Review: Peugeot 205 T16 Evolution 1 - 1984 Season
BACKGROUND
Peugeot’s 1984 World Rally Championship programme kicked off at the French manufacturer’s home event: the Tour de Corse in early May.
Although the T16 had been homologated a month earlier (on April 1st), the gruelling and ultra specialised 5200km Safari Rally which took place between April 19th and 23rd (round four of that year’s championship) was not considered appropriate to give the unproven T16 its debut. Instead, Peugeot stayed at home to concentrate on further development.
This decision was ultimately legitimised by Bjorn Waldegaard’s victory in Africa driving a tough and comparatively production-based works Toyota Celica TCT as the more fragile purpose-built Group B cars in attendance struggled.
Indeed, thus far it had not been a good season for the ultra specialised Group B specials with Audi’s Quattro A2 having won all three previous rounds (Walter Rohrl in Monte Carlo, Stig Blomqvist in Sweden and Hannu Mikkola in Portugal).
Going forward, because Peugeot would not be in the running for championship honours having missed the opening four events, they decided not to contest the WRC’s three remaining long-haul contests (in New Zealand, Argentina and the Ivory Coast). Rather, the French squad elected to continue the T16’s intensive development programme in the hope the car would be ready for a fully fledged title assault in 1985.
As for the 1984 season, ‘81 champ Ari Vatanen was signed as Peugeot’s lead driver along with navigator, Terry Harryman.
The second seat for the ‘84 season went to Jean-Pierre Nicolas who was making a return to the sport after four years out. Nicolas would be co-driven by Charley Pasquier.
1984 TOUR DE CORSE
The T16 made its highly anticipated debut at the 1984 Tour de Corse which took place on 1130km of tarmac special stages around Corsica between May 3rd and 5th.
Peugeot Talbot Sport (PTS) shipped a brace of brand new 205s to the Mediterranean isle for Vatanen / Harryman and Nicolas / Pasquier with the engines in both cars producing a conservative 330bhp.
After Vatanen had led the opening two days, a dream start for the T16 looked to be on the cards. However, at 5am on day three, the Finn aquaplaned off the road at 80mph. His car rolled several times and plunged 50 yards into some boulders. The crash ruptured the T16’s fuel lines and the car was quickly consumed by fire. Fortunately, Vatanen and Harryman somehow escaped without injury.
After a steady run, Nicolas brought the sister car home in fourth, nearly 20 minutes behind the winning Lancia 037 of Markku Alen. Alen’s Lancia team-mate, Miki Biasion, was second and Jean Ragnotti took the final podium spot driving a works Renault 5 Turbo.
1984 ACROPOLIS RALLY
The next event for Peugeot came three weeks later at the 1984 Acropolis Rally with its 796km of dusty, rough and rocky Greek special stages (May 26th to 31st).
Another pair of brand new T16s were on hand for what would be the model’s first taste of gravel. Variations made from the tarmac spec. included sound-proofing panels in the roof, better interior ventilation, 8cm of additional ride height and extra wishbone protection. There were also bigger fuel tanks, smaller brake discs, thicker sump guards plus Kevlar reinforcements around the wheelarches and rear clam. All told, these upgrades added around 60kg.
Once again, Vatanen led but was forced to retire after his car threw its second oil pump drive belt and expired. Nicolas then made it a double DNF for Peugeot when a wheel hub broke after a succession of smaller incidents that began with brake trouble caused by a rock-damaged disc.
Stig Blomqvist went on to collect his second win of the year and Audi’s fourth. He was followed home by the sister car of Hannu Mikkola while Markku Alen’s Lancia 037 bagged third spot.
1984 1000 LAKES RALLY
After the Acropolis, the rest of the WRC field flew out to New Zealand and then on to Argentina for rounds seven and eight. As for Peugeot, they stayed in Europe to test, first in Germany and then in Finland ahead of the 1000 Lakes Rally (August 24th to 26th).
PTS entered just one car for the all-gravel 1000 Lakes which comprised 461km of high-speed special stages and a series of spectacular jumps; for what was his home event and arguably the most important rally of the year, Vatanen used the same chassis that Nicolas had campaigned on the Acropolis.
Several upgrades had been made since the Greek contest to include a new lightweight navigator’s seat, plastic headlights, extra underside protection and polyurethane protection for the front wishbones. Weight was 940kg.
A fourth place finish by Blomqvist was enough for Audi to wrap up the Manufacturers’ Championship with three events still to go, however, the German firm and Lancia must have been alarmed with the ease with which Peugeot outpaced them.
Having demonstrated considerable potential by leading in Italy and Greece, Vatanen’s T16 won 29 of the 51 stages and finished two minutes ahead of Alen’s second placed Lancia. Third spot went to Henri Toivonen in another works 037.
1984 SANREMO RALLY
Next up was Rally Sanremo which started on September 30th and finished on October 5th. Lancia’s home event near the French Mediterranean border comprised a mixture of tarmac and gravel special stages that totalled 807km.
Two brand new T16s were on hand. They had shed a further 20kg, been given an improved air supply to the rear brakes and were fitted with new BBS wheels for the tarmac stages.
After their 1000 Lakes victory, Vatanen / Harryman were in fine form and spent four days demonstrating the complete superiority of the T16. They set new records almost everywhere en route to a well deserved victory. The only hiccup was a spin after a flash flood caused them to aquaplane on a stage that never should have gone ahead.
Nicolas / Pasquier took fifth (behind a trio of 037s) but like the 1000 Lakes a few weeks prior, the event was marred by a number of spectator injuries to include one that saw a cameraman tossed over Nicolas’s T16 during a night stage.
1984 RAC RALLY
After two wins on the bounce, PTS skipped the Ivory Coast Rally to test in Kenya. They returned for the championship finale: the all-gravel 868km RAC Rally which started on November 25th and concluded on the 29th.
Just one T16 was entered for British event with Vatanen / Harryman allocated their winning car from Sanremo.
Configured to much the same specification as the 1000 Lakes and Sanremo gravel sections, the T16 once again dominated despite a number of mishaps. These included a fire extinguisher going off in the cockpit, the bonnet detaching itself (recovered) and a gentle roll that saw the car end up on its roof. Luckily, the roll occurred in soft scenery and a group of spectators enthusiastically put it back on its wheels and Vatanen was quickly underway. The Finn was then able to calmly regain the lead he’d handed to Mikkola’s Audi.
A third consecutive win for Vatanen / Harryman saw them finish 40 seconds ahead of Mikkola with Per Eklund third for Toyota.
1984 SEASON POINTS STANDINGS
The season ended with Audi as Manufacturers’ champions on 120 points. Lancia placed second with 108 and Peugeot were third on 74.
In the Drivers’ standings, Audi’s Stig Blomqvist was champion on 125 points followed by team-mate Hannu Mikkola on 104. Lancia’s Markku Alen finished third with 90 points.
Despite a limited campaign, Vatanen took fourth spot with 60 points while Jean-Pierre Nicolas (who retired at the end of the year) was 14th with 18 points.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Peugeot - http://www.peugeot.com
