Audi won two
manufacturer titles in World Rally Championship with the Quattro, which was a
Group B car.
Audi joined
the World Rally Championship with the Quattro back in 1981 and clinched two
manufacturer titles with this car in 1982 and 1984. The engine had a capacity
of 2.145 cc, was located front longitudinal and had a turbocharger. Moreover,
the type of the engine was a straight five-cylinder Audi R5T GV/WR combined
with the five-speed manual gearbox and a four-wheel drive. The body was a steel
monocoque Type 85 chassis version of VW B2 platform with roll-cage while the
suspension was with McPherson struts with lower steel/titanium/aluminium
wishbone. The total output and the torque of this car were at 300-320 hp at 6.500
rpm and 412Nm at 3.500 rpm respectively.
1981
Audi Sport
signed Hannu Mikkola and Michele Mouton as its drivers for 1981 whereas Franz
Wittmann and Michele Cinotto made some outings with the Quattro. The season
started with Rallye Monte Carlo where Audi did not manage to get to the finish
line as Mikkola and Mouton suffered from brakes and fuel issues respectively.
Mouton was absent from Rally Sweden whereas Mikkola delivered the first victory
for Audi there. At Rally de Portugaql, Mikkola retired with an engine issue,
but Mouton save the game for Audi with her fourth place. Audi Sport skipped the
next WRC round which was held in Kenya and headed to Tour de Corse where the
German car brand did not finish as Mikkola and Mouton had a piston and a
camshaft issue respectively. At Acropolis Rally, Wittmann joined the Audi duo,
but all the Quattros were excluded from that event. Afterwards, Audi did not
take part in Argentina and Brazil, therefore its next event was Rally Finland
where Mikkola and Mouton finished 3rd and 13th overall
respectively while Wittmann withdrew from that event. Mouton took her first
victory of the season and in World Rally Championship at Rallye Sanremo with
her teammate Mikkola having finished at the top four while Cinotto had an accident
with the Quattro. At the penultimate WRC round in Cote d’Ivoire, Audi was not
represented by a driver, but, at the season finale in Great Britain, Mikkola
scored another victory with the Quattro whereas Mouton had an accident. At the
end of the championship, Audi finished at the top five with 63 points despite the
fact that Audi and Fiat had identical points.
1982
In 1982,
Audi Sport renewed the contracts of Hannu Mikkola, Michele Mouton, Franz
Wittmann and Michele Cinotto while Harald Demuth secured a two-rally campaign
with them. At Rallye Monte Carlo, Mikkola finished at the lowest place of the
podium while his teammates, Mouton and Cinotto, had an accident. At Rally
Sweden, Audi took points from Stig Blomqvist who was victorious there and took
part with the Audi Sport Sweden. Mouton finished at the top five whereas
Mikkola in 16th position overall. The next WRC round was Rally de
Portugal where Mouton and Wittmann did the 1-3 for Audi whereas Mikkola had an
accident. The German car brand was absent from Safari Rally Kenya and headed to
Tour de Corse where only Mouton managed to finish at the top seven whereas
Mikkola and Wittmann retired with a transmission and a gasket issue
respectively. At Acropolis Rally, Mouton claimed her second victory of the
season while Mikkola, Wittmann and Cinotto retired due to suspension, steering
and electrical problems respectively. Rally New Zealand was a disastrous event
for Audi as Mikkola and Mouton retired with steering and oil pipe issues
respectively. At Rally Brazil, Mouton managed to finish at the highest place of
the podium whereas Mikkola had another accident. At Rally Finland, Mikkola was
the driver who won this event whereas Mouton had an accident, but it must be
mentioned that Blomqvist did the 1-2 for Audi. At Rallye Sanremo, Blomqvist and
Mikkola did the 1-2 for Audi. On the other hand, Mouton and Cinotto finished
fourth and sixth overall respectively on the Italian WRC round whereas Wittmann
had an accident. However, that year, Audi decided to go to Cote d’Ivoire, but its
Mikkola and Mouton had DNFs. Audi’s season ended up in a positive way as Mikkola
and Mouton did the 1-2 for their team at Rally Great Britain, but the most
important is that Audi became the 1982 Manufacturer Champion with the Quattro
having scored 116 points and having finished ahead of Opel for 12 points.
