The drivers

Hannu Mikkola

Photo: Michelin LIVE UK from Stoke-On-Trent, UK via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Hannu Mikkola (24 May 1942 – 25 February 2021) was already an established star when Audi asked him to help develop the Quattro in 1980. He was the first to show what four-wheel drive could do on a special stage.

Grouve Sport documentary

Episode 4 — Short and Savage: Audi Sport quattro, S1 E2 & Audi’s European Titles

The Finn who proved four-wheel drive could win.

Quattro pioneer

Mikkola had won in Ford Escorts in the 1970s, including becoming the first driver from outside Africa to win the Safari (1972). In 1981 he drove the Quattro in the World Championship and won in Sweden and on the RAC. In 1982 came wins in Finland and, again, on the RAC.

World champion in 1983

In 1983 Mikkola and co-driver Arne Hertz won in Sweden, Portugal, Argentina and Finland, finishing on the podium seven times in all. Victory on the 1000 Lakes — his home event, which he won seven times in his career — was the drive of a man at the height of his powers. He became world champion with 125 points, and remains the oldest driver ever to win the title. See 1983 season.

The 1983 world champion, the first man to drive the Quattro to victory, and a seven-time winner of the 1000 Lakes.

Later years

In 1984 he finished runner-up in the championship behind team-mate Blomqvist, winning in Portugal. He stayed with Audi to the end of Group B and finished third on the 1986 Monte Carlo Rally in the S1 E2. He then raced on for years in Group A, winning the 1987 Safari in an Audi 200 quattro before moving to Mazda. He died in 2021, aged 78.

European and national championships

Mikkola and Arne Hertz won three of the six rounds of the 1984 British championship — York, the Welsh and the Scottish — but lost the title to Jimmy McRae after retiring on the Manx. See the British championship.

Career in the Group B years

World Rally Championship podiums of the driver, year by year (1982–1986). win 2nd 3rd

1982

2wins

4 podiums

• 1000 Lakes Rally (Finland)
• RAC Rally (Great Britain)

1983

4wins

7 podiums

• Swedish Rally
• Rally de Portugal
• Rally Argentina
• 1000 Lakes Rally (Finland)

1984

1win

8 podiums

• Rally de Portugal

1985

0wins

0 podiums

1986

0wins

1 podium

7 WRC wins · 20 podium finishes, 1982–1986

In pictures 3 photos

Further resources

• FIA: tribute to Hannu Mikkola EN · article
  The FIA's tribute to the 1983 world champion.
• RallySport Magazine: interview with Hannu Mikkola EN · article
  Long-form interview with the 1983 world champion.
• WRC.com: Hannu Mikkola EN · archive
  The WRC's official champion profile of Hannu Mikkola, with career statistics.
• Audi: quattro in rallying EN · article
  Audi's official account of the quattro rally years, from the first win to the Sport quattro S1 E2.

All Group B resources →

More from Drivers

Michèle MoutonThe only woman to win world championship rallies — four of them — and runner-up in the 1982 World Championship. German champion in 1986.Read more →Ari Vatanen1981 world champion, the man who gave the Peugeot 205 T16 its first wins, survivor of a huge crash in Argentina.Read more →Timo Salonen1985 world champion with five wins. Calm, bespectacled, often steering with one hand — and with seven wins, the most successful driver of 1983–1986.Read more →Stig BlomqvistThe 1984 world champion and, with eight wins, the driver who won the most world rallies between 1982 and 1986. A master of left-foot braking.Read more →Walter RöhrlTwo-time world champion (1980, 1982), four-time Monte Carlo winner with four different makes.Read more →More Group B driversSantos, Darniche, Reutemann, Carlsson, Aaltonen, Chatriot and other drivers of the Group B era, with links to the full profiles of Waldegård, Eklund, Ragnotti, Saby and more.Read more →

Sources

1. Wikipedia (EN), Hannu Mikkola — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannu_Mikkola
2. DirtFish, Rally Finland: The Group B Years (2024) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94zXOaTeFXg
3. 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.

Thumbnail photos on this page: realname (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0); David Merrett from Daventry, England (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Arnaud 25 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Caroline Jonsson (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0); Thilo Parg (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Andrew Basterfield (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0).