<< Prev Page 2 of 2 Even though the Lancia Beta Montecarlo was first shown in December of 1978, it did not make its racing debut until June of the next year during the Silverstone round of the World Championship. A single car was entered for Ricardo Patrese and Walter Röhrl. The new racer was quick straight out of the box, although it struggled to keep up with the much more powerful and heavier Porsches. Reliability also was a major issue and caused a very early retirement. Once the early bugs were ironed out, the Beta Montecarlo easily dominated the 2-litre class, taking class wins at Pergusa and Brands Hatch. Lancia finished second in the overall championship at a considerable distance behind the Porsches.
For 1980 the championship was divided in two classes; one for under and one for over two litres. Painted in the striking Martini colours, the Lancias absolutely dominated their class, scoring ten victories from a possible eleven in their class. It has to be said that the competition was very limited. More impressive were the outright victories scored at Brands Hatch, Mugello and Watkins Glen against the Porsches; a Lancia one-two at each occasion. There was more of the same in 1981 with Lancia again winning the 2-litre championship and scoring another outright victory against the 935s, which had in excess of 800 bhp on tap. Another great achievement was an eight overall and a second in the Group 5 class at Le Mans behind a Porsche 935.
Encouraged by the performance of the 'two-litre' Beta Montecarlo, Abarth developed a larger engine for 1981 to really go 'Porsche hunting.' The new engine displaced 1773 cc and came equipped with two Turbo-chargers. Power was increased to 520 bhp. Unfortunately this version was never fully developed with Lancia already looking ahead to the brand new 'Group C' regulations that would come into force in 1982. The larger engined Beta Montecarlo only managed to score points at one occasion. Although no longer eligible for the World Championship, the Group 5 Lancias continued to be raced by privateers with considerable success. Clinching two World Championships in such dominating fashion, the Beta Montecarlo Turbo has gone into history as one of the great Lancia racing cars. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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Even though the Lancia Beta Montecarlo was first shown in December of 1978, it did not make its racing debut until June of the next year during the Silverstone round of the World Championship. A single car was entered for Ricardo Patrese and Walter Röhrl. The new racer was quick straight out of the box, although it struggled to keep up with the much more powerful and heavier Porsches. Reliability also was a major issue and caused a very early retirement. Once the early bugs were ironed out, the Beta Montecarlo easily dominated the 2-litre class, taking class wins at Pergusa and Brands Hatch. Lancia finished second in the overall championship at a considerable distance behind the Porsches.