Tour de France for automobiles 1978

The 1978 Tour de France for automobiles was held as a stage race for automobiles from September 16 to 21 in France .

The Tour Auto started this year in Biarritz and led over five stages and 4150 km to Nice . The 74 participants had to cope with 48 special tests, 27 of which reached the finish. The stages were Cahors , Limoges , Villeurbanne and Valence .

Last year's winner Bernard Darniche , who again drove a Lancia Stratos , entered the race as favorites . The toughest opponents were Jean-Claude Andruet ( Fiat 131 Abarth ), Bernard Béguin ( Porsche Carrera ) and Jean-Pierre Nicolas ( Ford Escort RS ) who, like Darniche, did not reach the finish line in Nice. The overall victory therefore went to a women's team for the first time. Michèle Mouton won in a Fiat 131 Abarth and, in addition to class victory in Group 4, also won the Coupe des Dames .

The first six of the overall ranking

Pl.	driver	Copilot	vehicle
1	Michèle Mouton	Françoise Conconi	Fiat 131 Abarth
2	Jean-Louis Clarr	Tilber	Opel Kadett GTE
3	Chris Sclater	Martin Holmes	Vauxhall Chevette
4th	Jean-Sébastien Couloumies	Jean-Bernard Vieu	Opera Cadet GTE
5	Christian Dorche	Gérard Roncin	Opel Kadett GTE
6th	Christian Gardavot	Claude Ferrato	Porsche Carrera

Class winner

class	driver	Copilot	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
Group 4	Michèle Mouton	Françoise Conconi	Fiat 131 Abarth	Overall victory
Group 3	Christian Gardavot	Claude Ferrato	Porsche Carrera	Rank 6
Group 2	Jean-Sébastien Couloumies	Jean-Bernard Vieu	Opera Cadet GTE	Rank 4
Group 1	Jean-Louis Clarr	Tilber	Opel Kadett GTE	Rank 2