The drivers

Bruno Saby

Renault · Peugeot · Tour de Corse 1986

Photo: Y.Leclercq via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

A Grenoble driver who moved from Renault to Peugeot, Bruno Saby won the 1986 Tour de Corse in the saddest circumstances in the sport’s history, and later added a Monte Carlo win.

Grouve Sport documentary

Episode 9 — 1986: Portugal, Corsica and the End of Group B

1986: Portugal, Corsica and the end of Group B.

Renault years

Born in Grenoble on 23 February 1949, Saby was French champion in 1981 in a Renault 5 Turbo. In the first Group B seasons he was a regular top-five finisher for Renault: fifth on the 1982 Monte Carlo Rally and in Corsica, fourth on the Ivory Coast that year, and fifth in Corsica again in 1983.

Peugeot and Corsica 1986

Peugeot Talbot Sport signed him as its asphalt specialist in a 205 Turbo 16. With Jean-François Fauchille he was second in Corsica in 1985 and, a year later, won the 1986 Tour de Corse, the rally on which Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto were killed. He finished third on the Acropolis the same year.

Saby was also on the podium of the 1986 Rallye Sanremo before the Peugeot team was excluded by the organisers; the result was later annulled entirely (see Rallye Sanremo 1986).

French champion with Renault, winner of the tragic 1986 Tour de Corse for Peugeot.

After Group B

Saby moved to Lancia and won the 1988 Monte Carlo Rally in a Delta HF 4WD.

European and national championships

In the French championship Saby was third in 1982 and runner-up to Guy Fréquelin in 1983 in a Renault 5 Turbo, winning the Critérium Alpin and the Terre de Provence that year. His 1986 Tour de Corse win also counted for the French title. See the French championship.

Career in the Group B years

World Rally Championship podiums of the driver, year by year (1982–1986). win 2nd 3rd

1982

0wins

0 podiums

1983

0wins

0 podiums

1984

0wins

0 podiums

1985

0wins

1 podium

1986

1win

2 podiums

• Tour de Corse

1 WRC wins · 3 podium finishes, 1982–1986

In pictures 2 photos

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Sources

1. Wikipedia (EN), Bruno Saby — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Saby
2. Wikipedia (EN), 1986 World Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_World_Rally_Championship
3. Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), results and entry lists 1982–1986 — https://www.juwra.com/

All text is original writing for Grouve Sports Management Group, based on the sources above. Facts checked on 21 October 2026.

Thumbnail photos on this page: Rutger van der Maar (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Carlomarzetti (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); estoril (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Liftarn (Wikimedia Commons, Public domain); Midnattssolsrallyt (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0).