1981 World Rally Championship season

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Articles related to the WRC:

World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship results
World Rally Car

Other Classes:
Junior World Rally Championship
Production World Rally Championship

Lists:
Drivers (Champions)
Constructors (Champions)
Rallies
Records | Other People

The 1981 World Rally Championship season was the ninth season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). The season consisted of 12 rallies. While this number was the same as the previous year, one change was made to the schedule, replacing New Zealand with the Brazil.

The 1981 World Rally Championship for Drivers was won by Ari Vatanen driving a Rothmans Rally Team Ford Escort RS1800, the only time a privateer team has won the Drivers' Chmapionship. It also saw the beginning of a new era in the sport with the arrival of the Audi Quattro, the first four-wheel drive rally car. Initially regarded as too heavy and complex for rally stages, it proved its worth with three wins in its debut season, including a maiden victory for Michèle Mouton at the Rallye Sanremo, the only woman to win a WRC event.

1 Championships
2 Events
3 See also

[edit] Championships

**1981 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers**
Rank	Manufacturers	Event												Total points
Rank	Manufacturers	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	ARG	BRA	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR	Total points
1	Talbot	17	-	17	-	17	15	18	-	-	17	-	16	117
2	Datsun	-	-	13	18	15	13	17	-	12	-	18	-	106
3	Ford	-	-	9	-	12	18	-	-	18	7	-	16	80
4	Opel	15	-	11	12	8	-	-	-	8	15	-	-	69
5	Audi	-	-	13	-	-	-	-	-	14	18	-	18	63
6	Fiat	8	-	18	-	-	16	-	-	16	5	-	-	63
7	Renault	18	-	-	-	7	10	15	-	-	-	-	11	61
8	Toyota	-	-	15	-	11	-	-	-	3	-	16	9	54
9	Peugeot	-	-	-	10	-	4	12	-	-	-	11	-	37
10	Lancia	10	-	-	-	18	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	28
11	Porsche	4	-	-	-	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	19
12	Škoda	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
13	Dodge	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
14	Mitsubishi	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	3	4

**1981 World Rally Championship point awards for manufacturers**
Overall finish	Group finish
Overall finish	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1	18	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	17	16	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	16	15	14	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	15	14	13	12	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	14	13	12	11	10	-	-	-	-	-
6	13	12	11	10	9	8	-	-	-	-
7	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	-	-	-
8	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	-	-
9	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	-
10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	1

**1981 World Rally Championship for Drivers**
Rank	Driver	Event												Total points
Rank	Driver	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	ARG	BRA	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR	Total points
1	Ari Vatanen	0	15	0	-	-	20	0	20	20	4	2	15	96
2	Guy Fréquelin	15	-	6	0	15	10	20	15	-	0	8	0	89
3	Hannu Mikkola	0	20	0	-	0	0	-	-	12	10	-	20	62
4	Markku Alén	4	-	20	-	-	15	-	-	15	2	-	0	56
5	Shekhar Mehta	-	-	-	20	-	8	15	0	-	-	12	-	55
6	Timo Salonen	-	-	0	10	0	0	0	-	10	0	20	0	40
7	Henri Toivonen	8	-	15	-	0	0	-	-	0	15	-	0	38
8	Michèle Mouton	0	-	10	-	0	0	-	-	0	20	-	0	30
9	Pentti Airikkala	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	10	30
10	Per Eklund	0	2	0	-	6	0	-	-	0	-	15	6	29
11	Jean Ragnotti	20	-	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	28
12	Bernard Darniche	6	-	-	-	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	26
13	Stig Blomqvist	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	12	23
14	Jorge Recalde	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	10	-	-	-	-	22
15	Anders Kulläng	10	10	0	0	-	0	-	-	0	-	-	2	22
16	Jochi Kleint	12	-	-	8	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	20
16	Tony Pond	-	-	8	-	12	-	-	-	-	0	-	0	20
18	Björn Waldegård	3	-	12	-	0	0	-	-	2	-	0	0	17
19	Rauno Aaltonen	0	-	-	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15
20	Mike Kirkland	-	-	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12
	Attilio Bettega	0	-	0	-	-	12	-	-	-	0	-	-	12
	Domingo De Vitta	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	12	-	-	-	-	12
	Antonio Fassina	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	-	-	12
24	Björn Johansson	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	0	12
25	Terry Kaby	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	11
26	Jean-Pierre Ballet	0	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10
	Ernesto Soto	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	10
	Michel Mitri	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	10
29	Ricardo Albertengo	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	10
	Carlos Torres	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	8
	Luigi Battistolli	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	8
32	Lasse Lampi	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	0	8
33	Jean-Claude Lefèbvre	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
	Iórgos Moschous	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
	Luis Etchegoyen	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	6
	Gustavo Trelles	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	6
	Miki Biasion	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	6
	Alain Ambrosino	-	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	6
39	Sören Nilsson	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	4	-	-	-	-	5
39	Horacio Maglione	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	5
41	Rafael 'Cid'	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
	Yoshio Iwashita	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
	Jean-Michel Tichadou	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
	'Carlo'	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
	Federico West	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	4
	Samir Assef	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	4
47	Ola Strömberg	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Manuel Queirós Pereira	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Jayant Shah	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Gérard Swaton	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Václav Blahna	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Luís Romero	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Julio Berges	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	3
	Dario Cerrato	0	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	3
	Jacques Durieu	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	3
56	Jacques Alméras	2	-	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Joaquim Moutinho	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Malcolm Smith	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Camille Bartoli	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Pavlos Moschoutis	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Miguel Tubal	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Maria Carmo Zacarias	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	2
63	Alain Coppier	1	-	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Kenjiro Shinozuka	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Rod Hall	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Jean-Felix Farrucci	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Claude Laurent	0	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	0	-	0	0	1
	Antero Laine	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	0	-	0	1
	Federico Ormezzano	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1
	Roger Clark	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1

