Interview with Bruno Saby

How did you join the official Peugeot team?
I had the opportunity to join the Peugeot program in 85 and 86, simply because Jean Todt wanted to have a French asphalt specialist on the team. At the time, there were a lot of Finnish drivers, specialists on dirt or snow surfaces, and as 80% of the championship was on slippery terrain, they always won preference. So being free most of the season, I was responsible for much of the development. I did a lot of tests on all types of surfaces. At the same time, I did some good rallies with interesting results and even won the 1986 Tour de Corse. Jean Todt also gave me the opportunity to compete in dirt rallies so I could prove how competitive I could be.

Did the French pilots had any complexes about competing with the Finns?
No. We were simply experts in another type of terrain. Rallies like Monte Carlo, Corsica or San Remo, where there was asphalt, were where we showed our qualities. This is why interest remained in us and, little by little, we managed to demonstrate that with a little more experience we could be competitive on slippery terrain.

You were the one who debuted the 205 Turbo 16 Evo2 in Corsica?
Yes, I was the first to use it in the test. At the time the car didn't have power steering! We fought to have it but the team's engineers believed it would be impossible to drive a car of this caliber with hydraulic steering well, due to the loss of feeling. For this reason, the Evo2 was very difficult to drive in that first experience and it was a an exhausting rally for me. In the end, I was happy just to make it to the end. Even so, I came second and gained valuable points for Peugeot in the constructors' championship.

Were you able to convince them about assisted steering?
I remember the day I first tried the 205 with power steering. Without doing preliminary tests, I had just left the park and immediately broke the record for the Charleval special, which I knew very well, having done a large part of the car's development tests there. This proved that power steering was an asset. It changed the pilots' lives. When I announced these results to Timo Salonen and told him that I had convinced the coaching staff, he gave me a kiss and said: “We finally have a car that is comfortable to drive!”

Explain to us a little about your feelings behind the wheel of that car.
The T16 was probably the craziest car I've ever driven. Even today, when I meet Walter Röhrl, Salonen or Vatanen, we ask ourselves how it was possible for us to drive cars like that. They were authentic dragsters on the road. In the last Gr.B season, we had more than 500 hp for 900kg, almost always on dirt, ice and mud surfaces, full of traps.
It was constant acrobatics. When Jean Marie Balestre decided to cancel this category, we at Peugeot were furious with him. But now that Jean Todt is president of the FIA, I think he would have done exactly the same thing. Looking back, you can see that we were on the edge of unconsciousness, although we took great pleasure in it and were willing to do anything to be able to drive those cars.

Do you remember the last rally you did with the T16?
Yes, it was at the 1986 San Remo Rally, in which we were unfortunately disqualified due to irregular bodywork components. I had some problems in the dirt section of the rally and we lost a lot of time to our opponents. So, on the last day of the race we set up the asphalt configuration for the next stage. On one of the special stages I made up so much time that Cesare Fiorio, from Lancia, calculated that I could actually win the rally. So, he decided to protest our aerodynamic appendages which, due to wear, were measuring smaller than the regulations. I felt sorry, because we were actually on a fabulous run and could have fought with the Delta S4 at the end.

At that time, you also drove the Delta S4. How do the two compare?
I appreciated the T16's agility. The Lancia wasn't better, but it had a fantastic engine with a volumetric compressor, which meant that on slippery terrains like snow, you could better explore the entire rev range. It was unique engine, always with power available.

You've recently had the chance to be back behind the wheel of the T16 Evo2 at Monthléry. How was it?
A few weeks before, I had driven an Evo1 again and came away impressed! But I was looking forward to driving the Evo2 again. It was as exceptional a moment as I had anticipated, and it was good to be able to confirm expectations. I knew this example had a Pikes Peak spec engine, much more powerful than those we used in the WRC. The horses are all still there, and the car is very healthy. I was very grateful to Jen-Christian Duby for lending me this car. Driving it again thirty years later is a unique experience.

Was it easy to adapt again?
The feeling is a little different, because of the tires. In the time of Gr. B the tires were only made to last the distance we expected to travel with them. Anyway, this car is very well prepared and both acceleration and braking are excellent. Often when we drive cars like this, it's frustrating, because there aren't always conditions to exploit their abilities. In this case, there were and it was possible to get close to the limits of the car.

Any regrets about those days?
I was lucky enough to experience those golden moments of rallying. I know I was fortunate and today I am aware of it. After the sudden end of Gr. B, Peugeot left rallying. In 1986 Jean Todt had promised me a full championship the following year and we never got that chance. I still did the first tests of the 205 T16 in Dakar, but then I ended up turning down Peugeot's offers for a multi-season rally-raid program. That's because what I really wanted was to continue rallying and win in Monte Carlo. I took the risk of staying in rallies and, fortunately, Lancia kept me and allowed me to win Monte Carlo with them in 1988.