1988 World Rally Championship

16th season of the FIA World Rally Championship From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1988 World Rally Championship was the 16th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). The season consisted of 13 rallies, following the same schedule as the previous season.

Martini Lancia followed their successful previous season with an even more dominant performance in 1988, winning ten of the eleven rallies in which manufacturer points were awarded. The Lancia Delta HF 4WD proved fast and reliable in the hands of returning drivers Finn Markku Alén and Italian Miki Biasion. During the season, the car was replaced by the Delta HF Integrale, which was an immediate success. Biasion would take the drivers' title, with his Finnish teammate placing second behind him. Third driver Frenchman Bruno Saby also contributed to the effort with a rally win, though was not a major contender for the title. Jolly Club driver, Italian Alex Fiorio, would take third place in the driver championship at the wheel of a Lancia Delta as well.

Ford Motor Company struggled to compete, though it was the only other manufacturer besides Lancia to win a rally, with primary driver Didier Auriol winning the Tour de Corse in his Sierra RS Cosworth. Auriol would only reach 6th in the drivers' competition, while Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz would struggle to reach 11th in the standings. Stig Blomqvist, racing for Rallysport Sweden in a Sierra, would finish best amongst Ford drivers, taking 4th in the championship standings.

1988 marked the withdrawal of Audi Sport from the WRC, although a number of small teams and privateers were successful enough using Audi Quattro versions for the manufacturer to place 3rd amongst manufacturers despite the lack of a works effort. Mazda Rally Team Europe made a significant effort to compete with Finn Timo Salonen as their primary driver for the Mazda 323 4WD. Timo would garner 5th place in the driver standings while the manufacturer gained 4th place.

In addition to the primary driver and manufacturer championships, WRC also awarded the FIA Cup for Drivers of Production Cars for a second season. Belgian Pascal Gaban won the hotly contested contest in a Mazda 323 against Argentine Jorge Recalde in his Lancia Delta while Italian Giovanni Del Zoppo, another Delta pilot, finished well behind in third place.


Calendar

More information Rd., Start date ...
Rd. Start date Finish date Rally Rally headquarters Surface Stages Distance Points
1 17 January 21 January Monaco 56th Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo Monte Carlo Mixed 26 621 km Drivers & Manufacturers
2 4 February 6 February Sweden 38th International Swedish Rally Karlstad, Värmland County Snow 36 500.30 km Drivers & Manufacturers
3 1 March 5 March Portugal 22nd Rallye de Portugal - Vinho do Porto Estoril, Lisbon Mixed 37 588.70 km Drivers & Manufacturers
4 31 March 4 April Kenya 36th Marlboro Safari Rally Nairobi Gravel N/A 4205.77 km Drivers & Manufacturers
5 3 May 6 May France 32nd Tour de Corse - Rallye de France Ajaccio, Corsica Tarmac 30 622.84 km Drivers & Manufacturers
6 29 May 1 June Greece 35th Acropolis Rally Athens Gravel 32 526.10 km Drivers & Manufacturers
7 23 June 26 June United States 16th Olympus Rally Tacoma, Washington Gravel 38 549.91 km Drivers & Manufacturers
8 9 July 12 July New Zealand 19th Rothmans Rally of New Zealand Auckland Gravel 40 614.56 km Drivers only
9 2 August 6 August Argentina 8th Marlboro Rally of Argentina Buenos Aires Gravel 29 583.60 km Drivers & Manufacturers
10 26 August 28 August Finland 38th 1000 Lakes Rally Jyväskylä, Central Finland Gravel 39 496.33 km Drivers & Manufacturers
11 20 September 24 September Ivory Coast 20th Marlboro Rallye Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan Gravel N/A 3421.81 km Drivers only
12 10 October 14 October Italy 30th Rallye Sanremo - Rallye d'Italia Sanremo, Liguria Mixed 43 564.96 km Drivers & Manufacturers
13 20 November 24 November United Kingdom 44th Lombard RAC Rally Harrogate Gravel 52 602.60 km Drivers & Manufacturers
Sources:[1][2]
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Teams and drivers

