Michèle Mouton driving for Audi in 1981
The German army hoped to have access to vehicles by the Europa Jeep Project. When that didn't happen in 1975, they asked VW to build a Jeep, but they were too busy with the Golf GTI and GTD. That's how they ended up at Audi. The 'Type 183' project started with a 1.7 liter Audi engine for a four-wheel drive (4WD) with an Audi 100 gearbox. The project engineer also saw potential for the application of 4WD on street cars, which could lead to greater safety on the road in bad weather conditions and he also saw potential in motorsport applications. Audi boss, Ferdinand Piëch, immediately agreed because the turbo technology would also put them on the level of Mercedes and BMW.
Audi started testing with the Audi 80 chassis and a 160 bhp five cylinder tubo engine. Quite quickly they saw possibilities for using these cars in rallying and that is how Audi Sport was born. The first Audi took part in rallies for the German championship and some international rallies in 1978 without much success. In any case, it provided a lot of useful technical data. Things got better in 1979. When Audi team CEO, Jürgen Stockmar, also managed to have the FIA sports regulations amended to allow four-wheel drive cars to participate in rally racing, Audi was ready. The final test was the participation of four 4WD Iiltis- cars in the Rally Paris-Dakar in 1980; they finished 2nd, 4th and 9th. The Audi Quattro was then officially presented at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1980.
The next announcement from Audi was the confirmation of Hannu Mikkola as pilot for Audi in the 1981 World Championship. Meanwhile, Treser was newly appointed as head of Audi Sport. His first action was an attempt to get Walter Röhrl signing, but that was unsuccessful. He had a plan B. He made an offer to Michele Mouton. She didn't have to think long and in November the news became official.
On December 5 (and up to Christmas) Michèle Mouton started testing the new car in the Vosges area. On top of that, she had countless mandatory TV and media interviews, which meant that vacation and rest were not on the agenda.
First rally with Audi
The 1981 World Rally Championship finally started on January 24 and there were two Audi Quattros in brown, white, black and gray colours at the start of the Monte Carlo Rally. The two cars were assisted by 30 supporting vehicles, including several Quattros homologated for road use and serving as spare parts and two complete rally cars. The support team included experienced pilots who, for the team, explored upfront the condition of the road surface and the weather conditions of the special chrono stages before the pilots had to race them. Once again, the rally started from various European cities and ending together in Aix-les-Bains. Michèle started from Paris, Hannu Mikkola from Bad Homburg. Things did go wrong for the French lady during her first refuelling. The Audi no longer started; there was sand and dirt clogging the fuel line. They were towed to the assembly point, but there they learned that they were not allowed to participate any further. Mikkola did not get far either due to recurring technical problems, a trip into a wall and the loss of four-wheel drive.
The next rally was in Sweden. Snow is the perfect surface for the 4WD. Michèle did not participate; she had insufficient experience driving on snow and ice. Mikkola drove a sensible rally and gave Audi its first victory.
Rally Portugal
Michèle was ready for the Vinho do Porto Rallye de Portugal at the beginning of March. She had a new Audi made 40 kilos lighter (a lot of plastic used) with a slightly stronger engine and coloured in red, silver and black of sponsor BP. From the start in Estoril it was a battle between Mikkola and his compatriot Ari Vatanen in an outdated, but very effective Ford Escort RS. The Audi was very fast both on the sandy parts and on the asphalt. After the first stage with 16 of the 46 chrono stages completed, Mikkola was in the lead. Michèle Mouton, victim of an engine with injection problems and too soft brakes was only eleventh, almost eight minutes behind. Not much changed for the next six chrono stages during the second passage around Póvoa de Varzim. Two days after the start of the rally it went from Póvoa de Varzim via Viseu back to Estoril. Halfway through a stage, the engine of the leading Audi suddenly cut out. Mikkola thinking it's an electrical problem, tried to restart, which broke the piston and valve system. Vatanen immediately took first place, but in the next chrono stage his navigator made a mistake in the notes and the Escort went off the road. That put Marku Alen and the Fiat 131 definitively in the lead. In the meantime, Mouton's engine problems had been solved and she went full throttle. She won seven stages and ultimately finished fourth, 22 minutes behind the winner.
In an effort to learn more about the 4WD traction of the Audi, Mouton and Pons were active in two rally’s of the French Gravel Championship. They won the Criterium de Garrigues and were second in the Rallye Terre des Causses Rouergats.
