Rally New Zealand 1983
Round 7 of the 1983 World Rally Championship · 25–28 June 1983
Röhrl won again; Michèle Mouton led for 21 stages before her engine failed.
Episode 2 — Rear-Wheel Drive’s Last Stand: Lancia 037 vs Audi quattro (1983)
The Rally New Zealand 1983 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: 先従隗始 via Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Miloslav Rejha via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0Photo: Miloslav Rejha via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
Fast gravel roads in the forests and farmland of the central North Island.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer — Lancia Rally 037 (Martini Racing)
- #2 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #3 Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne — Nissan 240RS (Dealer Team Nissan)
- #4 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #5 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #6 Shekhar Mehta / Yvonne Mehta — Nissan 240RS (Dealer Team Nissan)
- #7 Attilio Bettega / Maurizio Perissinot — Lancia Rally 037 (Martini Racing)
- #8 Tony Teesdale / Gary Smith — Nissan Violet (Tony Teesdale)
Röhrl won again; Michèle Mouton led for 21 stages before her engine failed.
How the rally unfolded
Röhrl and Blomqvist swapped the lead early on. Mouton then took over on stage 7 and led until stage 27, when her Quattro’s engine failed. Blomqvist had already been excluded at an early time control, and Mikkola’s car stopped with an injection problem.
That left Röhrl clear: he won by almost 16 minutes from Timo Salonen in the Nissan 240RS, with Bettega third.
The decisive moment
Mouton’s engine failure on stage 27 handed Röhrl the lead and the win — and Audi left New Zealand with nothing.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer | Lancia Rally 037 | Martini Racing | B | 12:10:13 |
| 2 | 3 | Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne | Nissan 240RS | Dealer Team Nissan | B | +15:58 |
| 3 | 7 | Attilio Bettega / Maurizio Perissinot | Lancia Rally 037 | Martini Racing | B | +31:29 |
| 4 | 6 | Shekhar Mehta / Yvonne Mehta | Nissan 240RS | Dealer Team Nissan | B | +1:00:22 |
| 5 | 16 | Jim Donald / Chris Porter | Nissan Bluebird Turbo | Dealer Team Nissan | G2 | +1:10:37 |
| 6 | 12 | Malcolm Stewart / Doug Parkhill | Ford Escort RS | Malcolm Stewart | G4 | +1:20:45 |
| 7 | 10 | Reg Cook / Wayne Jones | Nissan 240RS | Dealer Team Nissan | B | +1:25:02 |
| 8 | 25 | Paul Adams / Jim Scott | Toyota Starlet | Toyota NZ Ltd | G2 | +1:42:42 |
| 9 | 14 | Morrie Chandler / Don Campbell | Mitsubishi Lancer | Morrie Chandler | G4 | +1:55:32 |
| 10 | 37 | Kevin Smith / Nick Tulitt | Toyota Corolla | Kevin Smith | G2 | +2:03:22 |
Retirements of note
- #2 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz (Audi Quattro A2) — injection, stage 19
- #4 Stig Blomqvist / Björn Cederberg (Audi Quattro A2) — excluded (late entry), time control 9A
- #5 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons (Audi Quattro A2) — engine, stage 27
- #8 Tony Teesdale / Gary Smith (Nissan Violet) — engine, stage 11
- #11 Neil Allport / John Cowan (Ford Escort RS) — accident, stage 12
Results, retirements, stage wins and leaders are taken from Jonkka’s World Rally Archive. Names are given with their correct spelling; the archive itself omits diacritics.
Related pages
- 1983 season overview
- All 1983 rallies
- Previous round: Acropolis Rally 1983
- Next round: Rally Argentina 1983
- Cars: Lancia 037, Nissan 240RS
- Teams: Lancia Martini
- Iconic moments · Timeline · Statistics
All rounds of 1983
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.
Further resources
- Motor Sport (August 1983): Rally review EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's August 1983 issue, written as the season unfolded. - WRC.com season archive 1983 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1983 season: calendar, winners and both championship tables. - Wikipedia: Rally New Zealand EN · archive
History of the Rally New Zealand with its list of winners over the decades.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Rally New Zealand 1983: event page — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_1983.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_1983_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_1983_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/new_zealand_1983_stage_winners.html
- Wikipedia (EN), 1983 World Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_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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