The teams

Audi Sport

Photo: Matthew Lamb via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

In 1981 Audi Sport brought something the rally world had never seen: a four-wheel-drive turbo car capable of beating the entire field. In the early Group B years the team was the benchmark; then the mid-engined cars from Peugeot and Lancia overtook it.

Grouve Sport documentary

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

Inside the team that brought four-wheel drive to rallying.

People

Roland Gumpert became head of sport and special development at Audi in 1981. Under his leadership Audi won 25 world rallies and four world titles (two manufacturers’, two drivers’). Gumpert led the team throughout the Group B period and in 1986 took responsibility for technical development abroad. He later built the Gumpert Apollo supercar under his own name.

The idea for the Quattro came from chassis engineer Jörg Bensinger, who saw in 1977 how the Volkswagen Iltis outperformed every other test car in the snow. Project leader Walter Treser developed the concept and named the car, and Ferdinand Piëch, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and then Audi’s head of engineering, backed the project. Treser was the first head of Audi Sport before Roland Gumpert took over. See designers and engineers.

Drivers and results

• 1982: Mouton (3 wins), Mikkola (2) and Blomqvist (2) give Audi its first manufacturers’ world title. See 1982 season.
• 1983: Hannu Mikkola becomes world champion, but Lancia wins the manufacturers’ title.
• 1984: with Röhrl as a fourth star driver, Audi wins both titles and Stig Blomqvist is champion. The short Sport Quattro makes its debut in Corsica.
• 1985: the winged S1 E2 makes its debut in Argentina. Only Röhrl wins another rally (Sanremo). Peugeot dominates.
• 1986: after Monte Carlo (Mikkola third) and Sweden comes the accident in Portugal. The works team does not start another world rally, and after the Tour de Corse Audi makes its withdrawal final.

The Ingolstadt team that changed rallying with four-wheel drive. Under Roland Gumpert: two manufacturers’ titles (1982, 1984) and two drivers’ titles (1983, 1984).

Stories

Audi was the only top team to stick with a front-mounted engine in Group B. That gave the Quattro stability, but also understeer and a heavy nose. The team compensated with power and technical tricks: the S1’s turbo used an air-recirculation system that kept it spinning when the driver lifted off or changed gear — the source of the Audi’s trademark bangs and pops. After Group B Audi left rallying.

European and national championships

Audi Quattros won national titles in Germany, Britain, Austria and Finland; in 1985 the Audi Sport Europa team ran Harald Demuth in the European championship. See European and national championships.

In pictures 3 photos

Further resources

• Audi Tradition: product history EN · article
  Audi Tradition's overview of the brand's landmark models, including the quattro era.
• Audi museum mobile, Ingolstadt EN · museum
  Audi's museum in Ingolstadt, home to rally quattros from the Audi Tradition collection.
• Quattro: The Race and Rally Story — Jeremy Walton (Evro, 2020) EN · book
  Detailed history of Audi's quattro competition programme. ISBN 9781910505434.
• 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 Teams

Lancia MartiniCesare Fiorio's Turin team won the last manufacturers' title for a two-wheel-drive car in 1983 and introduced the Delta S4 in 1985 — with Abarth as its engineering powerhouse.Read more →Peugeot Talbot SportFrom 1981 Jean Todt built a team that conquered the world within three years. With the 205 T16: manufacturers' titles in 1985 and 1986, and drivers' titles for Salonen and Kankkunen.Read more →Ford MotorsportIn 1983 Stuart Turner scrapped the RS1700T and started again with a clean sheet of paper: the RS200. It became a beautiful car that arrived too late.Read more →Designers and engineersThe people behind the machines: Limone and Lombardi (Lancia/Abarth), de Cortanze and Welter (Peugeot), Southgate and Wheeler (Ford), Bensinger and Piëch (Audi), David Wood (Metro 6R4).Read more →Other teams and privateersCitroën, Nissan, Mazda Rally Team Europe, Renault, Jolly Club and the privateers who gave Group B its depth.Read more →Rothmans Porsche and ProdrivePorsche never fought for the world title, but David Richards' new Prodrive company ran the Rothmans 911 SC RS in the European championship and on world championship asphalt rallies.Read more →

Sources

1. Wikipedia (EN), Roland Gumpert — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Gumpert
2. Wikipedia (EN), Audi Quattro — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_Quattro
3. Wikipedia (EN), Ferdinand Piëch — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Pi%C3%ABch
4. Wikipedia (EN), Audi Quattro (including the Sport Quattro) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_Quattro
5. Wikipedia (EN), World Rally Championship season articles 1982–1986 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_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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