Safari Rally 1986
Round 4 of the 1986 World Rally Championship · 29 March – 2 April 1986
Björn Waldegård led a Toyota one-two in Kenya, with Lars-Erik Torph second and Markku Alén third.
Episode 7 — The Underdogs: Toyota, Opel, Nissan, Mazda, Renault, Citroën, Porsche & Ferrari
The Safari Rally 1986 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: Alf van Beem via Wikimedia Commons, Public domainPhoto: Alf van Beem via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Miloslav Rejha via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
Open Kenyan roads and tracks, timed between controls.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Juha Kankkunen / Juha Piironen — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #2 Björn Waldegård / Fred Gallagher — Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo (Toyota Team Europe)
- #3 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki — Lancia Rally 037 Evo (Martini Lancia)
- #4 Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero — Lancia Rally 037 Evo (Martini Lancia)
- #5 Mike Kirkland / Robin Nixon — Subaru RX Turbo (Fuji Heavy Industries)
- #6 Shekhar Mehta / Rob Combes — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #7 Jayant Shah / Lofty Drews — Nissan 240RS (Jayant Shah)
- #8 Erwin Weber / Günther Wanger — Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo (Toyota Team Europe)
Björn Waldegård led a Toyota one-two in Kenya, with Lars-Erik Torph second and Markku Alén third.
How the rally unfolded
Lancia entered the older Rally 037 in Kenya rather than the Delta S4. Waldegård and Fred Gallagher won by 28 minutes from Torph; Alén was third, Erwin Weber fourth in a third Celica. Kankkunen finished fifth, collecting valuable points.
Miki Biasion’s 037 retired with engine failure. Mike Kirkland was sixth in a Group A Subaru RX Turbo.
The decisive moment
Toyota’s long experience of African rallies told again: the Celica Twin-Cam Turbo outlasted the faster four-wheel-drive cars.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Penalty time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Björn Waldegård / Fred Gallagher | Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo | Toyota Team Europe | B | 5 h 06 min |
| 2 | 10 | Lars-Erik Torph / Bo Thorszelius | Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo | Toyota Team Europe | B | +28 min |
| 3 | 3 | Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Martini Lancia | B | +1 h 06 min |
| 4 | 8 | Erwin Weber / Günther Wanger | Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo | Toyota Team Europe | B | +1 h 14 min |
| 5 | 1 | Juha Kankkunen / Juha Piironen | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | B | +2 h 06 min |
| 6 | 5 | Mike Kirkland / Robin Nixon | Subaru RX Turbo | Fuji Heavy Industries | A | +2 h 31 min |
| 7 | 19 | Frank Tundo / Quentin Thomson | Subaru RX Turbo | Fuji Heavy Industries | A | +3 h 05 min |
| 8 | 6 | Shekhar Mehta / Rob Combes | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | B | +3 h 06 min |
| 9 | 20 | Greg Criticos / Marzio Kravos | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Martini Lancia | B | +3 h 59 min |
| 10 | 27 | John Hellier / David Williamson | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Martini Lancia | B | +4 h 05 min |
On the Safari and the Ivory Coast Rally, crews were ranked by penalty time accumulated on timed road sections, not by special-stage times.
Retirements of note
- #4 Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero (Lancia Rally 037 Evo) — engine, time control 36
- #7 Jayant Shah / Lofty Drews (Nissan 240RS) — accident, time control 45
- #14 Vic Preston Jr / John Lyall (Lancia Rally 037 Evo) — accident, time control 28
Jonkka’s World Rally Archive lists a Volkswagen withdrawal after a ‘fatal accident’ on this rally; we have not been able to confirm the circumstances in a second source.
Results, retirements, stage wins and leaders are taken from Jonkka’s World Rally Archive. Names are given with their correct spelling; the archive itself omits diacritics.
Related pages
- 1986 season overview
- All 1986 rallies
- Previous round: Rally de Portugal 1986
- Next round: Tour de Corse 1986
- Cars: Toyota Celica TCT, Lancia 037
- Teams: Toyota Team Europe, Lancia Martini
- Iconic moments · Timeline · Statistics
All rounds of 1986
In pictures 4 photos
Photos from this event where free-licensed pictures exist; otherwise the podium cars, photographed on the occasion stated in each caption.
Further resources
- Motor Sport (May 1986): Rally review EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's May 1986 issue, written as the season unfolded. - WRC.com season archive 1986 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1986 season: calendar, winners and both championship tables. - Wikipedia: Safari Rally EN · archive
History of the Safari Rally with its list of winners over the decades.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Safari Rally 1986: event page — https://www.juwra.com/safari_1986.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/safari_1986_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/safari_1986_entries.html
- Wikipedia (EN), 1986 World Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_World_Rally_Championship
All text is original writing for Grouve Sports Management Group, based on the sources above. Facts checked on 21 October 2026.
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