Special Sub-Topic: 1998 WRC Season Authored by: Bruce D Sub-topic of: Rallies

Who was the world champion driver?

Tommi Makinen. Makinen clinched a closely fought championship by coming from behind and taking the title on a final dramatic round.

Who was manufacturer's champion?

Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi clinched their first, and so far only, world championship by a great combined effort of Makinen and Richard Burns.

Who was Group N champion?

Gustavo Trelles. Trelles took his third title in a row.

Who won the F2 championship?

SEAT. SEAT clinched the title despite changing to a World Rally Car from round 9 - Rally Finland.

At which event did SEAT debut their new World Rally Car?

Rally Finland. After dominating the F2 championship, SEAT took the plunge and moved to the WRC class with a new World Rally Car, which would later be renamed the Cordoba WRC. Such was their domination of F2 that they still won that title without officially doing the last three events!

Who led most of the year in the driver's championship?

Carlos Sainz. Sainz won the Monte and lead the championship until Round 6 - Corsica, but retook the lead on the very next event in Argentina, losing it again in Greece before taking the lead again in New Zealand, which he would not lose until Australia.

Sweden was Kenneth Eriksson's last event for Subaru. Which team did he then join?

Hyundai. Eriksson left Subaru to join the Hyundai F2 team to help them towards getting a full World Rally Car done by 2000.

Who took their first WRC win on the Safari Rally?

Richard Burns. Burns had an eventful rally but eventually won the event by 10 minutes. He went off the road on every day of the event!

By how much did Colin McRae beat Carlos Sainz to win the Rally of Portugal?

2.1sec. This became the closet WRC finish in history, with Sainz chasing McRae down all of the final day.

Which driver replaced Didier Auriol as the nominated driver for Toyota Team Europe at the Catalunya Rally?

Freddy Loix. Toyota decided that Auriol needed some motivation and chose Loix as their nominated driver for this event. Auriol won the event, beating Loix by 53.4sec!

Who replaced Bruno Thiry at the Safari and Portugese rallies?

Ari Vatanen. While on the recce for the Safari, Thiry's car broke down and Kankkunen picked them up to give them a lift. Whilst driving back to base they hit a bump and Thiry broke a rib. This put him out of the next two event and Ari Vatanen was asked to join the team. Vatanen finished 3rd overall on the Safari!

What was significant about Carlos Sainz's win in New Zealand?

His record-breaking 22nd WRC win. At this event, Sainz passed Kankkunen's record of 21 wins.

Who was Subaru's second nominated driver on Rally Finland?

Jarmo Kytolehto. Jarmo Kytolehto joined the team for this event, finishing 8th overall and not helping the team score points.

Why could Liatti not let McRae passed in San Remo?

Sainz was too close to allow Liatti to drop back and only let McRae through. Sainz was close enough to McRae to stop Subaru from forcing Liatti to take a penalty, as it would have dropped him behind Sainz as well and would have lost points in the manufacturer's championship.

What did Sainz think of Makinen's win in Rally Australia?

Makinen had jumped the start of a stage but had not been given a penalty. Makinen was judged to have jumped the start of stage by a electronic beam, which timed his jump to be 0.04sec. The rules didn't really cover electronic judgement of a jump start and so the penalty was dropped. Sainz was not pleased!

What happened to Tommi Makinen on Rally GB?

Crashed into a concrete block. Makinen hit a concrete block during stage 6 ripping off his right rear wheel and forcing the police to stop him on the road section after the stage. He was out of the title deciding round. It didn't matter in the end ... he was still world champion at the end of the season.

What happened to Carlos Sainz on Rally GB?

Engine failed. The engine failed in his Corolla WRC just 500 metres away from the end of the final stage and just 500 metres away from winning the world championship! Luis Moya threw his helmet through the back window in anger.

Why was Rally GB important for Ford?

The last appearance of the Escort. The Escort finally retired from the WRC on this event, 30 years after it made its debut.

What was new for the WRC in 1998?

Timing to a tenth of a second. The new timing system was used for the first time this season with only the Safari rally running to the old timing system.

A new series was run in the WRC in 1998. What was it?

Teams Cup. The Teams cup was started in 1998 and won by HF Grifone using Corolla WRCs.

Which manufacturers demonstrated new World Rally Cars during 1998?

Ford, Peugeot, SEAT, Skoda. Ford (September 98), Peugeot (tested in November 98), SEAT (shown in May 98), and Skoda (November 98) all showed new World Rally Cars to be used during 1999.

Which team ran different colour design on their cars for every event?

Toyota. Toyota started from the Safari rally to customise their colour schemes to match each event they went to.

Who was Peugeot's third driver for their WRC team in 1999?

Marcus Gronholm. Gronholm would join the team for selected events in 99, followed by a full programme in 2000.

Who was Subaru second nominated driver on Rally GB?

Alister McRae. For the first time two brothers were teammates and both lead the event after SS1! Alister crashed out.

Who signed a massive deal with Ford to drive for them in 1999?

Colin McRae.