1979 World Rally Championship

1979 WRC season

World Champion
Driver:	Björn Waldegård
Manufacturer:	ford
Season dates
Number of rallies:	12
<1978 season	1980 season>

The 1979 World Rally Championship was the seventh World Rally Championship organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was held in twelve races from January 20th to December 14th. Ford won the manufacturers' championship. For the first time an official driver world champion was determined. The Swede Björn Waldegård won this with a Ford Escort .

vehicles

• 

  Datsun 160J

• 

  Ford Escort RS

• 

  Mercedes 450SLC

• 

  Lancia Stratos HF

Competitions

The kilometers entered correspond to the distance of the special stages. The distance of the connecting routes between the individual special stages is not included (except for the rally safari and Ivory Coast).

colour Underground gold gravel silver asphalt blue Ice / snow bronze Mixed

rally	rank	driver	vehicle	Total time h: min: sec	Number of WP	length	Started	in the target
Monte Carlo Rally January 20-26, 1979	1.	Bernard Darniche	Lancia Stratos HF	8:13:38	30 1 canceled	619.00 km	233	82
	2.	Björn Waldegård	Ford Escort RS1800	+ 00:06
	3.	Markku Alén	Fiat 131 Abarth	+ 04:09
Rally Sweden February 16-18, 1979	1.	Stig Blomqvist	Saab 99 Turbo	6:34:49	38	630.00 km	113	39
	2.	Björn Waldegård	Ford Escort RS1800	+ 01:20
	3.	Pentti Airikkala	Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS	+ 04:42
Rally Portugal March 6-11, 1979	1.	Hannu Mikkola	Ford Escort RS1800	9:13:52	45	735.50 km	88	16
	2.	Björn Waldegård	Ford Escort RS1800	+ 02:44
	3.	Ove Andersson	Toyota Celica 2000GT	+ 21:08
Safari Rally April 12-16, 1979	1.	Shekhar Mehta	Datsun 160J	6:27	82 time controls	5027 km	66	21st
	2.	Hannu Mikkola	Mercedes 450 SLC	+ 0:48
	3.	Markku Alén	Fiat 131 Abarth	+ 0:53
Rally Greece 28th to 31st May 1979	1.	Björn Waldegård	Ford Escort RS1800	13:35:06	54	1006.5 km	153	20th
	2.	Timo Salonen	Datsun 160J	+ 31:58
	3.	Harry Källström	Datsun 160J	+ 36:33
Rally New Zealand July 14-18, 1979	1.	Hannu Mikkola	Ford Escort RS1800	8:05:46	42 2 canceled	672.00 km	82	39
	2.	Blair Robson	Ford Escort RS1800	+ 21:16
	3.	Ari Vatanen	Ford Escort RS1800	+ 23:54
Rally Finland August 24-28, 1979	1.	Markku Alén	Fiat 131 Abarth	4:01:11	45	423.50 km	128	74
	2.	Ari Vatanen	Ford Escort RS1800	+ 02:04
	3.	Björn Waldegård	Ford Escort RS1800	+ 06:04
Rally Canada September 13-16, 1979	1.	Björn Waldegård	Ford Escort RS1800	3:35:32	25th	503.7 km	39	13
	2.	Timo Salonen	Datsun 160J	+ 00:38
	3.	Ari Vatanen	Ford Escort RS1800	+ 06:18
Rally Sanremo October 1st to 7th 1979	1.	Antonio Fassina	Lancia Stratos HF	12:37:17	66	1078 km	67	26th
	2.	Walter Röhrl	Fiat 131 Abarth	+ 04:14
	3.	Attilio Bettega	Fiat 131 Abarth	+ 18:42
Rally Corsica 2nd to 4th November 1979	1.	Bernard Darniche	Lancia Stratos HF	14:36:46	22nd	1128.90 km	112	14th
	2.	Jean Ragnotti	Renault 5 Alpine	+ 36:06
	3.	Pierre-Louis Moreau	Porsche 911 SC	+ 46:20
Rally Great Britain 18th to 21st November 1979	1.	Hannu Mikkola	Ford Escort RS1800	8:03:38	56	661.48 km	175	74
	2.	Russell Brookes	Ford Escort RS1800	+ 10:29
	3.	Timo Salonen	Datsun 160J	+ 12:44
Rally Ivory Coast 9-14. December 1979	1.	Hannu Mikkola	Mercedes 450 SLC	3:23 penalty time	50 time controls	5668 km	57	8th
	2.	Björn Waldegård	Mercedes 450 SLC	3:58 penalty time
	3.	Andrew Cowan	Mercedes 450 SLC	4:10 penalty time

