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.
Calendar
Rd.Start dateFinish dateRallyRally headquartersSurfaceStagesDistancePoints121 January27 January 46th Rallye Automobile Monte-CarloMonte CarloMixed29565 kmDrivers & Manufacturers23 February5 February 13th Marlboro Arctic RallyRovaniemi, LaplandSnow43??Cup for Drivers310 February12 February 28th International Swedish RallyKarlstad, Värmland CountySnow38615.6 kmDrivers & Manufacturers423 March27 March 26th Safari RallyNairobiGravelN/A5016 kmDrivers & Manufacturers519 April24 April 12th Rallye de Portugal - Vinho do PortoEstoril, LisbonMixed46633.4 kmDrivers & Manufacturers629 May2 June 25th Acropolis RallyAthensGravel54772.1 kmDrivers & Manufacturers73 June7 June 33rd Esso-Lombard Scottish RallyAviemoreGravel59370 kmCup for Drivers86 July9 July 38th Rajd PolskiWroclawMixed53578.9 kmCup for Drivers925 August27 August 28th Jyväskylän Suurajot - Rally of the 1000 LakesJyväskylä, Central FinlandGravel45367.2 kmDrivers & Manufacturers102 September9 September 9th Motogard Rally of New ZealandAucklandGravel??893 kmCup for Drivers1113 September17 September 6th Critérium Molson du QuébecMontrealMixed14533.7 kmDrivers & Manufacturers1216 September21 September 37th Tour de France AutomobileBiarritz, NiceMixed471009.5 kmCup for Drivers132 October8 October 20th Rallye SanremoSanremo, LiguriaMixed55893.8 kmDrivers & Manufacturers1413 October18 October 6th Giro d'ItaliaTorinoTarmac??535 kmCup for Drivers1514 October18 October 13th Southern Cross International RallySydneyMixed331513.16 kmCup for Drivers1620 October22 October 26th RACE Rallye de EspañaCircuito del JaramaMixed????Cup for Drivers1721 October24 October 10th Rallye Bandama Côte d'IvoireAbidjanGravelN/A5472 kmDrivers & Manufacturers184 November5 November 22nd Tour de Corse - Rallye de FranceAjaccio, CorsicaTarmac10543.1 kmDrivers & Manufacturers1919 November23 November 34th Lombard RAC RallyBirminghamGravel76715.37 kmDrivers & ManufacturersSources:
Rounds that were only part of the FIA Cup for Rally Drivers are not officially recognised as WRC events.
Events
Map Black = Tarmac Brown = Gravel Blue = Snow/ice Red = Mixed surface
Schedule and results Rally Dates run Championships Podium Drivers (Finishing Time) Podium CarsMonte Carlo Rally 21–28 January ManufacturersDrivers Jean-Pierre Nicolas (6h:57m:03s) Jean Ragnotti (6h:58m:55s) Guy Fréquelin (6h:59m:55s) Porsche 911 Renault 5 Alpine Renault 5 AlpineArctic Rally 3–5 February Drivers Ari Vatanen (6h:25m:03s) Henri Toivonen (6h:28m:44s) Markku Alén (6h:36m:20s) Ford Escort RS1800 Chrysler Avenger Fiat 131 AbarthSwedish Rally 10–12 February ManufacturersDrivers Björn Waldegård (6h:42m:40s) Hannu Mikkola (6h:44m:08s) Markku Alén (6h:45m:26s) Ford Escort RS1800 Ford Escort RS1800 Fiat 131 AbarthSafari Rally 23–27 March ManufacturersDrivers Jean-Pierre Nicolas (+8m:18s penalties) Vic Preston Jr (+8m:55s penalties) Rauno Aaltonen (+9m:10s penalties) Peugeot 504 V6 Coupé Porsche 911 Datsun 160JRallye de Portugal 19–23 April ManufacturersDrivers Markku