1980 World Rally Championship
World Champion | |
Driver: | Walter Röhrl |
Manufacturer: | Fiat |
Season dates | |
---|---|
Number of rallies: | 12 |
<1979 season |
The 1980 World Rally Championship was the eighth World Rally Championship organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was held in twelve world championship races from January 19 to December 14. Fiat won the manufacturers' championship. For the second time an official driver world champion was determined. The German Walter Röhrl won this for the first time with a Fiat 131 Abarth.
Course of the season
Rally Monte Carlo
The 48th Monte Carlo Rally took place for the drivers in extremely difficult weather conditions. From sun, frost, rain, snowfall to fog, everything was there. Walter Röhrl took the lead in the second special stage. With a Fiat 131 Abarth , Röhrl took the lead in front of 237 starters. Initially, Markku Alén (Fiat 131 Abarth ) was in the lead. In an accident, he damaged his car so badly that it could not be repaired within a reasonable period of time. Bernard Darniche in the Lancia Stratos HF was unable to follow Walter Röhrl and lost over 10 minutes in second to the finish. Anders Kulläng came fourth with an Opel Ascona 400 behind Björn Waldegård (Fiat 131 Abarth). At the end of the rally, a total of 88 vehicles were classified for the manufacturers' championship.
Rally Sweden
At the 29th Rally Sweden there was a triple victory for the locals. The 146 starters had to deal with even more problematic weather conditions than at the Monte Carlo Rally. After precipitation in the freezing cold, a thaw set in. Anders Kulläng (Opel Ascona 400) won the home rally ahead of last year's winner Stig Blomqvist ( Saab 99 Turbo) and Björn Waldegård (Fiat 131 Abarth). After the Rally Sweden, Kulläng was in the lead with 30 points in the world championship, followed by Waldegård with 24 and Röhrl with 20 points. Behind them, Bernard Darniche and Blomqvist shared fourth place with 15 points.
Rally Portugal
The Rally Portugal was counted as the second run in the manufacturers 'championship and the third run in the drivers' world championship. The gravel roads made high demands on the drivers and the material. Out of 130 participants, only 16 saw the finish line. Bernard Darniche (Lancia Stratos HF) was in the lead at the beginning of the rally, but he had to give up early after an engine failure. The two Ford Escort RS drivers Hannu Mikkola and Ari Vatanen had no luck either , they said goodbye to the competition in exactly the same corner. After a dangerous night stage, driven in thick fog, Walter Röhrl (Fiat 131 Abarth) was in the lead with a five-minute lead over the competition. Röhrl had reached the goal with a lead of over 14 minutes on the second Markku Alén (Fiat 131 Abarth). Röhrl took the lead in the world championship ahead of Waldegård with 40 to 34 points, followed by Kulläng with 30 points.
Rally safari
The rally safari in Kenya was driven in hot and dusty conditions. In addition, the route was not divided into special stages, but rather 95 time controls spread over 5333 kilometers. So the pilots had to work their way bit by bit from time control to time control. The Kenyan Shekhar Mehta took the lead with a Datsun 160J . He was overtaken by Björn Waldegård, who is now driving a Mercedes 450 SLC . After a rear axle damage, Waldegård had to let Mehta win. At the finish in Nairobi, 24 cars from 58 who had started arrived. Rauno Aaltonen complemented Datsun's double victory in Africa.
Rally Greece
The Rally Greece (also called Acropolis Rally) was tackled by 154 starters, of which 37 cars crossed the finish line. When the weather is nice, the field of drivers cleared quickly on the stony gravel roads of Greece. Ari Vatanen (Ford Escort RS 1800) was also unable to take victory with four punctures. Despite the tire problems, Timo Salonen (Datsun 160J) was unable to overtake Vatanen, at the finish line he was 2.43 minutes behind. Vatanen won 27 of the 56 special stages. Walter Röhrl (Fiat 131 Abarth) took fifth place behind Anders Kulläng (Opel Ascona 400).
Rally Argentina
At the Argentina Rally , Formula 1 driver Carlos Reutemann also entered the 89 drivers' long entry list. The local Reutemann drove a Fiat 131 Abarth to third place. Reutemann only had to admit defeat by Hannu Mikkola (Mercedes 500 SLC) and the winner Walter Röhrl. In the drivers' world championship, Röhrl led with 68 points ahead of Kulläng with 40 points.
