Feature: Henri Toivonen – Made for Machines
The 1986 Tour de Course will forever sit as one of the most tragic events in rallying, and would be the peak of one of the most controversial periods in all of sports. The loss of talented Driver Henri Toivonen and his Co-Driver Sergio Cresto would serve as “wake up call”, that machines man built was beginning to eclipse man himself. Such was the emotional and theatrical way of those events of this day (2 May) 30 years ago, they would not look out of place in any box office motion picture or bestselling novel. A story of a man and machine that were made for each other. But they would first need to find each other.
But for man to meet machine, man must first build machine. Rallying in the before the mid 70’s was a somber affair, at least compared to what was about to follow. Production cars, with barely and modifications, took on some of the toughs geographical locations in world with the object of finishing taking forefront over outright speed. Rallies were won on sheer reliability and limiting mistakes.
But the advent of World Championship for Manufacturers would create a feeding ground for manufactures to test new ideas to demonstrate their engineering. Long, grueling rallies held on a variety of challenging terrains in all conditions became the perfect platform to their superiority and as reliability improved, the focus turned to speed.
Manufacturers would start to develop specific parts and eventually entire cars specific for rally. With the only real rule at the time of presenting a certain amount of examples for homologation, a dangerous game of seemly unlimited one-upmanship by the manufacturers was in full swing by the mid 80’s.
This arms race between the manufacturers had also giving birth to another, more human machine. The Rally Driver. The powerful cars required men, much more capable than simple maps reading and basic mechanical skill. The new breed of driver had to have supreme car control and bravery far other athlete of the time.
It was this time that a young driver named Henri Toivonen was starting to come on the scene. He was a like any other driver at the time, he was born in rally heartland, in Finland, like so many of the great drivers of the time. His father, Pauli Toivonen was also a rally driver, winning the Monte-Carlo Rally in 1966. He was destined to rally.
But early in his career he was primarily focused on circuit racing rather than rallying, He began in karting in his native Finland, when he had completed the necessary steps in the formula, he sold his kart on to another synonymous racing family, the Hakkinen’s. With his primary focus on track racing, he went on to compete in various Formula Vee and Touring car races throughout Europe with moderate success. Ironically, it was due to his families concerns about the dangers of circuit racing that led him to pursue a career in rallying.
Toivonen had dabbled in rallying around his circuit racing commitments before turning it into his primary focus. He showed excellent speed, but like so many young drivers do, he suffered from over-exuberance leading to a number of offs, but on a snow covered Artic rally in 1978, the young Finn managed second place, behind compatriot Ari Vatanen and finished in front of a another experienced Finn, Markku Alen, who would win the drivers title that year.
Two years later, Toivonen was vaulted to the top of the world scene, when, against all the odds, he won the prestigious World Championship event, the RAC Rally in Great Britain in a greatly under-powered and underfunded Talbot Sunbeam Lotus. At just 24 and 86 days he would become the youngest winner of a World Rally Championship event in history and remained so for the next 22 years, which added to one of the great underdog triumphs in a sport at the time dominated by technology and experience.
But it wouldn’t be the break the young Finn was hoping for. The young Toivonen fell victim to the technical race between the manufactures, with the relatively unknown potential of one car to the next, it was impossible to know for sure which one to go with.
Then team mate, Ari Vatanen described the kind of luck the younger Finn would experience. “During a midnight service break, He (Henri) came up to me and said ‘now it’s time to give it go’.” An already on the limit, Vatenen replied “Haven’t we already been doing that?” and continued “Henri would go out and set a string of fastest stage times, beating the 4WD Audi’s, but his (Opel’s) Engine would cut out and would have to retire”.
Also, despite showing tremendous speed, he lack consistency and was prone to accidents, quite large ones in fact at a time when many high level manufacturers were more interested in mature experience over youthful exuberance.
But Toivonen’s conflicted interest in circuit racing also help to influence his poor decisions. In 1983, two successful World Sports Car Championship races for Porsche, where he went on to finish forth and third, with teammates, Derek Bell and Johnathan Palmer, would lead the Finn to sign for the German sports car marque in their rally efforts, rejecting an offer from Peugeot, who’s cars would go on the win the last two drivers titles of the Group B era.
