1998 World Rally Championship
The 1998 World Rally Championship was the 26th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 13 rallies. Tommi Mäkinen won his third consecutive drivers' world championship driving for Mitsubishi, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae. The manufacturers' title was won by Mitsubishi (who still operated under Group A regulations), ahead of Toyota and Subaru. This year also marked the Ford Escort's last full-season works outing before being replaced by the Ford Focus WRC in 1999. The season ended in dramatic fashion when Carlos Sainz's Corolla WRC stopped approximately 300 metres from the finishing line in the final stage at Margam due to mechanical failure, thus surrendering his fourth place on the rally and handing the title to Mäkinen.
Calendar
Teams and drivers
Team |
Constructor |
Car |
Tyre |
No |
Drivers |
Rounds |
Team Mitsubishi Ralliart |
Mitsubishi |
Lancer Evo IV Lancer Evo V |
M |
1 |
Tommi Mäkinen |
All |
2 |
Richard Burns |
All |
15 |
Ed Ordynski |
9, 12 |
16 |
Uwe Nittel |
1–2, 4–5, 8, 10 |
555 Subaru World Rally Team |
Subaru |
Impreza WRC 98 |
P
|
3 |
Colin McRae |
All |
4 |
Piero Liatti |
1, 3–9, 11–12 |
Kenneth Eriksson |
2 |
Jarmo Kytölehto |
10 |
Alister McRae |
13 |
10 |
Piero Liatti |
2 |
12 |
Ari Vatanen |
13 |
15 |
Juha Kangas |
9 |
Toyota Castrol Team |
Toyota |
Corolla WRC Celica GT-Four ST205 |
M |
5 |
Carlos Sainz |
All |
6 |
Didier Auriol |
1, 3–4, 6–13 |
Thomas Rådström |
2 |
Freddy Loix |
5 |
9 |
Didier Auriol |
2, 5 |
11 |
Freddy Loix |
4, 8, 12 |
Marcus Grönholm |
4–5, 9–10, 13 |
12 |
Neal Bates |
12 |
15 |
Thomas Rådström |
4–5, 8–10 |
16 |
Yoshio Fujumoto |
9, 12 |
18 |
Isolde Holderied |
6, 8 |
27 |
Henrik Lundgaard |
13 |
37 |
Pedro Matos Chaves |
4 |
Ford Motor Company |
Ford |
Escort WRC |
M |
7 |
Juha Kankkunen |
All |
8 |
Bruno Thiry |
1–2, 5–13 |
Ari Vatanen |
3–4 |
11 |
Ari Vatanen |
10 |
SEAT Sport |
SEAT |
Córdoba WRC Ibiza Kit Car Evo 2 |
P
|
9 |
Harri Rovanperä |
10–13 |
10 |
Oriol Gómez |
10 |
Marc Duez |
11–12 |
Gwyndaf Evans |
13 |
Peugeot Sport |
Peugeot |
306 Maxi |
M |
11 |
François Delecour |
1, 5–6, 11 |
14 |
Gilles Panizzi |
1, 5–6, 11 |
25 |
Manuel Muniente |
5 |
28 |
Adruzilo Lopes |
1, 4–5 |
Citroën Sport |
Citroën |
Xsara F2 |
M |
12 |
Philippe Bugalski |
5–6, 11 |
16 |
Jesús Puras |
5, 11 |
Fabien Doenlen |
6 |
19 |
Patrick Magaud |
6, 11 |
Hyundai World Rally Team |
Hyundai |
Coupe Evo Coupe Evo 2 |
M |
20 |
Kenneth Eriksson |
4–5, 7–13 |
21 |
Alister McRae |
5–6 |
29 |
Wayne Bell |
4, 8–13 |
48 |
Dean Herridge |
12 |
Results and standings
Drivers' championship
|
Colour |
Result |
Gold |
Winner |
Silver |
2nd place |
Bronze |
3rd place |
Green |
Points finish |
Blue |
Non-points finish |
Non-classified finish (NC) |
Purple |
Retired (DNF) |
Black |
Excluded (EX) |
Disqualified (DSQ) |
White |
Did not start (DNS) |
Cancelled (C) |
Blank |
Withdrew entry before the event (WD) |
|
Co-drivers' championship
Pos |
Co-driver |
MON
|
SWE
|
KEN
|
POR
|
ESP
|
FRA
|
ARG
|
GRC
|
NZL
|
FIN
|
ITA
|
AUS
|
GBR
|
Pts |
1 |
Risto Mannisenmäki |
Ret |
1 |
Ret |
Ret |
3 |
Ret |
1 |
Ret |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Ret |
58 |
2 |
Luis Moya |
1 |
2 |
Ret |
2 |
7 |
8 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
Ret |
56 |
3 |
Nicky Grist |
3 |
Ret |
Ret |
1 |
Ret |
1 |
5 |
1 |
5 |
Ret |
3 |
4 |
Ret |
45 |
4 |
Juha Repo |
2 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
Ret |
9 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
Ret |
5 |
2 |
39 |
5 |
Denis Giraudet |
14 |
6 |
4 |
Ret |
1 |
6 |
Ret |
2 |
2 |
4 |
Ret |
3 |
Ret |
34 |
6 |
Robert Reid |
5 |
15 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
Ret |
4 |
Ret |
9 |
5 |
7 |
Ret |
1 |
33 |
7 |
Fabrizia Pons |
4 |
9 |
Ret |
6 |
Ret |
3 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
|
2 |
Ret |
Ret |