1983
In 1983,
Hannu Mikkola and Michele Mouton renewed their collaboration with Audi Sport
and were joined Stig Blomqvist and Vic Preston. The team introduced Quattro A1
for the first four WRC rounds. The season started with Rallye Monte Carlo where
Blomqvist and Mikkola did the 3-4 for Audi whereas Mouton had an accident. In
Sweden, Mikkola and Mouton did the 1-4 for their team while the privateer Lasse
Lampi finished third overall with the Quattro A1. At Rally de Portugal, Audi
did its first 1-2 of the season with Mikkola and Mouton, but their teammate Blomqvist
retired with transmission issues. At Safari Rally, Mikkola and Mouton finished
2nd and 3rd overall respectively whereas Preston had an
accident. From the fifth WRC round in Corsica, the German car brand brought the
Quattro A2, but the event was disastrous for them as Mikkola had an accident
and Mouton’s car caught fire. In Greece, only Blomqvist got to the finish line
and completed the top three as Mikkola retired due to an engine issue and
Mouton had an accident. Rally New Zealand was another disastrous rally for Audi
as Mikkola and Mouton retired due to fuel injection and engine problems
respectively whereas Blomqvist withdrew his entry with the Quattro A2. Rally
Argentina was a very successful event for Audi as Mikkola, Blomqvist, Mouton
and Preston did the 1-2-3-4 for the German car brand. At Rally Finland, Mikkola
was victorious with Blomqvist having done the 1-2 for Audi whereas Mouton
finished 16th. At Rallye Sanremo, Mouton and Bernand Darniche finished
7th and 9th overall respectively while Mikkola’s car
caught fire and Blomqvist had an accident. Mikkola was the only Audi driver at
Rally Cote d’Ivoire and managed to finished in the second place. The final WRC
round was held in Great Britain where Blomqvist, Mikkola and Lasse Lampi did
the 1-2-4 for Aude whereas Mouton had another accident. At the end of the
season, Audi was not able to defend its manufacturer title and finished second
overall, just two points behind Lancia.
1984
Audi’s
drivers for 1984 were Hannu Mikkola, Michele Mouton, Stig Blomqvist and Qalter
Rohrl. The season started with Rallye Monte Carlo where Rohrl, Blomqvist and
Mikkola did the 1-2-3 for Audi while Mouton did not take part in that event. At
Rally Sweden, Audi competed with Blomqvist and Mouton who did the 1-2 for their
team. Mikkola secured his first win of the season at Rally Portugal where Rohrl
finished sixth and Blomqvist had an accident. At Safari Rally, Blomqvist and
Mouton were forced to retire due to engine and turbo issues respectively, but
Mikkola was the only Audi driver who scored points for his team as he finished
at the lowest place of the podium. In Corsica, Blomqvist finished at the top
five whereas his teammate Rohrl retired with an engine issue. At Acropolis
Rally, Blomqvist and Mikkola did the 1-2 for Audi. The next rally was held in
New Zealand where Blomqvist and Mikkola did the 1-3 for their team whereas Rohrl
retired with an ignition problem. At Rally Argentina, Audi once again did the
1-2 with Blomqvist and Mikkola. Blomqvist was the only representative driver
from Audi at Rally Finland, but he finished in fourth position overall. Audi
decided to miss Rallye Sanremo and headed to Cote d’Ivoire with Mikkola who finished
second. The season finale was held in Great Britain where Mikkola finished
second for a third rally in a row. At the end of this season, Audi managed to
claim its second manufacturer title with 120 points ahead of Lancia. Also,
Blomqvist was the 1984 WRC Champion with 125 points ahead of Mikkola for 21
points while that was the final season for Quattro in World Rally Championship.
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