The 1998 Mobil 1 British Rally Championship was won by Manxman Martin Rowe in the Renault Megane Maxi Kit Car ahead of veteran Welsh driver Gwyndaf Evans in the SEAT Ibiza Kit Car and Alister McRae in The Volkswagen Golf Kit Car. Reigning champion Mark Higgins had a very disappointing season in the new Nissan Almera Kit Car. The ladies' cup was won by SEAT driver Barbara Armstrong ahead of Ford's Stephanie Simmonite. The manufacturers' championship was won by Renault.
Driver Changes
1996 Champion Gwyndaf Evans moved from Ford to SEAT
Robbie Head was replaced at Renault by Tapio Laukkanen who had moved from Volkswagen
Head in turn joined SEAT
Vauxhall returned to the series with the Astra Kit Car with Jarmo Kytolehto at the wheel
Harri Rovanpera did not compete in The British Championship this season to concentrate on his WRC Commitments with SEAT
Calendar
| Round | Event | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | 19-21 March | ||
| Round 2/3 | 24-26 April | ||
| Round 4/5 | 4-6 June | ||
| Round 6 | 30 July – 1 August | ||
| Round 7 | 10-12 September |
| Team | Manufacturer | Car | No | Driver | Rounds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | |||||
| Renault Dealer Rallying Association | 2 | All | ||||
| Renault Dealer Rallying Association | Renault | Megane Kit Car | 6 | All | ||
| 4 | All | |||||
| SEAT Cupra Sport | SEAT | Ibiza Kit Car | 5 | 7 | ||
| SEAT Cupra Sport | SEAT | Ibiza Kit Car | 17 | All | ||
| Volkswagen Motorsport UK (SBG Sport) | 3 | All | ||||
| Volkswagen Motorsport UK (SBG Sport) | Volkswagen | Golf GTI Kit Car | 5 | 6 | ||
| Ford | Escort Maxi Kit Car | 11 | 4-5 | |||
| Vauxhall Motorsport (RML) | 10 | All | ||||
| 24 | All | |||||
| Ford Motorsport (Boland Motorsport) | Escort RS2000 | 8 | All | |||
| Ford Motorsport (Boland Motorsport) | Ford | Escort RS2000 | 12 | 6-7 | ||
| Proton Motorsport (Harry Hockly Motorsport) | 14 | All | ||||
| Proton Motorsport (Harry Hockly Motorsport) | Proton | Satria | 20 | Jenny Davies | All | |
| SW Motorsport | 19 | Julian Reynolds | 6 | |||
| David Mann | 21 | David Mann | All | |||
| 7 | All | |||||
| Asquith Motorsport | 31 | All |
'Drivers Championship'
| Pos | Driver | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Rowe | 1st | 1st | 4th | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 164 |
| 2 | Gwyndaf Evans | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 4th | 1st | DNF | 153 |
| 3 | Alister McRae | DNF | 6th | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 5th | 133 |
| 4 | Tapio Laukkanen | DNF | 4th | 3rd | 9th | 2nd | 6th | 2nd | 127 |
| 5 | Neil Wearden | 2nd | 8th | 5th | 5th | 6th | 8th | DNF | 102 |
| 6 | Jarmo Kytolehto | DNF | 3rd | DNF | 4th | 5th | DNF | 3rd | 96 |
| 7 | Barbara Armstrong | 5th | 11th | 8th | DNF | 12th | 14th | 6th | 74 |
| 8 | Stephanie Simmonite | 4th | 14th | 7th | DNF | 11th | DNF | 7th | 73 |
Manufacturers Championship
| Pos | Entrant | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Renault | 26.5 | 32 | 32 | 25 | 25 | 32 | 32 | 36 | 190.5 |
| 2 | SEAT | 32 | 28 | 28 | 32 | 32 | 25 | 36 | 0 | 188.0 |
| 3 | Volkswagen | 26.5 | 0 | 22 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 26 | 165.5 |
| 4 | Ford | 22 | 25 | 18 | 22 | 20 | 20 | 26 | 29 | 144.0 |
| 5 | Vauxhall | 18 | 20 | 25 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 32 | 141.0 |
| 6 | Peugeot | 20 | 22 | 20 | 0 | 18 | 16 | 23 | 0 | 119.0 |
| 7 | Proton | 16 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 52.0 |