For driver, car manufacturer and supporting sponsors, the World Rally Championship is at times more than just any challenge. However, the great men, brands and companies are those who rise to the occasion. The combination of Repsol, Carlos Sainz and Toyota in the 1990s was one such alliance.
The offer of a factory drive with the Toyota Team Europe to Carlos Sainz for a full World Rally Championship season in 1989, following the Spaniard’s superb performance at the 1988 San Remo Rally, led to Repsol’s return to the company’s roots. The energy brand had raised its profile through the competition at the beginning of the 1970s.
The challenge was not easy for anybody. Carlos Sainz was in the early stages of his career, Repsol had taken a big gamble and Toyota was up against a competitor in Lancia who were riding on the crest of a wave. Lancia had a star-studded lineup, a top car in the Lancia Delta Integrale, and an experienced, competent group of mechanics.
Toyota were, for the second time in a row, the manufacturer aspiring to break the Italian dominance of the World Rally Championship. The presentation of the Celica GT–Four –Toyota’s first four wheel drive model- saw a new level of competitiveness for the Japanese manufacturer in European action.
Carlos Sainz was well aware of this. However, his opportunity was a unique one: Contest seven rounds at the wheel of a theoretically competitive machine, alongside former World Champion Juha Kankkunen. Although at the start the Spaniard assumed the role of newcomer, he would soon show that he was there to work from dusk till dawn if necessary for success.
The class possessed by Sainz was obvious after the first stage of the Monte Carlo Rally, where he stuck with Kankkunen on his first encounter with the difficult French race before a risky tyre choice left him off the pace.
At the next round in Portugal, on an asphalt surface, the Spaniard managed to take the lead of the event before suffering a puncture. He was able to recover lost ground and sit behind two-time World Champion Massimo Biasion (Lancia) before the start of the off–road stages, but a run–off later on due to inadequate tyre pressure left him with a zero to his name. The retirement of Kankkunen with an engine issue and Bjorn Waldegaard through a crash made it an event with a result to forget all round.
After hard work on the front suspension of his Toyota, the Corsica Rally saw Sainz continuously ahead of Kankkunen, who placed third. That was before a tiny screw came loose inside the engine of his car, with devastating consequences to his chances of a win.
The progress made by the Spaniard was evident in Greece, where Sainz impeded Lancia Sporting Director Claudio Lombardi from imparting his team orders. Unfortunately, despite endless chassis soldering, the frame of the Toyota was unable to handle the demands of the terrain and broke for Sainz, Kankkunen and Eriksson.
Fortunately, things changed completely in Finland and in the second half of the season. The speed of the Repsol driver in the early stages of the rally, interjecting himself in the battle with Alen, Vatanen and teammate Kankkunen, provided a premonition of what would happen a year later. Despite some transmission problems, Sainz shocked the home fans by moving up into first place. He would lose out to Kenneth Eriksson and his Mitsubishi Galant VR4 in the end, finishing third.
San Remo was the second act of an incredible end to the season, with Sainz more than 1.5 minutes ahead of Lancia drivers Alex Fiorio and Miki Biasion before the final stage. He would again just miss out on victory when the superior power of the Italian machines put them in front on the asphalt section, leaving Sainz third but just 25 seconds off Biasion.
It was a season of near–misses for Sainz, who had perhaps his most heartbreaking experience at the RAC Rally in England; after taking an undisputed lead, a transmission failure took him out of contention just three stages from the finish. He would, however, take a second place which was his best result of the year.
The progress of the Toyota Celica GT–Four was also clear throughout the campaign, helped in no small part by the excellent technical knowledge and will to work of the Spanish driver. Unfortunately, the machine was still down on power. Too small a heat exchanger had a big influence on drive, despite the four–valve solution put in place. An almost–100kg weight disadvantage compared to the main rival car meant that asphalt driving was particularly difficult when it came to matching Lancia, but Toyota were able to keep up and impose authority off-road due to an excellent suspension.
Another negative for Ove Andersson’s team was a lack of reliability. The chassis breakage in Greece was surprising for a team used to success in the tough African rally events. There was also a low level of competitiveness in terms of tyres –as shown at Monte Carlo and Greece.
Despite this, the Japanese manaufacturer were still able to boast a victory that year, thanks to Juha Kankkunen’s win at the Australian Rally. Unfortunately and ironically, it came just as the Finn had signed a deal to return to Lancia for the following season. That meant that Carlos Sainz was the firm number 1 driver going into 1990.
