Rally of Brazil 1982
Round 8 of the 1982 World Rally Championship · 11–14 August 1982
Only 22 cars started and four finished; Michèle Mouton won, Walter Röhrl was second.
Episode 1 — Birth of a Monster: How Group B Began (1982)
The Rally of Brazil 1982 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: SG2012 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Jiří Sedláček via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Car photos are representative pictures of the model, not of this event.
Route and surface
Rough gravel and red-earth roads in the hills east of São Paulo and in Rio de Janeiro state.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz — Audi Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #2 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer — Opel Ascona 400 (Rothmans Opel Team)
- #3 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons — Audi Quattro (Audi Sport)
- #4 Shekhar Mehta / Yvonne Mehta — Nissan Violet GTS (Shekhar Mehta)
- #5 Domingo de Vitta / Daniel Muzio — Ford Escort RS (Domingo de Vitta)
- #6 Federico West / Gregorio Asadourian — Ford Escort RS (Federico West)
- #7 Luis Etchegoyen / Luiz Borallo — Ford Escort RS (Luis Etchegoyen)
- #8 Jorge Fleck / Silvio Klein — Volkswagen Passat (Gaucha Car)
Only 22 cars started and four finished; Michèle Mouton won, Walter Röhrl was second.
How the rally unfolded
The last Rally of Brazil to count for the world championship was a small, attritional event. Mikkola was excluded early for exceeding the maximum lateness at a control. Röhrl led for most of the middle section, from stage 8 to stage 23, but Mouton took the lead on stage 24 and won by 35 minutes.
Behind them, the Argentine Domingo de Vitta (Ford Escort) and the Brazilian Aparecido Rodrigues (Volkswagen Passat) were the only other finishers.
The decisive moment
Mouton’s late charge — six stages in a row in the lead to the finish — kept her title hopes alive.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons | Audi Quattro | Audi Sport | G4 | 8:16:24 |
| 2 | 2 | Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer | Opel Ascona 400 | Rothmans Opel Team | G4 | +35:25 |
| 3 | 5 | Domingo de Vitta / Daniel Muzio | Ford Escort RS | Domingo de Vitta | G2 | +1:59:06 |
| 4 | 9 | Aparecido Rodrigues / José Joaquim Mattos | Volkswagen Passat | Aparecido Rodrigues | G2 | +3:24:44 |
Retirements of note
- #1 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz (Audi Quattro) — excluded (over the time limit), stage 4
- #4 Shekhar Mehta / Yvonne Mehta (Nissan Violet GTS) — engine, stage 27
- #6 Federico West / Gregorio Asadourian (Ford Escort RS) — excluded (over the time limit), stage 6
- #7 Luis Etchegoyen / Luiz Borallo (Ford Escort RS) — excluded (over the time limit), stage 6
- #8 Jorge Fleck / Silvio Klein (Volkswagen Passat) — excluded (over the time limit), stage 4
- #12 Ricardo Albertengo / Oscar Alberto (Peugeot 504) — gearbox mounting, stage 9
Only 22 starters is an exceptionally small field for a world championship rally; the figures are as listed by Jonkka’s World Rally Archive.
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: Rally New Zealand 1982
- Next round: 1000 Lakes Rally 1982
- Cars: Audi Quattro, Opel Manta 400
- Teams: Audi Sport, 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
- Wikipedia: Rally of Brazil EN · archive
History of the Rally of Brazil with its list of winners over the decades. - Motor Sport (September 1982): Rally review EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's September 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.
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Rally of Brazil 1982: event page — https://www.juwra.com/brazil_1982.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/brazil_1982_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/brazil_1982_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/brazil_1982_stage_winners.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: SG2012 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Jiří Sedláček (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); 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).