In March 2016, Jari-Matti Latvala won Rally Mexico in a Volkswagen Polo R WRC. That win brought the Polo’s tally up to 37, making it the single most successful car in World Rally Championship history, surpassing a record that had stood for more than five years.
That event prompted me to dig into the record books, which reveal that an incredible variety of cars have won WRC events. Indeed, 95 different models from 22 manufacturers have taken the laurels on one or more of the 565 WRC events there have been thus far (six events into the 2016 season).
Citroen is the most successful manufacturer, taking 95 wins since 1999. Incidentally, Citroen holds the distinction of being the last manufacturer to win with a two-wheel-drive car, Philippe Bugalski winning in Spain and Corsica with the Xsara Kit Car in ’99.
Ford lies second with 83 wins, while Lancia is third on 75. Volkswagen is only seventh on 38 – the first came in ’87 in Ivory Coast, Kenneth Eriksson winning the 2WD-only event with a Golf GTi.
‘Lancia Delta’ is the most successful nameplate, 51 wins spread out between five different iterations. With only 15 wins needed to surpass that marker, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if the Polo takes that record within the next couple of years.
But enough statistics. Here’s a gallery of the top 30 most successful WRC cars in the series’ 43-year history*.
*I have defined ‘car’ as ‘bodyshell’, therefore different versions of the same namplate are separated out at points that the bodyshell changed.
1. Volkswagen Polo R WRC – 37 wins (so far). Mega-bucks VW effort arrived in 2013 and has swept the board. Polo’s record will only grow – will it ever be beaten? First win: Sweden 2013. Drivers’ titles: 2013, 2014, 2015 (Sebastien Ogier). Makes’ titles: 2013, 2014, 2015
2. Citroen C4 WRC – 36 wins. Only surpassed in March this year. Pretty much built around Sebastien Loeb – rarely have car and driver been so perfectly synced. First win: Monte Carlo 2007. Drivers’ titles: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 (Sebastien Loeb). Makes’ titles: 2008, 2009, 2010
3. Citroen Xsara WRC – 32 wins. Proof that you don’t have to be pretty to be good. Monstrous to look at and monstrously fast. First win: Corsica 2001. Drivers’ titles: 2004, 2005, 2006 (Sebastien Loeb). Makes’ titles: 2003, 2004, 2005
4. Ford Focus RS WRC06/07/08/09 – 28 wins. Humongous tank of a thing. Possibly the ultimate expression of the 2.0-litre WRC rules, but always up against that pesky, perfect Citroen/Loeb combination. First win: Monte Carlo 2006. Makes’ titles: 2006, 2007
5. Lancia Delta Integrale – 27 wins. Lancia made hay while everyone else caught up with the Group A rules. Quite badly compromised in many ways, but it just worked. First win: Portugal 1988. Drivers’ titles: 1988, 1989 (Miki Baision), 1991 (Juha Kankkunen). Makes’ titles: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991
6. Citroen DS3 WRC – 25 wins (so far). Once again, Citroen turned up with a brand new car – for the 1.6-litre WRC rules – and utterly dominated. Until VW arrived, at least. First win: Mexico 2011. Drivers’ titles: 2011, 2012 (Sebastien Loeb). Makes’ titles: 2011, 2012
7. Subaru Impreza WRC97/98/99/00 – 25 wins. Subaru sunk vast resources into its new-gen WRC machine and produced a truly brilliant car. But others won titles by being more consistent. First win: Monte Carlo 1997.
