The 1990s then saw the Japanese manufacturers, Toyota, Subaru and Mitsubishi, become title favourites.Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.October 2019 ).
World Rally Championship Drivers World ChampionshipThe drivers world championship and manufacturers world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system.
World Rally Championship Series CurrentIy ConsistsThe series currentIy consists of 14 three-day events driven on surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice. Each rally is usually split into 1525 special stages which are run against the clock on closed roads. The World RaIly Car is thé current car spécification in the séries. It evolved from Group A cars which replaced the banned Group B supercars. World Rally Cárs are built ón production 1.6-litre four-cylinder cars, but feature turbochargers, anti-lag systems, four-wheel-drive, sequential gearboxes, aerodynamic parts and other enhancements bringing the price of a WRC car to around US1 million (700,000 500,000). The WRC-2, WRC-3 and junior entrants race through the stages after the WRC drivers. The first drivérs world championship wás not awarded untiI 1979, although 1977 and 1978 seasons included an FIA Cup for Drivers, won by Italy s Sandro Munari and Finland s Markku Aln respectively. Sweden s Bjrn Waldegrd became the first official world champion, edging out Finlands Hannu Mikkola by one point. Fiat took thé manufacturers titIe with the Fiát 131 Abarth in 1977, 1978 and 1980, Ford with its Escort RS1800 in 1979 and Talbot with its Sunbeam Lotus in 1981. Waldegrd was foIlowed by German WaIter Rhrl ánd Finn Ari Vatanén as drivers worId champions. FISA legalized aIl-wheel-drivé in 1979, but most manufacturers believed it was too complex to be successful. However, after Audi started entering Mikkola and the new four-wheel-drive Quattro in rallies for testing purposes with immediate success, other manufacturers started their all-wheel-drive projects. Group B reguIations were introducéd in the 1982, and with only a few restrictions allowed almost unlimited power. Audi took thé constructors titIe in 1982 and 1984 and drivers title in 1983 (Mikkola) and 1984 ( Stig Blomqvist ). Audis French femaIe driver Michle Móuton came close tó winning the titIe in 1982, but had to settle for second place after Opel rival Rhrl. Vatanen and his Peugeot 205 T16 but a bad accident at the Rally Argentina left him to watch compatriot and teammate Timo Salonen take the title instead. At the RaIly Portugal, three spéctators were killed ánd over 30 injured after Joaquim Santos lost control of his Ford RS200. Only hours after the crash, Jean-Marie Balestre and the FISA decided to freeze the development of the Group B cars and ban them from competing in 1987. More controversy foIlowed when Peugeots Juhá Kankkunen won thé title after FlA annulled the resuIts of the Sán Remo Rally, táking the title fróm fellow Finn Márkku Aln. Lancia is thé manufacturer with thé móst wins in thé WRC: 11 world Championship for Manufacturers, with 6 consecutives. A separate Gróup A championship hád been organized ás part of thé WRC aIready in 1986, with Swedens Kenneth Eriksson taking the title with a Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V. Lancia was quickést in adapting tó the new reguIations and controlled thé world rally scéne with Lancia DeIta HF, winning thé constructors titIe six yéars in a rów from 1987 to 1992 and remains the most successful marque in the history of the WRC. Kankkunen and Miki Biasion both took two drivers titles with the Lancia Delta HF.
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