1975 World Rally Championship

Summary

The 1975 World Rally Championship was the third season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). 10 events were included on the schedule, including the return to the series of the famous Monte Carlo and Swedish rallies after a one season absence of those events. Both North American events were removed from the schedule however. Other returning entries to the schedule included the Acropolis Rally in Greece, which would become a staple of the WRC circuit to this day, and the Rallye du Maroc.

Lancia, with its powerful Stratos HF, continued its dominance despite struggling with reliability. Lancia won four rallies during the season however, outpacing competitors Fiat and Alpine-Renault. The battle for second place in the season was ultimately determined by a single point, with Fiat outscoring Alpine-Renault 61 points to 60, while Opel's Ascona made a strong bid to be competitive, scoring 58 points.

From 1973 to 1978, the WRC only awarded a championship for manufacturers. Scoring was given for the highest placing entry for each manufacturer. Thus if a particular manufacturer was to place 2nd, 4th, and 10th, they would receive points for 2nd place only. However, the manufacturer would still gain an advantage in scoring from its other entries, as the points for the 4th and 10th place entries would be denied to other manufacturers.

Calendar edit

After the oil crisis of 1973 that affected the 1974 season, the Monte Carlo Rally, the Swedish Rally, the Acropolis Rally, and the Rallye du Maroc returned to the calendar, while the Rally of the Rideau Lakes was dropped.

Round Rally name Surface Dates
1   Monte Carlo Rally Mixed (Tarmac - Snow) 15–24 January
2   Swedish Rally Snow 13–15 February
3   Safari Rally Gravel 25–31 March
4   Acropolis Rally Gravel 24–31 May
5   Rallye du Maroc Gravel 24–28 June
6   Rally de Portugal Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel) 18–21 July
7   1000 Lakes Rally Gravel 29–31 August
8   Rallye Sanremo Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel) 1–4 October
9   Tour de Corse Tarmac 8–9 November
10   RAC Rally Gravel 22–26 November
Sources:[1][2]

Manufacturers' championship edit

Points were awarded to the best placed vehicle of each manufacturer.[3]

Schedule of points by place:

Place 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Points 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1
Pos. Manufacturer  
MON
 
SWE
 
KEN
 
GRC
 
MAR
 
POR
 
FIN
 
ITA
 
FRA
 
GBR
Points
1   Lancia 20 20 15 - - - - 20 20 1 96
2   Fiat 15 8 - - - 20 - 15 - 3 61
3   Alpine-Renault 6 - - 15 12 - - 12 15 - 60
4   Opel - 3 - 20 - 10 8 6 1 10 58
5   Peugeot - - 20 - 20 - - - - - 40
6   Ford - 1 - - - 2 12 - - 20 35
7   Toyota - - - - - 12 20 - - - 32
8   Saab - - 6 - 6 8 6 - - - 30
9   Datsun 3 - - 4 - - - 4 12 - 26
10   Alfa Romeo 3 - - 4 - - - 4 12 - 23
11   Mitsubishi - - 10 12 - - - - - - 22
12   Citroën - - - - 10 3 - - - - 13
13   Porsche 4 - - - - - - 8 - - 12
14   Volvo - 2 - 6 1 - - - - - 9
15=   Renault 8 - - - - - - - - - 8
15=   Audi - - - 8 - - - - - - 8
17   Škoda - 4 - - - - - - - - 4
18=   Chrysler - - - - - - 2 - - - 2
18=   Vauxhall - - - - - - - - - 2 2
20=   BMW 1 - - - - - - - - - 1
20=   Lada - - - 1 - - - - - - 1
Pos. Manufacturer  
MON
 
SWE
 
KEN
 
GRC
 
MAR
 
POR
 
FIN
 
ITA
 
FRA
 
GBR
Points
Sources:[1][4]

Events edit

1975 World Rally Championship event map
 
Black = Tarmac Brown = Gravel Blue = Snow/Ice Red = Mixed Surface
1975 World Rally Championship schedule and results
Rally Name Start-End Date Podium Drivers (Finishing Time) Podium Cars
 
Rallye Monte Carlo
15–23 January
  1.   Sandro Munari (6h:25m:59s)
  2.   Hannu Mikkola (6h:29m:05s)
  3.   Markku Alén (6h:29m:46s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
  3. Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
 
Swedish Rally
13–15 February
  1.   Björn Waldegård (7h:19m:46s)
  2.   Stig Blomqvist (7h:21m:33s)
  3.   Simo Lampinen (7h:31m:22s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Saab 96 V4
  3. Lancia Beta Coupé
 
Safari Rally
27–31 March
  1.   Ove Andersson (+11m:58s penalties)
  2.   Sandro Munari (+12m:36s penalties)
  3.   Björn Waldegård (+13m:57s penalties)
  1. Peugeot 504
  2. Lancia Stratos HF
  3. Lancia Stratos HF
 
Acropolis Rally
24–31 May
  1.   Walter Röhrl (9h:20m:36s)
  2.   Tasos'Siroco' Livieratos (9h:56m:18s)
  3.   Mihalis Koumas (11h:35m:53s)
  1. Opel Ascona
  2. Alpine-Renault A110 1800
  3. Mitsubishi Galant
 
Rallye du Maroc
24–28 June
  1.   Hannu Mikkola (23h:30m:48s)
  2.   Bernard Consten (25h:12m:03s)
  3.   Bob Neyret (25h:48m:19s)
  1. Peugeot 504
  2. Peugeot 504
  3. Alpine-Renault A110 1800
 
Rallye de Portugal
18–21 July
  1.   Markku Alén (6h:24m:15s)
  2.   Hannu Mikkola (6h:26m:58s)
  3.   Ove Andersson (6h:29m:29s)
  1. Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
  2. Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
  3. Toyota Corolla
 
1000 Lakes Rally
29–31 August
  1.   Hannu Mikkola (2h:52m:33s)
  2.   Simo Lampinen (2h:53m:47s)
  3.   Timo Mäkinen (2h:54m:35s)
  1. Toyota Corolla
  2. Saab 96 V4
  3. Ford Escort RS1800
 
Rallye Sanremo
4–10 October
  1.   Björn Waldegård (10h:22m:52s)
  2.   Maurizio Verini (10h:25m:40s)
  3.   Jean-Luc Thérier (10h:59m:04s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
  3. Alpine-Renault A110 1800
 
Tour de Corse
8–9 November
  1.   Bernard Darniche (4h:58m:26s)
  2.   Jean-Pierre Nicolas (4h:58m:58s)
  3.   Jean-Claude Andruet (5h:09m:51s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Alpine-Renault A110 1800
  3. Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT
 
RAC Rally
22–26 November
  1.   Timo Mäkinen (6h:00m:44s)
  2.   Roger Clark (6h:01m:57s)
  3.   Tony Fowkes (6h:06m:11s)
  1. Ford Escort RS1800
  2. Ford Escort RS1800
  3. Ford Escort RS1800
Sources:[1][5]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "WRC 1975". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  2. ^ "1975 WRC calendar". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Rule changes for 1973". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Season 1975 – Championship standings". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Season 1975 – Season statistics – Event statistics". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 15 January 2024.

External links edit

  • FIA World Rally Championship 1975 at ewrc-results.com