But he would eventually find a home with Lancia, when he was signed by the successful Italian team, under the recommendation of flagship driver, Markku Alen. A part time schedule at first, he was offered a chance to drive full time in 85’ with the team, but he was almost paralyzed when he crashed his car into a brick wall in the Rally di Costa Smerelda after just one round of the World Championship had been run. He was cleared to return to rallying for the last 3 event of the championship.
But when Lancia debuted their new fire-spitting Delta S4 at the final round the 1985 RAC Rally, Toivonen put on a performance for the ages. The first time in his career he had a car with 4WD and the power to match the other big players at the time and he dominated, winning with tremendous style and flair. However, this new car would push the competition to the limit and no-one was blind to dangers that lay ahead.
The 1986 season would become one of the most controversial years in all of sports. Toivonen began his campaign dominating the biggest rally of them all, the season opening Rallye de Monte –Carlo, 20 years to the day his father had won it. It was also the first race for together with new Co-Driver, American-Italian Sergio Cresto.
Since the introduction of the Lancia Delta S4, The Finn had demonstrated speed, which was very difficult for his rivals to match. Maybe from the years driving to the limit in substandard cars previous or maybe through pure raw talent and “flat out” style, but whatever reason, Toivonen, now finally in equal machinery, was proving untouchable.
But Toivonen and Cresto would fall victim to the Group B eras notorious reputation for unreliability, and they retired from Rally Sweden with engine failure, But it was the rounds that would follow would begin to unravel a season trough with tragedy and controversy on a scale that would never be seen in motorsports again.
The 1986 Rallye de Portugal is worthy of a story in its own right. The subject of crowd control had recently come up at in Monte Carlo. The combination of huge amount of uncontrolled fans lining the stages and the closing rate of the ever faster Group B cars was a recipe for disaster. Toivonen himself would voice his concerns to FISA about the issue, but by the time Portugal came around it was out of control.
On the first leg of the rally, Ford works driver Joaquim Santos, crashed into a wall of spectators on the other side of the stage, killing 3 and injuring many more. Disgusted, Toivonen and the rest of the works drivers withdrew from the event. But prompt action by Toivonen, angered his Lancia Team.
Ex Co driver Seppo Hajanne recalled the aftermath of the event: “He got a letter from Lancia saying he couldn’t withdraw anymore. The Team decided when to withdraw, the driver is just a worker”.
The duo were left out of the squad for the Safari but returned at the next event the brutal Tour de Corse, where the “Insanity” of the Group B machines, was fully realised.
Toivonen and Cresto dominated from the start, pulling out to an incredible lead after the first leg. But concerns were growing. But the relentless speed at which the Finn navigated the big Lancia through the narrow, unforgiving stages raised more alarms than leaving his team and competitors in owe. After the first leg, Tovionen ominously said “This rally is insane, even though everything is going well at the moment, if something happens, I’m as good as dead”.
Toivonen himself was suffering from a heavy bout of the flu and was driving against recommendations from the team and medical officials to sit the rally out. He continued his frightening pace into the second leg, further increasing his leading margin, but something didn’t feel right. Behind the scenes concerned drivers and officials began to predict the worse. While lining up for the 18th Stage of the grueling event, Toivonen would say his last words in public, finishing with “it’s difficult to keep up with the speed’.
On the seventh Kilometre of the stage, ironically away from any spectators, the Lancia left the road on a tight corner, plunging into the ravine and exploding in a shower of flames. Herni Toivonen and Sergio Cresta would die in the car.
Despite the spectacular nature accident, nobody was aware the anything had happened until the car failed arrive at service. The cars that immediately followed the Lancia through the stage reported seeing smoke coming from deep down within the ravine, but no sign of any accident. By the time Emergency crews had arrived, they would only be able to find the twisted steel of the cars frame. The haunting and emotional radio discussion between the rescue crew and the team would send chills through the motor racing community.
