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Didier Auriol must have felt cheated when after six wins he lost championship not only to Carlos Sainz (with four victories) but also to Juha Kankkunen (with just one win). Six wins in a single season was a record but was fouled by three retirements and one tenth place when Auriol's rivals managed a steady string of podium finishes. In fact, Juha finished on podium in every one of the nine rallies he took start in.
For Lancia the 1992 season was their tenth and final makes title and sixth in running, team having won every year since Group A substituted Group B in 1987. In the face of declining economy, Lancia scaled down their activities as did many other teams as well. Mazda abandoned their WRC assault, also Nissan withdrew, partly because Sunny GTI-R was uncompetitive and Mitsubishi had reduced programme.
Both Toyota and Lancia got new winners at home when Mats Jonsson won Swedish with japanese team and Andrea Aghini conquered San Remo in front of his fans.
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Downturn in economical climate was apparent also in rally car development, only two big teams introduced new cars. Toyota debuted their new, round-bodied Celica Turbo 4WD in Monte Carlo and endured a tortured season while sorting it out.
Lancia withdrew from official competition at the end of 1991 and transferred their WRC effort to Jolly Club. That didn't stop them from introducing the most radical Lancia Delta yet, officially called Delta HF Integrale but also known as Deltona or Super Delta.
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1992 FIA World Rally Champion, Carlos Sainz
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Drivers scoring their
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first win
M. Jonsson (Sweden)
A. Aghini (San Remo)
first drivers' point
J. Kytolehto (Sweden)
C. Menem Jr. (Portugal)
S. Rai (Safari)
Y. Fujimoto (New Zealand)
S. Taguchi (New Zealand)
B. Sexton (New Zealand)
W. Orr (New Zealand)
C. Stallard (New Zealand)
H. Nishiyama (Argentina)
T. Challis (Australia)
B. Thiry (San Remo)
G. Manfrinato (San Remo)
M. Stohl (Ivory Coast)
G. Colsoul (Ivory Coast)
D. Occelli (Ivory Coast)
P. Diego (Catalunya)
first stage win
A. Aghini (Portugal)
M. Gronholm (Finland)
P. Baroni (San Remo)
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