Ivory Coast Rally 1986
Round 10 of the 1986 World Rally Championship · 24–27 September 1986
Toyota took the top three places in the Ivory Coast: Waldegård, Torph and Weber.
Episode 7 — The Underdogs: Toyota, Opel, Nissan, Mazda, Renault, Citroën, Porsche & Ferrari
The Ivory Coast 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 domainPhoto: Alf van Beem via Wikimedia Commons, Public domainCar photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
About 3,800 km of West African roads and tracks, timed between controls.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Lars-Erik Torph / Bo Thorszelius — Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo (Toyota Team Europe)
- #2 Wilfried Wiedner / Franz Zehetner — Audi Quattro A2 (Mis-Linz)
- #3 Björn Waldegård / Fred Gallagher — Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo (Toyota Team Europe)
- #4 Alain Ambrosino / Daniel le Saux — Nissan 240RS (Alain Ambrosino)
- #5 Erwin Weber / Günther Wanger — Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo (Toyota Team Europe)
- #7 Eugene Salim / Clément Konan — Opel Manta GT/E (Eugene Salim)
- #9 Samir Assef / Christian Boy — Opel Manta 400 (Samir Assef)
- #11 Patrick Tauziac / Claude Papin — Mitsubishi Starion Turbo (Patrick Tauziac)
Toyota took the top three places in the Ivory Coast: Waldegård, Torph and Weber.
How the rally unfolded
Neither Peugeot nor Lancia took part in this drivers-only round. Waldegård and Gallagher won by eight minutes from Torph and Bo Thorszelius, with Erwin Weber third. Robin Ulyate made it four Celicas in the top four.
It was Waldegård’s last world championship win of the Group B era. Only 11 of 49 starters finished.
The decisive moment
Toyota’s preparation for Africa paid off one last time in Group B: the Celica won both African rounds of 1986.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Penalty time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Björn Waldegård / Fred Gallagher | Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo | Toyota Team Europe | B | 1 h 29 min |
| 2 | 1 | Lars-Erik Torph / Bo Thorszelius | Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo | Toyota Team Europe | B | +8 min |
| 3 | 5 | Erwin Weber / Günther Wanger | Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo | Toyota Team Europe | B | +58 min |
| 4 | 18 | Robin Ulyate / Ian Street | Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo | Robin Ulyate | B | +1 h 36 min |
| 5 | 9 | Samir Assef / Christian Boy | Opel Manta 400 | Samir Assef | B | +1 h 56 min |
| 6 | 2 | Wilfried Wiedner / Franz Zehetner | Audi Quattro A2 | Mis-Linz | B | +2 h 01 min |
| 7 | 12 | Rudolf Stohl / Reinhard Kaufmann | Audi 80 Quattro | Rudolf Stohl | A | +3 h 51 min |
| 8 | 4 | Alain Ambrosino / Daniel le Saux | Nissan 240RS | Alain Ambrosino | B | +4 h 02 min |
| 9 | 29 | Patrick Copetti / Jean-Michel Dioennau | Toyota Corolla | Patrick Copetti | A | +9 h 10 min |
| 10 | 16 | Martial Yace / Jean-Paul Yace | Mitsubishi Lancer 2000 Turbo | Martial Yace | B | +12 h 59 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
- #7 Eugene Salim / Clément Konan (Opel Manta GT/E) — suspension, time control 65
- #11 Patrick Tauziac / Claude Papin (Mitsubishi Starion Turbo) — suspension, time control 26
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: 1000 Lakes Rally 1986
- Next round: Rallye Sanremo 1986
- Cars: Toyota Celica TCT
- Teams: Toyota Team Europe
- 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 (November 1986): Rally review EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's November 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: Rallye Côte d'Ivoire EN · archive
History of the Rallye Côte d'Ivoire with its list of winners over the decades.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Ivory Coast Rally 1986: event page — https://www.juwra.com/ivory_coast_1986.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/ivory_coast_1986_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/ivory_coast_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.
Follow Grouve Sport on YouTube — rally Shorts now, Group B documentaries soon.
SubscribeThumbnail photos on this page: Brian Snelson (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC0); Thesupermat (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Brian Snelson (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Matthew Lamb (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0); Sicnag (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); MrWalkr (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Carlo Marzetti (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); Havard01 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Carlom1961 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); Steffs88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Rally Paradise (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0).