He competed in the first World Rally Championships in 1973, winning the 16th Moroccan Rally and placing second in the 44th Alpine Rally, and was one of the top competitors for the remainder of the decade. He finished third in the inaugural FIA Cup for Rally Drivers in 1977, the first of three successive top ten finishes in the drivers" championship. The so-called "Night of the Long Knives" has seen Darniche victorious on ten occasions.
He won the European Rally Championship in 1976 and 1977 and the French Rally Championship in 1976 and 1978, each time behind the wheel of a Lancia Stratos High Frequency. He also holds the record for most victories in the Tour de Corse which he won six times (1970, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1981), a feat later equalled by Didier Auriol. He also won the Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo in 1979, the event where he holds the record for most wins on the infamous Colonel de Turini stage, a 1,600 m Alpine mountain pass normally driven in darkness.
