In the lead up to Hyundai and Toyota’s showdown for the manufacturers’ title in Japan later this month, we’re looking back at some of the greatest manufacturer fights in World Rally Championship history. We asked you to vote for your top-five, and this is what you picked at number one.
By 1983, the fundamentals of rallying were changing. All leading cars were now built to the freer Group B regulations and Audi had shifted the goalposts by introducing forced induction and perfecting its unique four-wheel-drive transmission.
That had delivered the Ingolstadt marque the 1982 manufacturers’ title, although Opel’s Walter Röhrl beat Quattro pilots Michèle Mouton and Hannu Mikkola to the drivers’ crown. But Audi won three of the last four rounds. Surely nothing could halt its march towards a double crown in 1983?
Immortalized by Stefano Mordini’s movie earlier this year, the season turned out to be a classic slugfest between two manufacturers: Audi and Lancia.
The Italians were back. After a troublesome development year, the purpose-built, mid-engined 037 was ready for a full-on title attack. Reigning world champion Röhrl was convinced to join alongside team stalwart Markku Alén and the battle was on.
From the off, Lancia stated that its focus was on the manufacturers’ crown, creating greater interest in the makes’ race that had been overshadowed by the drivers’ title in recent years.
Lancia knew that Audi’s four-wheel drive offered a crucial advantage on gravel stages, so it was crucial that it capitalized on asphalt-based rallies – where it hoped Opel would also take points off its rival.
The Italians needed a ‘dry’ Monte Carlo to open the season – and they got their wish. Röhrl, Alén and Jean-Claude Andruet dominated the event, winning 24 of the 31 stages. While it was an ingenious tactic, mid-stage ‘pitstops’ on the opening night’s second stage – which began on snow – were not crucial to the outcome.
Audi did manage to limit the damage by taking third and fourth positions after Andruet dropped back with a failed supercharger and Guy Frequelin’s Opel slid off the road.
With Sweden counting only for the drivers’ championship (like Ivory Coast later in the year), Lancia skipped the event where Audi swept to a 1-2-3-4.
Next was Portugal, a rally where Lancia/Fiat traditionally excelled but still started as underdogs against the four-wheel-drive onslaught. Hopes that 60-odd miles of asphalt stages could turn the tide were dashed when three were cancelled, but Röhrl still put up a good fight. He finished third behind Mikkola and Mouton as punctures afflicted many in the closing stages.
Walter Röhrl was a big coup for Lancia, winning three rallies throughout the year
In Lancia’s absence, Opel did it a favor on the Audi-friendly Safari, as Ari Vatanen’s Ascona 400 held off the delayed Mikkola and Mouton on the car’s final top-flight appearance.
Corsica was firmly Lancia territory and it duly swept the board. A 1-2-3-4 for the 037 was led by Alén and completed by Attilio Bettega on his first appearance since a dreadful accident on the event a year earlier. A non-score for Audi, with Mikkola and Mouton both retiring their new lightweight cars, suddenly elevated Lancia into the points lead.
It was the beginning of a streak, with Röhrl inheriting wins on both the Acropolis and New Zealand – two gravel events. Mikkola had been leading in Greece until oil loss precipitated his Quattro’s engine failing, while of his team-mates, Mouton crashed on the opening stage and Stig Blomqvist could only recover to third after being delayed by a fire.
It was a similar story on the other side of the world as Mouton’s engine let go while leading on the final day; Mikkola had already been sidelined. Bad blood between the rival teams also spilled over when Audi tried to enter a third car for Blomqvist after the deadline.
Now some 24 points down in the manufacturers’ race, Audi returned to form in Argentina. A2 Quattros filled the top four places as the two-wheel-drive opposition was completely outclassed. Alén was than half an hour back in fifth, while Röhrl didn’t make the trip – perhaps presciently predicting it as futile.
Audi had the advantage on the loose with its four-wheel-drive
The number of driven wheels was less crucial on Finland’s high-speed, smooth gravel roads. But around 50 extra horses in Audi’s five-cylinder turbocharged motor still gave it the edge over the Lancia. Mikkola led home Blomqvist, but third for Alén kept a 12-point lead for the Turin team in the title race as it headed for its home round – the season’s penultimate scoring opportunity.
As a mixed-surface event, Sanremo encapsulated the season: the Lancias were quicker on Tarmac, the Audis (usually) faster on gravel. Lancia hoped to have all six of its 037s ahead before the gravel stages started, allowing some of them to benefit from road-sweeping while also creating more dust for the four Audis.
In the end, Cesare Fiorio’s men needn’t have worried as the Audis self-destructed. All of Roland Gumpert’s entries hit trouble early on and dropped out of the top 10. They were generally quicker on the loose, but could not make up the deficit, let alone build an advantage ahead of the return to asphalt. A fire for Mikkola caused further anguish, and Blomqvist eventually retired on the final loop.
Alén, Röhrl and Bettega were left to cruise to a triumphant 1-2-3. Lancia’s lead in the manufacturers’ standings was now unassailable so it didn’t bother going to Britain for the RAC. Job done; Mikkola was welcome to the drivers’ title.
Lancia flew to an historic title on home soil
Lancia’s manufacturers’ success was the last WRC title for a two-wheel-drive car. Lancia itself knew that two-wheel-drive’s days were numbered and had begun work on the all-wheel-drive Delta S4. It had taken tactical nous, top-line drivers, Audi mistakes and unreliability, and a little good fortune for Lancia to triumph in 1983 – and lightning wouldn’t strike twice.
Röhrl jumping ship to Audi also cost Lancia one of its key tools and his win on a snowy Monte set the tone for the rest of 1984.
Lancia kept up some pressure in the first half of the year, winning the Tour de Corse. But Peugeot further moved the goalposts with the mid-season introduction of its mid-engined 205 Turbo 16.
Even Audi’s new short-wheelbase, 20-valve Sport Quattro couldn’t keep up. It had enough in hand to seal an ’84 title double for the team and Blomqvist, but couldn’t genuinely compete the following year.
Lancia, meanwhile, had to wait until the S4 was finally introduced at the end of 1985 before it had a chance to win again, but it lost both titles to Peugeot in Group B’s final season: 1986.