Alén (7h:45m:33s) Hannu Mikkola (7h:50m:01s) Jean-Pierre Nicolas (8h:01m:01s) Fiat 131 Abarth Ford Escort RS1800 Ford Escort RS1800Acropolis Rally Greece 29 May–2 June ManufacturersDrivers Walter Röhrl (10h:00m:50s) Markku Alén (10h:10m:54s) Shekhar Mehta (10h:23m:36s) Fiat 131 Abarth Fiat 131 Abarth Datsun 160JScottish Rally 3–7 June Drivers Hannu Mikkola (4h:26m:38s) Pentti Airikkala (4h:34m:36s) Roger Clark (4h:35m:11s) Ford Escort RS1800 Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS Ford Escort RS1800Rajd Polski 6–9 July Drivers Antonio Zanini (5h:51m:01.2s) Franz Wittmann (6h:04m:10.9s) Salvador Cañellas (6h:09m:04.8s) Fiat 131 Abarth Opel Kadett GT/E Fiat 131 Abarth1000 Lakes Rally 25–27 August ManufacturersDrivers Markku Alén (3h:30m:10s) Timo Salonen (3h:32m:14s) Pentti Airikkala (3h:32m:50s) Fiat 131 Abarth Fiat 131 Abarth Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HSRally New Zealand 2–5 September Drivers Russell Brookes (9h:57m:12.0s) Jim Donald (10h:09m:29.4s) Paul Adams (10h:41m:55.8s) Ford Escort RS1800 Ford Escort RS1800 Ford Escort RS1800Critérium du Québec 13–17 September ManufacturersDrivers Walter Röhrl (4h:54m:23s) Markku Alén (5h:02m:56s) Anders Kulläng (5h:12m:46s) Fiat 131 Abarth Fiat 131 Abarth Opel Kadett GT/ETour de France Automobile 16–21 September Drivers Michèle Mouton (11h:18m:15.7s) Jean-Louis Clarr (11h:34m:01.8s) Chris Sclater (11h:40m:04.0s) Fiat 131 Abarth Opel Kadett GT/E Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HSRallye Sanremo 3–7 October ManufacturersDrivers Markku Alén (10h:53m:28s) Maurizio Verini (11h:04m:00s) Francis Vincent (11h:10m:31s) Lancia Stratos HF Fiat 131 Abarth Porsche 911Southern Cross Rally 14–18 October Drivers George Fury (1h:25m:17s) Colin Bond (1h:37m:12s) Wayne Bell (1h:58m:32s) Datsun Stanza Ford Escort RS1800 Holden GeminiRallye de España 20–22 October Drivers Tony Carello (4h:20m:03s) Beny Fernández (4h:29m:40) Jorge de Bagration (4h:33m:27s) Lancia Stratos HF Fiat 131 Abarth Lancia Stratos HFRallye Côte d'Ivoire 21–24 October ManufacturersDrivers Jean-Pierre Nicolas (+2m:28s penalties) Timo Mäkinen (+2m:43s penalties) Jean Ragnotti (+3m:50s penalties) Peugeot 504 V6 Coupé Peugeot 504 V6 Coupé Renault 5 AlpineTour de Corse 4–5 November ManufacturersDrivers Bernard Darniche (6h:47m:34s) Jean-Claude Andruet (6h:51m:59s) Sandro Munari (6h:52m:59s) Fiat 131 Abarth Fiat 131 Abarth Fiat 131 AbarthRAC Rally 19–23 November ManufacturersDrivers Hannu Mikkola (8:47m:23s) Björn Waldegård (8h:52m:41s) Russell Brookes (8h:58m:55s) Ford Escort RS1800 Ford Escort RS1800 Ford Escort RS1800
Standings
Manufacturers' championship
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 Manufacturer MON SWE KEN POR GRC FIN CAN ITA CIV FRA GBR Points
FIA Cup for Drivers 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 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 Overallfinish 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 1978 in sports
References
External links
FIA World Rally Championship 1978 at ewrc-results.com