I know they aren't interchangeable units, but I think the most simple way to examine the paper specs is that the peak torque essentially tells you how strong the car will be in the mid-range of the powerband while the peak hp essentially tells you how strong the car will be at the top end of the powerband. In a dedicated sports car (of the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc), the peak torque is shoved in real close to the peak horsepower, so both numbers essentially tell you about the top end and not much about the mid-range.
So that implies the type of driving you plan to do will indicate which of those numbers will be a stronger influence on what you experience on your drive. If you are just driving along at an easy but vigorous pace, then you are probably relying on mostly mid-range powerband, which is what the torque figure is telling you (a hp value can be calculated at this point, but few people ever bother).
If you are hurrying along, banging the gears to redline every single time (as in a "race"), then you are probably relying on mostly top-end powerband, which is what the hp figure is telling you (a torque value can be calculated at this point, as well, but few people ever bother).
There is also the issue of powerband peakiness and vvt effects, but the general trend is...the larger the displacement, the torque will be nicely distributed across the powerband. The smaller the displacement (and the more they try to get out of it) the more peaky it will be (which is further magnified with the short gearing that would be present to complement a high-output, small engine), and likely it will favor operation in the top end. Certainly there will be exceptions and overlap in that generalization, but that is the basic concept. Probably the more you try to get out of any engine (of any size), the more peaky it will tend to be...that is, it's sweetspot will likely be more defined and located in the upper range, at the sacrifice of low end output.
I think most germane to the OP, you still need a good amount of both.
High hp is
essentially extending healthy torque out to a higher rpm. High hp is what is going to make that car go fast
with the caveat that the gearing is chosen to complement that powerband. If the gearing is not complementary, then you won't get the benefits when you need them to appear.
There is the one scenario where a healthy torque number in particular is a great benefit (which was alluded to in an earlier post)...it will help out acceleration greatly on the launch (assuming things aren't too peaky) and the 1st gear part of the run. Once 1st gear is over, then that torque number will be less of an influence. Every segment of the run after the upshift will be hitting up that top end hard for benefits (i.e, the hp number will be the major player). Of course if the other guy with lesser torque also has a shorter 1st gear, then that re-evens the playing field.