Overall rating

WRC drivers' championship

rank	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10
Points	20th	15th	12	10	8th	6th	4th	3	2	1

rank driver MON SWE POR KEN GRE NZL FIN CAN ITA FRA GBR CIV Points 01 Björn Waldegård 15th 15th 15th (6) 20th - 12 20th - - (2) 15th 112 02 Hannu Mikkola 8th 8th 20th 15th - 20th - - - - 20th 20th 111 03 Markku Alén 12 10 - 12 - - 20th - 6th - 8th - 68 04th Timo Salonen - - - - 15th - 8th 15th - - 12 - 50 Ari Vatanen 1 - - - - 12 15th 12 - - 10 - 50 06th Bernard Darniche 20th - - - - - - - - 20th - - 40 07th Jean Ragnotti - - - - 10 - - - - 15th - - 25th 08th Andrew Cowan - - - 10 - - - - - - - 12 22nd 09 Walter Röhrl - - - 3 - - - - 15th - 3 - 21st 10 Stig Blomqvist - 20th - - - - - - - - - - 20th Shekhar Mehta - - - 20th - - - - - - - - 20th Antonio 'Tony' Fassina - - - - - - - - 20th - - - 20th 13 Ove Andersson - - 12 - - - - - - - - 8th 20th 14th Andy Dawson - - 10 - - - - 10 - - - - 20th 15th Pentti Airikkala - 12 - - - - - - - - 4th - 16 16 Blair Robson - - - - - 15th - - - - - - 15th Russell Brookes - - - - - - - - - - 15th - 15th 18th Harry Källström - - - 2 12 - - - - - - - 14th 19th Attilio Bettega - - - - - - - - 12 - - - 12 Pierre-Louis Moreau - - - - - - - - - 12 - - 12 21st Michèle Mouton 4th - - - - - - - - 8th - - 12 22nd Jean-Claude Andruet 10 - - - - - - - - - - - 10 Paul Adams - - - - - 10 - - - - - - 10 Ulf Grönholm - - - - - - 10 - - - - - 10 Tony Pond - - - - - - - - 10 - - - 10 Alain Coppier - - - - - - - - - 10 - - 10 Vic Preston Jr - - - - - - - - - - - 10 10 28 Carlos Torres - - 8th - - - - - - - - - 10 Rauno Aaltonen - - - 8th - - - - - - - - 8th Anastasios Markouizos - - - - 8th - - - - - - - 8th Shane Murland - - - - - 8th - - - - - - 8th Taisto Heinonen - - - - - - - 8th - - - - 8th Dario Cerrato - - - - - - - - 8th - - - 8th 34 Jean-Pierre Nicolas 6th - - - - - - - - - - - 6th Bjorn Johansson - 6th - - - - - - - - - - 6th Harald Demuth - - 6th - - - - - - - - - 6th Iórgos Moschous - - - - 6th - - - - - - - 6th David Parkes - - - - - 6th - - - - - - 6th Leave Lampi - - - - - - 6th - - - - - 6th Hendrik Blok - - - - - - - 6th - - - - 6th Bernard Picone - - - - - - - - - 6th - - 6th John Taylor - - - - - - - - - - 6th - 6th Alain Ambrosino - - - - - - - - - - - 6th 6th 44 Ola Strömberg - 4th - - - - - - - - - - 4th Freddy Kottulinsky - - 4th - - - - - - - - - 4th Mike Kirkland - - - 4th - - - - - - - - 4th Evangelos Gallo - - - - 4th - - - - - - - 4th Brian Green - - - - - 4th - - - - - - 4th Tapio Rainio - - - - - - 4th - - - - - 4th Jack Swayze - - - - - - - 4th - - - - 4th Angelo Presotto - - - - - - - - 4th - - - 4th Paul Rouby - - - - - - - - - 4th - - 4th Michel Mitri - - - - - - - - - - - 4th 4th 54 Guy Fréquelin 3 - - - - - - - - - - - 3 Lars Carlsson - 3 - - - - - - - - - - 3 Joaquim Santos - - 3 - - - - - - - - - 3 Václav Blahna - - - - 3 - - - - - - - 3 Roger Goss - - - - - 3 - - - - - - 3 Per Eklund - - - - - - 3 - - - - - 3 Claude Laurent - - - - - - - 3 - - - - 3 Antonio Tognana - - - - - - - - 3 - - - 3 Jean-Pierre Mari - - - - - - - - - 3 - - 3 Jean-Pierre Paure - - - - - - - - - - - 3 3 64 Jacques Alméras 2 - - - - - - - - - - - 2 John Haugland - 2 - - - - - - - - - - 2 Jorge Ortigão - - 2 - - - - - - - - - 2 Nikolay Elizarov - - - - 2 - - - - - - - 2 Malcolm Stewart - - - - - 2 - - - - - - 2 Erkki Pitkänen - - - - - - 2 - - - - - 2 Nicole Quimet - - - - - - - 2 - - - - 2 Domenico Grosoli - - - - - - - - 2 - - - 2 Jean Bondrille - - - - - - - - - 2 - - 2 73 Sven-Inge Neby - 1 - - - - - - - - - - 1 Marques Baptista - - 1 - - - - - - - - - 1 Sandro Munari - - - 1 - - - - - - - - 1 Sergey Vukovich - - - - 1 - - - - - - - 1 Bob Robb - - - - - 1 - - - - - - 1 Pekka Vilpponen - - - - - - 1 - - - - - 1 Paul Bourgeois - - - - - - - 1 - - - - 1 Paolo Pasutti - - - - - - - - 1 - - - 1 Jean-Charles Martinetti - - - - - - - - - 1 - - 1 Greg Carr - - - - - - - - - - 1 - 1 rank driver MON SWE POR KEN GRE NZL FIN CAN ITA FRA GBR CIV Points

