The 1979 World Sportscar Championship season was the 27th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship racing. It featured the 1979 World Championship for Makes which was open to Group 1 and 2 Touring Cars, Group 3 and 4 Grand Touring cars, and Group 5 Special Production Cars. The championship ran from 3 February to 16 September 1979 and consisted of nine rounds. It was contested in two engine capacity divisions, Over 2 Litres and Under 2 Litres.
The Over 2 Litres Division was won by Porsche and the Under 2 Litres Division by Lancia.
Schedule
Rnd Race Circuit Date 1 24 Hour Pepsi Challenge Daytona International Speedway 3 February4 February 2 6 Hours of Mugello Mugello Circuit 18 March 3 Dijon 6 Hours Dijon-Prenois 22 April 4 Rivet Supply 6 Hours Silverstone Circuit 6 May 5 1000km Nürburgring Nürburgring 3 June 6 Coppa Florio Autodromo di Pergusa 24 June 7 Watkins Glen 6 Hours Watkins Glen International 8 July 8 Rivet Supply 6 Hours Brands Hatch 5 August 9 Trofeo Ignazio Giunti (6 Hours) Vallelunga 16 September
Season results Rnd Circuit Over 2.0 Winning Team Under 2.0 Winning Team Results Over 2.0 Winning Drivers Under 2.0 Winning Drivers Over 2.0 Winning Car World Championship 1979, www.classicscars.com Retrieved 20 March 2020 Under 2.0 Winning Car 1 Daytona #0 Interscope Racing None Results Ted Field Danny Ongais Hurley Haywood Porsche 935/79 2 Mugello #12 Gelo Racing Team None Results Bob Wollek Manfred Schurti John Fitzpatrick Porsche 935/77 3 Dijon #31 Gelo Racing Team None Results Bob Wollek Manfred Schurti Jacky Ickx Porsche 935/77 4 Silverstone #3 Gelo Sportswear None Results Bob Wollek Hans Heyer John Fitzpatrick Porsche 935/77 5 Nürburgring #6 Gelo Racing Team #25 Jägermeister Results Bob Wollek Manfred Schurti John Fitzpatrick Eckhard Schrimpf Hans-Georg Bürger Porsche 935/77 BMW 320i 6 Pergusa #4 Lubrifilm Racing #11 Lancia Corse Results Angelo Pallavicini Marco Vanoli Riccardo Patrese Carlo Facetti Porsche Carrera RSR Lancia Beta Montecarlo 7 Watkins Glen #94 Whittington/Kremer None Results Don Whittington Bill Whittington Klaus Ludwig Porsche 935 K3 8 Brands Hatch #27 Porsche Kremer Racing #31 ASA Corse Results Klaus Ludwig Axel Plankenhorn Riccardo Patrese Walter Röhrl Porsche 935 K3 Lancia Beta Montecarlo 9 Vallelunga #54 Ecurie Biennoise #33 Giuseppi Piazzi Results Enzo Calderari Willi Spavetti Rolf Moritz Giuseppi Piazzi Renzo Zorzi Stanislao Sterzel Porsche Carrera RSR Fiat X1/9
Note: Entries which were not eligible to score championship points are not accounted for in the above table.
Manufacturers' championship Points were awarded for placings gained by the top ten cars in each division at each round in the order of 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1. However, points were only awarded for the highest placed car from each make in each division and any other cars from that make were merely skipped in the points allocation.
Only the best seven round results for each make in each division counted towards the championship with any other points earned not included in the final totals. Relinquished points are shown within brackets.
Some rounds were also open to cars from other categories (e.g. Group 6 "Two Seater Racing Cars") however these cars were not eligible to score points for their respective makes.
Division - Over 2 Litre
Pos FIA Yearbook, 1980, grey section, page 85 Make Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Total 1 Porsche 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 (20) (20) 140 2 Ferrari 15 15 30 3 de Tomaso 6 6 4 Triumph 4 4 5 BMW 1 1
Division - Under 2 Litre
Pos FIA Yearbook, 1980, grey section, page 86 Make Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Total 1 Lancia 10 20 20 50 2 BMW 20 12 32 3 Ford 15 15 30 Porsche 15 15 30 5 Fiat 20 20 6 Volkswagen 6 6 7 Audi 2 2
The cars The following models contributed to the nett points totals scored by their respective makes.
Division - Over 2 Litre Porsche 935 & 911 Carrera RSR Ferrari Daytona & 308GTB de Tomaso Pantera Triumph TR8 BMW 3.5 CSL
Division - Under 2 Litre Lancia Beta Montecarlo BMW 320i Ford Escort Porsche Fiat X1/9 Volkswagen Golf GTi Audi 80
References
Further reading Automobile Year, 1979/80 János Wimpffen, Time and Two Seats, 1999 Peter Higham, The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing, 1995
External links 1979 World Championship for Makes – race results Retrieved from wsrp.ic.cz 1979 World Championship for Makes – race images Retrieved from www.racingsportscars.com on 1 April 2009