Rallye Sanremo 1986

The rally that does not count. Peugeot’s 205 T16s were excluded during the event, Lancia finished one-two-three — and in December the FIA annulled the entire result.

Annulled
no championship points
Alén
first on the road
532.6 km
special stages
38
finishers
Grouve Sport documentary

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

The Rallye Sanremo 1986 features in this episode of our documentary series.

At a glance

Round11 of 13 — 1986 World Rally Championship (result annulled)
Dates13–17 October 1986
BaseSanremo, Liguria
CountryItaly
SurfaceTarmac and gravel
Competitive distance532.60 km of special stages (total route 2,148.69 km)
Starters / finishers118 entries / 38 finishers
Counted forNone — result annulled by FISA in December 1986
Winner(first on the road) Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki — Lancia Delta S4
Dario Cerrato and Giuseppe Cerri in their Delta S4, second on the road on the 1986 Sanremo.
Dario Cerrato and Giuseppe Cerri in their Delta S4, second on the road on the 1986 Sanremo.Photo: Carlo Marzetti via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

The podium

Lancia Delta S4Photo: MrWalkr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
2Dario CerratoGiuseppe CerriLancia Delta S4Martini Racing
Lancia Delta S4Photo: MrWalkr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
1Markku AlénIlkka KivimäkiLancia Delta S4Martini Racing
Lancia Delta S4Photo: MrWalkr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
3Miki BiasionTiziano SivieroLancia Delta S4Martini Racing

Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.

FISA later annulled the result of this rally; the order shown is the finishing order on the road.

Route and surface

Ligurian tarmac in the mountains behind Sanremo and long gravel stages in Tuscany: 532.6 km of special stages within a total route of about 2,149 km.

Key entries

Peugeot entered 205 T16 E2s for Timo Salonen, Juha Kankkunen and Bruno Saby, with Andrea Zanussi in a fourth car. Lancia ran Delta S4s for Markku Alén, Miki Biasion and Dario Cerrato, with Fabrizio Tabaton in a further S4. Austin Rover brought Metro 6R4s for Tony Pond, Malcolm Wilson and Marc Duez.

The rally that does not count. Peugeot’s 205 T16s were excluded during the event, Lancia finished one-two-three — and in December the FIA annulled the entire result.

How the rally unfolded

Peugeot and Lancia fought over the tarmac and gravel stages of the first three days. Then the scrutineers re-examined the Peugeots and ruled that the underbody fins under the side sills were in fact banned ‘skirts’. The cars had passed pre-event scrutineering and had run in the same configuration since Corsica, but the stewards excluded the remaining 205 T16s with immediate effect. Timo Salonen had already crashed out.

With Peugeot gone, Lancia was left without a rival. Markku Alén won from Dario Cerrato and Miki Biasion, all in Delta S4s, and Malcolm Wilson finished fourth in an Austin Rover Metro 6R4.

Peugeot appealed to FISA. After the season, in December, the federation ruled the exclusion unlawful and annulled all championship points from the rally. The decision cost Alén the drivers’ title, which he had held on the provisional standings after the Olympus Rally, and handed it to Juha Kankkunen.

Juha Kankkunen and Juha Piironen in the 205 T16 E2 on 17 October 1986 — before the Peugeots were excluded.
Juha Kankkunen and Juha Piironen in the 205 T16 E2 on 17 October 1986 — before the Peugeots were excluded.Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Malcolm Wilson and Nigel Harris on their way to fourth place in the Metro 6R4.
Malcolm Wilson and Nigel Harris on their way to fourth place in the Metro 6R4.Photo: Carlo Marzetti via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Tony Pond and Rob Arthur on a Tuscan gravel stage; they later retired after an accident.
Tony Pond and Rob Arthur on a Tuscan gravel stage; they later retired after an accident.Photo: Carlomarzetti via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

The decisive moment

The exclusion of the Peugeots at the end of the third day. Because the organisers did not let Peugeot continue under appeal, the only remedy left was to cancel the result entirely.