**1981 World Rally Championship point awards for drivers**
Points awarded by finish	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Points awarded by finish	20	15	12	10	8	6	4	3	2	1

[edit] Events

**1981 World Rally Championship event map**
Black = Tarmac	Brown = Gravel	Blue = Snow/Ice	Red = Mixed Surface

**1981 World Rally Championship schedule and results**
Round	Event	Finish	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Time
1	49ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo (January 24–30)	1	Jean Ragnotti	Jean-Marc Andrié	Renault 5 Turbo	9:55:55
		2	Guy Fréquelin	Jean Todt	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus	9:58:49
		3	Jochi Kleint	Günter Wanger	Opel Ascona 400	10:02:54

2	31st International Swedish Rally (February 13–15)	1	Hannu Mikkola	Arne Hertz	Audi Quattro	3:48:07
		2	Ari Vatanen	David Richards	Ford Escort RS1800	3:50:00
		3	Pentti Airikkala	Risto Virtanen	Ford Escort RS1800	3:51:47

3	14º Rallye de Portugal Vinho do Porto (March 4–7)	1	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Fiat 131 Abarth	8:27:26
		2	Henri Toivonen	Fred Gallagher	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus	8:36:36
		3	Björn Waldegård	Hans Thorszelius	Toyota Celica 2000GT	8:43:47

4	29th Safari Rally (April 16–20)	1	Shekhar Mehta	Mike Doughty	Datsun Violet GT	+3:39 pen
		2	Rauno Aaltonen	Lofty Drews	Datsun Violet GT	+3:44 pen
		3	Mike Kirkland	Dave Haworth	Datsun 160J	+4:51 pen

5	25ème Tour de Corse - Rallye de France (April 30–May 2)	1	Bernard Darniche	Alain Mahé	Lancia Stratos HF	14:26.23
		2	Guy Fréquelin	Jean Todt	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus	14:42:25
		3	Tony Pond	Ian Grindrod	Datsun Violet GT	14:45.29

6	28th Acropolis Rally (June 1–4)	1	Ari Vatanen	David Richards	Ford Escort RS1800	13:17:25
		2	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Fiat 131 Abarth	13:22:00
		3	Attilio Bettega	Maurizio Perissinot	Fiat 131 Abarth	13:25:19

7	3º Rally Codasur (July 18–23)	1	Guy Fréquelin	Jean Todt	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus	14:22:52
		2	Shekhar Mehta	Mike Doughty	Datsun Violet GT	15:01:04
		3	Jorge Recalde	Jorge del Bouno	Datsun 160J	16:01:19

8	3º Marlboro Rallye do Brasil (August 6–8)	1	Ari Vatanen	David Richards	Ford Escort RS1800	9:39:40
		2	Guy Fréquelin	Jean Todt	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus	9:48:11
		3	Domingo De Vitta	Daniel Muzio	Ford Escort RS	10:19:46

9	31st 1000 Lakes Rally (August 28–30)	1	Ari Vatanen	David Richards	Ford Escort RS1800	4:07:27
		2	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Fiat 131 Abarth	4:08:26
		3	Hannu Mikkola	Arne Hertz	Audi Quattro	4:10:19

10	23º Rallye Sanremo (October 5–10)	1	Michèle Mouton	Fabrizia Pons	Audi Quattro	8:05:50
		2	Henri Toivonen	Fred Gallagher	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus	8:09:15
		3	Antonio Fassina	Rudy Roberto Dalpozzo	Opel Ascona 400	8:12:08

11	13ème Rallye Côte d'Ivoire (October 26–31)	1	Timo Salonen	Seppo Harjanne	Datsun Violet GT	+9:57 pen
		2	Per Eklund	Ragnar Spjuth	Toyota Celica 2000GT	+11:09 pen
		3	Shekhar Mehta	Mike Doughty	Datsun Violet GT	+11:22 pen

12	30th Lombard RAC Rally (November 22–25)	1	Hannu Mikkola	Arne Hertz	Audi Quattro	8:30:00
		2	Ari Vatanen	David Richards	Ford Escort RS1800	8:41:05
		3	Stig Blomqvist	Björn Cederberg	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus	8:43:36