Supremacy in motorsports
Not surprisingly, perhaps, Audi quattro has long translated into success on the track – and a few mountains.
Audi first entered the World Rally Championship in 1981, and the quattro drive dominated the event just one season later. In 1982, the team won the manufacturers’ championship, and Finnish driver Hannu Mikkola secured the drivers’ trophy in 1983.
Audi took both titles in 1984, with Stig Blomqvist of Sweden becoming world champion. That year, Audi also fielded its Sport quattro with a short wheelbase for the first time, followed in 1985 by the Sport quattro Audi S1 producing 350 kW (476 PS). In 1987, Walter Röhrl drove a specially modified Audi S1 to victory at the Pikes Peak hill climb in the USA – the perfect finishing touch to some exhilarating years of rallying.
Audi subsequently shifted to racing touring cars. In 1988, Audi won both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships in the US Trans-Am at its first attempt with the Audi 200, before competing with considerable success in the IMSA GTO series the following year.