VIN: the Martini Racing Lancia Delta S4 Evoluzione chassis 215
History of chassis 215
Chassis 215 was one of three brand new Delta S4 Evoluziones used by Lancia for the opening round of the 1986 World Championship: the Monte Carlo Rally which took place January 18th to 24th. All three cars weighed in at around the 1000kg mark and had circa 450bhp on tap. Tarmac suspension settings were used with a 25:75 front-to-rear torque split.
215 was allocated to Lancia’s prodigiously talented young Finn, Henri Toivonen, and his navigator, Sergio Cresto.
The opening half dozen stages saw Toivonen lead from Lancia team-mates Markku Alen and Miki Biasion. Peugeot’s Bruno Saby was best of the rest in fourth.
A poor tyre choice for the Lancias subsequently allowed Audi’s Walter Rohrl into second, but Toivonen held his lead despite encountering brake problems.
Toivonen’s next scare came during the overnight regularity section on day three when chassis 215 was hit by a Peugeot driving down the wrong side of the road. The mechanics worked furiously to make the car roadworthy; the chassis had been twisted back by 2cm on the left-hand side which meant much work to do.
A tyre mix up effectively then put Rohrl’s Audi out of contention and third-placed Alen’s engine lunched itself to extend Toivonen’s gap at the head of the field.
Going into the final day, Toivonen held a near two minute lead over Peugeot’s Timo Salonen while Lancia team-mate Miki Biasion was in third another minute down the road.
Unexpectedly, tyre problems for chassis 215 saw Salonen temporarily take lead, but Toivonen ultimately stormed back to the top of the leaderboard and beat the Peugaot by a little over four minutes. Biasion took the final podium spot in the other S4.
Following its historic victory in arguably the most important rally of the year, chassis 215 was retired from competition duty although it did serve as the back-up car on Rally Portugal, the Acropolis and Tour de Corse.
Lancia subsequently sold chassis 215 to Illide Romagna who used it for Rallycross events and became European Champion in 1989.
Later on the car departed for Japan, since which time it has been restored to its 1986 Monte trim.
Notable History
Martini Racing
Registered A6 37616
18/01/1986 WRC Rallye Monte Carlo (H. Toivonen / S. Cresto) 1st oa, 1st B12 class (#7)
Subsequently used as a T-car
Later sold to Illide Romagna and used for Rallycross
Sold to Japan
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Lancia - https://www.lancia.com
