quattro in rallying
Audi made history with quattro: the four-wheel drive system caused a sensation in motorsport from 1981 onwards. The Audi quattro quickly became a winner. What’s more, Audi brought about a paradigm shift, as the competition was forced to follow suit. To this day, four-wheel drive is the benchmark in the World Rally Championship. In 1984, Audi offered quattro in all its model ranges for the first time.
Technical revolution
The Audi quattro won the Jänner Rally in Austria on its debut in January 1981. This was followed in Sweden during February by the driver crew of Hannu Mikkola and Arne Hertz taking the first triumph in a world championship round. When their teammates, Michèle Mouton and Fabrizia Pons, won the San Remo Rally in October, the first victory for a female driving crew was perfect. Audi continued to rely on the long-wheelbase quattro until 1984. In 1982, the company won the manufacturers’ world title for the first time, and in 1983, Hannu Mikkola and Arne Hertz were the first world champions with a four-wheel drive car.
Hannu Mikkola/Arne Hertz on their way to victory in the 1981 Swedish Rally
Second generation
In parallel to the Audi quattro, the Audi Sport quattro with a shorter wheelbase and a new four-valves per cylinder engine was launched in May 1984. Stig Blomqvist and Björn Cederberg, who competed in the original long-wheelbase model and in the shortened version, prevailed in the title fight. At the same time, the manufacturers’ championship went to Audi for the second time. In 1985, the Audi Sport quattro S1 E2 made its debut with its spectacular aerodynamics and other new technical developments. Walter Röhrl and Christian Geistdörfer celebrated an outstanding victory at the San Remo Rally. In total, Audi won 23 individual world championship events from Group 4 to the end of the Group B era.
First place in San Remo for Walter Röhrl/Christian Geistdörfer in 1985
The beautiful view from Pikes Peak in Colorado with Walter Röhrl at the 1987 edition of the hillclimb event
The beautiful view from Pikes Peak in Colorado with Walter Röhrl at the 1987 edition of the hillclimb event
Storming to the summit
Away from the World Rally Championship, the Audi quattro also proved to be an excellent sprinter in what is probably the most famous hill climb in the world. After the early participations of the American John Buffum in the Audi quattro, Audi Sport also took a liking to the event at Pikes Peak in Colorado, USA. In 1984, factory driver Michèle Mouton won the rally class in the Audi Sport quattro, and in 1985 she achieved overall victory for the first time with this model. One year later, Bobby Unser won the ‘Race to the Clouds’ in the E2 version. With an even more extreme version, Audi not only achieved the hat-trick in 1987. Walter Röhrl set a new record with a time of 10:47.85 minutes on the adventurous course, which had no safety barriers on the slopes of the 4,301 metre-high mountain.
Walter Röhrl and the Audi Sport quattro S1 at the 1987 Pikes Peak Hillclimb
Back to close-to-production cars
Audi not only made history in Group B. The Audi 200 quattro – the largest saloon in the company’s model range at the time – was the car of choice in Group A during 1987. Audi contested selected championship events with the rally car with around 240 hp, including the Monte Carlo Rally and the Safari Rally in Kenya. After Walter Röhrl and Christian Geistdörfer finished third on their debut in Monte Carlo, Hannu Mikkola and Arne Hertz took victory in East Africa, finishing ahead of their German teammates. This marks another milestone in the history of rallying with the four rings: For the first time, a car with four-wheel drive won the 4,000-kilometre competition through Kenya, which is considered to be a relentless event.
Victory for the Audi 200 quattro with Hannu Mikkola/Arne Hertz at the 1987 Safari Rally
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