1976 World Rally Championship Explained

The 1976 World Rally Championship was the fourth season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). 10 events were included on the schedule, as the series revisited the same locations as the previous season. The only change in the schedule was a slight shuffle in order, with Portugal being moved up to March from July.

Lancia again repeated its title, with the Stratos HF accumulating another four rally wins, and scoring more than twice as many points as its nearest competitor, Opel. The Ascona's consistency was enough for second place overall, despite no wins. Lancia's dynasty, however, would not continue, as this was to be the last WRC title for the Stratos.

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

RoundRally nameSurfaceDates
1 Monte Carlo RallyMixed (Tarmac - Snow)17–24 January
2 Swedish RallySnow20–22 February
3 Rally de PortugalMixed (Tarmac - Gravel)10–14 March
4 Safari RallyGravel15–19 April
5 Acropolis RallyGravel22–28 May
6 Rallye du MarocMixed (Tarmac - Gravel)22–27 June
7 1000 Lakes RallyGravel27–29 August
8 Rallye SanremoTarmac6–9 October
9 Tour de CorseTarmac6–7 November
10 RAC RallyGravel27–30 November
Sources:[1] [2]

Manufacturers' championship

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

Schedule of points by place:

Manufacturer
MON
SWE
POR
KEN
GRC
MAR
FIN
ITA
FRA
GBR		Points
1align=left Lancia20 10 20 - - 12 - 20 20 10112
2align=left Opel10 12 12 - 8 - - 8 3 457
3align=left Ford8 - 4 - - - 15 - - 2047
4align=left Saab- 20 - - - - 8 - - 1543
5align=left Datsun- - 6 4 20 - 6 - - 339
6align=left Toyota- - 15 - - - 12 - - 835
7align=left Fiat6 - - - - - 20 6 - -32
8align=left Peugeot- - - 10 - 20 - - 1 -31
9align=left Alpine-Renault- - - - 15 - - - 12 -27
10align=left Mitsubishi- - - 20 - - - - - -20
11align=left Porsche4 - - - - - - 2 8 -14
12align=left Alfa Romeo1 - - 1 10 - - - - -12
13align=left Citroën- - - - - 10 - - - -10
14align=left Lada- - - - 6 - - - - -6
align=left Renault- - - - - 6 - - - -6
16align=left Volvo- 4 - - - - - - - -4
align=left BMW- - - - 4 - - - - -4
18align=left Mazda- - 3 - - - - - - -3
align=left Volkswagen- - - - 3 - - - - -3
20align=left British Leyland Cars- - - - - - - - - 22
21align=left Wartburg- - - - 1 - - - - -1
Manufacturer
MON
SWE
POR
KEN
GRC
MAR
FIN
ITA
FRA
GBR		Points
Sources:[4]

Events

+ align=center style="background:#BFD7FF"1976 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"1976 World Rally Championship schedule and results
Rally NameStart-End DatePodium Drivers (Finishing Time)Podium Cars

Rallye Monte Carlo		17 - 24 January
  1. Sandro Munari (6h:25m:10s)
  2. Björn Waldegård (6h:26m:37s)
  3. Bernard Darniche (6h:31m:23s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Lancia Stratos HF
  3. Lancia Stratos HF

Swedish Rally		20 - 22 February
  1. Per Eklund (8h:08m:26s)
  2. Stig Blomqvist (8h:10m:02s)
  3. Anders Kulläng (8h:31m:10s)
  1. Saab 96 V4
  2. Saab 96 V4
  3. Opel Ascona

Rallye de Portugal		10 - 14 March
  1. Sandro Munari (5h:41m:26s)
  2. Ove Andersson (5h:44m:24s)
  3. 'Mêquêpê' (6h:26m:37s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Toyota Celica
  3. Opel Kadett GT/E

Safari Rally		15 - 19 April
  1. Joginder Singh (+1m:57s penalties)
  2. Robin Ulyate (+2m:21s penalties)
  3. Andrew Cowan (+2m:42s penalties)
  1. Mitsubishi Lancer 1600 GSR
  2. Mitsubishi Lancer 1600 GSR
  3. Mitsubishi Lancer 1600 GSR

Acropolis Rally		22 - 28 May
  1. Harry Källström (8h:43m:14s)
  2. 'Siroco' (8h:48m:38s)
  3. Shekhar Mehta (9h:09m:53s)
  1. Datsun 160J
  2. Alpine-Renault A110 1800
  3. Datsun 160J

Rallye du Maroc		22 - 27 June
  1. Jean-Pierre Nicolas (20h:20m:15s)
  2. Simo Lampinen (20h:42m:52s)
  3. Sandro Munari (21h:38m:38s)
  1. Peugeot 504
  2. Peugeot 504
  3. Lancia Stratos HF

1000 Lakes Rally		27 - 29 August
  1. Markku Alén (4h:10m:18s)
  2. Pentti Airikkala (4h:11m:03s)
  3. Hannu Mikkola (4h:13m:32s)
  1. Fiat 131 Abarth
  2. Ford Escort RS1800
  3. Toyota Celica

Rallye Sanremo		6 - 9 October
  1. Björn Waldegård (10h:27m:40s)
  2. Sandro Munari (10h:27m:44s)
  3. Raffaele Pinto (10h:37m:13s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Lancia Stratos HF
  3. Lancia Stratos HF

Tour de Corse		6 - 7 November
  1. Sandro Munari (8h:23m:55s)
  2. Bernard Darniche (8h:24m:12s)
  3. Jean-Pierre Manzagol (8h:49m:14s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Lancia Stratos HF
  3. Alpine-Renault A310

RAC Rally		27 - 30 November
  1. Roger Clark (6h:02m:26s)
  2. Stig Blomqvist (6h:07m:03s)
  3. Björn Waldegård (6h:07m:55s)
  1. Ford Escort RS1800
  2. Saab 99 EMS
  3. Ford Escort RS1800
Sources:[5]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: WRC 1976. eWRC-results.com. 15 January 2024.
  2. Web site: 1976 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 1976 – Championship standings. Jonkka's World Rally Archive. 15 January 2024.
  5. Web site: Season 1976 – Season statistics – Event statistics. Jonkka's World Rally Archive. 15 January 2024.

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