VIN: the works Peugeot 205 T16 Evolution 2 chassis C216
History of chassis C216
Unlike the T16 Evolution 1 which was campaigned in a quasi-works capacity by some of Peugeot’s distributor teams, all 20 Evolution 2s were retained for the exclusive use of the works operation headed by Jean Todt from the outskirts of Paris.
C216 made its competitive debut in the hands of championship leaders Juha Kankkunen and Juha Piironen at round seven of the 1986 World Rally Championship: Rally New Zealand. The event took place between July 5th and 8th mostly on smooth gravel which was very easy on the cars.
Peugeot Talbot Sport (PTS) flew a pair of Evolution 2s out to New Zealand, both of which featured strengthened bodyshells, new fire extinguishing systems and circa 450bhp engines.
Fastest stage times were predominantly split between Kankunnen in C216 and Markku Alen’s Lancia Delta S4. However, after hitting the Yamaguchi / Coker Toyota Corolla and losing 26 minutes, Kankkunen’s team-mate Timo Salonen also began to demonstrate the kind of speed that won him the 1985 Driver’s title for Peugeot.
Salonen recovered to finish fifth while Kankkunen / Piironen took a second win on the bounce. The Delta S4s were second (Alen / Kivimaki), third (Biasion / Siviero) and fourth (Ericsson / Billstam).
Chassis C216’s final event was the next WRC round in Argentina which for carnet reasons it contested on the registration 311 FPF 75 (it had previously been seen running 319 FPF 75).
Three cars were entered with C216 allocated to Ford refugees Stig Blomqvist and Bruno Berglund following that company’s decision to only contest the season-ending RAC Rally in light of recent driver and spectator fatalities.
The other Evolution 2s were entered for Kankkunen / Piironen and Saby / Fauchille as Timo Salonen decided to skip the South American event. All three Peugeots were once again in gravel spec. but no major updates were introduced.
By contrast, Lancia suddenly found a considerable performance gain by matching their tyre sizes front to back. The Italian team produced a dominant one-two finish with Biasion / Siviero leading from start to finish and Alen / Kivimaki placing second.
Kankkunen was the only threat to the Lancias but retired on stage 15 after his rear wheel came loose and he arrived back at parc ferme an hour after the permitted time. By this point, Saby had also gone out. PTS withdrew his car on stage eight after the engine ominously began to consume water before the block cracked.
Meanwhile, Blomqvist / Berglund finished a creditable third on their debut for PTS with chass C216 despite the car’s water injection failing early on.
C216 was subsequently retired from competition duty having recorded a win and third place finish from its two outings.
Notable History
Peugeot Talbot Sport
Registered 319 FPF 75
05/07/1986 WRC New Zealand Rally (J. Kankkunen / J. Piironen) 1st oa, 1st B12 class (#3)
Registered 311 FPF 75
06/08/1986 WRC Rally of Argentina (S. Blomqvist / B. Berglund) 3rd oa, 3rd B12 class (#2)
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Peugeot - http://www.peugeot.com
