1986 World Rally Championship

The 1986 World Rally Championship was the 14th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). The season consisted of 13 rallies, including all twelve venues of the previous season as well as the addition of the Olympus Rally. This marked the return of the WRC to the United States and North America, as well as the first world rally to be held on the western side of the continent. The December rally would also be the only WRC event to feature Group B competition in the United States.

The 1986 season was notable for being the last World Rally Championship season driven with the popular Group B rally cars, which were banned after the fatal crashes at the Rally Portugal, where three spectators were killed and more than 30 injured, and at the Tour de Corse, where Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto died in a fireball accident. This was the year where Group B (first introduced in 1982) was at its peak, and the 1986 season saw some of the most powerful and sophisticated rally cars ever built, some of which were mid-engined, like the Lancia Delta S4 and the Ford RS200. The drivers' championship was won by Peugeot's Juha Kankkunen, followed by two other "Flying Finns", Lancia's Markku Alén and Kankkunen's teammate Timo Salonen. The manufacturers' title was taken by Peugeot, after a close battle with the Martini-sponsored Lancia team.^[1]

The season began with the Monte Carlo Rally and Henri Toivonen took the win with his Lancia Delta S4, making himself the favourite for the title. At the International Swedish Rally in wintery snow and ice, Toivonen had to retire due to an engine failure and Juha Kankkunen won the event with his Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2, ahead of Toivonen's teammate Markku Alén. At the next rally in Portugal, Joaquim Santos lost control of his Ford RS200 and plunged into the crowd, killing three spectators and injuring more than 30.^[2] All the factory team drivers decided to withdraw from the race, giving the win to home country's relatively unknown driver, Joaquim Moutinho.

After veteran Swede Björn Waldegård's triumph at the extremely arduous and difficult Safari Rally in Kenya driving a Toyota Celica TCT over Alén and his Lancia 037 Evo (which was the S4's predecessor and used only by Lancia for the Safari Rally; the S4 was not used for the Safari Rally due to Lancia determining that it was too new and not developed enough for that rally), another fatal accident at the Tour de Corse on the French island of Corsica would change the course of rallying. Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto in their Lancia went off the side of the road, plunged down a ravine and landed on its roof. The aluminium fuel tank underneath the driver's seat was ruptured by the trees and exploded. Toivonen and Cresto had no time to get out and both men burned to death in their seats. The accident had no witnesses close enough to clearly see the accident.^[3]

This caused Jean-Marie Balestre and the FISA to immediately freeze the development of the Group B cars and ban them from competing for the 1987 season. Audi and Ford decided to withdraw from competing, while other teams continued with their Group B models until the end of the season. Peugeot boss Jean Todt was outraged over the ban and pursued legal action against the federation.^[4] After Lancia's remaining car retirement, the Tour de Corse was eventually won by Peugeot's Bruno Saby, which marked his career-first WRC victory. The Acropolis Rally in Greece and the New Zealand Rally were won consecutively by Kankkunen; and the third driver to take his debut win during the season was Lancia's Miki Biasion, who edged out teammate Alén to win the Rally Argentina.

Finnish drivers finished first, second and third in the Jyväskylä Rally (otherwise known as the Finnish Rally, the fastest race of the year), with Salonen and Kankkunen giving Peugeot a 1-2 result, with Alén coming in third for Lancia. This was not much of a surprise, as this rally had only ever been won by Finnish and Swedish drivers until 1990. The Ivory Coast Rally, which was considered to be the most demanding, gruelling and certainly the most attrition-filled rally of the year (a rally where drivers had an unbelievable one in ten chance of finishing) was skipped by all of the Group B teams except Toyota, and was won by Waldegård in his Celica, completing his World Championship African rally sweep. The season included more controversy when the organizers of the Rallye Sanremo disqualified the entire Peugeot team from the event due to illegal side skirts. However, the cars were proven legal by the FIA, and the Italian organizers were blamed for not allowing French Peugeots to take the win ahead of the Italian Lancias. Eventually, the FISA annulled the results of the whole event. Peugeot then became the manufacturers' champions, but Kankkunen was not sure about his title over Alén until three weeks after the season ended, at the RAC Rally in the United Kingdom, specifically Wales and England. Salonen won this race, with Alen finishing second and Kankkunen third, this was enough for Kankkunen to take the Driver's Championship. The last WRC round of the year was the first Olympus Rally in the state of Washington in the northwest United States, which Alén won, with Kankkunen finishing second.^[5]

