1976 World Rally Championship

The 1976 World Rally Championship was the fourth season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). 10 events were included on the schedule, as the series revisited the same locations as the previous season. The only change in the schedule was a slight shuffle in order, with Portugal being moved up to March from July.

Lancia again repeated its title, with the Stratos HF accumulating another four rally wins, and scoring more than twice as many points as its nearest competitor, Opel. The Ascona's consistency was enough for second place overall, despite no wins. Lancia's dynasty, however, would not continue, as this was to be the last WRC title for the Stratos.

From 1973 to 1978, the WRC only awarded a championship for manufacturers. 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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Round Rally name Surface Dates
1   Monte Carlo Rally Mixed (Tarmac - Snow) 17–24 January
2   Swedish Rally Snow 20–22 February
3   Rally de Portugal Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel) 10–14 March
4   Safari Rally Gravel 15–19 April
5   Acropolis Rally Gravel 22–28 May
6   Rallye du Maroc Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel) 22–27 June
7   1000 Lakes Rally Gravel 27–29 August
8   Rallye Sanremo Tarmac 6–9 October
9   Tour de Corse Tarmac 6–7 November
10   RAC Rally Gravel 27–30 November
Sources:[1][2]

Manufacturers' championship

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

Schedule of points by place:

Place 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Points 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1
Pos. Manufacturer  
MON
 
SWE
 
POR
 
KEN
 
GRC
 
MAR
 
FIN
 
ITA
 
FRA
 
GBR
Points
1   Lancia 20 10 20 - - 12 - 20 20 10 112
2   Opel 10 12 12 - 8 - - 8 3 4 57
3   Ford 8 - 4 - - - 15 - - 20 47
4   Saab - 20 - - - - 8 - - 15 43
5   Datsun - - 6 4 20 - 6 - - 3 39
6   Toyota - - 15 - - - 12 - - 8 35
7   Fiat 6 - - - - - 20 6 - - 32
8   Peugeot - - - 10 - 20 - - 1 - 31
9   Alpine-Renault - - - - 15 - - - 12 - 27
10   Mitsubishi - - - 20 - - - - - - 20
11   Porsche 4 - - - - - - 2 8 - 14
12   Alfa Romeo 1 - - 1 10 - - - - - 12
13   Citroën - - - - - 10 - - - - 10
14   Lada - - - - 6 - - - - - 6
  Renault - - - - - 6 - - - - 6
16   Volvo - 4 - - - - - - - - 4
  BMW - - - - 4 - - - - - 4
18   Mazda - - 3 - - - - - - - 3
  Volkswagen - - - - 3 - - - - - 3
20   British Leyland Cars - - - - - - - - - 2 2
21   Wartburg - - - - 1 - - - - - 1
Pos. Manufacturer  
MON
 
SWE
 
POR
 
KEN
 
GRC
 
MAR
 
FIN
 
ITA
 
FRA
 
GBR
Points
Sources:[1][4]

Events

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1976 World Rally Championship event map
 
Black = Tarmac Brown = Gravel Blue = Snow/Ice Red = Mixed Surface
1976 World Rally Championship schedule and results
Rally Name Start-End Date Podium Drivers (Finishing Time) Podium Cars
 
Rallye Monte Carlo
17–24 January
  1.   Sandro Munari (6h:25m:10s)
  2.   Björn Waldegård (6h:26m:37s)
  3.   Bernard Darniche (6h:31m:23s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Lancia Stratos HF
  3. Lancia Stratos HF
 
Swedish Rally
20–22 February
  1.   Per Eklund (8h:08m:26s)
  2.   Stig Blomqvist (8h:10m:02s)
  3.   Anders Kulläng (8h:31m:10s)
  1. Saab 96 V4
  2. Saab 96 V4
  3. Opel Ascona
 
Rallye de Portugal
10–14 March
  1.   Sandro Munari (5h:41m:26s)
  2.   Ove Andersson (5h:44m:24s)
  3.   'Mêquêpê' (6h:26m:37s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Toyota Celica
  3. Opel Kadett GT/E
 
Safari Rally
15–19 April
  1.   Joginder Singh (+1m:57s penalties)
  2.   Robin Ulyate (+2m:21s penalties)
  3.   Andrew Cowan (+2m:42s penalties)
  1. Mitsubishi Lancer 1600 GSR
  2. Mitsubishi Lancer 1600 GSR
  3. Mitsubishi Lancer 1600 GSR
 
Acropolis Rally
22–28 May
  1.   Harry Källström (8h:43m:14s)
  2.   'Siroco' (8h:48m:38s)
  3.   Shekhar Mehta (9h:09m:53s)
  1. Datsun 160J
  2. Alpine-Renault A110 1800
  3. Datsun 160J
 
Rallye du Maroc
22–27 June
  1.   Jean-Pierre Nicolas (20h:20m:15s)
  2.   Simo Lampinen (20h:42m:52s)
  3.   Sandro Munari (21h:38m:38s)
  1. Peugeot 504
  2. Peugeot 504
  3. Lancia Stratos HF
 
1000 Lakes Rally
27–29 August
  1.   Markku Alén (4h:10m:18s)
  2.   Pentti Airikkala (4h:11m:03s)
  3.   Hannu Mikkola (4h:13m:32s)
  1. Fiat 131 Abarth
  2. Ford Escort RS1800
  3. Toyota Celica
 
Rallye Sanremo
6–9 October
  1.   Björn Waldegård (10h:27m:40s)
  2.   Sandro Munari (10h:27m:44s)
  3.   Raffaele Pinto (10h:37m:13s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Lancia Stratos HF
  3. Lancia Stratos HF
 
Tour de Corse
6–7 November
  1.   Sandro Munari (8h:23m:55s)
  2.   Bernard Darniche (8h:24m:12s)
  3.   Jean-Pierre Manzagol (8h:49m:14s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Lancia Stratos HF
  3. Alpine-Renault A310
 
RAC Rally
27–30 November
  1.   Roger Clark (6h:02m:26s)
  2.   Stig Blomqvist (6h:07m:03s)
  3.   Björn Waldegård (6h:07m:55s)
  1. Ford Escort RS1800
  2. Saab 99 EMS
  3. Ford Escort RS1800
Sources:[1][5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "WRC 1976". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  2. ^ "1976 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 1976 – Championship standings". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Season 1976 – Season statistics – Event statistics". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
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