Tour de Corse 1986
Round 5 of the 1986 World Rally Championship · 1–3 May 1986
Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto were killed when their Lancia Delta S4 left the road on stage 18 and caught fire. Bruno Saby won; within hours, the sport’s governing body announced the end of Group B.
Episode 9 — 1986: Portugal, Corsica and the End of Group B
The Tour de Corse 1986 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: HombreDHojalata via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Calreyn88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
More than 1,000 km of narrow, twisting mountain asphalt.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki — Lancia Delta S4 (Martini Lancia)
- #2 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #3 Tony Pond / Rob Arthur — MG Metro 6R4 (Austin Rover World Championship Team)
- #4 Henri Toivonen / Sergio Cresto — Lancia Delta S4 (Martini Lancia)
- #5 Bruno Saby / Jean-François Fauchille — Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 (Peugeot Talbot Sport)
- #6 Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero — Lancia Delta S4 (Martini Lancia)
- #7 Jean Ragnotti / Gilles Thimonier — Renault 11 Turbo (Renault Elf Philips)
- #8 Giovanni del Zoppo / Loris Roggia — Fiat Uno Turbo (Jolly Club)
Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto were killed when their Lancia Delta S4 left the road on stage 18 and caught fire. Bruno Saby won; within hours, the sport’s governing body announced the end of Group B.
How the rally unfolded
Toivonen had led from stage 4 and won 12 stages. On stage 18, his Delta S4 left the road and plunged down a wooded slope. The fuel tank ruptured, the car caught fire, and both crew members died. There were no close eyewitnesses, and only the burnt-out spaceframe remained.
Lancia withdrew Alén and Biasion. Saby won by 13 minutes 48 seconds from François Chatriot’s Renault 5 Maxi Turbo. Earlier, Salonen had crashed his 205 T16 on stage 8, Mouton’s gearbox had failed, and both Metro 6R4s had retired.
The decisive moment
The accident came exactly one year after Attilio Bettega’s fatal crash on the same rally. Within hours, FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre announced that Group B cars would be banned from the world championship from 1987; the planned Group S was abandoned as well.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Bruno Saby / Jean-François Fauchille | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | B | 11:52:44 |
| 2 | 11 | François Chatriot / Michel Perin | Renault 5 Maxi Turbo | DIAC | B | +13:48 |
| 3 | 14 | Yves Loubet / Jean-Marc Andrié | Alfa Romeo GTV6 | Yves Loubet | A | +53:15 |
| 4 | 7 | Jean Ragnotti / Gilles Thimonier | Renault 11 Turbo | Renault Elf Philips | A | +1:03:28 |
| 5 | 35 | Jean-Claude Torre / Patrick de la Foata | Renault 5 Turbo | Jean-Claude Torre | B | +1:09:49 |
| 6 | 29 | Paul Rouby / Jean-Louis Martin | Renault 5 Turbo | Paul Rouby | B | +1:11:04 |
| 7 | 38 | Michel Neri / Roch Demedardi | Renault 5 Turbo | Michel Neri | B | +1:15:16 |
| 8 | 19 | Kenneth Eriksson / Peter Diekmann | Volkswagen Golf GTI | Volkswagen Motorsport | A | +1:28:37 |
| 9 | 47 | Gilbert Casanova / Philippe Martini | Talbot Samba | Gilbert Casanova | B | +1:28:48 |
| 10 | 24 | Christian Gardavot / Rémy Levivier | Porsche 911 SC | Christian Gardavot | B | +1:34:56 |
Retirements of note
- #1 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki (Lancia Delta S4) — withdrew (fatal accident), after stage 18
- #2 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne (Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2) — accident, stage 8
- #3 Tony Pond / Rob Arthur (MG Metro 6R4) — camshaft belt, stage 14
- #4 Henri Toivonen / Sergio Cresto (Lancia Delta S4) — fatal accident, stage 18
- #6 Miki Biasion / Tiziano Siviero (Lancia Delta S4) — withdrew (fatal accident), after stage 18
- #8 Giovanni del Zoppo / Loris Roggia (Fiat Uno Turbo) — engine, stage 11
- #9 Malcolm Wilson / Nigel Harris (MG Metro 6R4) — engine fire, stage 10
- #10 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons (Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2) — gearbox, stage 10
- #12 Didier Auriol / Bernard Occelli (MG Metro 6R4) — oil loss, stage 2
Details of the accident follow Wikipedia’s Toivonen and Cresto articles. There were no close eyewitnesses, and the cause of the crash has never been established.
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: Safari Rally 1986
- Next round: Acropolis Rally 1986
- Cars: Peugeot 205 T16, Renault 5 Turbo
- Teams: Peugeot Talbot Sport
- 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 (June 1986): Rally review EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's June 1986 issue, written as the season unfolded. - Autosport: The day that killed rallying's greatest era EN · article
Autosport's look back at 2 May 1986 and the decision that followed. - Motorsport Memorial: Henri Toivonen EN · archive
Sourced account of Henri Toivonen's life and fatal accident. - Motorsport Memorial: Sergio Cresto EN · archive
Sourced account of Sergio Cresto's life and fatal accident. - WRC.com season archive 1986 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1986 season: calendar, winners and both championship tables.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Tour de Corse 1986: event page — https://www.juwra.com/corsica_1986.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/corsica_1986_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/corsica_1986_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/corsica_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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