1986 marked the only season in which the FIA issued the World Championship for Drivers of Group A Cars. Swede Kenneth Eriksson, driving a Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V took the title ahead of Austrian Rudi Stohl in his Audi Coupé Quattro, a lower powered version of the Group B Quattros. This championship became unnecessary in future years due to the elimination of Group B cars. From 1987 onwards, Group A cars would be the vehicles used by drivers competing for the main World Rally Championship for Drivers.

Team	Manufacturer	Car	Tyre	Drivers	Rounds
Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot	205 Turbo 16 E2	M	Timo Salonen	1–3, 5–7, 9, 11–12
				Juha Kankkunen	1–4, 6–9, 11–13
				Bruno Saby	1, 5–6, 8, 11
				Michèle Mouton	1, 5
				Shekhar Mehta	4
				Stig Blomqvist	9
				Andrea Zanussi	11
				Paolo Alessandrini	11
				Mikael Sundström	12
				Jon Woodner	13
Audi Sport	Audi	Quattro Sport S1	M	Walter Röhrl	1, 3, 6
				Hannu Mikkola	1, 6
				Rudi Stohl	1, 3–4, 6–8, 10–11
				Mikael Ericsson	2
				Gunner Pettersson	2
				Malcolm Stewart	7
				Wilfred Wiedner	10
				Adolphe Choteau	10
				Harald Demuth	12
				John Buffum	13
Martini Lancia	Lancia	Delta S4 Rally 037 evo*	P	Markku Alén	1–9, 11–13
				Henri Toivonen	1–3, 5
				Miki Biasion	1, 3–8, 11
				Vic Preston Jr	4
				Greg Criticos	4
				John Hellier	4
				Mikael Ericsson	6–7, 9, 12
				Jorge Recalde	8
				Kalle Grundel	9
				Dario Cerrato	11
				Paolo Alessandriani	13
Austin Rover World Rally Team	MG	Metro 6R4	M	Tony Pond	1, 3, 5, 11–12
				Malcolm Wilson	1–3, 5, 9, 11–12
				Per Eklund	2, 9, 12
				Marc Duez	3, 11–12
				Didier Auriol	5
				Harri Toivonen	9, 12
				David Llewellin	12
				Jimmy McRae	12
Citroën Compétitions	Citroën	BX 4TC	M	Jean-Claude Andruet	1–2, 6
				Philippe Wambergue	1–2, 6
				Maurice Chomat	6
Ford Motor Co Ltd	Ford	RS200	P	Stig Blomqvist	2–3, 6, 12
				Kalle Grundel	2–3, 6, 12
				Joaquim Santos	3
				Mark Lovell	12
				Stig Andervang	12
Toyota Team Europe	Toyota	Celica TCT	P	Björn Waldegård	4, 10, 13
				Erwin Weber	4, 10
				Lars-Erik Torph	4, 10, 13
				Robin Ulyate	10
				Steve Millen	13
Opel Euro Team	Opel	Manta 400	M	Basil Criticos	4, 8
Mazda Rally Team Europe	Mazda	Familia 4WD	M	Ingvar Carlsson	1–2, 9, 12
				Achim Warmbold	1
				Rod Millen	7, 13
Volkswagen Motorsport	Volkswagen	Golf GTi	P	Franz Wittmann	1, 3–6, 8
				Kenneth Eriksson	1–9, 11–12
Fuji Heavy Industries	Subaru	RX Turbo	P	Mike Kirkland	4, 7
				Possum Bourne	4, 7, 13
				Frank Tundo	4, 7
Renault Elf Philips	Renault	11 Turbo	M	Jean Ragnotti	5, 11
Škoda Motorsport	Škoda	Škoda 130 LR	P	Ladislav Krecek	6, 9
				Svatopluk Kvaizar	6, 9
Major entries not registered as manufacturers
Jolly Club	Fiat	Uno Turbo	P	Giovanni del Zoppo	1, 3, 5–6, 11
				Michele Rayneri	1, 5–6, 11
				Alex Fiorio	1, 3, 5, 11
Team Nissan Europe	Nissan	240RS	D	Jayant Shah	4
				George Moschous	6
				Stratis Hatzipanayiotou	6
				Reg Cook	7
				Paddy Davidson	7
				Alain Ambrosino	10
				Louise Aitken-Walker	12
Société Diac	Renault	R5 Maxi Turbo	M	François Chatriot	5
Rothmans Porsche Rally Team	Porsche	911SC RS	M	Saeed Al-Hajri	6

