1975 World Rally Championship season

1975 World Rally Championship season
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The 1975 World Rally Championship season 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 season championship for the winningest manufacturer. 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.

Schedule of points by place:

Calendar

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 return to the calendar, while the Rally of the Rideau Lakes was dropped.

Round Rally name Surface Dates
1 Monaco 43rd Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo Mixed (Tarmac - Snow) 15–24 Jan
2 Sweden 25th Swedish Rally Snow 13–15 February
3 Kenya 23rd Safari Rally Gravel 25–31 March
4 Greece 22nd Acropolis Rally Gravel 24–31 May
5 Morocco 18th Rallye du Maroc Gravel 24–28 June
6 Portugal 9th Rally of Portugal Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel) 18-21 July
7 Finland 25th 1000 Lakes Rally Gravel 29–31 August
8 Italy 17th Rallye Sanremo Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel) 1–4 October
9 France 19th Tour de Corse Tarmac 8–9 November
10 United Kingdom 31st Lombard RAC Rally Gravel 22–26 November

Championship

1975 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers
Rank Manufacturer Event Total
points
Monaco
MON
Sweden
SWE
Kenya
KEN
Greece
GRC
Morocco
MAR
Portugal
POR
Finland
FIN
Italy
ITA
France
FRA
United Kingdom
GBR
1 Italy Lancia 20 20 15 - - - - 20 20 1 96
2 Italy Fiat 15 8 - - - 20 - 15 - 3 61
3 France Alpine-Renault 6 - - 15 12 - - 12 15 - 60
4 Germany Opel - 3 - 20 - 10 8 6 1 10 58
5 France Peugeot - - 20 - 20 - - - - - 40
6 United States Ford - 1 - - - 2 12 - - 20 35
7 Japan Toyota - - - - - 12 20 - - - 32
8 Sweden Saab - - 6 - 6 8 6 - - - 30
9 Japan Datsun 3 - - 4 - - - 4 12 - 26
10 Italy Alfa Romeo 3 - - 4 - - - 4 12 - 23
11 Japan Mitsubishi - - 10 12 - - - - - - 22
12 France Citroën - - - - 10 3 - - - - 13
13 Germany Porsche 4 - - - - - - 8 - - 12
14 Sweden Volvo - 2 - 6 1 - - - - - 9
15= France Renault 8 - - - - - - - - - 8
15= Germany Audi - - - 8 - - - - - - 8
17 Czechoslovakia Škoda - 4 - - - - - - - - 4
18= United States Chrysler - - - - - - 2 - - - 2
18= United Kingdom Vauxhall - - - - - - - - - 2 2
20= Germany BMW 1 - - - - - - - - - 1
20= Soviet Union Lada - - - 1 - - - - - - 1

Events

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
Monaco
43ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo
1523 January
  1. Italy Sandro Munari (6h:25m:59s)
  2. Finland Hannu Mikkola (6h:29m:05s)
  3. Finland Markku Alén (6h:29m:46s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
  3. Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
Sweden
25th International Swedish Rally
1315 February
  1. Sweden Björn Waldegård (7h:19m:46s)
  2. Sweden Stig Blomqvist (7h:21m:33s)
  3. Finland Simo Lampinen (7h:31m:22s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Saab 96 V4
  3. Lancia Beta Coupé
Kenya
23rd Safari Rally
2731 March
  1. Sweden Ove Andersson (+11m:58s penalties)
  2. Italy Sandro Munari (+12m:36s penalties)
  3. Sweden Björn Waldegård (+13m:57s penalties)
  1. Peugeot 504
  2. Lancia Stratos HF
  3. Lancia Stratos HF
Greece
22nd Acropolis Rally
2431 May
  1. West Germany Walter Röhrl (9h:20m:36s)
  2. Greece 'Siroco' Livieratos (9h:56m:18s)
  3. Greece Mihalis Koumas (11h:35m:53s)
  1. Opel Ascona
  2. Alpine-Renault A110 1800
  3. Mitsubishi Galant
Morocco
18ème Rallye du Maroc
2428 June
  1. Finland Hannu Mikkola (23h:30m:48s)
  2. France Bernard Consten (25h:12m:03s)
  3. France Bob Neyret (25h:48m:19s)
  1. Peugeot 504
  2. Peugeot 504
  3. Alpine-Renault A110 1800
Portugal
8º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto
1821 July
  1. Finland Markku Alén (6h:24m:15s)
  2. Finland Hannu Mikkola (6h:26m:58s)
  3. Sweden Ove Andersson (6h:29m:29s)
  1. Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
  2. Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
  3. Toyota Corolla
Finland
25th 1000 Lakes Rally
2931 August
  1. Finland Hannu Mikkola (2h:52m:33s)
  2. Finland Simo Lampinen (2h:53m:47s)
  3. Finland Timo Mäkinen (2h:54m:35s)
  1. Toyota Corolla
  2. Saab 96 V4
  3. Ford Escort RS1800
Italy
17º Rallye Sanremo
410 October
  1. Sweden Björn Waldegård (10h:22m:52s)
  2. Italy Maurizio Verini (10h:25m:40s)
  3. France Jean-Luc Thérier (10h:59m:04s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
  3. Alpine-Renault A110 1800
France
19ème Tour de Corse
89 November
  1. France Bernard Darniche (4h:58m:26s)
  2. France Jean-Pierre Nicolas (4h:58m:58s)
  3. France Jean-Claude Andruet (5h:09m:51s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Alpine-Renault A110 1800
  3. Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT
United Kingdom
24th Lombard RAC Rally
2226 November
  1. Finland Timo Mäkinen (6h:00m:44s)
  2. United Kingdom Roger Clark (6h:01m:57s)
  3. United Kingdom Tony Fowkes (6h:06m:11s)
  1. Ford Escort RS1800
  2. Ford Escort RS1800
  3. Ford Escort RS1800

See also