Manufacturers' championship WRC

rank Manufacturer MON SWE POR KEN GRE NZL FIN CAN ITA FRA GBR CIV Points 01 ford 16 16 18th - 18th 18th (16) 18th (12) - 18th - 122 02 Datsun - (8th) 14th 18th 17th (6) 14th 17th - - 16 12 108 03 Fiat 14th 12 - 15th - - 18th - 16 12 5 - 92 04th Lancia 18th - - - - - - - 18th 18th 11 - 65 05 Toyota - - 16 - - - 10 12 - 10 - 10 58 06th Opel - 13 9 - - - - - 14th 13 - - 49 07th Renault 11 - - - 13 - - - - 17th - - 41 08th Mercedes - - - 17th - - - - - - - 18th 35 09 Porsche 8th - - - - - - - 9 15th - - 32 10 Vauxhall - 14th - - - 10 - - - - 7th - 31 11 Peugeot - - - - - - - 8th - 6th - 8th 22nd 12 Saab - 18th - - - - - - - - - - 18th 13 Mitsubishi - - - - - - - 13 - - - - 13 14th Talbot - - - - - - - - 12 - - - 12 15th Audi - - 11 - - - - - - - - - 11 16 Mazda - - - - - 10 - - - - - - 10 17th triumph - - - - - - 7th - - - - - 7th 18th Volvo - 6th - - - - - - - - - - 6th Skoda - - - - 6th - - - - - - - 6th 20th Lada - - - - 4th - - - - - - - 4th rank Manufacturer MON SWE POR KEN GRE NZL FIN CAN ITA FRA GBR CIV Points

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ewrc-results.com: Season 1979 , February 8, 2015

Web links

• http://www.wrc.com