• Lancia ran out of time to build the safari version of the Delta S4

Black = Tarmac	Brown = Gravel	Blue = Snow/ice	Red = Mixed surface

Round	Rally name	Stages	Podium finishers
			Rank	Driver	Co-driver	Team	Car	Time
1	Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo (18–24 January)	36 stages 867 km Tarmac/Snow	1	Henri Toivonen	Sergio Cresto	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta S4	10:11:24
			2	Timo Salonen	Seppo Harjanne	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2	10:15:28
			3	Hannu Mikkola	Arne Hertz	Audi Sport	Audi Sport Quattro S1	10:18:46
2	Swedish Rally (14–16 February)	30 stages 558 km Snow/Ice	1	Juha Kankkunen	Juha Piironen	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2	5:09:19
			2	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta S4	5:11:13
			3	Kalle Grundel	Terry Harryman	Ford Motor Co Ltd	Ford RS200	5:15:35
3	Rallye de Portugal (5–8 March)	42 stages 556 km Gravel/Tarmac	1	Joaquim Moutinho	Edgar Fortes	Renault Galp	Renault 5 Turbo	7:50:44
			2	Carlos Bica	Cândido Júnior	Duriforte Construções	Lancia Rally 037	8:04:11
			3	Giovanni Del Zoppo	Loris Roggia	Jolly Club	Fiat Uno Turbo	8:07:36
4	Safari Rally (29 March–2 April)	63 controls 4190 km Gravel	1	Björn Waldegård	Fred Gallagher	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica TCT	+5:06 pen
			2	Lars-Erik Torph	Bo Thorszelius	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica TCT	+5:34 pen
			3	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Martini Racing	Lancia Rally 037 evo	+6.12 pen
5	Tour de Corse (1–3 May)	24 stages 1017 km Tarmac	1	Bruno Saby	Jean-François Fauchille	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2	11:52:44
			2	François Chatriot	Michel Périn	Société Diac	Renault 5 Maxi Turbo	12:06:32
			3	Yves Loubet	Jean-Marc Andrié	Alfa Romeo Rothmans Team	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6	12:45:59
6	Acropolis Rally (2–4 June)	38 stages 575 km Gravel	1	Juha Kankkunen	Juha Piironen	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2	7:20:01
			2	Miki Biasion	Tiziano Siviero	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta S4	7:21:38
			3	Bruno Saby	Jean-François Fauchille	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2	7:29:55
7	Rally New Zealand (5–8 July)	34 stages 597 km Gravel/Tarmac	1	Juha Kankkunen	Juha Piironen	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2	5:43:45
			2	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta S4	5:45:25
			3	Miki Biasion	Tiziano Siviero	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta S4	5:53:36
8	Rally Argentina (6–9 August)	26 stages 569 km Gravel	1	Miki Biasion	Tiziano Siviero	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta S4	6:36:26
			2	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta S4	6:36:50
			3	Stig Blomqvist	Bruno Berglund	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2	6:40:42
9	1000 Lakes Rally (5–7 September)	47 stages 382 km Gravel	1	Timo Salonen	Seppo Harjanne	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2	3:32:45
			2	Juha Kankkunen	Juha Piironen	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2	3:33:09
			3	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta S4	3:34:30
10	Rallye Côte d'Ivoire[6] (24–27 September)	73 controls 3763 km Gravel	1	Björn Waldegård	Fred Gallagher	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica TCT	+1:29 pen
			2	Lars-Erik Torph	Bo Thorszelius	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica TCT	+1:37 pen
			3	Erwin Weber	Günter Wanger	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica TCT	+2:27 pen
11	Rallye Sanremo[1] (13–17 October)	39 stages 488 km Gravel/Tarmac	1	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta S4	5:31:35
			2	Dario Cerrato	Giuseppe Cerri	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta S4	5:32:53
			3	Miki Biasion	Tiziano Siviero	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta S4	5:33:17
12	RAC Rally (16–19 November)	45 stages 517 km Gravel	1	Timo Salonen	Seppo Harjanne	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2	5:21:11
			2	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta S4	5:22:33
			3	Juha Kankkunen	Juha Piironen	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2	5:27:16
13	Olympus Rally[6] (4–7 December)	39 stages 525 km Gravel	1	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Martini Racing	Lancia Delta S4	5:26:10
			2	Juha Kankkunen	Juha Piironen	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2	5:29:36
			3	John Buffum	Neil Wilson	Audi Of America	Audi Sport Quattro	5:50:24

