in Sweden and Sardinia, and suffered two retirements. With the Xsara WRC, he took seventh place at the 2007 Rallye Deutschland.

Suzuki (2008)

Gardemeister with a Suzuki SX4 WRC at the 2008 Tour de Corse.

Gardemeister resurfaced to the WRC full-time the following year. His hard work with privateer teams had not gone unnoticed, as the new Suzuki World Rally Team offered him and new co-driver Tomi Tuominen one of the two works drives in the 2008 World Rally Championship season.[1] Gardemeister quickly performed, finishing seventh in only their second rally, the 2008 Swedish Rally.

Along with an eighth place in Finland and another seventh in New Zealand, Gardemeister also achieved Suzuki's first WRC stage win in Japan and finished sixth overall behind his team-mate PG Andersson. This marked Suzuki's best points finish and points haul of the 2008 season, on the team's home event. After the event, Toni said: "This has been a very tough but a very good rally for us, which has confirmed what I always thought: when we have a nice clean run with no problems, we are able to fight for a good position. I was also really proud to set Suzuki's first fastest stage time on Saturday. Given that we have not even finished our first full year yet and that we have done no testing, it really shows our potential for the future." With Suzuki retiring from motorsport before season 2009, Gardemeister lost his drive.

2009-2010

For 2009, Gardemeister participated in only 2 rallies of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC). The first being the Rallye Monte Carlo with an Astra Racing run Fiat Grande Punto Abarth S2000. He retired because of technical problems from 2nd place, 2 special stages before the finish. The second was the Rallye Principe de Asturias, with an Opel Corsa S2000 run by Motor Sport Developments. Gardemeister crashed on SS9 from 12th place.

Gardemeister driving a Ford Fiesta S2000 at the 2010 Rally Finland.

In 2010 he again participated at the IRC Rallye Monte Carlo with an Astra Racing run Fiat Grande Punto Abarth S2000. He surprisingly won the prologue but retired from 10th place on SS11. He also raced at WRC Rally Finland with a Ford Fiesta S2000, finishing 12th overall.

2011-present

In 2011, he entered the Rallye Monte Carlo with an Astra Racing-run Peugeot 207 S2000, and finished in 10th place. After that, he bought himself a Škoda Fabia S2000 and launched his own team, TGS Worldwide OU; his main sponsors were Mad Croc and Hankook. He missed only two rounds, the SATA Rally Azores and the Cyprus Rally; on all the others, he finished inside the top ten, his season best 6th place coming in Barum Rally Zlín. He sometimes complained that the works Škodas had a technical advantage over the marque's privateer drivers, because of certain updates they couldn't get.[2] He finished the season 9th overall.

Gardemeister tried to put together the budget he needed to return to the IRC in 2012, but with Hankook leaving his team, his efforts were unsuccessful. He started to focus on renting out his Škoda, and entered some rally-raid events with various Mitsubishi cars, and achieved some good results. However, while competing on the Silk Way Rally, he suffered an accident which resulted in one twisted and two broken vertebraes. Gardemeister underwent a successful surgery to repair his back, and after a 9-month recovery, he is just as good as he was.

