Born in 'Rally country' - Finland - Toni Gardemeister quickly showed his talent despite rarely having a car to fight for the victory during his career.

Barely 18, Gardemeister started competing in road events in his native Finland. Toni won his first victories in the 1994 Junior Finnish Championship before winning the 1996 Valtikka Rally and PTV Rally in the 2-litre category. That same year, he competed in the World Rally Championship for the first time in Finland but his Opel Astra didn't finish the event.

In 1997, Toni is still taking part in the Finnish Rally Championship and became the 2-litre champion at the end of the season. He also joined the WRC for Sweden and Finland at the wheel of a Nissan Sunny, finishing 12th in his home event.

In 1998, Seat gave him the opportunity to drive in the British Championship and also in the World Rally Championship. He achieved many podium finishes in the 2-litre class, notably finishing in second places in Sweden and Finland.

The following year the Finn competed in the entire World Rally Championship. He started by winning the first event in Monte Carlo, once again in the 2-litre class. Later in the season, Seat gave him the opportunity to drive the Cordoba WRC and Toni clinched his best ever result in WRC, a third place in Rally New Zealand.

Despite a fourth place at the Monte Carlo Rally, Toni Gardemeister had a difficult 2000 season. The Finn had many retirements and found himself without a contract when Seat decided to pull out of the World Rally Championship at the end of that year.

Gardemeister started the 2001 season as a privateer. He finished in fifth place in Monaco and took a fourth position in Karlstad at the wheel of a Peugeot 206 WRC. Later on in the season, he joined Mitsubishi for Finland and New Zealand at the wheel of a Carisma.

The Finnish driver moved to Skoda in 2002. His best result was a fifth place in Argentina. Toni stayed at Skoda the following year, driving the Octavia to fifth place in New Zealand before switching over to the Fabia in Germany.

Skoda didn't participate to the entire 2004 championship, spending some of their budget on the development of the Fabia. The Czech team returned to the championship at the Acropolis Rally but Gardemeister retired in this event. Toni completed the season with an eighth place in Finland, a seventh position in Germany and ninth places in Corsica and Catalunya.