¹ FISA later annulled the results.

Rank	Driver	Event													Total points
		MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN	CIV	ITA	GBR	USA
1	Juha Kankkunen	5	1	WD	5		1	1	Ret	2		*	3	2	118
2	Markku Alén	Ret	2	WD	3	WD	Ret	2	2	3		*	2	1	104
3	Timo Salonen	2	Ret	WD		Ret	Ret	5		1		*	1		63
4	Björn Waldegård				1						1	*		5	48
5	Miki Biasion	Ret		WD	Ret	WD	2	3	1			*			47
6	Lars-Erik Torph				2						2	*		4	40
7	Bruno Saby	6				1	3		Ret			*			38
8	Mikael Ericsson		4				Ret	4		5		*	Ret		28
9	Kalle Grundel		3	WD			Ret			6		*	5		26
10	Kenneth Eriksson	9	7	WD	Ret	8	7	7	5	12		*	11		25
11	Stig Blomqvist		Ret	WD			Ret		3	4		*	Ret		22
	Erwin Weber				4						3	*			22
13	Henri Toivonen	1	Ret	WD		Ret						*			20
	Joaquim Moutinho			1								*			20
15	Rudi Stohl	17		WD	Ret		6	12	6		7	*			16
16	Carlos Bica			2								*			15
	François Chatriot					2						*			15
18	Hannu Mikkola	3										*			12
	Giovanni Del Zoppo	Ret		3		Ret	Ret					*			12
	Yves Loubet					3						*			12
	John Buffum											*		3	12
22	Walter Röhrl	4		WD								*			10
	Jorge Ortigão			4								*			10
	Jean Ragnotti					4						*			10
	Saeed Al-Hajri						4					*			10
	Jorge Recalde								4			*			10
	Robin Ulyate										4	*			10
	Mikael Sundström									Ret		*	4		10
29	Gunnar Pettersson		5							Ret		*			8
	Auguste Turiani	Ret		5			Ret					*			8
	Jean-Claude Torre					5						*			8
	Stratis Hatzipanayiotou						5					*			8
	Samir Assef										5	*			8
34	Per Eklund		Ret							7		*	7		8
35	Franz Wittmann	10		WD	12	Ret	9		7			*			7
36	Jean-Claude Andruet	Ret	6				Ret					*			6
	Jean-Sébastien Couloumiès			6								*			6
	Mike Kirkland				6			Ret				*			6
	Paul Rouby					6						*			6
	Neil Allport							6				*			6
	Wilfried Wiedner										6	*			6
	Tony Pond	Ret		WD		Ret						*	6		6
	Paolo Alessandrini											*		6	6
44	Rod Millen							10				*		7	5
45	Salvador Servià	7										*			4
	Ramiro Fernandes			7								*			4
	Frank Tundo				7			Ret				*			4
	Michel Neri					7						*			4
49	Alain Oreille	8				Ret						*			3
	Roger Ericsson		8									*			3
	Giovanni Recordati			8		Ret	19					*			3
	Shekhar Mehta				8							*			3
	Iórgos Moschous						8					*			3
	Paddy Davidson							8				*			3
	José Celsi								8			*			3
	Harri Toivonen									8		*	Ret		3
	Alain Ambrosino										8	*			3
	Jimmy McRae											*	8		3
	Possum Bourne				Ret			Ret				*		8	3
