Audi Motorsport History

At the beginning of the 1980s, Audi revolutionizes the World Rally Championship with four-wheel drive. In 1981, Audi won three World Rally Championship rounds straight out of the blocks with the “original quattro”. Michèle Mouton causes a sensation at the San Remo Rally: She is the first and, to this date, the only woman to win a World Rally Championship round. In the following years, Audi wins the Manufacturers World Championship twice with the quattro; Hannu Mikkola is Rally World Champion in 1983 and Stig Blomqvist in 1984.

The Audi quattro is not only successful in rally sport: Audi wins the prestigious hill climb up the legendary 4301 meter high Pikes Peak in Colorado three times in succession. Michèle Mouton triumphs in 1985, the American motorsport legend Bobby Unser wins in 1986 and Walter Röhrl in 1987. The powerful Audi Sport quattro S1, with almost 600 hp, storms up the peak in record time.

Following their successes in rally sport, Audi dominates on track at the end of the 1980s with quattro drive. Hurley Haywood secures the title in the fiercely competitive American TransAm Championship with the Audi quattro 200 in 1988. Audi won a total of eight races. One year later in the USA, Hans-Joachim Stuck celebrates seven IMSA-GTO victories with the Audi 90 quattro.