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There are only few countries which can boast having all the ingredients necessary to make one-nation sweep possible but when Miki Biasion won 1988 championship title with Lancia, it was italian title all the way. Lancia's domination was, if possible, even greater than in previous season and that somewhat deflated the interest. On top of that, in Ivory Coast there were no works teams present at all and in New Zealand the only one was sole Opel for Josef 'Sepp' Haider.
There were two sparkles in the dusk, however. First one was Didier Auriol's magnificient performance with works Ford Sierra Cosworth in Tour de Corse, scene of his first WRC win. The another was the arrival of Toyota's new challenger which, despite poor reliability, promised much for the coming years.
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Lancia switched from Delta HF 4WD to advanced Delta Integrale. Car was supposed to be better but drivers found out that it had nasty habit of understeering, making the otherwise improved car smaller step ahead than intended.
Toyota finally made the switch from cherry picking to full assault by debuting their first four-wheel drive rally car, the Celica GT-4. It was instantly fast but unfortunately still unreliable. At last it looked like Lancia had serious competition.
Third new car was Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 though it saw precious little action during the year.
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1988 FIA World Rally Champion, Massimo Biasion
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Drivers scoring their
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first win
D. Auriol (Corsica)
J. Haider (New Zealand)
J. Recalde (Argentina)
A. Ambrosino (Ivory Coast)
first drivers' point
C. Spiliotis (Monte Carlo)
R. Frau (Monte Carlo)
P. Bos (Monte Carlo)
F. Chauche (Monte Carlo)
T. Jansson (Sweden)
H. Eriksson (Sweden)
I. Amaral (Portugal)
I. Duncan (Safari)
J. Heather-Hayes (Safari)
P. Baroni (Corsica)
P. Gaban (Acropolis)
K. Apostolou (Acropolis)
G. Vardinogiannis (Acropolis)
F. Roothaert (Acropolis)
N. Tajima (USA - Olympus)
M. Lieu (USA - Olympus)
A. Carter (USA - Olympus)
R. Wilson (New Zealand)
R. Meekings (New Zealand)
J. McAndrew (New Zealand)
D. Strong (New Zealand)
M. Roestenburg (New Zealand)
T. Sano (New Zealand)
M. Walker (New Zealand)
J. Traverso (Argentina)
M. Raies (Argentina)
C. Israel (Argentina)
J. Grasso (Argentina)
F. Urrutia (Argentina)
H. Joki (Finland)
M. Molinie (Ivory Coast)
A. Oudit (Ivory Coast)
D. Monin (Ivory Coast)
R. Ambrosoli (Ivory Coast)
S. Mafall (Ivory Coast)
R. Baumschlager (San Remo)
P. de Martini (San Remo)
A. Schwarz (Great Britain)
S. Walfridsson (Great Britain)
first stage win
Y. Loubet (Monte Carlo)
J. Ballet (Monte Carlo)
A. Fiorio (Monte Carlo)
L. Torph (Sweden)
E. Johansson (Sweden)
T. Edling (Sweden)
P. Alessandrini (USA - Olympus)
J. Haider (New Zealand)
P. Bourne (New Zealand)
T. Teesdale (New Zealand)
M. Jennings (New Zealand)
R. Stohl (Ivory Coast)
A. Ambrosino (Ivory Coast)
P. Gaban (Ivory Coast)
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