26th season of the FIA 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.[ 1] [ 2]
The 1998 championship was contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, Africa, South America and Oceania.
Team Manufacturer Car Tyre No Drivers Rounds Team Mitsubishi Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III Lancer Evolution IV Lancer Evolution V M 1 Tommi Mäkinen All 2 Richard Burns All 15 Ed Ordynski 12 16 Uwe Nittel 1–2, 4–5, 8, 10 555 Subaru World Rally Team Subaru Impreza 555 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 13 Possum Bourne 12 15 Juha Kangas 13 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 2, 4–5, 9–10, 13 12 Neal Bates 12 14 Thomas Rådström 9 15 Thomas Rådström 4–5, 8, 10 16 Yoshio Fujimoto 9, 12 18 Isolde Holderied 6, 8 27 Henrik Lundgaard 13 34 Volkan Isik 4-6, 8, 10-13 37 Pedro Chaves 4 Ford Motor Co Ltd 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 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 Renault Sport Renault Mégane Maxi M 19 Martin Rowe 6, 11, 13 21 Luís Climent 5 25 Tapio Laukkanen 6, 10–11, 13 28 Nejat Avci 9, 12 32 José Carlos Macedo 4 35 Jonas Kruse 2, 4, 10 Pedro Azeredo 4 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 Volkswagen Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V Kit Car P 17 Alister McRae 2, 7, 10-12 30 Harry Joki 2 24 Kris Rosenberger 3-4, 7, 9, 12 31 Raimund Baumschlager 3-4, 13 40 Janne Tuohino 10 41 Jan Habig 13 47 Esa Saarenpää 10 48 Jani Pirttinen 10 Nissan Motorsports Europe Nissan Almera Kit Car M 23 Mark Higgins 4, 8, 10-11, 13 48 José Araújo 4 61 Ercan Kazaz 13 Škoda Motorsport Škoda Octavia Kit Car M 22 Pavel Sibera 5-6, 8, 10-11, 13 37 Fabio Danti 11 Opel Vauxhall Opel Vauxhall Astra G Kit Car M 18 Jarmo Kytölehto (Opel ) 13 40 Neil Wearden (Vauxhall ) 13
Results and standings [ edit ] Drivers' championship[ edit ] Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD)
Co-drivers' championship[ edit ] Manufacturers' championship[ edit ] Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD)
Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD)
1998 World Rally Championship event map Black = Tarmac Brown = Gravel Blue = Snow/Ice Red = Mixed Surface