More information Team, Manufacturer ...
Team Manufacturer Car Tyre Drivers Rounds
Italy Martini Lancia Lancia Delta HF 4WD
Delta HF Integrale
‹See TfM›M Italy Miki Biasion 1, 3–4, 6–7, 9, 12
France Bruno Saby 1, 5
France Yves Loubet 1, 5
Sweden Mikael Ericsson 2–3, 6, 10, 13
Finland Markku Alén 2–3, 6, 10, 12–13
Kenya Vic Preston Jr 4
Argentina Jorge Recalde 9
Japan Mazda Rally Team Europe Mazda 323 4WD ‹See TfM›M Finland Timo Salonen 1–2, 6, 10, 13
Finland Hannu Mikkola 1–3, 6, 10, 13
Sweden Ingvar Carlsson 1–3
Sweden Thorbjörn Edling 2, 10
Belgium Pascal Gaban 2–3, 6, 10–13
New Zealand Rod Millen 7
Belgium Grégoire de Mévius 10, 13
Italy Jolly Club Lancia Delta HF 4WD
Delta HF Integrale
‹See TfM›P Italy Alex Fiorio 1–3, 6–7, 10, 12
France Yves Loubet 3, 6, 12
Italy Dario Cerrato 12
Switzerland Chantal Galli 12
France Philips Renault Elf Renault 11 Turbo ‹See TfM›M France Alain Oreille 1
Portugal Inverno Amaral 3
Portugal Bento Amaral 3
France Citroën Compétitions Citroën AX Sport ‹See TfM›M France Maurice Chomat 1–2, 5
France Dany Montagne 1, 3, 5, 12–13
France Denise Jacques 1, 3, 5, 12–13
Portugal Rufino Fontes 3
France Carole Vergnaud 3, 12–13
France Laurent Poggi 5
San Marino Massimo Ercolani 12
United Kingdom Terry Kaby 13
Italy Top Run SRL Lancia Delta HF 4WD
Delta HF Integrale
‹See TfM›M
‹See TfM›P
Italy Giovanni del Zoppo 1, 3, 5–7, 10, 12
Argentina Jorge Recalde 3, 5–7, 10, 12–13
San Marino Massimo Ercolani 6, 10, 13
Sweden Fredrik Skoghag 13
France Peugeot France Peugeot 205 GTI ‹See TfM›M France Jean-Pierre Ballet 1
France Simon Racing Renault 5 GT Turbo ‹See TfM›M France Richard Frau 1, 5
France Christophe Lapierre 1
France Alain Oreille 5
Germany Audi Sport Audi Coupé Quattro
200 Quattro
90 Quattro
‹See TfM›M Monaco Christophe Spiliotis 1
Finland Sebastian Lindholm 2–3, 6, 13
United Kingdom David Llewellin 3
Austria Georg Fischer 3, 7, 9
Austria Rudi Stohl 4, 6, 9, 11
United States John Buffum 7
New Zealand Malcolm Stewart 8
Italy Paola de Martini 12
Germany Armin Schwarz 13
United Kingdom Ford Motor Co Ltd Ford Sierra RS Cosworth ‹See TfM›M
‹See TfM›P
Sweden Stig Blomqvist 2–3, 10, 12–13
France Didier Auriol 3, 5, 10, 12
Spain Carlos Sainz 3, 5, 10, 12–13
Portugal Joaquim Santos 3
Kenya John Hellier 4
France Pierre-César Baroni 5
Italy Gianfranco Cunico 12
United Kingdom David Llewellin 13
United Kingdom Mark Lovell 13
United Kingdom GM Euro Sport Opel
Vauxhall
Kadett GSI 16V
Astra GTE
‹See TfM›M Sweden Mats Jonsson 2, 10, 13
United Kingdom Malcolm Wilson 2, 6, 13
Sweden Björn Johansson 2
Sweden Håkan Eriksson 2
Finland Hannu Mikkola 4
Austria Sepp Haider 4, 8
United Kingdom Derek Bell 13
United Kingdom David Metcalfe 13
United Kingdom Chris Birkbeck 13
Germany Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V ‹See TfM›P Germany Erwin Weber 3–4
Sweden Lars-Erik Torph 4
Greece Konstantinos Apostolou 6, 13
Austria Raimund Baumschlager 12
Japan Toyota Team Europe Toyota Supra Turbo
Celica GT-Four ST165
‹See TfM›P Sweden Kenneth Eriksson 4–5, 10, 12–13
Finland Juha Kankkunen 4–6, 10, 12–13
Sweden Björn Waldegård 4, 6, 13
United Kingdom Jimmy McRae 13
Japan Nissan Motorsports International Nissan 200SX ‹See TfM›D Sweden Per Eklund 4
France Alain Ambrosino 4, 11
Kenya Mike Kirkland 4
Kenya Jayant Shah 4
Greece Stratis Hatzipanayiotou 6
Belgium Flory Roothaert 6
New Zealand Paddy Davidson 8
Japan Fuji Heavy Industries Subaru RX Turbo ‹See TfM›D New Zealand Peter 'Possum' Bourne 4, 8
Kenya Ian Duncan 4
Kenya Patrick Njiru 4
Chile José Celsi 9
France Bastos Motul BMW BMW M3 ‹See TfM›P France Bernard Béguin 5
France François Chatriot 5
Belgium Marc Duez 5
Finland Ari Vatanen 10
Italy Andrea Zanussi 12
France Gema Racing Alfa Romeo 75 V6 ‹See TfM›P France Paul Rouby 5
France Jacques Panciatici 5
Japan Suzuki Sport Suzuki Cultus GTI ‹See TfM›Y New Zealand Alan Carter 7
Japan Nobuhiro Tajima 7
Japan Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 ‹See TfM›M Japan Kenjiro Shinozuka 8, 13
Finland Ari Vatanen 13
Austria Lancia Rally Team Austria Lancia Delta HF Integrale ‹See TfM›M Austria Franz Wittmann 9
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Events

Championship for manufacturers

Championship for drivers

Cup for production car drivers

See also

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