Order at the finish — top 10 (annulled)

Pos. No. Crew Car Entrant Gp. Time / gap
1 2 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki Lancia Delta S4 Martini Lancia B12 5:31:35
2 8 Dario Cerrato / Giuseppe Cerri Lancia Delta S4 Martini Lancia B12 +1:18
3 5 Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta S4 Martini Lancia B12 +1:42
4 15 Malcolm Wilson / Nigel Harris MG Metro 6R4 Austin Rover World Championship Team B12 +7:02
5 22 Kenneth Eriksson / Peter Diekmann Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V Volkswagen Motorsport A7 +35:53
6 16 Ladislav Křeček / Bořivoj Motl Škoda 130 LR B9 +56:37
7 28 Alessandro Fiorio / Luigi Pirollo Fiat Uno Turbo A7 +57:09
8 18 “Tchine” / Gilles Thimonier Opel Manta 400 B12 +57:54
9 20 Svatopluk Kvaizar / Jiří Janeček Škoda 130 LR B9 +1:01:38
10 92 Livio Lupidi / Demetrio Davanzo Renault 5 GT Turbo N3 +1:04:41

Retirements of note

Because the result was annulled, statistics on this site do not count Sanremo 1986 as a world championship rally. Results and retirements come from eWRC-results.com, as Jonkka’s World Rally Archive publishes no result for this event. Some period reports suggest the decision suited the home team, but that remains speculation.

Results, retirements, stage wins and leaders are taken from Jonkka’s World Rally Archive and eWRC-results.com. Names are given with their correct spelling; the archive itself omits diacritics.

Related pages

All rounds of 1986

Round 1Monte Carlo RallyHenri Toivonen · Lancia Delta S4Round 2Swedish RallyJuha Kankkunen · Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2Round 3Rally de PortugalJoaquim Moutinho · Renault 5 TurboRound 4Safari Rally (Kenya)Björn Waldegård · Toyota Celica TCTRound 5Tour de CorseBruno Saby · Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2Round 6Acropolis Rally (Greece)Juha Kankkunen · Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2Round 7Rally New ZealandJuha Kankkunen · Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2Round 8Rally ArgentinaMiki Biasion · Lancia Delta S4Round 91000 Lakes Rally (Finland)Timo Salonen · Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2Round 10Ivory Coast RallyBjörn Waldegård · Toyota Celica TCTRound 11Rallye SanremoMarkku Alén · Lancia Delta S4Round 12RAC Rally (Great Britain)Timo Salonen · Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2Round 13Olympus Rally (USA)Markku Alén · Lancia Delta S4

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.

Markku Alén - Ilkka Kivimaki (Lancia Delta S4); 1st place 1986 Sanremo Rallye. 15 October 1986.Scan from 400 ASA Kodak slide.
Markku Alén – Ilkka Kivimaki (Lancia Delta S4); 1st place 1986 Sanremo Rallye. 15 October 1986.Scan from 400 ASA Kodak slide.Photo: Carlom1961 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
A Lancia Delta S4 in Martini colours.
A Lancia Delta S4 in Martini colours.Photo: Calreyn88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Delta S4 Corse built for Henri Toivonen (chassis 202), at the Greenwich Concours d'Elegance in 2021.
The Delta S4 Corse built for Henri Toivonen (chassis 202), at the Greenwich Concours d'Elegance in 2021.Photo: Mr.choppers via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Lancia Delta S4 'Stradale', the road car required for homologation. Technically it had more in common with the rally car than with an ordinary Delta.
The Lancia Delta S4 'Stradale', the road car required for homologation. Technically it had more in common with the rally car than with an ordinary Delta.Photo: MrWalkr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Further resources

All Group B resources →

The same rally in other Group B years

1982Rallye Sanremo 1982Stig Blomqvist won Sanremo in a Quattro entered by the Swedish Audi team, ahead of Mikkola — but Röhrl's third place kept him in control of the championship.Read more →1983Rallye Sanremo 1983Lancia sealed the 1983 manufacturers' title with a one-two-three in Sanremo: Alén, Röhrl, Bettega.Read more →1984Rallye Sanremo 1984Ari Vatanen won Sanremo for Peugeot; Attilio Bettega was second in what would be his best world championship result.Read more →1985Rallye Sanremo 1985Walter Röhrl won Sanremo in the Sport Quattro S1 — his only win with the S1, and his last world championship win.Read more →

Sources

  1. Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Rallye Sanremo 1986: event page — https://www.juwra.com/san_remo_1986.html
  2. eWRC-results.com, Rallye Sanremo 1986: final results — https://ewrc-results.com/event/8673-rallye-sanremo-1986/final-results
  3. 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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Thumbnail photos on this page: Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); 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); Rutger van der Maar (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Havard01 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Carlom1961 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); Alberto-g-rovi (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); nakhon100 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Kieran White from Manchester, England (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Rally Paradise (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0).