Michele Mouton

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Michèle Mouton (born 23 June 1951) is a French rally driver.

She won four titles and finished runner-up in the drivers' world championship in 1982 when competing in the World Rally Championship for Audi's factory team.

She is also the last woman to compete in top-level rallying. Mouton debuted as a co-driver but quickly took over the pilot's seat, steering an Alpine-Renault A110 in national rallies.

In 1975, she competed in circuit racing and then won the two-liter prototype class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Mouton finished runner-up to Bernard Darniche in the European Rally Championship after being signed by Fiat France in 1977.

She went on to win the 1978 Tour de France Automobile and show consistent results in her home events in the WRC; the Tour de Corse and the Monte Carlo Rally were two separate contests.

Audi Sport hired Mouton to partner Hannu Mikkola in 1981.

She won the Rallye Sanmo in her first year with Audi Quattro. Mouton finished a close second overall to Walter Röhrl in the 1982 World Rally Championship, winning in Portugal, Brazil, and Greece and helping Audi win its first manufacturers' title.

Her campaign was unsuccessful in fifth place this year.

Mouton's participation on the international championship level became part-time with the team having four top drivers for 1984.

In 1985, she won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the United States, a record in the process.

In 1986, she rode Peugeot and won the German Rally Championship as the first female racer to win a major championship in rallying.

Mouton resigned from rallying as a result of the ban of Group B supercars shortly after winning the title.

In 1988, she co-founded the international motor sport festival Race of Champions in honor of her former rival Henri Toivonen.

Mouton, the first president of the FIA's Women & Motor Sport Commission in 2010 and the FIA's president in the World Rally Championship in 2011.

Personal life and legacy

Mouton said she wanted to start a family with Corsican sports journalist Claude Guarnieri when announcing her retirement from rallying. Jessie (Jessica) was her daughter when she was born in 1987. "She loved driving," Mouton credited her father Pierre's help in achieving her fame: "He loved driving." He loved fast cars. And I suspect he would have loved to do what I did. He was a prisoner of war for five years, and when he returned home, he never had the opportunity to compete. But he did attend all the rallies I attended. "My mother was there too."

Mouton claims that she did not set out to defame her male peers but rather to be at their best. In rallying, she said that the quickest elapsed time is the most significant factor. David Evans of Autosport called her "the most innovative female driver in the sport ever." Mouton, along with Pat Moss, is described as "the catalyst by which all females measure their abilities and accomplishments." Mouton and Moss were of different times and did not compete directly against each other, although they did compete against each other in the 1973 Monte Carlo Rally, where Mouton co-droves were present. In 1985, they exchanged vehicles in a private test session with Moss, who was driving the Quattro and Mouton 3000. Mouton was regarded as "one of the finest" by Stirling Moss, and Niki Lauda described her as a "superwoman" by Niki Lauda.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy named Mouton knight of the Legion of Honour (Légion d'honneur) in 2011.

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Career

Michèle Mouton was born in Grasse, a French Riviera town, near to the mountain stages that were traditionally represented in French rallies, on June 23rd. On their large property, her parents grew roses and jasmine. Mouton began college but soon dropped out and focus on a career in rallying. Despite the fact that Mouton began riding her father's Citron 2CV when she was 14 years old, she did not return to rallying until 1972, when her friend Jean Taibi invited her to compete the Tour de Corse with him. Mouton co-droved in the 1973 Monte Carlo Rally, the first-ever World Rally Championship (WRC) event. Mouton's father suggested a switch to racing if she wanted to keep rallying, but she promised to buy her a car and give her a one-year to prove herself. She debuted on the Rallye Paris-Saint-Raphaél Féminin and then took on the Tour de France Automobile. Mouton placed eighth overall in the Île de Beauté, a complement to the Tour de Corse at the end of 1973.

Mouton made her driver debut in 1974 in a Porsche A110 finishing 12th in the Tour de Corse. Her positive results were attributed to a special engine, according to the WRC's inspectors, but her car passed inspection. Mouton was crowned both French and European women's champion at the end of the year. She took seventh place in the Tour de Corse's second season. Mouton defended her ladies' titles and also competed in circuit racing: She was crowned the 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans with Christine Dacremont and Marianne Hoepfner. Mouton said, "It began to rain, I remember," and "I started to pass everyone." I was running on slicks. They were screaming, "Michele you must not stop," but I didn't want to because I was passing everyone." Her findings, as the French oil company Elf, attracted a major sponsor. Mouton took the A110 to 11th position in Monte Carlo in 1976, then the Rallye Sanzo. She made her debut in the newer A310 at the Tour de Corse, which also ended in retirement.

Fiat France signed Mouton to partner Jean-Claude Andruet for the 1977 season. She was not impressed by the Fiat 131 Abarth's handling, saying that it was "like a big truck, not a vehicle" and "terrible to drive." Nevertheless, the car would be competitive, and Mouton achieved a string of good results in 1977 and 1980, finishing eighth in the Tour de Corse in 1977 and 1980 in a row. She had been running in 1980 before her engine died for the first time. She drove the car to seventh position in 1979 and 1980 in Monte Carlo, equaling the effort she had achieved in the event in a Lancia Stratos HF in 1978.

Mouton won the 1977 RACE Rallye de Espaa and finished second place in the 1977 Tour de France Automobile, outside of the World Rally Championship. In the overall European Rally Championship, she came in second runner-up to Bernard Darniche (ERC). Mouton continued to win the Tour de France with the 131 Abarth the year before. She came in third third at Rallye d'Antibes, behind Stratos' Darniche and Attilio Bettega. In the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Cup for Drivers, she came in fifth and fourth place, the predecessor to the drivers' world championship. Mouton came in second second in the French Rally Championship in 1979, behind Porsche 911 SC driver Bernard Béguin.

