Tour de Corse 1983
Round 5 of the 1983 World Rally Championship · 5–7 May 1983
Lancia’s greatest day of 1983: a one-two-three-four in Corsica, led by Markku Alén.
Episode 2 — Rear-Wheel Drive’s Last Stand: Lancia 037 vs Audi quattro (1983)
The Tour de Corse 1983 features in this episode of our documentary series.
At a glance
The podium
Photo: Miloslav Rejha via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0Photo: 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
Narrow mountain asphalt across the island — the Lancia 037’s ideal ground.
Key entries
The leading seeded crews (start numbers 1–8):
- #1 Jean-Claude Andruet / Michèle Petit — Lancia Rally 037 (Martini Racing)
- #2 Jean Ragnotti / Jean-Marc Andrié — Renault 5 Turbo (Renault-Elf)
- #3 Bernard Béguin / Jean-Jacques Lenne — BMW M1 (BMW Motul)
- #4 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz — Audi Quattro A2 (Audi Sport)
- #5 Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer — Lancia Rally 037 (Martini Racing)
- #6 Guy Fréquelin / Jean-François Fauchille — Opel Manta 400 (Rothmans Opel Rally Team)
- #7 Jean-Luc Thérier / Michel Vial — Renault 5 Turbo (Jean-Luc Therier)
- #9 Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki — Lancia Rally 037 (Martini Racing)
Lancia’s greatest day of 1983: a one-two-three-four in Corsica, led by Markku Alén.
How the rally unfolded
Röhrl, Andruet and Alén all led in the first half of the rally. Andruet’s engine failed on stage 20, and Alén led from stage 15 to the finish. He beat Röhrl by 1 minute 49 seconds. Adartico Vudafieri (Jolly Club) and Attilio Bettega completed a clean sweep of the top four for the 037.
Audi’s Quattro A2 struggled on the tight Corsican asphalt: Mikkola crashed and Mouton’s car caught fire. Jean Ragnotti’s Renault 5 Turbo retired after hitting a cow.
The decisive moment
Alén took the lead on stage 15. With Andruet’s retirement on stage 20, the result became a Lancia demonstration.
Result — top 10
| Pos. | No. | Crew | Car | Entrant | Gp. | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Markku Alén / Ilkka Kivimäki | Lancia Rally 037 | Martini Racing | B | 12:43:38 |
| 2 | 5 | Walter Röhrl / Christian Geistdörfer | Lancia Rally 037 | Martini Racing | B | +1:49 |
| 3 | 11 | Adartico Vudafieri / Luigi Pirollo | Lancia Rally 037 | Jolly Club | B | +6:30 |
| 4 | 14 | Attilio Bettega / Maurizio Perissinot | Lancia Rally 037 | Martini Racing | B | +13:49 |
| 5 | 15 | Bruno Saby / Chris Williams | Renault 5 Turbo | Philips Auto Radio | B | +41:59 |
| 6 | 12 | Tony Pond / Rob Arthur | Nissan 240RS | Team Nissan Europe | B | +1:01:13 |
| 7 | 45 | Ange-Paul Franceschi / Patrick Giudicelli | Renault 5 Turbo | Ange-Paul Franceschi | G4 | +1:27:39 |
| 8 | 17 | Jean-Sébastien Couloumies / Claudine Causse | Opel Ascona | Jean-Sebastien Couloumies | A | +1:37:31 |
| 9 | 18 | Alain Coppier / Josepha Laloz | Citroën Visa | Alain Coppier | B | +1:44:43 |
| 10 | 53 | Jean-Michel Guyot / Jacques Raspaud | Renault 5 Turbo | Jean-Michel Guyot | B | +1:52:09 |
Retirements of note
- #1 Jean-Claude Andruet / Michèle Petit (Lancia Rally 037) — engine, stage 20
- #2 Jean Ragnotti / Jean-Marc Andrié (Renault 5 Turbo) — hit a cow, stage 15
- #3 Bernard Béguin / Jean-Jacques Lenne (BMW M1) — engine, stage 5
- #4 Hannu Mikkola / Arne Hertz (Audi Quattro A2) — accident, stage 23
- #6 Guy Fréquelin / Jean-François Fauchille (Opel Manta 400) — engine, stage 5
- #7 Jean-Luc Thérier / Michel Vial (Renault 5 Turbo) — fire, stage 8
- #10 Michèle Mouton / Fabrizia Pons (Audi Quattro A2) — fire, stage 27
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: Safari Rally 1983
- Next round: Acropolis Rally 1983
- Cars: Lancia 037
- Teams: Lancia Martini, Other Teams
- 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 (June 1983): Tour of Corsica EN · article · subscription
Contemporary report from Motor Sport magazine's June 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: Tour de Corse EN · archive
History of the Tour de Corse with its list of winners over the decades.
The same rally in other Group B years
Sources
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive (juwra.com), Tour de Corse 1983: event page — https://www.juwra.com/corsica_1983.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, results — https://www.juwra.com/corsica_1983_results.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, entry list — https://www.juwra.com/corsica_1983_entries.html
- Jonkka's World Rally Archive, stage winners and leaders — https://www.juwra.com/corsica_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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