Rally de Portugal 1982

Michèle Mouton and Fabrizia Pons won in Portugal by more than 13 minutes — and showed that their win in Sanremo the previous autumn had been no one-off.

Round 3
of 12 in 1982
Mouton
winner
40
special stages
23/91
finishers/starters
Grouve Sport documentary

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

The Rally de Portugal 1982 features in this episode of our documentary series.

At a glance

Round3 of 12 — 1982 World Rally Championship
Dates3–6 March 1982
BaseEstoril / Lisbon area
CountryPortugal
SurfaceTarmac and gravel
Competitive distance40 special stages, 637.07 km
Starters / finishers91 / 23
Counted forDrivers’ and manufacturers’ championships
WinnerMichèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons — Audi Quattro
Most stage winsMouton 18, Toivonen 15, Röhrl 5, Mikkola 2
LeadersToivonen (stages 1–7); Mikkola (stages 8–10); Mouton (stages 11–40)

The podium

Toyota Celica 2000GTPhoto: Alf van Beem via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
2Per EklundRagnar SpjuthToyota Celica 2000GT
Audi QuattroPhoto: Jiří Sedláček via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
1Michèle MoutonFabrizia PonsAudi Quattro
Audi QuattroPhoto: Jiří Sedláček via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
3Franz WittmannPeter DiekmannAudi Quattro

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

Route and surface

A long, mixed rally: the tarmac and dirt loops of the Sintra hills (Lagoa Azul, Peninha) near Estoril, then gravel stages in central and northern Portugal.

Key entries

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

Michèle Mouton and Fabrizia Pons won in Portugal by more than 13 minutes — and showed that their win in Sanremo the previous autumn had been no one-off.

How the rally unfolded

Henri Toivonen led the first seven stages in the Opel Ascona 400 and Hannu Mikkola briefly took over, but Mikkola crashed out on stage 10. From stage 11 to the finish Mouton led every stage of the order. She won 18 stages and beat Per Eklund’s Toyota Celica by 13 minutes 7 seconds; Franz Wittmann completed the podium in a second Quattro.

Attrition was brutal: only 23 of 91 starters finished. Walter Röhrl crashed, Toivonen’s clutch failed, Timo Salonen’s Nissan broke its suspension and Björn Waldegård’s Toyota its differential.

The decisive moment

Mikkola’s crash on stage 10 removed Mouton’s main rival. She did the rest herself, building a lead that no one could challenge.

Result — top 10

Pos. No. Crew Car Entrant Gp. Time / gap
1 7 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons Audi Quattro Audi Sport G4 7:39:36
2 8 Per Eklund / Ragnar Spjuth Toyota Celica Toyota Team Europe G4 +13:07
3 18 Franz Wittmann / Peter Diekmann Audi Quattro Audi Sport G4 +27:49
4 10 Carlos Torres / Filipe Lopes Ford Escort RS1800 Torres Rally Team G4 +51:22
5 14 Alain Coppier / Josepha Laloz Citroën Visa Alain Coppier B9 +1:14:35
6 19 Mario Silva / Rui Bevilacqua Ford Escort RS1800 Publiracing G4 +1:21:36
7 48 Antonio Ferreira da Cunha / Carlos Resende Opel Ascona Antonio Ferreira da Cunha G2 +1:49:33
8 27 Christian Dorche / Patricia Trivero Citroën Visa Christian Dorche B9 +1:56:03
9 59 Olivier Tabatoni / Michel Cadier Citroën Visa Olivier Tabatoni B9 +2:01:00
10 16 Jorge Fleck / Silvio Klein Opel Kadett GT/E Jorge Fleck G2 +2:01:19

Retirements of note

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

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.

Monte Carlo 1982: Michèle Mouton's Audi Quattro parked between the Porsche 911 SCs of Guy Fréquelin and Björn Waldegård — the transition year in which old and new groups ran side by side.
Monte Carlo 1982: Michèle Mouton's Audi Quattro parked between the Porsche 911 SCs of Guy Fréquelin and Björn Waldegård — the transition year in which old and new groups ran side by side.Photo: Nicky Clarke via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
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
The Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo — the car that made Toyota the African specialists of the Group B era.
The Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo — the car that made Toyota the African specialists of the Group B era.Photo: Rutger van der Maar via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
1986 Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo (TA64) Group B rally car in the Louwman Museum, The Hague (photographed 2017)
1986 Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo (TA64) Group B rally car in the Louwman Museum, The Hague (photographed 2017)Photo: Alf van Beem via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Further resources

All Group B resources →

The same rally in other Group B years

1983Rally de Portugal 1983Hannu Mikkola beat team-mate Michèle Mouton by 55 seconds in a close Audi one-two; Walter Röhrl was third for Lancia.Read more →1984Rally de Portugal 1984Hannu Mikkola beat Markku Alén by just 27 seconds after one of the most open battles of the season.Read more →1985Rally de Portugal 1985Timo Salonen won in Portugal after Walter Röhrl, who had led for 21 stages, lost the lead late on.Read more →1986Rally de Portugal 1986The rally where Group B's crowd problem became a tragedy. Joaquim Santos's Ford RS200 crashed into spectators on the first stage, killing three people and injuring many more. The works teams withdrew; Joaquim Moutinho won.Read more →

Sources

  1. Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Rally de Portugal 1982: event page — https://www.juwra.com/portugal_1982.html
  2. Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/portugal_1982_results.html
  3. Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/portugal_1982_entries.html
  4. Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/portugal_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); 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); Steffs88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); © 1971markus (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); MPW57 (Wikimedia Commons, Public domain); _morgado (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Thesupermat (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).