1980 World Rally Championship

The 1980 World Rally Championship was the eighth season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). The season consisted of 12 rallies. While this number was the same as the previous year, one change was made to the schedule, replacing Quebec with the Rally Codasur, marking the first WRC event to be held in South America.

A new driver's champion was crowned, with Fiat backed German driver Walter Röhrl taking the championship convincingly while simultaneously earning for Fiat its third and final manufacturer's title. Finn Hannu Mikkola and Swede Björn Waldegård again battled to a one-point difference in the standings, though this time for second place overall, and this time with Mikkola coming out on top. Fiat's position in the standings was challenged by both Datsun and Ford, but neither could overcome the Italian company's initial lead, settling instead for second and third, respectively. 1980 also saw Mercedes-Benz's best and final effort to compete for a WRC title, placing fourth overall.

For purposes of the championship, neither the Swedish or Finnish rallies were applied to the WRC for Manufacturers.

Championships

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Manufacturers

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1980 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers
Rank Manufacturer Event Total
points
 
MON
 
POR
 
KEN
 
GRC
 
ARG
 
NZL
 
ITA
 
FRA
 
GBR
 
CIV
1   Fiat 18 18 15 18 17 18 16 (11) 120
2   Datsun 18 17 14 18 13 8 5 93
3   Ford 8 12 18 11 8 16 17 90
4   Mercedes 13 16 17 15 18 79
5   Opel 12 13 13 10 10 13 71
6   Talbot 16 15 18 49
7   Toyota 9 9 14 32
8   Peugeot 2 12 16 30
9   Porsche 10 18 28
10   Lancia 16 4 20
11   Vauxhall 12 4 16
12   Volkswagen 14 14
13   Renault 12 12
14   Triumph 9 9
15   Mitsubishi 2 7 9
16   FSO 2 2
1980 World Rally Championship point awards for manufacturers
Overall
finish
Group finish
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 18
2 17 16
3 16 15 14
4 15 14 13 12
5 14 13 12 11 10
6 13 12 11 10 9 8
7 12 11 10 9 8 7 6
8 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4
9 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1

Drivers

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1980 World Rally Championship for Drivers
Rank Driver Event Total
points
 
MON
 
SWE
 
POR
 
KEN
 
GRC
 
ARG
 
FIN
 
NZL
 
ITA
 
FRA
 
GBR
 
CIV
1   Walter Röhrl 20 20 8 20 15 20 15 118
2   Hannu Mikkola 10 15 12 12 15 64
3   Björn Waldegård 12 12 10 1 8 20 63
4   Ari Vatanen 20 15 15 50
5   Anders Kulläng 10 20 10 8 48
6   Markku Alén 15 12 20 47
7   Timo Salonen 4 15 6 20 45
8   Guy Fréquelin 12 10 12 34
9   Shekhar Mehta 20 10 30
10   Henri Toivonen 8 20 28
11   Per Eklund 8 3 12 4 27
12   Jean-Luc Thérier 20 20
13   Vic Preston, Jr. 12 8 20
14   Jorge Recalde 3 15 18
15   Björn Johansson 8 10 18
16   Bernard Darniche 15 15
  Stig Blomqvist 15 15
  Rauno Aaltonen 15 15
19   Attilio Bettega 6 3 6 15
20   Alain Coppier 2 12 14
21   Carlos Reutemann 12 12
  Alain Ambrosino 12 12
23   Michèle Mouton 4 8 12
24   Ove Andersson 6 6 12
25   Jean-Claude Lefèbvre 8 3 11
26   Mike Kirkland 10 10
  George Fury 10 10
  Bruno Saby 10 10
  Russell Brookes 10 10
  Samir Assef 10 10
31   Ingvar Carlsson 1 8 9
32   Andy Dawson 6 3 9
33   Jean-Pierre Nicolas 8 8
  Lasse Lampi 8 8
35   Timo Mäkinen 1 6 7
36   Pentti Airikkala 6 6
  Andrew Cowan 6 6
  Domingo De Vitta 6 6
  Paul Adams 6 6
  Sandro Munari 6 6
41   Jochi Kleint 3 2 5
42   Carlos Torres 4 4
  Yoshio Iwashita 4 4
  Harry Källström 4 4
  Francisco Alcuaz 4 4
  Tapio Rainio 4 4
  Paddy Davidson 4 4
  Angelo Presotto 4 4
  Christian Gardavot 4 4
  Tony Pond 4 4
51   Johnny Hellier 3 3
  Nestor García-Veiga 3 3
  Erkki Pitkänen 3 3
  David Parkes 3 3
  Antonillo Zordan 3 3
  Paul Rouby 3 3
57   Salvador Servià 2 2
  Bengt Nilsson 2 2
  Raymond 'Ray' Rué 2 2
  Tasos 'Siroco' Livieratos 2 2
  Federico West 2 2
  Heikki Enomaa 2 2
  Glenn McIntyre 2 2
  Giorgio Bernocchi 2 2
  Jean-Felix Farrucci 2 2
  Bror Danielsson 2 2
  Jean-François Vincens 2 2
68   Maciej Stawowiak 1 1
  Jorge Maggi 1 1
  Peter Geitel 1 1
  Morrie Chandler 1 1
  Massimo Paolieri 1 1
  Jean Bagarry 1 1
  George Hill 1 1
  Naguib Saad 1 1
1980 World Rally Championship point awards for drivers
Points awarded by finish 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1

