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 headquartersSurfaceStagesDistancePoints
122 January28 January45th Rallye Automobile Monte-CarloMonte CarloMixed27540.5 kmDrivers & Manufacturers
24 February6 February12th Marlboro Arctic RallyRovaniemi, LaplandSnow43500 kmCup for Drivers
311 February13 February27th International Swedish RallyKarlstad, Värmland CountySnow35704.2 kmDrivers & Manufacturers
41 March6 March11th Rallye de Portugal - Vinho do PortoEstoril, LisbonMixed46584.6 kmDrivers & Manufacturers
57 April11 April25th Safari RallyNairobiGravelN/A5999.17 kmDrivers & Manufacturers
61 May7 May8th South Pacific Rally - New ZealandAucklandMixed752211.06 kmDrivers & Manufacturers
728 May3 June24th Acropolis RallyAthensGravel52763.08 kmDrivers & Manufacturers
812 June17 June5th Giro d'ItaliaTorinoTarmac??452 kmCup for Drivers
95 July9 July20th Total Rally South AfricaPretoriaMixed??2450 kmCup for Drivers
108 July10 July37th Rajd PolskiWroclawMixed53512.8 kmCup for Drivers
1126 August28 August27th Jyväskylän Suurajot - Rally of the 1000 LakesJyväskylä, Central FinlandGravel46452.9 kmDrivers & Manufacturers
122 September4 September14th Rally San Martino di CastrozzaSan Martino di CastrozzaMixed10160 kmCup for Drivers
1314 September18 September5th Critérium Molson du QuébecMontrealMixed17536.4 kmDrivers & Manufacturers
1415 September24 September36th Tour de France AutomobileNiceMixed281244.11 kmCup for Drivers
154 October8 October15th Rallye SanremoSanremo, LiguriaMixed33867.35 kmDrivers & Manufacturers
168 October12 October12th Total Oil Southern Cross International RallySydneyMixed351498.62 kmCup for Drivers
1723 October23 October25th RACE Rallye de EspañaCircuito del JaramaMixed27481 kmCup for Drivers
185 November6 November21st Tour de Corse - Rallye de FranceAjaccio, CorsicaTarmac13645.8 kmDrivers & Manufacturers
1920 November24 November33rd Lombard RAC RallyYorkGravel69674.45 kmDrivers & Manufacturers
2015 December20 December10th Rallye Bandama Côte d'IvoireAbidjanGravelN/A??Cup for Drivers
Sources:[1][2]

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 = TarmacBrown = GravelBlue = Snow/IceRed = Mixed Surface

Schedule and results

1977 World Rally Championship schedule and results
RallyDates runPodium Drivers (Finishing Time)Podium Cars

Rallye Monte-Carlo		22–28 January
  1. Sandro Munari (6h:36m:13s)
  2. Jean-Claude Andruet (6h:38m:29s)
  3. Antonio Zanini (6h:47m:07s)
  1. Lancia Stratos HF
  2. Fiat 131 Abarth
  3. Seat 124D Especial 1800

Swedish Rally		11–13 February
  1. Stig Blomqvist (8h:02m:17s)
  2. Bror Danielsson (8h:08m:19s)
  3. Anders Kulläng (8h:08m:32s)
  1. Saab 99 EMS
  2. Opel Kadett GT/E
  3. Opel Kadett GT/E

Rallye de Portugal		1–6 March
  1. Markku Alén (6h:51m:47s)
  2. Björn Waldegård (6h:55m:43s)
  3. Ove Andersson (6h:56m:08s)
  1. Fiat 131 Abarth
  2. Ford Escort RS1800
  3. Toyota Celica 2000GT

Safari Rally		7–11 April
  1. Björn Waldegård (+11m:05s penalties)
  2. Rauno Aaltonen (+11m:40s penalties)
  3. Sandro Munari (+13m:14s penalties)
  1. Ford Escort RS1800
  2. Datsun 160J
  3. Lancia Stratos HF

South Pacific Rally		1–7 May
  1. Fulvio Bacchelli (24h:29m:55s)
  2. Ari Vatanen (24h:31m:29s)
  3. Markku Alén (24h:51m:54s)
  1. Fiat 131 Abarth
  2. Ford Escort RS1800
  3. Fiat 131 Abarth

Acropolis Rally		28 May–3 June
  1. Björn Waldegård (9h:31m:57s)
  2. Roger Clark (9h:37m:44s)
  3. Harry Källström (9h:47m:19s)
  1. Ford Escort RS1800
  2. Ford Escort RS1800
  3. Datsun 160J

1000 Lakes Rally		26–28 August
  1. Kyösti Hämäläinen (4h:26m:06s)
  2. Timo Salonen (4h:30m:31s)
  3. Björn Waldegård (4h:36m:22s)
  1. Ford Escort RS1800
  2. Fiat 131 Abarth
  3. Ford Escort RS1800

Critérium du Québec		14–18 September
  1. Timo Salonen (5h:13m:54s)
  2. Simo Lampinen (5h:18m:31s)
  3. Roger Clark (5h:20m:56s)
  1. Fiat 131 Abarth
  2. Fiat 131 Abarth
  3. Ford Escort RS1800

Rallye Sanremo		4–8 October
  1. Jean Claude Andruet (10h:27m:43s)
  2. Maurizio Verini (10h:29m:40s)
  3. 'Tony' (10h:36m:30s)
  1. Fiat 131 Abarth
  2. Fiat 131 Abarth
  3. Fiat 131 Abarth

Tour de Corse		5–6 November
  1. Bernard Darniche (8h:13m:40s)
  2. Raffaele Pinto (8h:17m:07s)
  3. Fulvio Bacchelli (8h:24m:07s)
  1. Fiat 131 Abarth
  2. Lancia Stratos HF
  3. Fiat 131 Abarth

RAC Rally		20–24 November
  1. Björn Waldegård (8h:21m:26s)
  2. Hannu Mikkola (8h:23m:49s)
  3. Russell Brookes (8h:31m:55s)
  1. Ford Escort RS1800
  2. Toyota Celica 2000GT
  3. Ford Escort RS1800

Manufacturers' championship

Pos.Co-Driver
MON
SWE
POR
KEN
NZL
GRC
FIN
ITA
CAN
FRA
GBR		Points
1Fiat161418-18(12)16181818(6)136
2Ford-14161816181814(10)-18132
3Toyota-1014-8-128--1668
4Opel91713--48-13-165
5Lancia18--14----1216-60
6Datsun---16-14-10---40
7Porsche14-4-----98-35
8Saab-18-----10--230
9Mitsubishi---123--13---28
10Chrysler-----1014----24
11Renault-----7--11--18
12British Leyland Cars-------12--416
13Peugeot---6-----9-15
14SEAT14----------14
15Citroën-----13-----13
16=Alpine-Renault10----------10
16=Mazda----10------10
18Volvo-8---------8
19=Škoda------7----7
19=Alfa Romeo--------7--7
21Lada-4---------4
Pos.Co-Driver
MON
SWE
POR
KEN
NZL
GRC
FIN
ITA
CAN
FRA
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
MON
ARC
SWE
POR
KEN
NZL
GRC
GIR
RSA
POL
FIN
SMC
CAN
TDF
ITA
SCR
ESP
FRA
GBR
CIV		Points
1Sandro Munari9---4---9--9--------31
2Björn Waldegård---6(9)-9---4---2---9-30
3Bernard 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

References

  1. ^ "FIA Cup for Rally Drivers 1977". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  2. ^ "1977 WRC calendar". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 16 September 2025.