Rally Finland
The Rally Finland (then also known as the 1000 Lakes Rally) was driven in mostly rainy weather on gravel roads in the dense forests near Jyväskylä . The Scandinavian pilots had the first three ranks firmly under control. The Finns Markku Alén (Fiat 131 Abarth) and Ari Vatanen (Ford Escort RS1800) took first and second place ahead of the Swede Per Eklund in a Triumph TR7 V8.
Rally New Zealand
The 41 special stages of the New Zealand Rally were mostly driven in damp weather on forest paths. After several changes in leadership, Walter Röhrl took the lead. After some problems with the technology on the Fiat 131 Abarth, at the end of the rally Timo Salonen was in front in the Datsun 160J with a margin of 2.41 minutes over Röhrl. In the drivers' world championship, Röhrl continued to lead ahead of Markku Alén with 83 to 47 points.
Rally San Remo
It rained heavily at times at the San Remo Rally . These weather conditions only allowed 20 of the 77 cars to cross the finish line. Although the Fiat factory went on strike, team boss Cesare Fiorio managed to provide a Fiat 131 Abarth for Walter Röhrl. Röhrl thanked Fiorio with a victory ahead of Ari Vatanen in the Ford Escort RS 1800. Röhrl and co-driver Christian Geistdörfer were able to celebrate the world championship title three rallies before the end of the season. He led the drivers' world championship with 103 points ahead of Ari Vatanen with 50 points after the rally in Italy. At that time, Fiat was leading the manufacturers' standings with 104 points, ahead of Ford with 75 and Datsun with 67 points.
Rally France
The Rallye France (also called Tour de Corse) was the only pure asphalt rally in the 1980 calendar. An upcoming storm on the second day with rain and in some cases also hail made the task particularly difficult for the drivers. The starting field shrank from 122 to 16 vehicles at the finish. Jean-Luc Thérier , driving a Porsche 911 SC, was the quickest to complete the 18 special stages ahead of Walter Röhrl. Michèle Mouton (Fiat 131 Abarth) was involved in the front for a long time, struggled with aquaplaning during the rainy phase and fell back to fifth place. Alain Coppier , also with a Porsche 911 SC, took third place in front of Bruno Saby in the Renault 5 Turbo , who only did not make it to the top because of a few punctures.
Rally Great Britain
At the Rally Great Britain (also known as the RAC rally) 142 drivers took part in 67 special stages. The first leading Anders Kulläng (Opel Ascona 400) had three punctures. Björn Waldegård ( Toyota Celica 2000 GT) took the lead, but only for a short time. An engine failure brought his rally to an abrupt end. Henri Toivonen ( Talbot Sunbeam Lotus ) took the lead and didn't give it up until the finish. Hannu Mikkola (Ford Escort RS 1800) lost more than 4 minutes to the winner, but held his own with over 9 minutes ahead of Guy Fréquelin (Talbot Sunbeam Lotus).
Rally Ivory Coast
The Ivory Coast rally rounded off the rally year. It was no longer driven by most of the top teams such as Fiat or Ford because the world championship titles had already been awarded. So just 52 starters came together at the second world championship run on African soil. After around 5000 kilometers, only 11 pilots reached the destination. First in line was Björn Waldegård, this time driving a Mercedes 500 SLC, ahead of teammate Jorge Recalde . Alain Ambrosino finished third in a Peugeot 504 V6. Fiat (120 points) won the manufacturers' championship ahead of Ford (92) and Datsun (80).
vehicles
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).
