1974 World Rally Championship

2nd season of the World Rally Championship 1974 World Rally Championship World Manufacturers' Champion Lancia 1973 1975 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 as of 2026. The Austria rally would never return to the WRC calendar, while the Poland rally would only return in 2009. 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. Calendar Due to the global oil crisis, the WRC calendar was reduced to eight rounds with the cancellation of the Monte Carlo, Swedish and Acropolis rallies. Morocco, Poland and Austria were dropped after 1973 with the Canadian Rally of the Rideau Lakes making its debut on the calendar. Round Rally name Surface Dates 1 POR Rallye de Portugal Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel) 20–23 March 2 KEN Safari Rally Gravel 11–15 April 3 FIN 1000 Lakes Rally Gravel 2–4 August 4 ITA Rallye Sanremo Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel) 2–5 October 5 CAN Rally of the Rideau Lakes Gravel 16–20 October 6 USA Press-on-Regardless Rally Gravel 30 October–3 November 7 GBR RAC Rally Gravel 16–20 November 8 FRA Tour de Corse Tarmac 30 November–1 DecemberSources:WRC 1974 https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1974/ eWRC-results.com 15 January 20241974 WRC calendar https://www.juwra.com/calendar_1974.html Jonkka's World Rally Archive 15 January 2024 Cancelled rallies Rally name Surface Dates MON Rallye Monte Carlo Mixed (Tarmac - Snow) 23-26 January SWE Rally Sweden Snow13-16 February GRE Acropolis Rally Gravel 17-20 JulySource:WRC Season 1974 - Stratos Revolution https://www.wrc.com/en/misc/wrc-season-archive/wrc-season-1974 FIA World Rally Championship 20 September 2026 Manufacturers' championship Points were awarded to the best placed vehicle of each manufacturer.Rule changes for 1973 https://www.juwra.com/rules_1973.html Jonkka's World Rally Archive 15 January 2024 Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th  Points 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1 Pos. Position Manufacturer PORPOR KENKEN FINFIN ITAITA CANCAN USAUSA GBRGBR FRAFRA Points 1 ITA Lancia 3 1 1 4 3 1 94 2 ITA Fiat 1 10 3 2 Ret 2 12 6 69 3 USA Ford 9 1 EX 4 17 1 52 4 JPN Toyota 4 3 19 4 32 5 FRA Alpine-Renault 6 19 Ret 5 2 29 6 JPN Datsun 5 4 21 5 12 9 28 7 GER Porsche 12 2 5 Ret 7 17 27 8 GER Opel 19 8 3 20 5 7 27 9 SWE Saab Ret 4 18 14 2 25 10 FRA Renault 15 1 Ret 8 23 11 JPN Mitsubishi 1 20 12 SWE Volvo 28 15 Ret 10 6 7 13 GER BMW 7 13 EX 4 Ret 50 4 14 FRA Peugeot 7 45 74 4 15 FRA Citroën 8 Ret 69 3 16 ITA Alfa Romeo 17 Ret 60 10 1 Pos. Position Manufacturer PORPOR KENKEN FINFIN ITAITA CANCAN USAUSA GBRGBR FRAFRA PointsSources:Season 1974 – Championship standings https://www.juwra.com/season_1974_points.html Jonkka's World Rally Archive 15 January 2024 Events 1974 World Rally Championship event map 800px 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 POR Rallye de Portugal(20–23 March) — Results and report 1 ITA Raffaele Pinto Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 6:26:15 32 454.00 km 120 36 2 ITA Alcide Paganelli Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 6:30:12 3 FIN Markku Alén Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 6:37:17 2 KEN Safari Rally(11–15 April) — Results and report 1 KEN Joginder Singh Mitsubishi Lancer 1600 GSR + 11:18 pen ¿? 5200.00 km 99 16 2 SWE Björn Waldegård Porsche 911 + 11:46 pen 3 ITA Sandro Munari Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF + 12:22 pen 3 FIN 1000 Lakes Rally(2–4 August) — Results and report 1 FIN Hannu Mikkola Ford Escort RS1600 3:11:42 36 363.60 km 117 87 2 FIN Timo Mäkinen Ford Escort RS1600 3:12:13 3 FIN Markku Alén Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 3:13:52 4 ITA Rally Sanremo(2–5 October) — Results and report 1 ITA Sandro Munari Lancia Stratos HF 9:12:43 ¿? 416.00 km 106 54 2 ITA Giulio Bisulli Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 9:20:30 3 ITA Alfredo Fagnola Opel Ascona 9:56:09 5 CAN Rally Rideau Lakes(16–20 October) — Results and report 1 ITA Sandro Munari Lancia Stratos HF 4:54:31 40 383.64 km 51 19 2 FIN Simo Lampinen Lancia Beta Coupé 4:56:49 3 CAN Walter Boyce Toyota Celica 5:07:45 6 USA Press-on-Regardless Rally(30 October–3 November) — Results and report 1 FRA Jean-Luc Thérier Renault 17 Gordini 5:29:47 ¿? 244.00 km 64 28 2 FIN Markku Alén Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 5:35:49 3 FRA Jean-Pierre Nicolas Renault 17 Gordini 5:35:49 7 GBR RAC Rally(16–20 November) — Results and report 1 FIN Timo Mäkinen Ford Escort RS1600 8:02:39 84 ¿? km 190 83 2 SWE Stig Blomqvist Saab 96 V4 8:04:19 3 ITA Sandro Munari Lancia Stratos HF 8:11:55 8 FRA Tour de Corse(30 November–1 December) — Results and report 1 FRA Jean-Claude Andruet Lancia Stratos HF 4:49:10 14 374.90 km 101 24 2 FRA Jean-Pierre Nicolas Alpine-Renault A110 1800 4:52:38 3 FRA Jean-Luc Thérier Alpine-Renault A310 5:12:09Sources: Season 1974 – Season statistics – Event statistics https://www.juwra.com/season_1974_event_stats.html Jonkka's World Rally Archive 15 January 2024 See also 1974 in sports References External links FIA World Rally Championship 1974 at ewrc-results.com World Rally Championship Category:World Rally Championship seasons