8. Peugeot 206 WRC – 24 wins. After 13 years away, Peugeot returned and dominated the early 2000s. Courtesy of a rule break allowing the too-small 206 to compete. First win: Sweden 2000. Drivers’ titles: 2000, 2002 (Marcus Gronholm). Makes’ titles: 2000, 2001, 2002
9. Fiat 131 Abarth – 20 wins. Picked up where the Stratos left off, with added wheelarch. First win: Finland 1976. Drivers’ titles: 1978 (Markku Alen), 1980 (Walter Rohrl). Makes’ titles: 1977, 1978
10. Ford Escort RS1800 – 20 wins. Always the underdog and became a British institution. Often cited as the greatest rally car ever and it can still win against modern cars. First win: Great Britain 1975. Drivers’ titles: 1981 (Ari Vatanen). Makes’ titles: 1979
11. Lancia Stratos HF – 18 wins. The first purpose-built rally car, a Ferrari-engined monster. Longest front-line career of any car. First win: Italy 1974. Drivers’ titles: 1977 (Sandro Munari). Makes’ titles: 1974, 1975, 1976
12. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 4/5/6 – 17 wins. The 2nd-gen Evo enjoyed unprecedented success, even against more advanced machinery. First win: Portugal 1997. Drivers’ titles: 1997, 1998, 1999 (Tommi Makkinen). Makes’ titles: 1998
13. Subaru Impreza WRC2001/2002/2003/2004/2005 – 17 wins. Fan favourites always seemed to be battling against the odds, yet was consistently successful. First win: New Zealand 2001. Drivers’ titles: 2001 (Richard Burns), 2003 (Petter Solberg)
14. Peugeot 205 Turbo 16/T16 Evo 2 – 16 wins. Peugeot came, saw and conquered for 2 brief years with its Group B monster. First win: Finland 1984. Drivers’ titles: 1985 (Timo Salonen), 1986 (Juha Kankkunen). Makes’ titles: 1985, 1986
15. Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD – 16 wins. Gorgeous ST185 Celica halted Lancia’s domination of the WRC’s Group A period. First win: Safari 1992. Drivers’ titles: 1992 (Carlos Sainz), 1993 (Juha Kankkunen), 1994 (Dider Auriol). Makes’ titles: 1993, 1994
16. Toyota Celica GT-Four – 13 wins. ST165 Celica was the first car to consistently challenge the all-conquering Lancia Delta. First win: Australia 1989. Drivers’ titles: 1990 (Carlos Sainz)
17. Ford Focus RS WRC/00/01/02 – 11 wins. Never quite as fast as the Peugeot 206, but Colin McRae was behind the wheel, so who cared? First win: Safari 1999
18. Lancia Delta HF 4WD – 11 wins. Lancia was the only manufacturer ready for Group A and utterly dominated with what was essentially an interim car. First win: Monte Carlo 1987. Drivers’ titles: 1987 (Juha Kankkunen) Makes’ titles: 1987
19. Subaru Impreza 555 – 11 wins. The car that made Subaru a WRC force, and made Colin McRae’s name. First win: Greece 1994. Drivers’ titles: 1995 (Colin McRae). Makes’ titles: 1995, 1996
20. Audi Quattro A1/A2 – 11 wins. When Group B was introduced for ’83, Audi had the only 4WD car. It was so effective everyone else had to follow suit. First win: Sweden 1983. Drivers’ titles: 1983 (Hannu Mikkola), 1984 (Stig Blomqvist). Makes’ titles: 1984
21. Audi Quattro – 10 wins. The original Group 4-spec Quattro was far from conclusive proof that 4WD was the way to go, but set out Audi’s store. First win: Sweden 1981
22. Ford Escort RS Cosworth – 8 wins. A valiant effort against Lancia and Toyota, and always a strong performer. First win: Portugal 1993
23. Lancia Delta HF Integrale – 8 wins. Final, wide-body Delta dominated ’92, but thereafter couldn’t keep up with the Japanese cars. First win: Monte Carlo 1992. Makes’ titles: 1992
24. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution II/III – 7 wins. The first car to rely heavily on electronics, forcing everyone else to go down the same route. First win: Sweden 1995. Drivers’ title: 1996 (Tommi Makkinen)
25. Alpine A110 1800 – 6 wins. Tiny rear-engined machine was already a force in rallying when the WRC was formed in ’73. The car to beat in that first year. First win: Monte Carlo 1973. Makes’ titles: 1973
26. Ford Fiesta RS WRC – 6 wins (so far). Continues the tradition of Ford being rallying’s underdog, especially since factory backing was pulled a few years ago. First win: Monte Carlo 2011
27. Lancia Rallye 037 – 6 wins. Gorgeous supercharged supercar that has the distinction of being the first Group B champion, and the last 2WD champion. First win: Monte Carlo 1983. Makes titles: 1983
28. Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 – Huge, heavy, incredibly tough and fast enough to pick up the pieces when others faltered. First win: Finland 1989
29. Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo – 6 wins. Largely forgotten Group B challenger that dominated the African rallies of the era. First win: Ivory Coast 1983
30. Lancia Delta S4 – 5 wins. The ultimate expression of Group B, but arrived too late and it was up against the mighty 205, so didn’t make as big an impact as it could have. First win: Great Britain 1985
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By Only Motors
