Monte Carlo Rally 1982

The first Monte Carlo Rally of the Group B era was a duel between old and new: Walter Röhrl’s rear-wheel-drive Opel Ascona 400 against the four-wheel-drive Audi Quattro.

Round 1
of 12 in 1982
Röhrl
winner
32
special stages
140/299
finishers/starters
Grouve Sport documentary

Episode 1 — Birth of a Monster: How Group B Began (1982)

The Monte Carlo Rally 1982 features in this episode of our documentary series.

At a glance

Round1 of 12 — 1982 World Rally Championship
Dates16–22 January 1982
BaseMonaco (concentration runs from several European cities)
CountryMonaco
SurfaceTarmac and snow
Competitive distance32 special stages, 680.71 km run (747.91 km planned)
Starters / finishers299 / 140
Counted forDrivers’ and manufacturers’ championships
WinnerWalter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer — Opel Ascona 400
Most stage winsRöhrl 13, Mikkola 10, Fréquelin 5, Kleint 4

The podium

Audi QuattroPhoto: Jiří Sedláček via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
2Hannu MikkolaArne HertzAudi Quattro
Opel Ascona 400Photo: SG2012 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
1Walter RöhrlChristian GeistdörferOpel Ascona 400
Porsche 911 SCPhoto: Brian Snelson from Hockley, Essex, England via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
3Jean-Luc ThérierMichel VialPorsche 911 SC

Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.

Route and surface

Mountain stages in the Alpes-Maritimes, Ardèche and Drôme; tarmac that could be dry, wet, icy or snow-covered within a single stage.

Key entries

The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):

The first Monte Carlo Rally of the Group B era was a duel between old and new: Walter Röhrl’s rear-wheel-drive Opel Ascona 400 against the four-wheel-drive Audi Quattro.

How the rally unfolded

Audi arrived with Hannu Mikkola and Michèle Mouton, and with the reputation that four-wheel drive would make the Quattro unbeatable on snow and ice. Röhrl, newly signed by the Rothmans Opel team, answered with the stage times. He won 13 of the 32 stages to Mikkola’s ten and finished 3 minutes 49 seconds clear — his second Monte Carlo win after 1980.

The French Porsche 911 drivers Jean-Luc Thérier and Guy Fréquelin filled third and fourth, and Bruno Saby was fifth in a Renault 5 Turbo. Mouton crashed out on stage 11, and the Italian Audi privateer Michele Cinotto went off as well. Jean-Claude Andruet’s Ferrari 308 GTB, one of the more exotic entries, crashed on stage 5.

The decisive moment

Röhrl’s precision on mixed surfaces neutralised the Quattro’s traction advantage. It set the tone for a season in which the Opel driver would take the title with consistency rather than raw speed.

Result — top 10

Pos. No. Crew Car Entrant Gp. Time / gap
1 2 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer Opel Ascona 400 Rothmans Opel Team G4 8:20:33
2 1 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz Audi Quattro Audi Sport G4 +3:49
3 8 Jean-Luc Thérier / Michel Vial Porsche 911 Esso G4 +12:05
4 4 Guy Fréquelin / Jean-François Fauchille Porsche 911 Esso G4 +17:07
5 9 Bruno Saby / Françoise Sappey Renault 5 Turbo Bruno Saby G4 +23:01
6 23 Dany Snobeck / Denise Emmanuelli Renault 5 Turbo Dany Snobeck G4 +29:55
7 7 Jochi Kleint / Günther Wanger Opel Ascona 400 Rothmans Opel Team G4 +39:07
8 76 Philippe Touren / Jean-Louis Alric Renault 5 Turbo Philippe Touren G4 +46:01
9 16 Jean-Pierre Ballet / Christian Gilbert Porsche 911 SC Jean-Pierre Ballet B +48:27
10 25 Jürgen Barth / Roland Kussmaul Porsche 924GTS Jurgen Barth B +49:13

Retirements of note

Results, retirements, stage wins and leaders are taken from Jonkka’s World Rally Archive. Event statistics (299 starters, 140 finishers, 32 stages, 680.71 km of stages actually run out of 747.91 km planned) are from Jonkka’s World Rally Archive, consistent with eWRC-results. Names are given with their correct spelling; the archive itself omits diacritics.

