Acting
Apr 26, 1952
Tuupovaara, Finland
Ari Vatanen
Acting
Biography
Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen is a Finnish rally driver turned politician and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1999 to 2009. Vatanen won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981 and the Paris Dakar Rally four times. Since 2013 Vatanen has been the President of the Estonian Autosport Union.
Feature Films (9)
Watch the action from Mintex, Circuit of Ireland, Welsh, Scottish and Manx Rallies as the full story unfolds of the 1980 British Open Rally Championship.
The Vatanen Touch
Plastic surgeon Michel Saint-Josse is on his way to Spain where he hopes to spend a stress-free holiday in a luxury hotel with his teenage daughter Vanessa. When his car breaks down near a camping, Michel accepts the offer of help from an extrovert gigolo camper named Patrick Chirac. Whilst their car is being repaired, Michel and Vanessa agree to stay in Patrick’s well proportioned tent, not knowing that, thanks to a series of mishaps, it will be their home for several days...
Camping
Climb Dance is a famous cinéma vérité short film, which features Finnish rally driver Ari Vatanen setting a record time in a highly modified four-wheel drive, all-wheel steering Peugeot 405 Turbo 16 GR at the 1988 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in Colorado, USA. The film was produced by Peugeot and directed by Jean Louis Mourey. The record time set was 10:47.77.
Climb Dance
In the 1980s rallying was more popular than Formula 1. However the sport was heading out of control and the unregulated mayhem would end abruptly after a series of horrific tragedies.
Rallying: The Killer Years
Thirty years after the end of Group B rallying, film-maker Helmut Deimel has launched his latest film on rallying’s wildest era. For “Riding Balls of Fire”, the Austrian legend behind the hugely popular “Evolution of Rallying” has gathered together the finest archive footage of the 500 bhp Group B supercars in their prime. Watching this film really shows the extreme pace of evolution of the cars and the sport in the three short years from 1983 to 1986.
Riding Balls of Fire Group B
In the 1980s rallying was more popular than Formula 1. 'Group B' machines had taken the world by storm. De-regulation opened the way for the most exciting cars ever to hit the motor sport scene. Nothing like it has ever happened since. 'This is the fastest rallying there has ever been' - Peter Foubister. For four wild and crazy years manufacturers scrambled to build ever more powerful cars to be driven by fearless mavericks who could handle the extreme power. The sport was heading out of control and the unregulated mayhem ended abruptly in 1986 after a series of horrific tragedies. This is the story of when fans, ambition, politics and cars collided.
Madness on Wheels
Television & Series (2)
Idris Elba travels from his childhood home in east London to 'Motor City' - Detroit - and then on to New Jersey where he delves into the history of the first boy racers and explores how the quest for high speed has shaped professional motorsport and popular culture.
Idris Elba: King of Speed
Top Gear France is a french TV show on cars, based on the english original tv show Top Gear. IT is shwon on TNT RMC Découverte and will be hosted by the french actor Philippe Lellouche, the professional racing driver Bruce Jouanny and EDM musician and journalist Yann Larret-Menezo.