Within hours of the accident, Jean-Marie Balestre, then president of FISA, banned Group B (at first to take immediate effect, but after negations from the heavily invested manufactures, the ban was delayed to take effect in 1987) and cancelled the planned Group S regulations due to come in for the next season which would have halved the power output of the cars. A decision that would effectively kill the popularity of the sport for years to come.
The cause of the accident to this day proves impossible to determine and is regular source for debate amongst conspiracy theorists. There were no witnesses’ close to the spot of the incident. Amateur footage filmed from across the ravine showed the car seemingly driving straight over the side of the cliff face, fuelling speculation that car or driver, were not operating as normal.
The ensuing fire began almost instantly as the normally protected fuel tank (the cars ran shields on the tanks for gravel events, but removed them for the tarmac stages of the Tour de Corse to save weight) was ruptured on impact. The Kevlar construction of the car then just accelerated the fire until the car was burnt beyond recognition. It is a chilling possibility that both men would have survived the accident had the fire not have started.
The monstrous machines of the Group B era were pushing the limits of human ability and the immense stresses they were put through made them prone to failures. A majority of drivers, including Toivonen, had voiced their concerns that the cars were too powerful and they were struggling to find a balance. Many admitted to experiencing tunnel vison on some sections. After winning the RAC in 1985, Toivonen stated “that he didn’t really feel like he was the one driving the Delta”, and that “the car seemed to have a mind of its own”.
There were whispers amongst service park that the immense acceleration of the Delta S4 was causing Cresto to fall behind in the pace notes. Toivonen himself had admitted to being “mentally exhausted” at the speed at which the information had to be taken in after seemingly endless kilometres of relentless special stages.
Henri’s father Pauli Toivonen would later say; “Lanica forced Henri to take Sergio, but his experience wasn’t at world championship level”. At the spot where the car left the road there were no skid marks nor any other evidence of a loss of control. Many in the business knew Henri taking medication for his flu, but it was Malcom Wilson, who said in an interview that Toivonen had confided in him that he had been suffering from random losses of consciousness since his big accident in the 85’ Costa Smerelda, that added final controversial element the tale.
The governing body, FISA, would also suffer and came under significant criticism. After numerous warnings from a number of sources and even after a numerous fatal incidents before that of Toivonen and Cresto (Ari Vatenan nearly lost his life in a colossal accident in Rally Argentina and Lancia Driver and good friend to Toivonen and Cresto, Attilio Bettega, was killed exactly 1 year before when he crashed his Lancia at the 85’ running of the Tour de Course) many were of the opinion they had failed to act accordingly to protect the safety of competitors. But FISA had made one rule change, to combat the speed before the accident. All stages with an average speed of 110 kph (68mph) were banned. But this rule, on the rally of 100 corners was not applicable.
Another rule brought in at the start of the season was the banning the of support helicopters. This angered many teams, including Lancia. “I wanted to kill him”, Team Manager, Nini Russo, said about then FISA president Balestre. “If we had the helicopter, we could’ve done something”.
Often the words “changed forever” are loosely thrown around in an effort to execrate the repercussions that would follow, but never would the death of two men effect the sport they competed in so much as Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto.
French rally ace Michelle Mouton said of Henri “He didn’t drive like someone from the north, he was like a Latin. He was crazy”.
“He was the only driver I knew that I wouldn’t beat”, said Walter Rohrl. “But it would only be for one Stage. He would be off the road on the next”.
Lancia Team Boss Cesare Fiorio said “he was the only man who could really control the S4”.
You will always find an opened bottle of Martini, placed at the spot of the accident, no doubt, one like it was being saved to celebrate the expected triumph for the two pilots after the rally. The annual Race of Champions was started in his honor and is testament to a driver’s versatility, of which he showed so much.
Toivonen would prove that young drivers, could find success in rallying and would pave the way for numerous future stars of the sport. He is the icon for one of the most controversial periods in all of motorsport and a hero to so many in the motor racing community.
But the legend of Henri Toivonen the relationship between an incredible man and an incredible machine. The similarities were striking: both were as crazy as the other and both were and still are revered by many. In a way, he and the legendary beasts that were Group B were made for each other.
Together they would take each other to highest of heights and together, they would die.
