Walter Röhrl

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Walter Röhrl

World Rally Championship record
Nationality	German
Active years	1973 - 1987
Teams	Fiat, Opel, Lancia, Audi
World rallies	75
Championships	2 (1980, 1982)
Wins	14
Podium finishes	31
Stage wins	420
Points	494
First world rally	1973 Monte Carlo Rally
First win	1975 Acropolis Rally
Last win	1985 San Remo Rally
Last world rally	1987 Acropolis Rally
edit

Walter Röhrl (born March 7, 1947 in Regensburg) is a German rally and auto racing driver, with famous victories for Fiat, Opel, Lancia and Audi as well as Porsche, Ford and BMW.

At the age of 16, Röhrl began working for the Bishop of Regensburg, and soon became a driver who covered about 120,000 km annually as the bishop's driver. Being also active in sports like skiing, he was invited to drive his first rally in 1968.

Röhrl was a World Rally Championship favorite during the 1970s and 1980s, winning the Monte Carlo Rally four times on four different brands. His Fiat 131 Abarth carried him to the 1980 title, but it was arguably his equivalent success in 1982 that impressed most of all, with Röhrl fending off audacious four-wheel drive opposition to take the title, by virtue of consistency, in his increasingly outmoded Opel Ascona 400.

In 1983, he almost won again with a 2WD Lancia Rallye, before finally moving to the 4WD Audi Quattro which were made in his home state of Bavaria. He did compete only in selected events, though, and scored only 14 WRC victories in his career.

Besides World Championship, he won the African Rally Championship in 1982 [1].

Röhrl was also successful in road racing events, and called "Genius on Wheels" by Niki Lauda. In an early 1990s 24 Hours Nürburgring race which saw fog and heavy rain in the night, he hardly slowed down, anticipating the corners by timing. The race was nevertheless interrupted for hours.

Several magazines and other drives pronounced him "best rally driver ever" or similar.

In recent years, he has been retained as the senior test driver for Porsche road cars, famously setting quick laptimes for them testing round the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife. e.g. with the Porsche Carrera GT.