The History of the World Rally Championship: 1978

In 1977 the Fiat juggernaut had beaten Ford, but it had been a close run thing and 1978 looked like it was going to be the rematch.


Ford sat out the Monte again, but in the end the French defeated Fiat more comprehensively than they could ever have hoped to.

The victor was Jean Pierre Nicholas, the man who had nearly spoilt their championship in Corsica last year. Lacking a works drive he had, with a little help from his friends, put a private entry together in an old Porsche 911 Carrera and slithered his way through the snow to a popular triumph.

Fiat's humiliation didn't end there though as Walter Rohrl in the leading works car was also beaten by Jean Ragnotti and Guy Frequelin in their little Group 2 Renault 5 Alpines. It certainly didn't help when Verini spun on the snowy Col du Corobin and blocked the stage for his team mates, but not for the little Renaults who were able to squeeze past his stricken car. Rohrl was rather more amused by this than the Fiat management.


Ford started their challenge in Sweden, where they managed a one-two at Fiat's expense. The drive of the rally though was by lifelong Saab man Stig Blomqvist who, in a one-off drive for Lancia, quickly tamed the Stratos to set a string of fastest times before being delayed. Neither team went to the Safari and battle was rejoined in Portugal. The lead changed 12 times before Markku Alen snatched victory from Hannu Mikkola on the last stage after the Ford punctured.

Exciting stuff then, but Portugal turned out to be the end of the fun. Ford had broken the bank chasing Fiat last year and there was no money left to pursue them any further. Rohrl won in Greece at a canter and when the Ford's broke down in Finland the championship was gifted to Fiat. Boreham had planned to return for the last tarmac rounds to gain some experience for next year, but industrial action put paid to that plan.

Instead Fiat's nearest rival were Opel, whose Kadett GT/E scooped up most of the Group 1 and 2 victories, and Porsche who had a reasonable year thanks to a solitary works entry in the Safari and a string of good performances by privateers. In the endurance rounds Nicholas showed his versatility by winning with the big Peugeot 504 V6, whilst in the tarmac rounds the Italians were left to fight amongst themselves.


This was the Lancia Stratos's last year as a works rally car. No development work had been done on the car for several years and as its 24 valve head had just been banned the car was actually slower now than the version that had debuted in 1974. Munari had lost the chance to make it four Monte's in a row when his engine gave out, but in the European championship Tony Carrello was cleaning up whilst Walter Rohrl had a car for the German national championship. For Sanremo everyone swapped cars as Rohrl and Munari both entered 131s, and then threw them into the scenery, whilst Alen took Rohrl's Stratos and won.

In Corsica it was the French Fiat's against the Italian Fiat's, with Darniche's works car taking the honours. British Leyland made a rare venture into Europe with the TR7, now in red and with a V8 engine. Once again it was a disaster, but not of their making. Someone had sabotaged the cars in the parc ferme and Pond found himself starting the stage with no gearbox oil. French nationalist were probably to blame, but suspiciously Fiat chose to only book their cars in at the last minute. Almost as suspicious was the six minute delay suffered by Andruet's leading 131. The usually super efficient Fiat mechanics fluffed a gearbox change which fortuitously dropped Andruet's Fiat-France car behind Darniche's official entry.


The RAC was once again a Ford benefit, but industrial action made this something of a triumph over the odds. In the end the cars were prepared by local dealer teams, using parts smuggled out of Boreham whilst pickets looked the other way. The best non-Ford was Pond who managed fourth in the burbling red TR7. Two Stratoses entered for what was to be their last works outing, but both failed. The Stratos story was over - or so we thought at the time.


Their was still no world championship for drivers, but the FIA cup was a dry run for an inaugural championship next year. Markku Alen won thanks to his triumphs in Portugal, Finland and Italy. He won twice in Italy, the Sanremo and the Giro d'Italia, a bizarre concept where racing cars and rally cars took each other on over special stages and races. Free from normal homologation rules the event featured 400+ bhp Porsches taking on modified Group 4 rally cars in what was a foretaste of what rallying was to become in the Group B years: noisy, dangerous and very exciting.

The prize for hero of the year though goes, not to Alen, but to the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Nicholas. After his David-versus-Goliath victory on the Monte Carlo, he drove for Peugeot on the two African rounds and won both, fighting off a unique appearance by a works Porsche team on the Safari. It was a great result for the likable Frenchman who had started the year without a drive. Suddenly everyone wanted to know him again.