1975 World Rally Championship

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

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

Manufacturers' championship

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 Monaco
MON
Sweden
SWE
Kenya
KEN
Greece
GRC
Morocco
MAR
Portugal
POR
Finland
FIN
Italy
ITA
France
FRA
United Kingdom
GBR
Points
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
Pos. Manufacturer Monaco
MON
Sweden
SWE
Kenya
KEN
Greece
GRC
Morocco
MAR
Portugal
POR
Finland
FIN
Italy
ITA
France
FRA
United Kingdom
GBR
Points
Sources:[1][4]

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
Rallye Monte Carlo
15–23 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
Swedish Rally
13–15 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
Safari Rally
27–31 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
Acropolis Rally
24–31 May
  1. West Germany Walter Röhrl (9h:20m:36s)
  2. Greece Tasos'Siroco' Livieratos (9h:56m:18s)
  3. Cyprus Mihalis Koumas (11h:35m:53s)
  1. Opel Ascona
  2. Alpine-Renault A110 1800
  3. Mitsubishi Galant
Morocco
Rallye du Maroc
24–28 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
Rallye de Portugal
18–21 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
1000 Lakes Rally
29–31 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
Rallye Sanremo
4–10 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
Tour de Corse
8–9 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
RAC Rally
22–26 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
Sources:[1][5]

See also

References

  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.