Monte Carlo is, without a doubt, the rally that everyone looks forward to with the greatest enthusiasm. You want it because it marks the opening of a new championship, you want it for the incomparable charm that the event has always jealously guarded. 

Throughout the French special stages, we have witnessed in each edition a close fight between the drivers and the teams to which they belong, often resolved by episodes or by choices that have proven successful. One of the great battles that fans remember is the final result of 1986, which brought Martini Racing and Henri Toivonen to the top spot on the podium.

After several gruelling days of a race characterised by continuous twists and turns in the fight at the front between Salonen's Peugeot and Toivonen's Lancia.

Even Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto had an accident during a liaison section (Col de Mounchery, between Burzet and Eintragues, a narrow and shady road), with their Lancia Delta S4. They collided head-on with a fan's car.

The car he crashed into was a Ford Taunus. It is said to have had slick tyres and the driver's alcohol level was... sky high...

And finally we arrive at the final, definitive night where the most complete balance reigns.

There is a lot of tension in the air at Lancia's service: you must not overlook any details if you want to win, and the Turin team knows this well.

These are hectic times for the lads led by Cesare Fiorio, who will know in a few hours the winner of the most important round of the entire calendar. Two Delta S4s are already out of the race (Markku Alén - Ilkka Kivimaki retired with a broken camshaft on SS16 St Nazaire le Desert, 23.70 km, and Miki Biasion - Tiziano Siviero retired due to a road accident off the stage, finishing 68th), so all attention is on Henri Toivonen. The Finn, after the grotesque accident with a spectator's car, is the author of a furious comeback and is currently in second place behind the Peugeot 205 T16 of his compatriot Timo Salonen.

Among the special stages still being played is the second pass (late at night) on the legendary Col de Turini, a true icon of the sport: 25 kilometres where every curve is a real puzzle, hairpin bends, ice, wet weather and a tension that cuts like a knife even among the public.

However, the element that will be monitored most closely will be the snow, which, for the umpteenth time, will be the real turning point in the scales.

Despite the bone-chilling cold, the timed section is enlivened by the many fans who climbed to the top of the hill to cheer on their favourites, creating a healthy sporting war between the French and Italians.

The Martini team decides to make all its scouts available to Henri and Sergio, hoping to capture every useful clue to help them as much as possible in this roulette. Among these was also the veteran Vittorio Caneva, probably the best. Cesare Fiorio walks nervously in the assistance while waiting for news on the radio from his men. He then orders the mechanics to mount yellow bulbs instead of white ones on the S4 headlight. The reason? Very simple: with the arrival of the yellow lights, the French fans would not have thrown fresh snow on the road thinking it was the 205 of the leader Salonen.

Final checks on the engine, tightening of bolts and cleaning of the windscreen. However, the choice of tyres is still pending.

The first to appear in Turini on the radio is Vittorio Caneva, whose sentence is very clear. The sections where there is snow are very few, therefore the spikes are not needed. Fiorio listens attentively to the instructions of the Venetian, until he shouts to his people to gather... the spikes!

Caneva remains, to say the least, astonished by this decision, but there is no time or way to argue because the beginning of the ps is very close.

Salonen is the first to go over the snowy hill and his 205 T16 seems unstoppable through the dark bends. The Finn is using studs and Peugeot thinks it has guessed the strategy. Toivonen follows, he is also giving his all but the S4 is having great difficulty on the road: he is fitted with four slick tyres.

On dry stages, the Martini Racing driver is unstoppable and in the following special stages he completely makes up the gap, cutting four minutes on his rival from the French manufacturer. At first light, Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto climb onto the podium in the luxurious Principality as the overall winners, proving to be the strongest.

A much desired victory, also won thanks to the recognition skills of Vittorio Caneva and that "old fox" Cesare Fiorio, a shrewd strategist who communicated with his boys to fit studs, knowing that the Peugeot technicians would hear his decision on the radio and, in fact, copy it.

Thus, 1986 began in the best possible way for Lancia, but ended in Corsica with the disaster that we all unfortunately know.

SRC Slot Racing Company