MINIPARTES - FORD ENGLAND - ESCORT RS1800 N 1 WINNER RALLY PORTUGAL 1979 H.MIKKOLA - A.HERTZ

In 1979 the Drivers' classification was introduced for the first time in the World Rally Championship. Ford, which got Rothmans sponsorship, went racing with a program of eight races. One of his top drivers was Björn Waldegård. The Swede eventually won only two of the seven races with the Escort Rs in Greece and Canada. But an impressive consistency of placings, including the second place scored at the wheel of a Mercedes in the last and decisive test of the Ivory Coast, allowed him to become the first world rally champion driver. Waldegård finished ahead of the Finnish Hannu Mikkola by one point; Mikkola won three races. Ford clinched the Makes' title. A triumph that was also that of a car that immediately proved extremely competitive.