Related pages

All rounds of 1982

Round 1Monte Carlo RallyWalter Röhrl · Opel Ascona 400Round 2Swedish RallyStig Blomqvist · Audi QuattroRound 3Rally de PortugalMichèle Mouton · Audi QuattroRound 4Safari Rally (Kenya)Shekhar Mehta · Datsun Violet GTRound 5Tour de CorseJean Ragnotti · Renault 5 TurboRound 6Acropolis Rally (Greece)Michèle Mouton · Audi QuattroRound 7Rally New ZealandBjörn Waldegård · Toyota Celica 2000GTRound 8Rally of BrazilMichèle Mouton · Audi QuattroRound 91000 Lakes Rally (Finland)Hannu Mikkola · Audi QuattroRound 10Rallye SanremoStig Blomqvist · Audi QuattroRound 11Ivory Coast RallyWalter Röhrl · Opel Ascona 400Round 12RAC Rally (Great Britain)Hannu Mikkola · Audi Quattro

In pictures 4 photos

Photos from this event where free-licensed pictures exist; otherwise the podium cars, photographed on the occasion stated in each caption.

An Opel Manta 400 in 'Andrews' colours, as driven by Russell Brookes in the British championship.
An Opel Manta 400 in 'Andrews' colours, as driven by Russell Brookes in the British championship.Photo: Lukeno94 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Walter Röhrl's Group 4 Opel Ascona 400, as used on the 1982 Ivory Coast Rally where he sealed the title.
Walter Röhrl's Group 4 Opel Ascona 400, as used on the 1982 Ivory Coast Rally where he sealed the title.Photo: Steffs88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Audi Quattro A2 — Blomqvist's winning car type on the 1984 Acropolis.
The Audi Quattro A2 — Blomqvist's winning car type on the 1984 Acropolis.Photo: Calreyn88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
An Audi Quattro A2 of 1983, the type that won the Finnish Group B class.
An Audi Quattro A2 of 1983, the type that won the Finnish Group B class.Photo: sv1ambo via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Further resources

All Group B resources →

The same rally in other Group B years

1983Monte Carlo Rally 1983Walter Röhrl and Christian Geistdörfer won their third Monte Carlo Rally and led a Lancia one-two, the Rally 037's first world championship win.Read more →1984Monte Carlo Rally 1984Walter Röhrl's first rally for Audi ended in an Audi one-two-three — and his fourth Monte Carlo win in five years.Read more →1985Monte Carlo Rally 1985Ari Vatanen won the Monte Carlo Rally despite an eight-minute penalty, the 205 T16's fourth win in its last four starts.Read more →1986Monte Carlo Rally 1986Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto won the Monte Carlo Rally in the Lancia Delta S4, despite a collision with a non-competing car on a road section.Read more →

Sources

  1. Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Monte Carlo Rally 1982: event page — https://www.juwra.com/monte_carlo_1982.html
  2. Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/monte_carlo_1982_results.html
  3. Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/monte_carlo_1982_entries.html
  4. Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/monte_carlo_1982_stage_winners.html
  5. Wikipedia (EN), 1982 World Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_World_Rally_Championship

All text is original writing for Grouve Sports Management Group, based on the sources above. Facts checked on 21 October 2026.

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Thumbnail photos on this page: Jiří Sedláček (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); SG2012 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Brian Snelson from Hockley, Essex, England (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Morio (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Thesupermat (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Rutger van der Maar (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Alberto-g-rovi (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Mr.choppers (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Marlis Decker (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); Thesupermat (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Brian Snelson (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0).