1979 World Rally Championship Season

Events

**1979 World Rally Championship event map**
Black = Tarmac	Brown = Gravel	Blue = Snow/Ice	Red = Mixed Surface

**1979 World Rally Championship schedule and results**
Round	Rally name	Stages	Podium finishers
Round	Rally name	Stages	Rank	Driver	Co-driver	Team	Car	Time
1	47ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo (January 20–January 26)	30 stages 619 km Tarmac	1	Bernard Darniche	Alain Mahé	Team Chardonnet	Lancia Stratos HF	8:13.38
			2	Björn Waldegård	Hans Thorszelius	Ford Motor Company	Ford Escort RS1800	8:13.44
			3	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Alitalia Fiat	Fiat 131 Abarth	8:17.47

2	29th International Swedish Rally (February 16–February 18)	38 stages 630 km Snow/Ice	1	Stig Blomqvist	Björn Cederberg		Saab 99 Turbo	6:34.49
			2	Björn Waldegård	Hans Thorszelius	Ford Motor Company	Ford Escort RS1800	6:36.09
			3	Pentti Airikkala	Risto Virtanen		Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS	6:39.31

3	13º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto (March 6–March 11)	45 stages 735 km Tarmac/Gravel	1	Hannu Mikkola	Arne Hertz	Ford Motor Company	Ford Escort RS1800	9:13.52
			2	Björn Waldegård	Hans Thorszelius	Ford Motor Company	Ford Escort RS1800	9:16.36
			3	Ove Andersson	Henry Liddon	Toyota Team Europe	Toyota Celica 2000GT	9:35.00

4	27th Safari Rally (April 12–16)	82 controls 5028 km Gravel	1	Shekhar Mehta	Mike Doughty	DT Dobie Team Datsun	Datsun 160J	+6:27 pen
			2	Hannu Mikkola	Arne Hertz	DT Dobie Daimler-Benz	Mercedes 450 SLC 5.0	+7:15 pen
			3	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Alitalia Fiat	Fiat 131 Abarth	+7:20 pen

5	26th Acropolis Rally (May 28–31)	54 stages 1008 km Gravel/Tarmac	1	Björn Waldegård	Hans Thorszelius	Rothmans Rally Team	Ford Escort RS1800	13:35.06
			2	Timo Salonen	Seppo Harjanne	N. I. Theocharakis	Datsun 160J	14:07.04
			3	Harry Källström	Claes Billstam	N. I. Theocharakis	Datsun 160J	14:11.39

6	10th Motogard Rally of New Zealand (July 14–July 18)	42 stages 672 km Tarmac/Gravel	1	Hannu Mikkola	Arne Hertz	Masport	Ford Escort RS1800	8:05.45,8
			2	Blair Robson	Chris Porter	Masport	Ford Escort RS1800	8:27.03,0
			3	Ari Vatanen	David Richards	Ford Motor Company	Ford Escort RS1800	8:29.40,8

7	29th 1000 Lakes Rally (August 24–August 28)	45 stages 424 km Gravel	1	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Alitalia Fiat	Fiat 131 Abarth	4:01.11
			2	Ari Vatanen	David Richards	Rothmans Rally Team	Ford Escort RS1800	4:02.42
			3	Björn Waldegård	Hans Thorszelius	Ford Motor Company	Ford Escort RS1800	4:07.15

8	7ème Critérium Molson du Québec (September 13–September 16)	25 stages 384 km Tarmac/Gravel	1	Björn Waldegård	Hans Thorszelius	Ford Motor Company	Ford Escort RS1800	3:35.32
			2	Timo Salonen	Seppo Harjanne	Team Datsun Europe	Datsun 160J	3:36.10
			3	Ari Vatanen	David Richards	Rothmans Rally Team	Ford Escort RS1800	3:41.50

9	21º Rallye Sanremo - Rallye d'Italia (October 1–October 7)	66 stages 1078 km Tarmac/Gravel	1	Antonio 'Tony' Fassina	Mauro Mannini	Jolly Club	Lancia Stratos HF	12:37.17
			2	Walter Röhrl	Christian Geistdörfer	Alitalia Fiat	Fiat 131 Abarth	12:41.31
			3	Attilio Bettega	Maurizio Perissinot		Fiat 131 Abarth	12:55.59

10	23ème Tour de Corse - Rallye de France (November 2–November 4)	22 stages 1129 km Tarmac	1	Bernard Darniche	Alain Mahé	Team Chardonnet	Lancia Stratos HF	14:36.46
			2	Jean Ragnotti	Jean-Marc Andrié		Renault 5 Alpine	15:12.52
			3	Pierre-Louis Moreau	Patrice Baron		Porsche 911 SC	15:23.06

11	28th Lombard RAC Rally (November 19–November 23)	56 stages 687 km Gravel/Tarmac	1	Hannu Mikkola	Arne Hertz	Ford Motor Company	Ford Escort RS1800	8:03.38
			2	Russell Brookes	Paul White	Andrews Heat For Hire	Ford Escort RS1800	8:14.07
			3	Timo Salonen	Stuart Pegg	Team Datsun Europe	Datsun 160J	8:16.22

12	11ème Rallye Côte d'Ivoire (December 9–December 14)	50 controls 5668 km Gravel	1	Hannu Mikkola	Arne Hertz		Mercedes 450 SLC 5.0	+3:23 pen
			2	Björn Waldegård	Hans Thorszelius		Mercedes 450 SLC 5.0	+3:58 pen
			3	Andrew Cowan	Klaus Kaiser		Mercedes 450 SLC 5.0	+4:10 pen