Ivory Coast Rally 1982
Round 11 of the 1982 World Rally Championship · 27 October – 1 November 1982
Walter Röhrl clinched the 1982 drivers’ title by winning in Abidjan; Michèle Mouton crashed out.
Episode 1 — Birth of a Monster: How Group B Began (1982)
The Ivory Coast Rally 1982 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: Alf van Beem via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: SG2012 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0Photo: Alf van Beem via Wikimedia Commons, Public domainCar photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
A marathon of almost 5,000 km on West African roads and tracks, timed between controls rather than on special stages.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Jean Ragnotti / Jean-Marc Andrié — Renault 5 Turbo (Renault Sport)
- #2 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons — Audi Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #3 Björn Waldegård / Hans Thorszelius — Toyota Celica (Toyota Premoto)
- #4 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer — Opel Ascona 400 (Rothmans Opel Team)
- #5 Hannu Mikkola / Roland Gumpert — Audi Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #6 Per Eklund / Ragnar Spjuth — Toyota Celica (Toyota Premoto)
- #7 Adartico Vudafieri / Maurizio Perissinot — Lancia Rally 037 (Martini Racing)
- #8 Bruno Saby / Daniel le Saux — Renault 5 Turbo (Renault Sport)
Walter Röhrl clinched the 1982 drivers’ title by winning in Abidjan; Michèle Mouton crashed out.
How the rally unfolded
Mouton arrived knowing she had to beat Röhrl to keep her title hopes alive. Her father died shortly before the rally; she started anyway, but crashed out. Mikkola, with Audi’s Roland Gumpert as co-driver on this event, was excluded for lateness.
Röhrl won by 1 hour 33 minutes from Per Eklund’s Toyota, with Björn Waldegård third. Only six cars finished. Jean Ragnotti, who started at number 1, retired with a wrist injury. The Ivory Coast counted only for the drivers’ championship.
The decisive moment
Mouton’s retirement settled the title. Röhrl became world champion for the second time — in a car the press had written off against the Quattro.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Penalty time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer | Opel Ascona 400 | Rothmans Opel Team | G4 | 8 h 43 min |
| 2 | 6 | Per Eklund / Ragnar Spjuth | Toyota Celica | Toyota Premoto | G4 | +1 h 33 min |
| 3 | 3 | Björn Waldegård / Hans Thorszelius | Toyota Celica | Toyota Premoto | G4 | +2 h 16 min |
| 4 | 8 | Bruno Saby / Daniel le Saux | Renault 5 Turbo | Renault Sport | G4 | +9 h 07 min |
| 5 | 15 | Alain Ambrosino / Jean-François Fauchille | Peugeot 504 | Alain Ambrosino | G2 | +10 h 59 min |
| 6 | 12 | Eugene Salim / Clément Konan | Mitsubishi Lancer | Eugene Salim | G2 | +15 h 04 min |
On the Safari and the Ivory Coast Rally, crews were ranked by penalty time accumulated on timed road sections, not by special-stage times.
Retirements of note
- #1 Jean Ragnotti / Jean-Marc Andrié (Renault 5 Turbo) — driver injury (wrist), time control 20
- #2 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons (Audi Quattro) — accident, time control 45
- #5 Hannu Mikkola / Roland Gumpert (Audi Quattro) — excluded (over the time limit), time control 30
- #7 Adartico Vudafieri / Maurizio Perissinot (Lancia Rally 037) — engine, time control 8
- #9 Samir Assef / Gérard Lallemant (Toyota Celica) — oil pump, time control 7
- #10 Ove Andersson / Robbie Grondahl (Toyota Celica) — withdrew (drove only first leg), time control 6
- #11 Björn Johansson / Bruno Berglund (Opel Ascona 400) — engine, time control 25
The death of Mouton’s father before this rally is widely reported (including in her Wikipedia biography); the exact timing varies between accounts.
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
- 1982 season overview
- All 1982 rallies
- Previous round: Rallye Sanremo 1982
- Next round: RAC Rally 1982
- Cars: Opel Manta 400
- Teams: Opel
- Iconic moments · Timeline · Statistics
All rounds of 1982
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 (December 1982): Ivory Coast Rally EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's December 1982 issue, written as the season unfolded. - WRC.com season archive 1982 EN · archive
Official summary of the 1982 season: calendar, winners and both championship tables. - Wikipedia: Rallye Côte d'Ivoire EN · archive
History of the Rallye Côte d'Ivoire with its list of winners over the decades.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Ivory Coast Rally 1982: event page — https://www.juwra.com/ivory_coast_1982.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/ivory_coast_1982_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/ivory_coast_1982_entries.html
- 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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SubscribeThumbnail photos on this page: Alf van Beem (Wikimedia Commons, Public domain); SG2012 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Nicky Clarke (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Morio (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Thesupermat (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Alberto-g-rovi (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Rally Paradise (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0).