Carlos Sainz knocked at Lancia�s door, the team he had just beaten, and the door was opened, but not fully as he would subsequently discover. Although the Spanish driver only made fourteenth position in the Montecarlo Rally, and his new team mate, the Italian Andrea Aghini, was unable to pass the Ordinary Stage, the balance was not bad.� A sheet of ice that did not register in his notes left his Lancia HF Integrale quite battered, but its mechanics lived up to their reputation and left his vehicle in such good condition, that if it had not been for the accident, Sainz would have come second.

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In Portugal, one month later, the Madrid driver was unlucky again, although Aghini took third place on the podium. Something was not going according to plan. Sainz�s technical requests appeared to be lost among Abarth�s papers, and the Integrale HF matter was not progressing. Sainz truly felt it in his bones, and in Corsica he was only able to come fourth and saw how the second car in the team, fitted with Pirelli tyres, was clearly faster than his.

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Only the Lancia HF Integrale�s reliability was responsible for what would be the best result within the Italian team, second place in the Acropolis Rally.� The debacle of the Toyotas, Subarus and partly Ford, temporarily saved the face of the people in charge.� The saddest news of the year came in Argentina where Sainz�s Lancia only completed a few kilometres before the engine failed, with the Uruguayan Gustavo Trelles finishing in fourth position in the team�s second car. In New Zealand, Carlos Sainz�s car had several improvements and he was fighting to win, despite finishing in fourth position, however, a lack of motivation had overtaken both him and the other members of the team.

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