Disagreements between Carlos Sainz, Repsol and Ove Andersson led to the driver leaving Toyota Team Europe for Lancia. It was to be a disappointing year. The Spaniard could only place fourteenth at the Monte Carlo Rally and his new teammate Andrea Aghini did not make it far at the event, the overall assessment was positive. A sheet of ice not featured in Sainz’ notes damaged his Lancia HF Integrale, but his mechanics made the required repairs and he would have finished second without the incident.
In Portugal a month later, Sainz again had problems –although Aghini placed third. The development direction was not satisfactory, and Sainz would only finish fourth at the Corsica Rally, and was able to see that the second car was clearly faster than his own.
Only the reliability of the Lancia HF Integrale would help him to his best result for the team: Second place at the Acropolis Rally. The saddest moment of the year came in Argentina, where Sainz was unable to complete more than a couple of kilometres after his engine broke. Gustavo Trelles placed fourth in the team’s second car. In New Zealand, Sainz had improvements at his disposal and was fighting for victory, eventually coming in fourth.
That was Carlos Sainz’ final result with Lancia. In Australia, the Spaniard had to retire after an early crash. In Italy he was second, but his position was annulled after the discovery that he had used illegal gasoline for the race. In Spain, following a change of tyre manufacturer at the last minute, his electronics left him unable to get past even the first stage.
