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.

Calendar

Rd. Start date Finish date Rally Rally headquarters Surface Stages Distance Points
1 21 January 27 January 46th Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo Monte Carlo Mixed 29 565 km Drivers & Manufacturers
2 3 February 5 February 13th Marlboro Arctic Rally Rovaniemi, Lapland Snow 43 ?? Cup for Drivers
3 10 February 12 February 28th International Swedish Rally Karlstad, Värmland County Snow 38 615.6 km Drivers & Manufacturers
4 23 March 27 March 26th Safari Rally Nairobi Gravel N/A 5016 km Drivers & Manufacturers
5 19 April 24 April 12th Rallye de Portugal - Vinho do Porto Estoril, Lisbon Mixed 46 633.4 km Drivers & Manufacturers
6 29 May 2 June 25th Acropolis Rally Athens Gravel 54 772.1 km Drivers & Manufacturers
7 3 June 7 June 33rd Esso-Lombard Scottish Rally Aviemore Gravel 59 370 km Cup for Drivers
8 6 July 9 July 38th Rajd Polski Wroclaw Mixed 53 578.9 km Cup for Drivers
9 25 August 27 August 28th Jyväskylän Suurajot - Rally of the 1000 Lakes Jyväskylä, Central Finland Gravel 45 367.2 km Drivers & Manufacturers
10 2 September 9 September 9th Motogard Rally of New Zealand Auckland Gravel ?? 893 km Cup for Drivers
11 13 September 17 September 6th Critérium Molson du Québec Montreal Mixed 14 533.7 km Drivers & Manufacturers
12 16 September 21 September 37th Tour de France Automobile Biarritz, Nice Mixed 47 1009.5 km Cup for Drivers
13 2 October 8 October 20th Rallye Sanremo Sanremo, Liguria Mixed 55 893.8 km Drivers & Manufacturers
14 13 October 18 October 6th Giro d'Italia Torino Tarmac ?? 535 km Cup for Drivers
15 14 October 18 October 13th Southern Cross International Rally Sydney Mixed 33 1513.16 km Cup for Drivers
16 20 October 22 October 26th RACE Rallye de España Circuito del Jarama Mixed ?? ?? Cup for Drivers
17 21 October 24 October 10th Rallye Bandama Côte d'Ivoire Abidjan Gravel N/A 5472 km Drivers & Manufacturers
18 4 November 5 November 22nd Tour de Corse - Rallye de France Ajaccio, Corsica Tarmac 10 543.1 km Drivers & Manufacturers
19 19 November 23 November 34th Lombard RAC Rally Birmingham Gravel 76 715.37 km Drivers & Manufacturers
Sources:[1][2]

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 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

References

  1. ^ "WRC 1978". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  2. ^ "1978 WRC calendar". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
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