Tour de Corse and troubles in Greece
The next rally on the agenda is the Tour de Corse. For Michèle, the narrow twisty roads were familiar territory. The Audi Quattro’s had lost weight by using Porsche Group 5 ventilated brake discs and the engine delivered slightly more horsepower. Some extra attention had to do with the downforce. The ladies' machine had new BP colours; black alternating with yellow and green stripes. Terrain knowledge is an advantage here and Michèle was in the top 6 after the first eight chrono stages; she was once overall the fastest. Unfortunately it was over in stage 9; the drive shaft got blocked. Mikkola also dropped out two stages earlier.
Unfortunately, Audi Sport's slump continued during the picturesque Acropolis rally at the beginning of June. Mikkola and Mouton were at the start with again new Audis and Franz Wittmann drove an older version. On Monday, 133 participants left Athens driving north. On the unpaved sandy roads, the Audi Quattro immediately showed his superiority. Michèle set the fastest time in the first stage of 42 km. In the second chrono stage, Mikkola was the fastest and so they shared irst places in the first fourteen chrono stages. Only at the end of the afternoon Ari Vatanen (Ford Escort) and Attilio Bettega (Fiat 131) were a few times faster. At the end of the first etappe, in the parc fermé of Kalambaka, Mikkola had built up a four-minute lead over Michèle Mouton. Vatanen, third, was more than six minutes behind and the Fiats of Bettega and Alén more than seven minutes. On Tuesday morning, the remaining 68 cars started for the second etappe. The Audis were again the fastest, but during the day they hit trouble. Wittman, who already lost some ground the previous day, had to deal with engine problems. That took a few minutes. Then Michèle Mouton, after continuously riding in the top three for five chrono stages, suffered a fracture in the rear suspension. She had to continue on three wheels and lost a minute and then another twelve because she had to have it fixed at the service point. At the same time, the mechanics were busy adding petrol to Mikkola's Quattro while the engine was running. Some gasoline leaked onto the red-hot exhaust, while sports director Walter Treser, on his back under the car, inspected the underside to check the condition of the suspension. The rear of the Quattro immediately caught fire (see photo below). Fortunately, Mikkola's co-driver, Arne Hertz, was fast enough to push the car a little forward. The fire was quickly extinguished, but Treser had second-degree burns on his arms and face. Michèle started with a strong recovery, but during the Elikonas stage she encountered transmission problems. At the end of the second etappe in Lagonissi, Mikkola had kept the lead with a two-minute over Vatanen. Mouton was now fifth, sixteen minutes behind.
But then the real problems began. The three Quattro’s were extensively checked two days before the start of the rally during the technical inspection, the 'scruteneering'. Another check was carried out in the parc-fermé now and that was not good. Each Audi had an extra battery on the floor in front of the passenger seat, which was only placed there for the duration of the overnight stay in the garage so that the car would certainly not have starting problems the next day. In addition, each Audi had its inner headlights removed and the resulting openings fitted with hinged, plastic flaps that would open easily while driving to allow additional cool air into the engine compartment. So a functional, but also aesthetic, solution. Unfortunately, the technical inspectors believed that both the absence of headlights and the presence of additional batteries violated FISA regulations. Without involving anyone from the Audi team, they submitted a negative report to race management. In fact, the drivers themselves had no idea what was going on until they reported present at the start of the third stage and saw ttheir way blocked. The Audi team was fined 25,000 drachmas and the three cars were banned from further participation. The team immediately appealed, but were not allowed to continue driving. Even in retrospect, a lot went wrong in applying the right rules at the right time, somewhat according to Greek culture. The story continued at Audi because Walter Treser was replaced by Reinard Rode. Audi management felt that this incident was a loss of face for the German brand. The Team also decided not to participate in the next two rallies in South America.
Michèle Mouton wins again now with Audi
In mid-July, the women's team used the Rallye des 1000 Pistes as a training session for Audi. This rally was held on the heavily sandy military domain of Canjuers in the Var. They did not get far, because the oil pump broke in the fifth stage. The World Rally Championship then moved to Finland for the 1000 Lakes Rally. This rally was a first for Michèle. The gravel paths through the Finnish forests, surrounded by freshwater lakes, made this rally one of the most demanding challenges of any rally in the world. Because of those endless steep peaks and valleys, the suspensions had to endure a lot. The cars often jumped into the air causing nuts, bolts and electrical contacts to become loose and parts to collapse under the force and vibration. Drivers naturally continued to strive to drive at the limit of grip. Now, due to the wet summer, the road surface were wet and slimy with a thin layer of mud. So caution was key. And that is exactly what Michèle did. Driving calmly, don't force it too much, make few mistakes, always learn something new. She brought the Audi unscathed to a thirteenth place but enjoyed it to the max.
