Greatest victories + next month

It’s about overcoming the odds

THE RIDER

Born in the town of Grasse on the French Riviera, Michèle Mouton learnt to drive at age 14 in her father’s Citroën 2CV, ever aware of her hometown’s proximity to some of the most famous mountain stages on the World Rally scene.

A law student in 1972, Mouton was sold on rallying while co-driving for her then-lover, Italian Jean Taibi. After competing together in the 1973 Monte Carlo Rally, an unimpressed Mouton’s father suggested she consider piloting her own car in her family-backed team, away from “troublesome” Taibi.

Driving her new Alpine A110, Mouton soon discovered success in local rallying before – in 1975, with the backing of French oil company Elf – heading towards the international stage. Further success with brands like Fiat and Porsche prompted interest from Audi as it prepared an onslaught on the World Rally scene.

THE RACE

When multiple drivers’ champion Juha Kankkunen famously said of rallying in the 1980s, “WRC is for boys but Group B is for men,” he’d have done well to remember the feats of Michèle Mouton behind the wheel of her mighty Audi Quattro, not least when she claimed her maiden Group B victory alongside female co-driver Fabrizia Pons at the 1981 Sanremo Rally.

Adding particular pleasure to her first victory was the fact that, during the final stages of the event, she managed to hold off the late charge of a determined Ari Vatanen, whose pre-race remark that he “never can, nor never will, lose to a woman” would have been playing heavily on his mind.

Not suited to either the changeable road-surface conditions nor the tight and twisty Sanremo route, Mouton’s Quattro lined up for the 42 km final special stage some 30 seconds ahead of Vatanen. Adopting the attitude that, given the challenges of the awaiting stage, there was a likelihood of cars being damaged, Mouton paced herself as though it was the first rather than the final stage of the race. Indeed, a fast-charging Vatanen eventually damaged his Ford Escort on a rock during the stage, allowing Mouton to rewrite the history books and silence a slew of misogynistic critics.

“I can see now the attraction because I was the only woman at the time in the championship,” Mouton recalls. “I hated when journalists came to me at the end of a rally and said: ‘Can you smile?’ I would reply: ‘Okay, you go and find Blomqvist and Mikkola, and ask them to smile and then you come back to me.’”