Events

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1980 World Rally Championship event map
 
Black = Tarmac Brown = Gravel Blue = Snow/Ice Red = Mixed Surface
1980 World Rally Championship schedule and results
Round Rally name Stages Podium finishers
Rank Driver Co-driver Car Time
1  
Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo
( 19 – 25 January)
30 stages
601 km
Tarmac
1   Walter Röhrl   Christian Geistdörfer Fiat 131 Abarth 8:42:20
2   Bernard Darniche   Alain Mahé Lancia Stratos HF 8:52:58
3   Björn Waldegård   Hans Thorszelius Fiat 131 Abarth 8:53:48
2  
Swedish Rally[1]
( 15 – 17 February)
29 stages
413.5 km
Snow/Ice
1   Anders Kulläng   Bruno Berglund Opel Ascona 400 4:17:52
2   Stig Blomqvist   Björn Cederberg Saab 99 Turbo 4:19:22
3   Björn Waldegård   Hans Thorszelius Fiat 131 Abarth 4:21:39
3  
Rallye de Portugal
( 4 – 9 March)
47 stages
673.5 km
Gravel/Tarmac
1   Walter Röhrl   Christian Geistdörfer Fiat 131 Abarth 8:45:35
2   Markku Alén   Ilkka Kivimäki Fiat 131 Abarth 8:59:54
3   Guy Fréquelin   Jean Todt Talbot Sunbeam Lotus 9:16:04
4  
Safari Rally
( 3 – 7 April)
95 controls
5333 km
Gravel
1   Shekhar Mehta   Mike Doughty Datsun 160J +3:27 pen
2   Rauno Aaltonen   Lofty Drews Datsun 160J +4:02 pen
3   Vic Preston Jr.   John Lyall Mercedes 450 SLC 5.0 +5:07 pen
5  
Acropolis Rally
( 25 – 29 May)
56 stages
964 km
Gravel/Tarmac
1   Ari Vatanen   David Richards Ford Escort RS1800 12:55:44
2   Timo Salonen   Seppo Harjanne Datsun 160J 12:58:26
3   Markku Alén   Ilkka Kivimäki Fiat 131 Abarth 13:02:48
6  
Rally Codasur
( 19 – 24 July)
18 stages
1224.4 km
Gravel/Tarmac
1   Walter Röhrl   Christian Geistdörfer Fiat 131 Abarth 12:48:36
2   Hannu Mikkola   Arne Hertz Mercedes 500 SLC 13:04:35
3   Carlos Reutemann   Mirko Perissutti Fiat 131 Abarth 13:35.26
7  
1000 Lakes Rally[1]
( 29 – 31 August)
48 stages
472 km
Gravel
1   Markku Alén   Ilkka Kivimäki Fiat 131 Abarth 4:24:11
2   Ari Vatanen   David Richards Ford Escort RS1800 4:25:07
3   Per Eklund   Hans Sylvan Triumph TR 7 V8 4:35:25
8  
Rally New Zealand
( 13 – 17 September)
40 stages
1040 km
Gravel
1   Timo Salonen   Seppo Harjanne Datsun 160J 12:06:57
2   Walter Röhrl   Christian Geistdörfer Fiat 131 Abarth 12:09:38
3   Hannu Mikkola   Arne Hertz Mercedes 500 SLC 12:29:22
9  
Rallye Sanremo
( 6 – 11 October)
50 stages
821 km
Gravel
1   Walter Röhrl   Christian Geistdörfer Fiat 131 Abarth 10:22:42
2   Ari Vatanen   David Richards Ford Escort RS1800 10:29:17
3   Hannu Mikkola   Arne Hertz Ford Escort RS 10:36:52
10  
Rallye de France
( 24 – 25 October)
18 stages
1128 km
Tarmac
1   Jean-Luc Thérier   Michel Vial Porsche 911 SC 14:51:43
2   Walter Röhrl   Christian Geistdörfer Fiat 131 Abarth 15:02:06
3   Alain Coppier   Josépha Laloz Porsche 911 SC 15:17:21
11  
RAC Rally
( 16 – 19 November)
70 stages
708 km
Gravel/Tarmac
1   Henri Toivonen   Paul White Talbot Sunbeam Lotus 8:17:33
2   Hannu Mikkola   Arne Hertz Ford Escort RS1800 8:22:09
3   Guy Fréquelin   Jean Todt Talbot Sunbeam Lotus 8:31:24
12  
Rallye Côte d'Ivoire
( 9 – 14 December)
62 controls
5336 km
Gravel
1   Björn Waldegård   Hans Thorszelius Mercedes 500 SLC +2:36 pen
2   Jorge Recalde   Nestor Straimel Mercedes 500 SLC +3:47 pen
3   Alain Ambrosino   Jean-Robert Bureau Peugeot 504 V6 +5:17 pen
  1. ^ a b Event not included in Manufacturers' Championship

See also

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