Tour de Corse 1984
Round 5 of the 1984 World Rally Championship · 3–5 May 1984
Markku Alén won in Corsica — but the bigger news was the world championship debut of the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16, which led for twelve stages.
Episode 3 — The Peugeot Revolution: 205 Turbo 16, Todt & Vatanen (1984–85)
The Tour de Corse 1984 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: Miloslav Rejha via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0Photo: Miloslav Rejha via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: _morgado via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
More than 1,100 km of narrow mountain asphalt across the island.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Attilio Bettega / Sergio Cresto — Lancia Rally 037 Evo (Martini Racing)
- #2 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer — Audi Sport Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #3 Guy Fréquelin / Christian Gilbert — Opel Manta 400 (Opel Euro Team)
- #4 Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (Peugeot-Talbot Sport)
- #5 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki — Lancia Rally 037 Evo (Martini Racing)
- #6 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #7 Adartico Vudafieri / Luigi Pirollo — Lancia Rally 037 (Jolly Club)
- #8 Bernard Darniche / Alain Mahé — Audi Quattro A2 (Yacco S.A.)
Markku Alén won in Corsica — but the bigger news was the world championship debut of the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16, which led for twelve stages.
How the rally unfolded
Attilio Bettega led the first seven stages for Lancia and won 12 stages in total, but he fell back to seventh. Ari Vatanen then took the new Peugeot into the lead on stage 8 and stayed in front until he crashed on stage 19. Alén took over and won by 4 minutes 15 seconds from Miki Biasion. Jean Ragnotti was third.
Jean-Pierre Nicolas brought the second 205 T16 home in fourth on its debut. Audi had a difficult event: Walter Röhrl’s new short-wheelbase Sport Quattro retired with engine failure on stage 7, and Blomqvist was fifth.
The decisive moment
Vatanen’s crash on stage 19 handed the win to Lancia — but the 205 T16 had shown it could lead a world championship rally on its very first start.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Martini Racing | B | 13:24:56 |
| 2 | 9 | Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Jolly Club | B | +4:15 |
| 3 | 10 | Jean Ragnotti / Pierre Thimonier | Renault 5 Turbo | Equipe Renault Elf | B | +8:20 |
| 4 | 12 | Jean-Pierre Nicolas / Charley Pasquier | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | Peugeot-Talbot Sport | B | +19:54 |
| 5 | 6 | Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg | Audi Quattro A2 | Audi Sport | B | +20:59 |
| 6 | 11 | Jean-Claude Andruet / Martine Rick | Lancia Rally 037 | Total Chardonet | B | +23:11 |
| 7 | 1 | Attilio Bettega / Sergio Cresto | Lancia Rally 037 Evo | Martini Racing | B | +30:44 |
| 8 | 15 | François Chatriot / Michel Perin | Renault 5 Turbo | Diac Societe | B | +32:29 |
| 9 | 3 | Guy Fréquelin / Christian Gilbert | Opel Manta 400 | Opel Euro Team | B | +43:57 |
| 10 | 19 | Yves Loubet / Patricia Trivero | Alfa Romeo GTV6 | Yves Loubet | A | +1:23:15 |
Retirements of note
- #2 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer (Audi Sport Quattro) — engine, stage 7
- #4 Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman (Peugeot 205 Turbo 16) — accident, stage 19
- #7 Adartico Vudafieri / Luigi Pirollo (Lancia Rally 037) — accident, stage 15
- #8 Bernard Darniche / Alain Mahé (Audi Quattro A2) — accident, stage 17
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
- 1984 season overview
- All 1984 rallies
- Previous round: Safari Rally 1984
- Next round: Acropolis Rally 1984
- Cars: Lancia 037, Renault 5 Turbo
- Teams: Lancia Martini, Other Teams
- Iconic moments · Timeline · Statistics
All rounds of 1984
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
- WRC.com season archive 1984 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1984 season: calendar, winners and both championship tables. - Wikipedia: Tour de Corse EN · archive
History of the Tour de Corse with its list of winners over the decades.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Tour de Corse 1984: event page — https://www.juwra.com/corsica_1984.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/corsica_1984_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/corsica_1984_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/corsica_1984_stage_winners.html
- Wikipedia (EN), 1984 World Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_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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SubscribeThumbnail photos on this page: Miloslav Rejha (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); _morgado (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Marlis Decker (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); sv1ambo (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); MPW57 (Wikimedia Commons, Public domain); Rutger van der Maar (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Rally Paradise (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Clive Horsman (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Thesupermat (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Kevauto (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Thesupermat (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC0).