Peugeot 405 T16 Pikes Peak: mountain king

Peugeot is one of the few manufacturers that can boast such an impressive motorsport track record. The Lions won the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans… did you know that a Peugeot engine was the first to push a car to over 400 km/h on the La Sarte circuit? This was before the advent of the chicane, with the WM P88 prototype powered by Peugeot's 900hp V6 3.0 biturbo.


The Lions have an equally impressive career in the World Rally Championship. The famous 205 T16 became the symbol of the late Group B, winning two marque titles. After the ban on this crazy category, Peugeot went to the desert, earning two victories in the Paris-Dakar marathon. The French knew no equal, everywhere except America.

Birth of a legend

The Peugeot Talbot Sport understood that the short-cut 205 was inferior to the Audi in high-speed corners. Lengthening the existing chassis corrected the situation, but still - handling left much to be desired, and drag - less.


But, of course, the main reason for changing the model was the debut of the Peugeot 405. Promotion of the model on the world market meant victories at the Dakar and Pikes Peak, because it was hard to come up with a better PR. The specifications of the T16 Grand Raid were impressive:

✅ Engine - XU9T
✅ Configuration - 4 cylinders, 16 valves, Garret turbocharger
✅ Working volume - 1.9 liters
✅ Power - 400 horses, at 7500 rpm
✅ Torque - 490 Nm, at 4000 rpm
✅ The curb weight of the car is 880 kilograms

In the fall of 1987, the Peugeot 405 T16GR went to the first tests. Factory driver Ari Vatanen noted that the increased length and improved aerodynamics made the car the perfect weapon to conquer Pikes Peak. True, for a start, Peugeot were going to win the Paris-Dakar rally-raid.

Desert battle

The French brought with them a myriad of human and financial resources, changing the original philosophy of the romantic adventure conceived by Thierry Sabin. In 1988, Peugeot hoped to repeat the previous year's success with a new model. All that for the confident victory of Ari Vatanen, but an incredible, still unsolved, story happened. On the night of January 17-18, the Peugeot 405 T16 Grand Raid mysteriously disappeared!

Shortly before the start of the stage, the car was seen leaving the “Closed Park”, but no one paid the slightest attention to this, believing that it was the mechanics who were performing a routine check. But early in the morning in Bamako, the capital of Mali, Jean Todt was informed that the car had been stolen and would only be returned after a ransom of 25 million francs!


Todt refused to pay, and rushed to search ... As a result, an abandoned car was found in a field, without gasoline. Vatanen went to the start, and despite a half-hour delay, he arrived at the finish line eighth! Then he was disqualified - for exceeding the permissible delay. The winner of the Paris-Dakar in 1988 was Juha Kankkunen, who spoke on the "old" Peugeot 205T16: a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign cracked at the seams! But the French had a chance to win the main mountain race of the planet.

"Race in the Clouds"

The Pikes Peak track is about 20 kilometers long and includes 156 turns. The start is given at an altitude of 1440 meters above sea level, and finishes at an altitude of 4302 meters.

Decreasing air density and oxygen levels mean that a car's engine loses 10% of its power for every 1000 meters above sea level. Thus, given the fact that the track has 3 kilometers of ascent between start and finish, the motor loses from 30% to 35% of the “horses”.


The claimed power of the new XU9T engine reached 650 horsepower at the start, and decreased to 550 hp. With. at the finish line, because of the "climb". By the way, Ari Vatanen later stated that the Peugeot engine produced 800 horses.

Opponent “forgot” to come

Having won in 1987, Audi - Peugeot's only competitors - did not come to Pikes Peak. The Germans switched to circuit racing, which had more television coverage.

Despite the absence of rivals, the French fielded three crews, retaining the team that competed in Paris-Dakar in January. Peugeot came to conquer the "mountain" with world rally champions Ari Vatanen and Juha Kankkunen, as well as four-time winner of the 24-hour Le Mans Henri Pescarolo. The refinement of the cars and the race itself were generously financed by Peugeot, which allocated a budget of 1 million dollars!


