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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[edit]

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[edit]

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

Schedule of points by place:

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[edit]

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

See also[edit]

• 1976 in sports

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1976 in World Rally Championship.

• FIA World Rally Championship 1976 at ewrc-results.com