The eighth rally of the championship was the San Remo rally with alternating asphalt and gravel paths. Once again, Audi had to compete against Fiat, Talbot, Porsche, Opel and Datsun. From the start, teammates Mikkola-Hertz had problems with the injection. This meant that after the first four chrono starges on asphalt, Walter Röhrl and the Almeras-tuned Porsche 911SC were in the lead ahead of the two Fiat 131 Abarth of Attilio Bettega and Dario Cerrato. Michèle, as usual, started cautiously. After a long ride of 200 km on the highway, the special stages began on the more sandy roads. The women's team got on the attack. Despite a flat tire in the ninth stage, Michèle and the Audi felt supreme on this terrain. In Pisa at the stop at the end of the second etappe, the Audi of local hero Michele Cinotto was in the lead ahead of Mouton, Röhrl, Alen (Fiat 131 Abarth) and Vatanen (Ford Escort). In the third stage between Pisa and Sienna, Michèle increased the pressure and Cinotto made a mistake. The number 14 Audi had at the end of the stage in the Piazza del Campo in Sienna a 3'23" lead over Röhrl and 3'24" over Vatanen. The fourth etappe, which took the drivers back to San Remo, was fatal for the Porsche; the differential broke. Michèle herself receives a two-minute penalty for replacing a suspension that was damaged by a flat tire. She now only had a 34 second lead over Vatanen before the last night-time asphalt chrono stages started. What should he do? Strengthen here position in the world championship or do everything she could to win. Michèle also had doubts: “I was a bit nervous, tired and disappointed that I had the two-minute penalty. I had fought to have a little bit of an advantage and suddenly it's all gone. I thought it wouldn't happen now either. For the first time in eight years, the stakes were high. I couldn't sleep. That was the first time that happened to me. I needed the help of the osteopath from the Audi team to relax. But I said to myself: you have a 34 second lead, seven years of experience on asphalt. You're not going to let a gravel path specialist beat you.” The first stage of the night was 46 km long. Michèle was calm and determined and got the third fastest time. Vatanen took all risks and collided hard with a stone, which was buried under grass. Flat tyres and a torn front axle. He could continue his way slowly and lost 18 minutes; he would only finish seventh in the final ranking. The Mouton-Pons women's team beated the men with a lead of four minutes. Teammate Mikkola would call Michèle from now on “superwoman”. The ladies also gave the Quattro its first victory in the world championship. In an interview at the end of her career, she said the following: “It was good for me to have to work out the tactics in that situation to be able to drive in such a way that I didn't felt so much pressure. As a driver it was very important to feel that I could handle that pressure. It took a long time for it to sink in, before I realized what I had done.
Last rally of the year
The finale of the Audi year 1981 was the Lombard RAC rally at the end of November. Four days of rally with 65 chrono stages on sand and forest paths, which were not allowed to be explored prior to the rally. Michèle Mouton was again facing a completely unknown rally outside her experience, but she decided to drive within her comfort zone. She did have an Audi with a larger turbo and a new injection system. She told Peter Foubister of the weekly magazine Autosport: “It would be good if all rallies had no training runs. Now you are alone with your car and the road. You have to do what you can and what you want. There is no compromise with your navigator and directions, just drive.” It seemed to be a Mikkola rally. From the third lap he took the lead, immediately 40 seconds ahead of the Vauxhall Chevette of Tony Pond. Michèle was third. However, in the Grizedale stage, Mikkola, a little too quickly in a corner, put the Audi on its roof. The Audi was virtually intact, but the Finn lost more than a minute before he could resume the race and lost the lead. When Michele was fastest in the Combs stage, he dropped to third place. During the passage through Kielder Forrest, with full turbo, Mikkola masterfully took the lead of the rally again and never relinquished it. He won the RAC for a third time, now with a minutes lead over Ari Vatanen, who thanks to his second place becomes the definitive World Champion. Michèle Mouton could fight at the front for a long time until the gearbox got stuck in the 41st chrono stage. The team managed to replace the bucket in less than an hour, allowing them to continue in fifth place. But in North Wales in extremely cold conditions the Audi skidded off the road and was badly damaged. Rally over. But in this rally the ladies were the fastest six times in the 57 chrono stages completed and the among the fastest six for 27 times. This showed that she had learned to make optimal use of the Quattro traction power.
She ended in eighth place in the final standings of the world championship.
