1975 World Rally Championship Explained

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.

RoundRally nameSurfaceDates
1 Monte Carlo RallyMixed (Tarmac - Snow)15–24 January
2 Swedish RallySnow13–15 February
3 Safari RallyGravel25–31 March
4 Acropolis RallyGravel24–31 May
5 Rallye du MarocGravel24–28 June
6 Rally de PortugalMixed (Tarmac - Gravel)18–21 July
7 1000 Lakes RallyGravel29–31 August
8 Rallye SanremoMixed (Tarmac - Gravel)1–4 October
9 Tour de CorseTarmac8–9 November
10 RAC RallyGravel22–26 November
Sources:[1] [2]

Manufacturers' championship

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

Schedule of points by place:

Events

+ align=center style="background:#BFD7FF"1975 World Rally Championship event mapalign=center colspan=4
width=25% Black = Tarmacwidth=25% Brown = Gravelwidth=25% Blue = Snow/Icewidth=25% Red = Mixed Surface
+ align=center style="background:#BFD7FF"1975 World Rally Championship schedule and results
Rally NameStart-End DatePodium 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:[5]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: WRC 1975. eWRC-results.com. 15 January 2024.
  2. Web site: 1975 WRC calendar. Jonkka's World Rally Archive. 15 January 2024.
  3. Web site: Rule changes for 1973. Jonkka's World Rally Archive. 15 January 2024.
  4. Web site: Season 1975 – Championship standings. Jonkka's World Rally Archive. 15 January 2024.
  5. Web site: Season 1975 – Season statistics – Event statistics. Jonkka's World Rally Archive. 15 January 2024.