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.

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

Manufacturers' championship

Pos. Co-Driver Monaco
MON		 Sweden
SWE		 Portugal
POR		 Kenya
KEN		 New Zealand
NZL		 Greece
GRC		 Finland
FIN		 Italy
ITA		 Canada
CAN		 France
FRA		 United Kingdom
GBR		 Points
1 Italy Fiat 161418-18(12)16181818(6) 136
2 United States Ford -14161816181814(10)-18 132
3 Japan Toyota -1014-8-128--16 68
4 Germany Opel 91713--48-13-1 65
5 Italy Lancia 18--14----1216- 60
6 Japan Datsun ---16-14-10--- 40
7 Germany Porsche 14-4-----98- 35
8 Sweden Saab -18-----10--2 30
9 Japan Mitsubishi ---123--13--- 28
10 United States Chrysler -----1014---- 24
11 France Renault -----7--11-- 18
12 United Kingdom British Leyland Cars -------12--4 16
13 France Peugeot ---6-----9- 15
14 Spain SEAT 14---------- 14
15 France Citroën -----13----- 13
16= France Alpine-Renault 10---------- 10
16= Japan Mazda ----10------ 10
18 Sweden Volvo -8--------- 8
19= Czechoslovakia Škoda ------7---- 7
19= Italy Alfa Romeo --------7-- 7
21 Soviet Union Lada -4--------- 4
Pos. Co-Driver Monaco
MON		 Sweden
SWE		 Portugal
POR		 Kenya
KEN		 New Zealand
NZL		 Greece
GRC		 Finland
FIN		 Italy
ITA		 Canada
CAN		 France
FRA		 United Kingdom
GBR		 Points
1977 World Rally Championship point awards
Overall
finish		 Group finish
12345678910
118---------
21716--------
3161514-------
415141312------
51413121110-----
61312111098----
71211109876---
81110987654--
91098765432-
109876543211

Cup for drivers

Pos. Driver Monaco
MON		 Finland
ARC		 Sweden
SWE		 Portugal
POR		 Kenya
KEN		 New Zealand
NZL		 Greece
GRC		 Italy
GIR		 South Africa
RSA		 Poland
POL		 Finland
FIN		 Italy
SMC		 Canada
CAN		 France
TDF		 Italy
ITA		 Australia
SCR		 Spain
ESP		 France
FRA		 United Kingdom
GBR		 Ivory Coast
CIV		 Points
1 Italy Sandro Munari 9---4---9--9-------- 31
2 Sweden Björn Waldegård ---6(9)[a]-9---4---2---9- 30
3 France Bernard Darniche ---------9---9---9-- 27
  European Rally Championship events
  FIA Special Events
  • a 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

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