1978 World Rally Championship

The 1978 World Rally Championship was the sixth season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). The schedule remained largely similar to the previous year, with the exception of the removal of the Rally New Zealand from the schedule.

1978 was the last season with an official world championship only for manufacturers. Scoring was modified in 1977 to a more complex system including points both for overall and group placement. A car would still have to place in the overall top 10 to score points. In addition to the Championship for Manufacturers, the FIA awarded the FIA Cup for Rally Drivers. All rallies of the WRC, in addition to another ten events, were counted towards the drivers' totals. In 1979, the Cup for Drivers was incorporated into the WRC as the World Rally Championship for Drivers.

Events

Map

Black = Tarmac Brown = Gravel Blue = Snow/ice Red = Mixed surface

Schedule and results

Rally Dates run Championships Podium Drivers (Finishing Time) Podium Cars

Monte Carlo Rally
21–28 January Manufacturers
Drivers
  1. Jean-Pierre Nicolas (6h:57m:03s)
  2. Jean Ragnotti (6h:58m:55s)
  3. Guy Fréquelin (6h:59m:55s)
  1. Porsche 911
  2. Renault 5 Alpine
  3. Renault 5 Alpine

Arctic Rally
3–5 February Drivers
  1. Ari Vatanen (6h:25m:03s)
  2. Henri Toivonen (6h:28m:44s)
  3. Markku Alén (6h:36m:20s)
  1. Ford Escort RS1800
  2. Chrysler Avenger
  3. Fiat 131 Abarth

Swedish Rally
10–12 February Manufacturers
Drivers
  1. Björn Waldegård (6h:42m:40s)
  2. Hannu Mikkola (6h:44m:08s)
  3. Markku Alén (6h:45m:26s)
  1. Ford Escort RS1800
  2. Ford Escort RS1800
  3. Fiat 131 Abarth

Safari Rally
23–27 March Manufacturers
Drivers
  1. Jean-Pierre Nicolas (+8m:18s penalties)
  2. Vic Preston, Jr. (+8m:55s penalties)
  3. Rauno Aaltonen (+9m:10s penalties)
  1. Peugeot 504 V6 Coupé
  2. Porsche 911
  3. Datsun 160J

Rallye de Portugal
19–23 April Manufacturers
Drivers
  1. Markku Alén (7h:45m:33s)
  2. Hannu Mikkola (7h:50m:01s)
  3. Jean-Pierre Nicolas (8h:01m:01s)
  1. Fiat 131 Abarth
  2. Ford Escort RS1800
  3. Ford Escort RS1800

Acropolis Rally Greece
29 May–2 June Manufacturers
Drivers
  1. Walter Röhrl (10h:00m:50s)
  2. Markku Alén (10h:10m:54s)
  3. Shekhar Mehta (10h:23m:36s)
  1. Fiat 131 Abarth
  2. Fiat 131 Abarth
  3. Datsun 160J

Scottish Rally
3–7 June Drivers
  1. Hannu Mikkola (4h:26m:38s)
  2. Pentti Airikkala (4h:34m:36s)
  3. Roger Clark (4h:35m:11s)
  1. Ford Escort RS1800
  2. Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS
  3. Ford Escort RS1800

Rajd Polski
6–9 July Drivers
  1. Antonio Zanini (5h:51m:01.2s)
  2. Franz Wittmann (6h:04m:10.9s)
  3. Salvador Cañellas (6h:09m:04.8s)
  1. Fiat 131 Abarth
  2. Opel Kadett GT/E
  3. Fiat 131 Abarth

1000 Lakes Rally
25–27 August Manufacturers
Drivers
  1. Markku Alén (3h:30m:10s)
  2. Timo Salonen (3h:32m:14s)
  3. Pentti Airikkala (3h:32m:50s)
  1. Fiat 131 Abarth
  2. Fiat 131 Abarth
  3. Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS

Rally New Zealand
2–5 September Drivers
  1. Russell Brookes (9h:57m:12.0s)
  2. Jim Donald (10h:09m:29.4s)
  3. Paul Adams (10h:41m:55.8s)
  1. Ford Escort RS1800
  2. Ford Escort RS1800
  3. Ford Escort RS1800

Critérium du Québec
13–17 September Manufacturers
Drivers
  1. Walter Röhrl (4h:54m:23s)
  2. Markku Alén (5h:02m:56s)
  3. Anders Kulläng (5h:12m:46s)
  1. Fiat 131 Abarth
  2. Fiat 131 Abarth
  3. Opel Kadett GT/E

Tour de France Automobile
16–21 September Drivers
  1. Michèle Mouton (11h:18m:15.7s)
  2. Jean-Louis Clarr (11h:34m:01.8s)
  3. Chris Sclater (11h:40m:04.0s)
  1. Fiat 131 Abarth
  2. Opel Kadett GT/E
  3. Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS

Rallye Sanremo
3–7 October Manufacturers
Drivers
  1. Markku Alén (10h:53m:28s)
  2. Maurizio Verini (11h:04m:00s)
  3. Francis Vincent (11h:10m:31s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Fiat 131 Abarth
  3. Porsche 911

