RAC Rally 1986
Round 12 of the 1986 World Rally Championship · 16–19 November 1986
Timo Salonen won the last RAC Rally of the Group B era, with Alén second and Kankkunen third.
Episode 9 — 1986: Portugal, Corsica and the End of Group B
The RAC Rally 1986 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: MrWalkr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Calreyn88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Photo: Calreyn88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
Forest gravel in Wales, northern England and Scotland, plus spectator stages.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #2 Stig Blomqvist / Bruno Berglund — Ford RS200 (Ford Motor Company)
- #3 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki — Lancia Delta S4 (Martini Lancia)
- #4 Tony Pond / Rob Arthur — MG Metro 6R4 (Austin Rover World Championship Team)
- #5 Juha Kankkunen / Juha Piironen — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #6 Kalle Grundel / Benny Melander — Ford RS200 (Ford Motor Company)
- #7 Ingvar Carlsson / Jan-Olof Bohlin — Mazda Familia 4WD (Mazda Rallye Team Europe)
- #9 Mikael Ericsson / Claes Billstam — Lancia Delta S4 (Martini Lancia)
Timo Salonen won the last RAC Rally of the Group B era, with Alén second and Kankkunen third.
How the rally unfolded
The lead changed hands many times: Blomqvist, Kankkunen, Alén, Salonen and Mikael Ericsson all led. Salonen took over for good on stage 31 and won by 1 minute 22 seconds.
Behind the leaders, the British cars had their best result: Grundel was fifth in the RS200, and Austin Rover’s Metro 6R4s finished sixth (Pond), seventh (Eklund), eighth (Jimmy McRae) and ninth (David Llewellin). Blomqvist’s RS200 retired with turbo failure, and Mark Lovell’s RS200 caught fire.
The decisive moment
Salonen’s lead from stage 31 was never lost. With the Sanremo result under appeal, the title fight between Kankkunen and Alén went to the final round in the USA.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | B12 | 5:21:11 |
| 2 | 3 | Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki | Lancia Delta S4 | Martini Lancia | B12 | +1:22 |
| 3 | 5 | Juha Kankkunen / Juha Piironen | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | B12 | +6:05 |
| 4 | 11 | Mikael Sundström / Voitto Silander | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | B12 | +6:31 |
| 5 | 6 | Kalle Grundel / Benny Melander | Ford RS200 | Ford Motor Company | B12 | +8:21 |
| 6 | 4 | Tony Pond / Rob Arthur | MG Metro 6R4 | Austin Rover World Championship Team | B12 | +9:03 |
| 7 | 17 | Per Eklund / David Whittock | MG Metro 6R4 | Austin Rover World Championship Team | B12 | +12:01 |
| 8 | 15 | Jimmy McRae / Ian Grindrod | MG Metro 6R4 | Austin Rover World Championship Team | B12 | +13:57 |
| 9 | 14 | David Llewellin / Phil Short | MG Metro 6R4 | Austin Rover World Championship Team | B12 | +19:27 |
| 10 | 7 | Ingvar Carlsson / Jan-Olof Bohlin | Mazda Familia 4WD | Mazda Rallye Team Europe | A8 | +39:22 |
Retirements of note
- #2 Stig Blomqvist / Bruno Berglund (Ford RS200) — turbo, stage 27
- #9 Mikael Ericsson / Claes Billstam (Lancia Delta S4) — engine, stage 44
- #12 Mark Lovell / Roger Freeman (Ford RS200) — fire, stage 21
The RAC Rally base given here is inferred from the start and finish locations in the itinerary; the event visited several regions of Great Britain.
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: Rallye Sanremo 1986
- Next round: Olympus Rally 1986
- Cars: Peugeot 205 T16, Lancia Delta S4
- Teams: Peugeot Talbot Sport, 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
- WRC.com season archive 1986 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1986 season: calendar, winners and both championship tables. - Wikipedia: RAC Rally EN · archive
History of the RAC 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), RAC Rally 1986: event page — https://www.juwra.com/rac_rally_1986.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/rac_rally_1986_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/rac_rally_1986_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/rac_rally_1986_stage_winners.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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