17 |
8 |
Sven Smeets |
|
|
|
3 |
2 |
|
|
5 |
|
|
|
6 |
|
13 |
9 |
Stéphane Prévot |
6 |
8 |
|
|
Ret |
5 |
Ret |
Ret |
Ret |
10 |
6 |
7 |
3 |
8 |
10 |
Daniel Grataloup |
10 |
|
|
|
8 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
Ret |
|
|
6 |
11 |
Fred Gallagher |
|
|
3 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
Ret |
|
|
|
6 |
12 |
Hervé Panizzi |
9 |
|
|
|
6 |
4 |
|
|
|
35 |
5 |
|
Ret |
6 |
13 |
Staffan Parmander |
|
4 |
|
Ret |
21 |
|
Ret |
Ret |
20 |
Ret |
Ret |
22 |
Ret |
3 |
14 |
Jean-Marc Fortin |
|
|
|
8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
12 |
|
4 |
3 |
15 |
Risto Pietiläinen |
11 |
Ret |
5 |
Ret |
Ret |
|
Ret |
15 |
13 |
11 |
Ret |
11 |
6 |
3 |
16 |
Timo Rautiainen |
|
5 |
|
Ret |
Ret |
|
|
|
Ret |
7 |
|
|
Ret |
2 |
17 |
Jean-Paul Chiaroni |
|
|
|
|
5 |
Ret |
|
|
|
|
Ret |
|
|
2 |
18 |
Jukka Aho |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ret |
|
9 |
5 |
2 |
19 |
Klaus Wicha |
8 |
|
6 |
Ret |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ret |
1 |
20 |
Gunnar Barth |
|
Ret |
|
Ret |
12 |
|
|
Ret |
7 |
6 |
|
|
|
1 |
Pos |
Co-driver |
MON
|
SWE
|
KEN
|
POR
|
ESP
|
FRA
|
ARG
|
GRC
|
NZL
|
FIN
|
ITA
|
AUS
|
GBR
|
Pts |
|
|
Manufacturers' championship
Pos. |
Manufacturer |
No. |
MON
|
SWE
|
KEN
|
POR
|
ESP
|
FRA
|
ARG
|
GRE
|
NZL
|
FIN
|
ITA
|
AUS
|
GBR
|
Points |
1 |
Team Mitsubishi Ralliart |
1 |
Ret |
1 |
Ret |
Ret |
3 |
Ret |
1 |
Ret |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Ret |
91 |
2 |
5 |
15 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
Ret |
4 |
Ret |
9 |
5 |
7 |
Ret |
1 |
2 |
Toyota Castrol Team |
5 |
1 |
2 |
Ret |
2 |
7 |
8 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
Ret |
85 |
6 |
14 |
Ret |
4 |
Ret |
2 |
6 |
Ret |
2 |
2 |
4 |
Ret |
3 |
Ret |
3 |
555 Subaru World Rally Team |
3 |
3 |
Ret |
Ret |
1 |
Ret |
1 |
5 |
1 |
5 |
Ret |
3 |
4 |
Ret |
65 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
Ret |
6 |
Ret |
3 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
8 |
2 |
Ret |
Ret |
4 |
Ford Motor Co |
7 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
Ret |
9 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
Ret |
5 |
2 |
53 |
8 |
6 |
8 |
3 |
5 |
Ret |
5 |
Ret |
Ret |
Ret |
10 |
6 |
7 |
3 |
5 |
SEAT Sport |
9 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
Ret |
11 |
6 |
1 |
10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ret |
16 |
|
Ret |
Pos. |
Manufacturer |
No. |
MON
|
SWE
|
KEN
|
POR
|
ESP
|
FRA
|
ARG
|
GRE
|
NZL
|
FIN
|
ITA
|
AUS
|
GBR
|
Points |
|
Colour |
Result |
Gold |
Winner |
Silver |
2nd place |
Bronze |
3rd place |
Green |
Points finish |
Blue |
Non-points finish |
Non-classified finish (NC) |
Purple |
Retired (DNF) |
Black |
Excluded (EX) |
Disqualified (DSQ) |
White |
Did not start (DNS) |
Cancelled (C) |
Blank |
Withdrew entry before the event (WD) |
|
FIA Teams' Cup
Pos |
Team |
Event |
Total points |
MON
|
SWE
|
KEN
|
POR
|
ESP
|
FRA
|
ARG
|
GRC
|
NZL
|
FIN
|
ITA
|
AUS
|
GBR
|
1 |
H.F. Grifone |
0 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
73 |
2 |
Uruguay en Carrera |
0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
39 |
3 |
Gazprom Rally Team |
0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
27 |
4 |
Mobil 1 Stomil Olsztyn |
0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
26 |
5 |
Toyota Castrol Team Sweden |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
22 |
6 |
Toyota Team Saudi Arabia |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
20 |
7 |
Toyota Mobil Team Turkey |
0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
17 |
8 |
Frederic Dor |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
12 |
9 |
Hamed Al-Wahaibi |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
10 |
Events
1998 World Rally Championship event map
|
Black = Tarmac |
Brown = Gravel |
Blue = Snow/Ice |
Red = Mixed Surface |
See also