DECORATION
JONKKA LOGO SITE LOGO
Powered by Google
  
FIA LOGO
decoration
      decoration       decoration       decoration       decoration       decoration       decoration      
decoration
Seasons
  Pre-season roundup
  Season 1973
  Season 1974
  Season 1975
  Season 1976
  Season 1977
  Season 1978
  Season 1979
  Season 1980
  Season 1981
  Season 1982
  Season 1983
  Season 1984
  Season 1985
  Season 1986
  Season 1987
  Season 1988
  Season 1989
  Season 1990
  Season 1991
  Season 1992
  Season 1993
    WRC Calendar
    Teams
    Rule changes
    Championship standings
    Result compilation
    Season statistics
  Season 1994
  Season 1995
  Season 1996
  Season 1997
  Season 1998
  Season 1999
  Season 2000
  Season 2001
  Season 2002
  Season 2003
  Season 2004
  Season 2005
  Season 2006
  Season 2007
  Season 2008
  Season 2009
  Season 2010
  Season 2011
  Season 2012
  Season 2013
  Season 2014
  Season 2015
  Season 2016
  Season 2017
  Season 2018
  Season 2019
  Season 2020
  Season 2021
  Season 2022
  Season 2023
  Season 2024
  Season 2025
Sitemap
  Home > Seasons > Season 1993
Records are broken
decoration
By winning Network Q RAC Rally, Juha Kankkunen became world's most successful rally driver with 20 wins and by winning the 1993 World Championship title for a record fourth time, he underlined his superiority. After his long-standing co-driver Juha Piironen collapsed with hemorrhage just before Rally Argentina went underway, Kankkunen had to find a replacement in a hurry. Nicky Grist answered the call and despite their recce was cut short, pair won.

Before the year was out, wins at Australia and RAC were added to their tally but on top of that, Kankkunen won 1000 Lakes with yet another co-driver, Denis Giraudet. No mean feat, that one. Elsewhere, double world champion Carlos Sainz had a terrible year with Jolly Club's Lancia, culminating to late disqualification from San Remo after FIA meeting in February 1994 decided that Lancia had been using illegal fuel.

Similarly, Miki Biasion seemed to collect all the troubles at Ford Motorsport while his team-mate Francois Delecour did most of the winning for the team. The other two new winners of the year were Colin McRae who made good of the promise Subaru had seen in him by winning in New Zealand and Ford privateer Franco Cunico who triumphed in San Remo Rally.

Changes
decoration
Ivory Coast rally is dropped from the calendar, not a moment too soon, and with no replacement calendar shrunk to 13 events. Other important calendar change was championship registration which meant that all rallies counted towards manufacturers championship.

New cars
decoration
Three new and in retrospect important rally cars made debut in 1993 season. First one was the biggest sensation of the year, long-awaited Ford Escort RS Cosworth. It had been under development for some years before it was launched and nearly won Monte Carlo, it's inaugural WRC event. The car changed Ford's fortunes, winning five rallies and ending five year long drought for the team.

Second new car appearead in same rally but never made a big impact. The car was Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution which in coming years would come achieve success in grand proportions but the best it managed in 1993 were two podium finishes.

The third new car first went into action in 1000 Lakes Rally and almost won the event. The car in question was Subaru Impreza 555, launching a line of rally cars which were to gain a cult icon status in coming years. Despite doing no better than Lancer results-wise (Subaru's first win was with Legacy), it clearly was more competitive car and promised much for Subaru's future.

Juha Kankkunen
(Click picture to see larger version in a pop-up window)
1993 FIA World Rally Champion, Juha Kankkunen Click picture to see larger version in a pop-up window
Drivers scoring their
first win
  F. Delecour (Portugal)
  C. McRae (New Zealand)
  G. Cunico (San Remo)
first drivers' point
  O. Burri (Monte Carlo)
  J. Serpaggi (Monte Carlo)
  K. Backlund (Sweden)
  P. Svan (Sweden)
  J. Bica (Portugal)
  M. Brighetti (Safari)
  H. Shamji (Safari)
  N. Tsadaris (Acropolis)
  J. Ceccheto (Argentina)
  M. Gronholm (Finland)
  F. Loix (San Remo)
  A. Dallavilla (San Remo)
  R. Travaglia (San Remo)
  A. Medeghini (San Remo)
  L. Climent (Catalunya)
  O. Gomez Marco (Catalunya)
  R. Burns (Great Britain)
  A. McRae (Great Britain)
first stage win
  P. Snijers (San Remo)
  G. Trelles (Catalunya)
  G. Evans (Great Britain)
decoration