1974 World Rally Championship

1974 World Rally Championship
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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:

Place 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Points 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1

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

Championship

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th 
Points 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1
Pos. Manufacturer POR
Portugal
KEN
Kenya
FIN
Finland
ITA
Italy
CAN
Canada
USA
United States
GBR
United Kingdom
FRA
France
Points
1 Italy Lancia 3 1 1 4 3 1 94
2 Italy Fiat 1 10 3 2 2 6 69
3 United States Ford 9 1 4 1 52
4 Japan Toyota 4 3 4 32
5 France Alpine-Renault 6 5 2 29
6 Japan Datsun 5 4 5 9 28
7 Germany Porsche 2 5 7 27
8 Germany Opel 8 3 5 7 27
9 Sweden Saab 4 2 25
10 France Renault 1 8 23
11 Japan Mitsubishi 1 20
12 Sweden Volvo 10 6 7
13 Germany BMW 7 4
14 France Peugeot 7 4
15 France Citroën 8 3
16 Italy Alfa Romeo 10 1
Pos. Manufacturer POR
Portugal
KEN
Kenya
FIN
Finland
ITA
Italy
CAN
Canada
USA
United States
GBR
United Kingdom
FRA
France
Points
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (DNF)
Black Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank Withdrew entry before the event (WD)

Events

1974 World Rally Championship event map
Black = Tarmac Brown = Gravel Red = Mixed Surface
Colour Rally Surface
Gold Gravel
Silver Tarmac
Blue Snow/Ice
Bronze Mixed Surface
Round Rally name Podium finishers Statistics
Rank Driver Car Time Stages Length Starters Finishers
1 Portugal 8º TAP Rallye de Portugal
(20–23 March) — Results and report
1 Italy Raffaele Pinto Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 6:26:15 32 454.00 km 120 36
2 Italy Alcide Paganelli Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 6:30:12
3 Finland Markku Alén Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 6:37:17
2 Kenya 22nd East African Safari Rally
(11–15 April) — Results and report
1 Kenya Joginder Singh Mitsubishi Colt Lancer + 11:18 pen ¿? 5200.00 km 99 16
2 Sweden Björn Waldegård Porsche 911 + 11:46 pen
3 Italy Sandro Munari Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF + 12:22 pen
3 Finland 24th 1000 Lakes Rally
(2–4 August) — Results and report
1 Finland Hannu Mikkola Ford Escort RS1600 3:11:42 36 363.60 km 117 87
2 Finland Timo Mäkinen Ford Escort RS1600 3:12:13
3 Finland Markku Alén Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 3:13:52
4 Italy 16º Rallye Sanremo
(2–5 October) — Results and report
1 Italy Sandro Munari Lancia Stratos HF 9:12:43 ¿? 416.00 km 106 54
2 Italy Giulio Bisulli Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 9:20:30
3 Italy Alfredo Fagnola Opel Ascona 9:56:09
5 Canada 3rd Rally Rideau Lakes
(16–20 October) — Results and report
1 Italy Sandro Munari Lancia Stratos HF 4:54:31 40 383.64 km 51 19
2 Finland Simo Lampinen Lancia Beta Coupé 4:56:49
3 Canada Walter Boyce Toyota Celica 5:07:45
6 United States 26th Press-on-Regardless Rally
(30 October–3 November) — Results and report
1 France Jean-Luc Thérier Renault 17 Gordini 5:29:47 ¿? 244.00 km 64 28
2 Finland Markku Alén Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 5:35:49
3 France Jean-Pierre Nicolas Renault 17 Gordini 5:35:49
7 United Kingdom 23rd Lombard RAC Rally
(16–20 November) — Results and report
1 Finland Timo Mäkinen Ford Escort RS1600 8:02:39 84 ¿? km 190 83
2 Sweden Stig Blomqvist Saab 96 V4 8:04:19
3 Italy Sandro Munari Lancia Stratos HF 8:11:55
8 France 18ème Tour de Corse
(30 November–1 December) — Results and report
1 France Jean-Claude Andruet Lancia Stratos HF 4:49:10 14 374.90 km 101 24
2 France Jean-Pierre Nicolas Alpine-Renault A110 1800 4:52:38
3 France Jean-Luc Thérier Alpine-Renault A310 5:12:09

See also

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