Southern Cross Rally
14–18 October Drivers
  1. George Fury (1h:25m:17s)
  2. Colin Bond (1h:37m:12s)
  3. Wayne Bell (1h:58m:32s)
  1. Datsun Stanza
  2. Ford Escort RS1800
  3. Holden Gemini

Rallye de España
20–22 October Drivers
  1. Tony Carello (4h:20m:03s)
  2. Beny Fernández (4h:29m:40)
  3. Jorge de Bagration (4h:33m:27s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Fiat 131 Abarth
  3. Lancia Stratos HF

Rallye Côte d'Ivoire
21–24 October Manufacturers
Drivers
  1. Jean-Pierre Nicolas (+2m:28s penalties)
  2. Timo Mäkinen (+2m:43s penalties)
  3. Jean Ragnotti (+3m:50s penalties)
  1. Peugeot 504 V6 Coupé
  2. Peugeot 504 V6 Coupé
  3. Renault 5 Alpine

Tour de Corse
4–5 November Manufacturers
Drivers
  1. Bernard Darniche (6h:47m:34s)
  2. Jean-Claude Andruet (6h:51m:59s)
  3. Sandro Munari (6h:52m:59s)
  1. Fiat 131 Abarth
  2. Fiat 131 Abarth
  3. Fiat 131 Abarth

RAC Rally
19–23 November Manufacturers
Drivers
  1. Hannu Mikkola (8:47m:23s)
  2. Björn Waldegård (8h:52m:41s)
  3. Russell Brookes (8h:58m:55s)
  1. Ford Escort RS1800
  2. Ford Escort RS1800
  3. Ford Escort RS1800

Standings

Manufacturers' championship

Pos. Manufacturer
MON

SWE

KEN

POR

GRC

FIN

CAN

ITA

CIV

FRA

GBR
Points
1 Fiat 14 14 - 18 18 18 18 16 - 18 (9) 134
2 Ford - 18 7 16 9 6 13 13 - - 18 100
3 Opel (10) 12 - 13 12 11 16 10 - 12 14 100
4 Porsche 18 - 16 7 - 12 - 14 - 12 - 79
5 Datsun - - 16 - 16 - - - 10 - 10 52
6 Toyota - - - 15 8 13 14 - - - - 50
7 Lancia 8 12 - - 11 - - 18 - - - 49
8 Peugeot - - 18 9 - - - - 18 - - 45
9 Renault 17 - - - - - - - 16 - - 33
10 British Leyland Cars - - - - - - 12 - - - 12 24
11 Saab - 8 - - - - 10 - - - - 18
12 Volkswagen - 9 - - - - 8 - - - - 17
13 Mitsubishi - - 5 - - - - - 11 - - 16
14 Vauxhall - - - - - 14 - - - - - 14
Alfa Romeo - - - - - - - 14 - - - 14
16 Mercedes - - 12 - - - - - - - - 12
17 Volvo - 10 - - - - - - - - - 10
18 Chrysler - - - - - - - - - - 8 8
19 Škoda - - - - 6 - - - - - - 6
20 Alpine-Renault - - - - - - - - - 5 - 5
21 Lada - - - - 4 - - - - - - 4
Pos. Manufacturer
MON

SWE

KEN

POR

GRC

FIN

CAN

ITA

CIV

FRA

GBR
Points

FIA Cup for Drivers

Pos. Driver
MON

ARC

SWE

KEN

POR

GRC

SCO

POL

FIN

NZL

CAN

TDF

ITA

GIR

AUS

ESP

CIV

FRA

GBR
Points
1 Markku Alén - 4 (4) - 9 6 0 - 9 - 6 - 9 9 - - - - 0 52
2 Jean-Pierre Nicolas 9 - - 9 4 0 - - - - - 0 - - - - 9 0 0 31
3 Hannu Mikkola - - 6 - 6 - 9 - 0 - - - - - - - - - 9 30
4 Michèle Mouton 0 - - - - - - - - - - 9 - 3 - - - 2 - 14
5 Russell Brookes - - - - - - 0 - - 9 - - - - - - - - 4 13
6 Walter Röhrl 3 - - - 0 (9) - - - - 9 - 0 - - - - - 1 13
7 Bernard Darniche 2 - - - 0 - - - - - - 0 - - - - - 9 - 11
8 Ari Vatanen - 9 2 - 0 - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - 0 11
9 Jean Ragnotti 6 - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - 4 - - 10
10 Pentti Airikkala - - 0 - - - 6 - 4 - - - - - - - - - 0 10
Pos. Driver
MON

ARC

SWE

KEN

POR

GRC

SCO

POL

FIN

NZL

CAN

TDF

ITA

GIR

AUS

ESP

CIV

FRA

GBR
Points

Pointscoring systems

Manufacturers' championship

Overall
finish
Group finish
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 18 - - - - - - - - -
2 17 16 - - - - - - - -
3 16 15 14 - - - - - - -
4 15 14 13 12 - - - - - -
5 14 13 12 11 10 - - - - -
6 13 12 11 10 9 8 - - - -
7 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 - - -
8 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 - -
9 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 -
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1

See also