The 1977 World Rally Championship was the fifth season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). The schedule was expanded by one event to 11, with some changes to the locations visited. Morocco was dropped from the schedule while new rallies were introduced in Quebec and New Zealand.

Due to internal politics within the company, Lancia failed to mount a significant effort to capture a fourth consecutive Championship. Instead, corporate partner Fiat led the fight against Ford, ultimately triumphing in a tightly contested battle that lasted most of the year.

From 1973 to 1978, the WRC only awarded a championship 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 began awarding the FIA Cup for Rally Drivers. A total of 20 events were part of this series, including all rallies of the WRC, the five coefficient 4 rallies from the European Championship and four FIA Special Events. Only the best 8 results were counted towards the title: five WRC rallies, two ERC rallies and one Special Event.

Calendar

Rd.Start dateFinish dateRallyRally headquartersSurfaceStagesDistancePoints122 January28 January 45th Rallye Automobile Monte-CarloMonte CarloMixed27540.5 kmDrivers & Manufacturers24 February6 February 12th Marlboro Arctic RallyRovaniemi, LaplandSnow43500 kmCup for Drivers311 February13 February 27th International Swedish RallyKarlstad, Värmland CountySnow35704.2 kmDrivers & Manufacturers41 March6 March 11th Rallye de Portugal - Vinho do PortoEstoril, LisbonMixed46584.6 kmDrivers & Manufacturers57 April11 April 25th Safari RallyNairobiGravelN/A5999.17 kmDrivers & Manufacturers61 May7 May 8th South Pacific Rally - New ZealandAucklandMixed752211.06 kmDrivers & Manufacturers728 May3 June 24th Acropolis RallyAthensGravel52763.08 kmDrivers & Manufacturers812 June17 June 5th Giro d'ItaliaTorinoTarmac??452 kmCup for Drivers95 July9 July 20th Total Rally South AfricaPretoriaMixed??2450 kmCup for Drivers108 July10 July 37th Rajd PolskiWroclawMixed53512.8 kmCup for Drivers1126 August28 August 27th Jyväskylän Suurajot - Rally of the 1000 LakesJyväskylä, Central FinlandGravel46452.9 kmDrivers & Manufacturers122 September4 September 14th Rally San Martino di CastrozzaSan Martino di CastrozzaMixed10160 kmCup for Drivers1314 September18 September 5th Critérium Molson du QuébecMontrealMixed17536.4 kmDrivers & Manufacturers1415 September24 September 36th Tour de France AutomobileNiceMixed281244.11 kmCup for Drivers154 October8 October 15th Rallye SanremoSanremo, LiguriaMixed33867.35 kmDrivers & Manufacturers168 October12 October 12th Total Oil Southern Cross International RallySydneyMixed351498.62 kmCup for Drivers1723 October23 October 25th RACE Rallye de EspañaCircuito del JaramaMixed27481 kmCup for Drivers185 November6 November 21st Tour de Corse - Rallye de FranceAjaccio, CorsicaTarmac13645.8 kmDrivers & Manufacturers1920 November24 November 33rd Lombard RAC RallyYorkGravel69674.45 kmDrivers & Manufacturers2015 December20 December 10th Rallye Bandama Côte d'IvoireAbidjanGravelN/A??Cup for DriversSources:

Rounds that were only part of the FIA Cup for Rally Drivers are not officially recognised as WRC events.

Events

Map 1977 World Rally Championship event map Black = Tarmac Brown = Gravel Blue = Snow/Ice Red = Mixed Surface