|
rally | rank | driver | vehicle | Total time h: min: sec |
Number of WP | length | Started | in the target |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rally Monte Carlo January 19-25, 1980 |
1. | Walter Röhrl | Fiat 131 Abarth | 8:42:20 | 30th | 695.30 km | 237 | 88 |
2. | Bernard Darniche | Lancia Stratos HF | + 10:38 | |||||
3. | Björn Waldegård | Fiat 131 Abarth | + 11:28 | |||||
Rally Sweden 15th to 17th February 1980 |
1. | Anders Kulläng | Opel Ascona 400 | 4:17:52 | 29 1 canceled |
413.50 km | 146 | 79 |
2. | Stig Blomqvist | Saab 99 Turbo | + 01:30 | |||||
3. | Björn Waldegård | Fiat 131 Abarth | + 03:47 | |||||
Rally Portugal 4th to 9th March 1980 |
1. | Walter Röhrl | Fiat 131 Abarth | 8:45:35 | 47 | 673.50 km | 101 | 16 |
2. | Markku Alén | Fiat 131 Abarth | + 14:19 | |||||
3. | Guy Fréquelin | Talbot Sunbeam Lotus | + 30:29 | |||||
Safari Rally 3rd to 7th April 1980 |
1. | Shekhar Mehta | Datsun 160J | 207 penalty points | 95 time controls |
5333 km | 58 | 24 |
2. | Rauno Aaltonen | Datsun 160J | 242 penalty points | |||||
3. | Vic Preston Jr. | Mercedes 450 SLC | 307 penalty points | |||||
Rally Greece May 26-29, 1980 |
1. | Ari Vatanen | Ford Escort RS1800 | 12:55:44 | 56 1 canceled |
956.16 km | 154 | 37 |
2. | Timo Salonen | Datsun 160J | + 02:42 | |||||
3. | Markku Alén | Fiat 131 Abarth | + 07:04 | |||||
Rally Argentina 19 to 24 July 1980 |
1. | Walter Röhrl | Fiat 131 | 12:48:36 | 14th | 1223.70 km | 89 | 24 |
2. | Hannu Mikkola | Mercedes 500 SLC | + 15:59 | |||||
3. | Carlos Reutemann | Fiat 131 Abarth | + 46:50 | |||||
Rally Finland 29th to 31st August 1980 |
1. | Markku Alén | Fiat 131 Abarth | 4:24:11 | 48 1 canceled |
472.20 km | 124 | 68 |
2. | Ari Vatanen | Ford Escort RS1800 | + 00:56 | |||||
3. | Per Eklund | Triumph TR 7 V8 | + 11:14 | |||||
Rally New Zealand September 13-17, 1980 |
1. | Timo Salonen | Datsun 160J | 12:06:57 | 40 | 1034 km | 85 | 43 |
2. | Walter Röhrl | Fiat 131 Abarth | + 02:41 | |||||
3. | Hannu Mikkola | Mercedes 500 SLC | + 22:25 | |||||
Rally Sanremo October 6-11, 1980 |
1. | Walter Röhrl | Fiat 131 Abarth | 10:22:42 | 50 2 canceled |
800.60 km | 77 | 20th |
2. | Ari Vatanen | Ford Escort RS1800 | + 06:35 | |||||
3. | Hannu Mikkola | Ford Escort RS1800 | + 13:47 | |||||
Rally France October 24-25, 1980 |
1. | Jean-Luc Thérier | Porsche 911 SC | 14:51:43 | 18th | 1128.10 km | 122 | 16 |
2. | Walter Röhrl | Fiat 131 Abarth | + 11:23 | |||||
3. | Alain Coppier | Porsche 911 SC | + 25:38 | |||||
Rally Great Britain 16th to 19th November 1980 |
1. | Henri Toivonen | Talbot Sunbeam Lotus | 8:17:33 | 70 3 canceled |
708.09 km | 142 | 47 |
2. | Hannu Mikkola | Ford Escort RS1800 | + 04:36 | |||||
3. | Guy Fréquelin | Talbot Sunbeam Lotus | + 13:51 | |||||
Rally Ivory Coast 9-14. December 1980 |
1. | Björn Waldegård | Mercedes 500 SLC | 2:36 penalty time | 62 Time controls |
5336 km | 52 | 11 |
2. | Jorge Recalde | Mercedes 500 SLC | 3:47 penalty time | |||||
3. | Alain Ambrosino | Peugeot 504 | 5:17 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 |
|
Manufacturers' championship WRC
|
Individual evidence
- ↑ ewrc-results.com: Season 1980 , February 12, 2015
- ↑ ewrc-results.com: Season 1980 , February 8, 2015
Web links
literature
- Axel Morenno: autodrom 13 - Motorsport Documentation Edition 1981 . Published by A. Eugen von Keller Verlag Bonn 1980, ISBN 3-87396-413-9