1974 World Rally Championship

The 1974 World Rally Championship was the second season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). Due to the worldwide oil crisis, it was significantly reduced from its inaugural season, consisting of 8 events versus the previous 13 events. Notably absent were the Monte Carlo and Swedish rallies, though these would return the next year and remain part of the series to this day. However, other rallies such as those in Poland and Austria would never return to the WRC calendar. 1974 was the only year the WRC held two events in North America, though it would mark the last year for both of these events on the world stage.

Alpine-Renault proved unable to repeat its dominance from the previous year, with Italian manufacturers Lancia and Fiat vying for the title through the year. Fiat's Abarth 124 gained an early lead with a win at Monte Carlo, but fell to a strong performance by Lancia's Stratos HF which won three rallies, placing second again. Lancia's championship was the first of three consecutive WRC titles it would win through 1976 as well as the first of its record ten WRC manufacturer's championships. The Ford Escort was able to win a pair of rallies, repeating Ford's third-place finish of the previous year.

From 1973 to 1978, the WRC only awarded a season championship for the winning 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

With the oil crisis, the WRC Calendar was reduced from 13 to just 8. Morocco, Poland and Austria where dropped, while Monte-Carlo, Sweden and Acropolis were planned but finally canceled. The only debut was the Canadian Rally Rideau Lakes.

Round	Rally name	Surface	Dates
1	8º TAP Rallye de Portugal	Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel)	20–23 March
2	22nd East African Safari Rally	Gravel	11–15 April
3	24th 1000 Lakes Rally	Gravel	2–4 August
4	16º Rallye Sanremo	Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel)	2–5 October
5	3rd Rally Rideau Lakes	Gravel	16–20 October
6	26th Press-on-Regardless Rally	Gravel	30 October–3 November
7	23rd Lombard RAC Rally	Gravel	16–20 November
8	18ème Tour de Corse	Tarmac	30 November–1 December

Championship

Pos. Manufacturer POR KEN FIN ITA CAN USA GBR FRA Points 1 Lancia 3 1 1 4 3 1 94 2 Fiat 1 10 3 2 2 6 69 3 Ford 9 1 4 1 52 4 Toyota 4 3 4 32 5 Alpine-Renault 6 5 2 29 6 Datsun 5 4 5 9 28 7 Porsche 2 5 7 27 8 Opel 8 3 5 7 27 9 Saab 4 2 25 10 Renault 1 8 23 11 Mitsubishi 1 20 12 Volvo 10 6 7 13 BMW 7 4 14 Peugeot 7 4 15 Citroën 8 3 16 Alfa Romeo 10 1 Pos. Manufacturer POR KEN FIN ITA CAN USA GBR FRA Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD)

Events

1974 World Rally Championship event map

Black = Tarmac	Brown = Gravel	Red = Mixed Surface

Round	Rally name	Podium finishers				Statistics
		Rank	Driver	Car	Time	Stages	Length	Starters	Finishers
1	8º TAP Rallye de Portugal (20–23 March) — Results and report	1	Raffaele Pinto	Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye	6:26:15	32	454.00 km	120	36
		2	Alcide Paganelli	Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye	6:30:12
		3	Markku Alén	Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye	6:37:17
2	22nd East African Safari Rally (11–15 April) — Results and report	1	Joginder Singh	Mitsubishi Colt Lancer	+ 11:18 pen	¿?	5200.00 km	99	16
		2	Björn Waldegård	Porsche 911	+ 11:46 pen
		3	Sandro Munari	Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF	+ 12:22 pen
3	24th 1000 Lakes Rally (2–4 August) — Results and report	1	Hannu Mikkola	Ford Escort RS1600	3:11:42	36	363.60 km	117	87
		2	Timo Mäkinen	Ford Escort RS1600	3:12:13
		3	Markku Alén	Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye	3:13:52
4	16º Rallye Sanremo (2–5 October) — Results and report	1	Sandro Munari	Lancia Stratos HF	9:12:43	¿?	416.00 km	106	54
		2	Giulio Bisulli	Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye	9:20:30
		3	Alfredo Fagnola	Opel Ascona	9:56:09
5	3rd Rally Rideau Lakes (16–20 October) — Results and report	1	Sandro Munari	Lancia Stratos HF	4:54:31	40	383.64 km	51	19
		2	Simo Lampinen	Lancia Beta Coupé	4:56:49
		3	Walter Boyce	Toyota Celica	5:07:45
6	26th Press-on-Regardless Rally (30 October–3 November) — Results and report	1	Jean-Luc Thérier	Renault 17 Gordini	5:29:47	¿?	244.00 km	64	28
		2	Markku Alén	Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye	5:35:49
		3	Jean-Pierre Nicolas	Renault 17 Gordini	5:35:49
7	23rd Lombard RAC Rally (16–20 November) — Results and report	1	Timo Mäkinen	Ford Escort RS1600	8:02:39	84	¿? km	190	83
		2	Stig Blomqvist	Saab 96 V4	8:04:19
		3	Sandro Munari	Lancia Stratos HF	8:11:55
8	18ème Tour de Corse (30 November–1 December) — Results and report	1	Jean-Claude Andruet	Lancia Stratos HF	4:49:10	14	374.90 km	101	24
		2	Jean-Pierre Nicolas	Alpine-Renault A110 1800	4:52:38
		3	Jean-Luc Thérier	Alpine-Renault A310	5:12:09

See also

• 1974 in sports
• FIA World Rally Championship 1974 at rallybase.nl