60	Björn Johansson		9									*			2
	António Segurado			9								*			2
	Greg Criticos				9							*			2
	Gilbert Casanova					9						*			2
	Reg Cook							9				*			2
	Ernesto Soto								9			*			2
	Lasse Lampi									9		*			2
	Patrick Copetti										9	*			2
	David Llewellin											*	9		2
	Clive Smith											*		9	2
70	Sören Nilsson		10									*			1
	António Coutinho			10								*			1
	Johnny Hellier				10							*			1
	Christian Gardavot					10						*			1
	Michele Rayneri	Ret		Ret		Ret	10					*			1
	Basil Criticos				11				10			*			1
	Malcolm Wilson	Ret	Ret	WD		Ret				10		*	17		1
	Martial Yacé										10	*			1
	Ingvar Carlsson	Ret	Ret							Ret		*	10		1
	Paul Choiniere											*		10	1
	Ladislav Krecek						12			26		*			0
	Svatopluk Kvaizar						14			37		*			0
	Alex Fiorio	Ret		Ret		WD	Ret					*			0
	Philippe Wambergue	Ret	Ret				Ret					*			0
	Michele Mouton	Ret				Ret						*			0
	Achim Warmbold	Ret										*			0
	Joaquim Santos			Ret								*			0
	Jayant Shah				Ret							*			0
	Vic Preston Jr.				Ret							*			0
	Didier Auriol					Ret						*			0
	Maurice Chomat						Ret					*			0
	Malcolm Stewart							Ret				*			0
	Adolphe Choteau										Ret	*			0
	Marc Duez			WD								*	Ret		0
* - Note: FISA annulled the results for the Rallye Sanremo

Rank	Manufacturers	Event											Total points
		MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN	ITA	GBR
1	Peugeot	17	20	-	(10)	20	20	20	(14)	20	*	20	137
2	Lancia	20	17	-	(14)	-	17	17	20	14	*	17	122
3	Volkswagen	9	10	-	-	9	11	12	14	-	*	-	65
4	Audi	14	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	29
5	Ford	-	14	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	10	24
6	Toyota	-	-	-	20	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	20
7	Renault	-	-	-	-	14	-	-	-	-	*	-	14
8	Subaru	-	-	-	13	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	13
9	Austin Rover	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	*	8	12
10	Citroën	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	-	10
11	Mazda	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	9	9
12	Opel	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	-	*	-	5
* - Note: FISA annulled the results for the San Remo Rally

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1986 in World Rally Championship.

• FIA World Rally Championship 1986 at ewrc-results.com
• Season 1986 at juwra.com