Vatanen played the title role and did not disappoint, surpassing Walter Röhrl's previous year's record by a few tenths of a second, driving in 10:47,220. The record remained unbeaten until 1994!

The victory in America undoubtedly added to the prestige of Peugeot. But the French had little to gain from the triumph, since they were only formally present on the US market. Three to four thousand cars a year, for such a giant as Peugeot - a drop in the bucket! The main market for Lviv was Europe, where at that time the Paris-Dakar rally-raid was going crazy.

"Hare vs Turtle"

For the sake of victory, the French were ready for anything! The team's budget was $6 million: more than the Ligier Formula 1 team spent in an entire season! Aces of the desert, who had won the Dakar before, were hired as racers: Finn Ari Vatanen, and Belgian Jacky Ickx. Jean Todt conducted the racing orchestra. A man famous for his Peugeot rally titles and his love of command orders.

Racers entered into a relentless struggle from the prologue. Vatanen attacked from the very start, and… after 300 meters he “made his ears”, that is, turned the car over! It's okay, but the Finn added work as a mechanic: a sagging roof, a broken windshield, a torn off door ... and a waste of time! Jacky Ickx took the lead in the race.


In the desert of Tenere, the advantage of the wise Belgian reached three minutes, which infuriated the Finnish champion. Before, few dared to challenge Vatanen, and suddenly - like a devil from a snuffbox, this "old" Belgian appeared! Most of all, Ari was angry that the opponent won not due to aggressive aerobatics, but due to a calm and measured ride.

Trying to win back, the “flying Finn” raced along the track at full speed! And for each bivouac he brought a smashed car to smithereens, while the Belgian arrived "without a single scratch." Calm as a Sphinx X, he broke away further and further, and Vatanen drove faster and faster. Pushing each other on, the duelists broke away from Patrick Tambe, who was in third place, for three hours!

The rivalry between the two "lions" has reached an epic, irrational level! Fans held their breath as they watched the thriller in the desert, waiting to see who would "fall" first. It turned out to be the head of the Peugeot team - Jean Todt.

Eagle and tails

Worried that as a result of the "race to the bottom" the team may lose the victory, Todt decides to determine the winner himself. But how to make a choice, and in favor of whom?

Vatanen is Peugeot's own, after an accident in Argentina he was forced to learn to walk again, and after a miraculous return he gave the team the joy of victories around the world. And Jacky X is a newcomer, albeit a titled one. But from Paris itself, the Belgian rides flawlessly, makes no mistakes and coolly controls the “flying Finn”!


Todt paces back and forth with his hands in his pockets, unsure of what to do. Suddenly, his fingers stumble on a coin of 10 francs and it dawns on Jean: let fate make the choice! Vatanen chose heads, X - tails. Todt tosses a coin, it falls on the sand. Everyone around looks at the sand with bated breath, waiting for the verdict to be announced. An eagle fell out: luck that day patronized the Finn.

The fight continues!

But the "lottery" did not solve the problem and did not stop the slaughter! At the penultimate stage, Vatanen got lost, and the emerging advantage over X turned into a 20-second lag. After that, the relationship between the two great racers deteriorated completely! Ari accused his partner of not following the orders of the team, to which X calmly replied that he was driving slowly, otherwise he would have come off even more:



The last day of the rally-raid has come. The participants had to overcome 40 kilometers along the Playa de M'Boro beach. Everything went to the victory of X, but… not having reached 200 meters to the checkered flag, the Belgian stopped! Is it a gathering?

No - X waited and let Vatanen through, fulfilling the agreement. Ahri won, and at the same time he was defeated. Such an unusual finish did not go unnoticed by the press and the leadership of the motorsport federation. After the race, the FISA president took a hard look at Peugeot and Todt:
This decision discredits Peugeot and the Dakar, because auto racing is a sport for real men, not for brands and commercial interests.


Todt acknowledged that the decision: "slightly distorted the result of the race, but the interests of the team are above the interests of the sport." The Dakar victory was the thirteenth for Peugeot: three Dakars, two Pikes Peaks, two Pharaohs, Tunis, Atlas and Baha Aragon. Having won everything they could, the French decided to switch to sports prototype racing. But that's another story.