1974 World Rally Championship

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.

Calendar

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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   Rallye de Portugal Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel) 20–23 March
2   Safari Rally Gravel 11–15 April
3   1000 Lakes Rally Gravel 2–4 August
4   Rallye Sanremo Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel) 2–5 October
5   Rally of the Rideau Lakes Gravel 16–20 October
6   Press-on-Regardless Rally Gravel 30 October–3 November
7   RAC Rally Gravel 16–20 November
8   Tour de Corse Tarmac 30 November–1 December
Sources:[1][2]

Manufacturers' championship

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

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
 
KEN
 
FIN
 
ITA
 
CAN
 
USA
 
GBR
 
FRA
 
Points
1   Lancia 3 1 1 4 3 1 94
2   Fiat 1 10 3 2 2 6 69
3   Ford 9 1 4 1 52
4   Toyota 4 3 4 32
5   Alpine-Renault 6 5 2 29
6   Datsun 5 4 5 9 28
7   Porsche 2 5 7 27
8   Opel 8 3 5 7 27
9   Saab 4 2 25
10   Renault 1 8 23
11   Mitsubishi 1 20
12   Volvo 10 6 7
13   BMW 7 4
14   Peugeot 7 4
15   Citroën 8 3
16   Alfa Romeo 10 1
Pos. Manufacturer POR
 
KEN
 
FIN
 
ITA
 
CAN
 
USA
 
GBR
 
FRA
 
Points
Sources:[1][4]
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Black Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank Withdrew entry from
the event (WD)

Events

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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   Rallye de Portugal
(20–23 March) — Results and report
1   Raffaele Pinto Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 6:26:15 32 454.00 km 120 36
2   Alcide Paganelli Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 6:30:12
3   Markku Alén Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 6:37:17
2   Safari Rally
(11–15 April) — Results and report
1   Joginder Singh Mitsubishi Colt Lancer + 11:18 pen ¿? 5200.00 km 99 16
2   Björn Waldegård Porsche 911 + 11:46 pen
3   Sandro Munari Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF + 12:22 pen
3   1000 Lakes Rally
(2–4 August) — Results and report
1   Hannu Mikkola Ford Escort RS1600 3:11:42 36 363.60 km 117 87
2   Timo Mäkinen Ford Escort RS1600 3:12:13
3   Markku Alén Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 3:13:52
4   Rally Sanremo
(2–5 October) — Results and report
1   Sandro Munari Lancia Stratos HF 9:12:43 ¿? 416.00 km 106 54
2   Giulio Bisulli Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 9:20:30
3   Alfredo Fagnola Opel Ascona 9:56:09
5   Rally Rideau Lakes
(16–20 October) — Results and report
1   Sandro Munari Lancia Stratos HF 4:54:31 40 383.64 km 51 19
2   Simo Lampinen Lancia Beta Coupé 4:56:49
3   Walter Boyce Toyota Celica 5:07:45
6   Press-on-Regardless Rally
(30 October–3 November) — Results and report
1   Jean-Luc Thérier Renault 17 Gordini 5:29:47 ¿? 244.00 km 64 28
2   Markku Alén Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 5:35:49
3   Jean-Pierre Nicolas Renault 17 Gordini 5:35:49
7   RAC Rally
(16–20 November) — Results and report
1   Timo Mäkinen Ford Escort RS1600 8:02:39 84 ¿? km 190 83
2   Stig Blomqvist Saab 96 V4 8:04:19
3   Sandro Munari Lancia Stratos HF 8:11:55
8   Tour de Corse
(30 November–1 December) — Results and report
1   Jean-Claude Andruet Lancia Stratos HF 4:49:10 14 374.90 km 101 24
2   Jean-Pierre Nicolas Alpine-Renault A110 1800 4:52:38
3   Jean-Luc Thérier Alpine-Renault A310 5:12:09
Sources:[1][5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "WRC 1974". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  2. ^ "1974 WRC calendar". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Rule changes for 1973". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Season 1974 – Championship standings". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Season 1974 – Season statistics – Event statistics". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
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