in 1985 and 1986. The 1985 event marked the first time the drivers' world championship had been decided in Finland; Salonen captured the title with three rallies to go. In 1986, the route was modified to bring the average speeds closer to the FISA limit of 110 km/h. The top drivers exceeded the limit almost regularly, but FISA had given the organisers a 10 percent flexibility. Combined with their dislike for the slower Group A cars, drivers were highly critical of the organisers for artificially slowing the rally in 1987. A record 214 drivers signed up for the 1988 event and 200 were qualified to start by the organisers. Albert II, Prince of Monaco arrived to follow the event and was scheduled to drive a few stages in an ex-Alén Lancia. In one of the tightest duels in the event's history, Toyota's Juha Kankkunen led Lancia's Markku Alén by just two seconds after 33 of the 39 stages. Kankkunen's engine failed on the next stage, and Alén became the first driver to win the same WRC round six times. As a taste of what was to come, only two Finnish drivers made it into top ten. In 1989, Mikael Ericsson of Sweden drove to victory as the first non-Finn in 18 years. 1990s The 40th anniversary event in 1990 featured a route stretching to Tampere and gathered a large audience, roughly estimated at 450,000–500,000. Toyota's Spanish driver Carlos Sainz became the first competitor outside Finland and Sweden to win the rally. He had been slightly injured earlier during the week, when he crashed during a night-time practice run in the Vesala stage. Sainz's feat was soon repeated; Didier Auriol, who had become the first Frenchman on the podium in his debut in 1988, beat his Lancia teammate Kankkunen to the win in 1992. Kankkunen took his second win in three years in 1993. In 1994, the rally was renamed to Neste 1000 Lakes Rally as Neste became the title sponsor. A new super special stage was built at a slope of the Himos ski centre in Jämsä and it quickly proved popular among spectators. Due to the WRC round rotation from 1994 to 1996, the 1995 Rally Finland was only part of the 2-litre World Cup (better known as Formula 2). As a result, audience numbers dropped. The event was also overshadowed by a fatal accident. During the rainy and