Four-wheel drive and a reckless power era shaped the World Rally Championship
When rallying's governing body allowed all-wheel drive in 1979, most carmakers shrugged it off as too complicated. Then Audi's Quattro started winning almost at once. What followed was the fastest, wildest stretch in the sport's history, and it ended abruptly when officials decided the cars had simply become too dangerous.
The FIA launched the championship in 1973, building it from famous international rallies, nine of which had formed the earlier International Championship for Manufacturers. The first season opened with the Monte Carlo Rally on 19 January, and Alpine-Renault took the makers' crown with its A110. Lancia then won three straight titles from 1974 with the Stratos HF, the first car designed and built purely for rallying. A drivers' title only arrived in 1979.
The 1980s brought the turning point. Audi entered Hannu Mikkola in its new Quattro for testing and saw immediate results, prompting rivals to launch their own all-wheel-drive projects. Group B rules introduced in 1982 placed few limits on power. Audi collected makers' titles in 1982 and 1984, while Lancia's 1983 crown with the 037 was the last world title won by a rear-drive car. Lancia's Delta S4 could reportedly reach 60 mph from rest in 2.3 seconds on gravel.
The 1986 season exposed the cost. Fatal crashes at Rally Portugal and the Tour de Corse, where favourite Henri Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Cresto were killed, led FISA within hours to freeze Group B development and bar the cars from 1987. Even the title ended in controversy after results from the San Remo Rally were annulled, handing the crown to Juha Kankkunen.
Today a season usually runs to 13 events over gravel, tarmac, snow and ice, each split into timed special stages. Titles go to drivers, co-drivers and manufacturers, with the WRC2 and WRC3 support series running on the same stages in cheaper, less powerful machinery, and a Masters Cup for crews over 50 since 2023.
Source: World Rally Championship
