Motorsport · 1986 · Corsica, France
The Crash That Ended Group B
Reigning form favourite Henri Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Cresto are killed when their Lancia leaves the road on the Tour de Corse, ending rallying's fastest and most dangerous era within days.
Lancia Delta S4
Car
Group B banned by FISA, end of 1986
Result
Group B (1982-1986)
Era ended
Group B rally cars, purpose-built machines producing well over 500 horsepower in bodies barely heavier than a road car, had made the World Rally Championship's mid-1980s era the fastest and most spectacular in the sport's history, run on narrow public roads lined with unprotected spectators. Henri Toivonen, driving a Lancia Delta S4, was among the favourites at the 1986 Tour de Corse in Corsica.
On the second day of the rally, Toivonen's car left the road on a mountain stage and plunged down a ravine, bursting into flames on impact. Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Cresto were both killed, the fire so intense that the wreckage was almost entirely consumed before marshals could reach it.
The crash, one of several fatal Group B accidents that season involving both drivers and spectators, prompted governing body FISA to ban the entire Group B category at the end of 1986, ending an era of rallying regarded as both its most thrilling and its most dangerous. Toivonen's death remains one of the defining tragedies in the sport's history.
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