Schedule and results 1977 World Rally Championship schedule and results Rally Dates run Podium Drivers (Finishing Time) Podium Cars Rallye Monte-Carlo 22–28 January Sandro Munari (6h:36m:13s) Jean-Claude Andruet (6h:38m:29s) Antonio Zanini (6h:47m:07s) Lancia Stratos HF Fiat 131 Abarth Seat 124D Especial 1800 Swedish Rally 11–13 February Stig Blomqvist (8h:02m:17s) Bror Danielsson (8h:08m:19s) Anders Kulläng (8h:08m:32s) Saab 99 EMS Opel Kadett GT/E Opel Kadett GT/E Rallye de Portugal 1–6 March Markku Alén (6h:51m:47s) Björn Waldegård (6h:55m:43s) Ove Andersson (6h:56m:08s) Fiat 131 Abarth Ford Escort RS1800 Toyota Celica 2000GT Safari Rally 7–11 April Björn Waldegård (+11m:05s penalties) Rauno Aaltonen (+11m:40s penalties) Sandro Munari (+13m:14s penalties) Ford Escort RS1800 Datsun 160J Lancia Stratos HF South Pacific Rally Report 1–7 May Fulvio Bacchelli (24h:29m:55s) Ari Vatanen (24h:31m:29s) Markku Alén (24h:51m:54s) Fiat 131 Abarth Ford Escort RS1800 Fiat 131 Abarth Acropolis Rally 28 May–3 June Björn Waldegård (9h:31m:57s) Roger Clark (9h:37m:44s) Harry Källström (9h:47m:19s) Ford Escort RS1800 Ford Escort RS1800 Datsun 160J 1000 Lakes Rally 26–28 August Kyösti Hämäläinen (4h:26m:06s) Timo Salonen (4h:30m:31s) Björn Waldegård (4h:36m:22s) Ford Escort RS1800 Fiat 131 Abarth Ford Escort RS1800 Critérium du Québec 14–18 September Timo Salonen (5h:13m:54s) Simo Lampinen (5h:18m:31s) Roger Clark (5h:20m:56s) Fiat 131 Abarth Fiat 131 Abarth Ford Escort RS1800 Rallye Sanremo 4–8 October Jean Claude Andruet (10h:27m:43s) Maurizio Verini (10h:29m:40s) 'Tony' (10h:36m:30s) Fiat 131 Abarth Fiat 131 Abarth Fiat 131 Abarth Tour de Corse 5–6 November Bernard Darniche (8h:13m:40s) Raffaele Pinto (8h:17m:07s) Fulvio Bacchelli (8h:24m:07s) Fiat 131 Abarth Lancia Stratos HF Fiat 131 Abarth RAC Rally 20–24 November Björn Waldegård (8h:21m:26s) Hannu Mikkola (8h:23m:49s) Russell Brookes (8h:31m:55s) Ford Escort RS1800 Toyota Celica 2000GT Ford Escort RS1800

Manufacturers' championship

Co-Driver MON SWE POR KEN NZL GRC FIN ITA CAN FRA GBR Points 1 Fiat 16 14 18 - 18 (12) 16 18 18 18 (6) 136 2 Ford - 14 16 18 16 18 18 14 (10) - 18 132 3 Toyota - 10 14 - 8 - 12 8 - - 16 68 4 Opel 9 17 13 - - 4 8 - 13 - 1 65 5 Lancia 18 - - 14 - - - - 12 16 - 60 6 Datsun - - - 16 - 14 - 10 - - - 40 7 Porsche 14 - 4 - - - - - 9 8 - 35 8 Saab - 18 - - - - - 10 - - 2 30 9 Mitsubishi - - - 12 3 - - 13 - - - 28 10 Chrysler - - - - - 10 14 - - - - 24 11 Renault - - - - - 7 - - 11 - - 18 12 British Leyland Cars - - - - - - - 12 - - 4 16 13 Peugeot - - - 6 - - - - - 9 - 15 14 SEAT 14 - - - - - - - - - - 14 15 Citroën - - - - - 13 - - - - - 13 16= Alpine-Renault 10 - - - - - - - - - - 10 16= Mazda - - - - 10 - - - - - - 10 18 Volvo - 8 - - - - - - - - - 8 19= Škoda - - - - - - 7 - - - - 7 19= Alfa Romeo - - - - - - - - 7 - - 7 21 Lada - 4 - - - - - - - - - 4 Co-Driver MON SWE POR KEN NZL GRC FIN ITA CAN FRA GBR Points

1977 World Rally Championship point awards 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

Cup for drivers Driver MON ARC SWE POR KEN NZL GRC GIR RSA POL FIN SMC CAN TDF ITA SCR ESP FRA GBR CIV Points 1 Sandro Munari 9 - - - 4 - - - 9 - - 9 - - - - - - - - 31 2 Björn Waldegård - - - 6 (9) - 9 - - - 4 - - - 2 - - - 9 - 30 3 Bernard Darniche - - - - - - - - - 9 - - - 9 - - - 9 - - 27

Notes Waldegård had to drop one of his best results in WRC events because he didn't take part in at least one ERC event, as provided by the regulations.

See also 1977 in sports

References

External links