1986 season — the peak and the end
Never had so many extreme works cars lined up at once: the Peugeot 205 T16 E2, the Lancia Delta S4, the Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2, the Ford RS200, the MG Metro 6R4 and the Citroën BX 4TC. Within five months the season turned from celebration to mourning.
Episode 9 — 1986: Portugal, Corsica and the End of Group B
From Toivonen’s Monte Carlo triumph to FISA’s decision and the disputed title fight.
A dream start for Lancia
Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto won the Monte Carlo Rally in the Delta S4. Salonen was second and Mikkola third in the Audi S1 E2. Toivonen looked like the clear title favourite. In Sweden, however, he retired with engine failure, and Juha Kankkunen won his first rally for Peugeot, ahead of Alén. Kalle Grundel put the new Ford RS200 on the podium on its world championship debut.
The 1986 season, round by round
Portugal: the turning point
On the first special stage of the Rally de Portugal, at Lagoa Azul in the hills of Sintra, Portuguese driver Joaquim Santos tried to avoid a group of spectators standing in the road. His RS200 left the road and slid into the crowd. Three spectators were killed and more than thirty injured. The works drivers withdrew together, saying the safety of the public could not be guaranteed. The rally was eventually won by Joaquim Moutinho in a Renault 5 Turbo. See iconic moments.
The fastest rally cars ever built, tragedy in Portugal, the deaths of Toivonen and Cresto, the ban on Group B and a title decided only after the season had ended.
Kenya and Corsica
On the Safari, Lancia still ran the older 037, as the S4 was not considered ready for Africa. Toyota won with Björn Waldegård ahead of Lars-Erik Torph; Alén was third.
On 2 May 1986, exactly a year after Bettega’s death, Toivonen was leading the Tour de Corse by a wide margin. On the eighteenth special stage (Corte–Taverna) his Delta S4 went over the unguarded edge of a left-hand bend, plunged into a ravine and caught fire. Toivonen and Cresto were killed. There were no close witnesses, and the exact cause has never been established. The rally was won by Bruno Saby (Peugeot).
The decision
Within days FISA, under Jean-Marie Balestre, decided to freeze Group B development and to bar the class from the World Championship from 1987. Group S, the planned successor, was scrapped as well. Audi, whose works team had not started a world rally since Portugal, made its exit from Group B final; Ford also withdrew the RS200 from the WRC. Peugeot team boss Jean Todt was furious and pursued legal action against the federation. The remaining teams saw the season out.
Kankkunen versus Alén
Kankkunen won the Acropolis and New Zealand; Biasion took his first world rally win in Argentina, ahead of Alén. In Finland Salonen won ahead of Kankkunen. Lancia and Peugeot skipped the Ivory Coast, where Toyota finished one-two-three with Waldegård ahead of Torph and Erwin Weber.
Then came Sanremo. The Italian scrutineers excluded the Peugeots, ruling that the ‘skirts’ under the cars — aerodynamic side skirts — were illegal. Alén won ahead of team-mates Dario Cerrato and Biasion. Peugeot cried bias, and that seemed to be confirmed when the British scrutineers passed the very same cars without objection at the RAC Rally. Salonen won there, ahead of Alén and Kankkunen.
The season ended with the first Olympus Rally in Washington State (USA), won by Alén. At that moment Alén appeared to be world champion. But eleven days later FISA annulled the Sanremo result. Alén lost the points from that win, and the title went to Juha Kankkunen (118 points to 104). Alén is therefore remembered as the man who was world champion for eleven days. Peugeot again won the manufacturers’ title.
Farewell to Group B
The RAC Rally and the Olympus Rally saw the last Group B works cars in the World Championship. From 1987 the series was run for Group A cars; Lancia dominated that era with the Delta HF 4WD and Integrale. Read on in the end of Group B.
Volkswagen third among the manufacturers? Yes: in 1986 Group A cars scored points too. Thanks to consistent finishes with the Golf GTI, Volkswagen ended third in the manufacturers’ championship, far behind Peugeot and Lancia.
All winners and podiums 1986
| Rd. | Rally | Winner | Car | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monte Carlo Rally | Henri Toivonen Sergio Cresto | Lancia Delta S4 | Timo Salonen Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | Hannu Mikkola Audi Sport Quattro S1 |
| 2 | Swedish Rally | Juha Kankkunen Juha Piironen | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | Markku Alén Lancia Delta S4 | Kalle Grundel Ford RS200 |
| 3 | Rally de Portugal | Joaquim Moutinho Edgar Fortes | Renault 5 Turbo | Carlos Bica Lancia Rally 037 | Giovanni Del Zoppo Fiat Uno Turbo |
| 4 | Safari Rally (Kenya) | Björn Waldegård Fred Gallagher | Toyota Celica TCT | Lars-Erik Torph Toyota Celica TCT | Markku Alén Lancia Rally 037 evo |
| 5 | Tour de Corse | Bruno Saby Jean-François Fauchille | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | François Chatriot Renault 5 Maxi Turbo | Yves Loubet Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6 |
| 6 | Acropolis Rally (Greece) | Juha Kankkunen Juha Piironen | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | Miki Biasion Lancia Delta S4 | Bruno Saby Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 |
| 7 | Rally New Zealand | Juha Kankkunen Juha Piironen | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | Markku Alén Lancia Delta S4 | Miki Biasion Lancia Delta S4 |
| 8 | Rally Argentina | Miki Biasion Tiziano Siviero | Lancia Delta S4 | Markku Alén Lancia Delta S4 | Stig Blomqvist Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 |
| 9 | 1000 Lakes Rally (Finland) | Timo Salonen Seppo Harjanne | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | Juha Kankkunen Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | Markku Alén Lancia Delta S4 |
| 10 | Ivory Coast Rally | Björn Waldegård Fred Gallagher | Toyota Celica TCT | Lars-Erik Torph Toyota Celica TCT | Erwin Weber Toyota Celica TCT |
| 11 | Rallye Sanremo (result annulled by FISA) | Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki | Lancia Delta S4 | Dario Cerrato Lancia Delta S4 | Miki Biasion Lancia Delta S4 |
| 12 | RAC Rally (Great Britain) | Timo Salonen Seppo Harjanne | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | Markku Alén Lancia Delta S4 | Juha Kankkunen Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 |
| 13 | Olympus Rally (USA) | Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki | Lancia Delta S4 | Juha Kankkunen Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | John Buffum Audi Sport Quattro |
Final standings (top 6)
| Pos. | Driver | Points | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juha Kankkunen | 118 | Peugeot | 137 |
| 2 | Markku Alén | 104 | Lancia | 122 |
| 3 | Timo Salonen | 63 | Volkswagen | 65 |
| 4 | Björn Waldegård | 48 | Audi | 29 |
| 5 | Miki Biasion | 47 | Ford | 24 |
| 6 | Lars-Erik Torph | 40 | Toyota | 20 |
Back to 1985 or to all seasons.
In pictures 1 photos
More from Seasons
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN), 1986 World Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_World_Rally_Championship
- eWRC-results, 1986 season — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1986/
- Wikipedia (EN), Group B — 1986 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_B
- Rallye-Info.com, 1986 World Rally Championship Summary (archived) — https://web.archive.org/web/20061031031301/http://www.rallye-info.com/seasoninfo.asp?series=1986
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); Rutger van der Maar (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Carlo Marzetti (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); Havard01 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Carlom1961 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Thesupermat (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Matthew Lamb (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0); NaBUru38 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).