Results

WRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points
1996 Toni Gardemeister Opel Astra GSI 16V SWE KEN IDN GRC ARG FIN
Ret		 AUS ITA ESP - 0
1997 Toni Gardemeister Nissan Sunny GTI MON SWE
Ret		 KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRC NZL FIN
12		 IDN ITA AUS GBR - 0
1998 Promoracing Finland Nissan Sunny GTI MON SWE
21		 KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRC - 0
SEAT Sport SEAT Ibiza GTI 16V Evo 2 NZL
16		 FIN
14		 ITA
Ret		 AUS
Ret		 GBR
16
1999 Toni Gardemeister SEAT Ibiza GTI 16V Evo 2 MON
14		 12th 6
Astra SWE
33		 KEN POR
Ret		 ESP FRA ARG GRC
SEAT Sport SEAT Córdoba WRC NZL
3
SEAT Córdoba WRC Evo2 FIN
6		 CHN ITA
Ret		 AUS
16		 GBR
Ret
2000 SEAT Sport SEAT Córdoba WRC Evo2 MON
4		 SWE
Ret		 KEN
Ret		 POR
9		 ESP
Ret		 ARG
Ret		 GRC
Ret		 NZL
Ret		 13th 4
SEAT Córdoba WRC Evo3 FIN
Ret		 CYP
Ret		 FRA
11		 ITA
Ret		 AUS
6		 GBR
12
2001 Toni Gardemeister Peugeot 206 WRC MON
5		 SWE
4		 POR ESP ARG CYP GRC KEN 16th 5
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Mitsubishi Carisma GT FIN
Ret		 NZL
15		 ITA FRA AUS GBR
2002 Škoda Motorsport Škoda Octavia WRC Evo2 MON
10		 SWE
Ret		 FRA
12		 ESP
11		 CYP
15		 ARG
5		 GRE
10		 KEN
Ret		 13th 3
Škoda Octavia WRC Evo3 FIN
12		 GER
Ret		 ITA
Ret		 NZL
8		 AUS
6		 GBR
10
2003 Škoda Motorsport Škoda Octavia WRC Evo3 MON
Ret		 SWE
8		 TUR
7		 NZL
5		 ARG
7		 GRE
Ret		 CYP
Ret		 12th 9
Škoda Fabia WRC GER
Ret		 FIN
Ret		 AUS
11		 ITA
Ret		 FRA
11		 ESP
12		 GBR
Ret
2004 Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia WRC MON SWE MEX NZL CYP GRE
Ret		 TUR ARG FIN
8		 GER
7		 JPN GBR
22		 ITA
Ret		 FRA
9		 ESP
9		 AUS 24th 3
2005 BP Ford World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC 04 MON
2		 SWE
3		 MEX
6		 NZL
6		 ITA
5		 CYP
5		 TUR
6		 GRE
2		 ARG
4		 FIN
6		 GER
17		 GBR
DSQ		 JPN
6		 FRA
2		 ESP
14		 4th 58
Ford Focus RS WRC 06 AUS
Ret
2006 Astra Racing Peugeot 307 WRC MON
3		 SWE MEX ESP FRA ARG ITA 9th 20
Citroën Xsara WRC GRE
4		 GER
4		 FIN JPN CYP
5		 TUR AUS NZL GBR
2007 MMSP LTD Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 MON
7		 SWE
6		 13th 10
Toni Gardemeister NOR
Ret		 MEX POR
DSQ		 ARG ITA
6		 GRE FIN
Astra Racing Citroën Xsara WRC GER
7		 NZL ESP FRA JPN IRE GBR
2008 Suzuki World Rally Team Suzuki SX4 WRC MON
Ret		 SWE
7		 MEX
Ret		 ARG
Ret		 JOR
Ret		 ITA
Ret		 GRE
9		 TUR
Ret		 FIN
8		 GER
10		 NZL
7		 ESP
13		 FRA
13		 JPN
6		 GBR
7		 13th 10
2010 Toni Gardemeister Ford Fiesta S2000 SWE MEX JOR TUR NZL POR BUL FIN
12		 GER JPN FRA ESP GBR - 0

IRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 WDC Points
2009 Astra Racing Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000 MON
Ret		 CUR SAF AZO YPR RUS MAD ZLI AST ITA SCO - 0
2010 Astra Racing Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000 MON
Ret		 CUR ARG CAN SAR YPR AZO MAD ZLI SAN SCO CYP - 0
2011 Astra Racing Peugeot 207 S2000 MON
10		 9th 45
TGS Worldwide OU Škoda Fabia S2000 CAN
10		 COR
8		 YAL
7		 YPR
7		 AZO ZLI
6		 MEC
7		 SAN
9		 SCO
7		 CYP

References

  1. ↑ WRC: Official: Suzuki names drivers for '08., motorsport news, results, features, teams, drivers, updates
  2. ↑ http://www.tonigardemeister.com/news110605.php

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