Audi Sport, Audi's latest factory team, called Mouton in 1980 and signed her for a World Rally Championship program for the 1981 season. Audi's call was described as "a complete surprise," Mouton said. Audi's decision to nominate her rather than naming established male competitors attracted a lot of attention. Audi's Quattro, the first rally car to have over 300 bhp and both a turbocharger and four-wheel-drive, had not received FIA homologation, so Audi could only enter rallies as zero vehicles, not as competitive entries. Hannu Mikkola debuted the vehicle in the Algarve Rally in October and would have won by about thirty minutes had his times been recorded. Mouton travelled with Freddy Kottulinsky in the final round of the Finnish Rally Championship, the Northern Lights, and the slippery surfaces provided him with a spark. Mouton's car was initially understeering, but he became more comfortable after switching to left-foot braking, as Mikkola, who was in charge of building the car, advised. Audi revealed their participation in eight events in 1981, but Mouton would not be involved in the Swedish Rally due to her lack of expertise on driving on ice and snow.

Mouton's first competitive run in Monte Carlo's Quattro began before it had even begun. Due to apparent engine failures, she pulled out of the event before the game was scheduled. The team later discovered that dirt had penetrated the fuel system. Fabrizia Pons, an Italian co-driver, began her long association with the Rally Portugal. Despite suffering from electronic malfunctions, Mouton took seven stages and finished in fourth place, despite being in fourth place for the fourth time in career. Audi is being chastised for signing a female driver in this review. Mouton set several fastest times at the Acropolis Rally in Greece, despite a retirement due to a broken camshaft in the Tour de Corse. Although Mikkola was leading and Mouton fifth, the Quattros were excluded from the Quattros' citing homologation infractions. Although Audi protested, the stewards upheld the decision. Mouton found it difficult to get used to the changes in her first run in the high-speed 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland. She appeared on several top-ten stage times and finished 13th. She was delighted with her debut, and Keskisuomalainen's local newspaper called her debut as fruitful. Mouton took the lead when Michele Cinotto crashed and left Henri Toivonen and Ari Vatanen to win the Rallye San Francisco, a mixed surface event with tarmac and gravel in Italy. It was the first time a female driver had won a world championship rally in rallying. Mouton's male rivals were left speechless. Vain had been adamant over the weekend, and she was reassured that "never can nor will I lose to a woman." Mouton recalled her debut in a 2008 interview with RallySport Magazine: a girl who recalled her debut victory in an RallySport publication:

Mouton continued her good results by running third at half distance, despite being worried about competing in a rally where timenotes and exercises are not allowed. However, her Quattro suffered with gearbox malfunctions and she resigned from fifth position after sliding off the road into a snow-filled ditch later this year. "Rolly is England," Mouton will say later today. There are no speednotes in the car; you're the one who must do the fastest time. This is, to me, a ruckus. Well, it was not straightforward for me because I didn't have the opportunity to watch the British championship, but it's certainly rising. "I love it very much." Mouton finished the season in eighth place in the drivers' championship, while Audi came in fifth place in the manufacturers' standings.

Mouton's 1982 season began with a big crash at Monte Carlo Rally. On stage twelve in Provence's little town Briançonnet, she slid off the road and crashed into a block wall of a large house at 110 km/h (70 mph). Mouton sustained a concussion while Pons sustained a concussion. She had been in third place and had run the fastest time for the challenging Col de Turini mountain pass. Mouton did not recover well, and she made her debut in the Swedish Rally. When she slid into a snow bank and crashed into the Quattro of teammate Hannu Mikkola, who had gone off at the same time, she was in third place. She eventually placed fifth in fifth place. Mouton won by 18 stage victories on her way to a landslide against Toyota's Per Eklund in Portugal. She confessed to being adamant in the grueling process, but she continued to worry about the massive crowds right by the route as trees. She could not keep up with the leaders at the Tour de Corse, finishing seventh. Mouton won ahead of Opel duo Walter Röhrl and Henri Toivonen, and then closed to within 20 points of championship leader Röhrl at the Acropolis Rally. Two major accidents, one of which killed a spectator, overshadowed the event. "I'm afraid that something will break in my car, and I can no longer avoid striking a spectator," Mouton said.

Mouton continued her good shows in New Zealand and swapped the lead with Mikkola, Röhrl, and Björn Waldegrd. She recovered the lead on stage twelve shortly after regaining the lead on stage twelve but she had to stop soon due to a broken oil pump. Mouton finished second in the championship after seven rounds, 32 points behind Röhrl and 12 ahead of Eklund. The Rally of Brazil was marred by the death of Brazilian driver Thomas Fuchs and contained tumultuous weather as portions of the course were not properly closed for competition. Despite the fact that only five teams made it to the championship, Mouton lifted her crown by winning her duel with Röhrl after the German lost a wheel on the last day. She ran in the eighth fastest time on the famous Ouninpohja stage and ended seventh after the first day. Mouton landed on the following leg, but she broke her Quattro while landing. Her front wheels locked up and she rolled the car after the next jump. In San Francisco, Mouton was next in a close contest for the victory. Despite winning nine stage titles and Audi's taking a one-two, she had to settle for fourth behind Röhrl.

Audi had not intended to participate in the African marathon competitions initially, but now find it crucial to progress to the Rapporte d'Ivoire penultimate round, due to their championship matches with Opel. Mouton learned that his father died of cancer in his house in Nice just before the event. Mouton's last wish was that the rally would begin. She was eight minutes ahead of Mikkola and nearly half an hour ahead of her championship rival Röhrl on day one of over 1,200 kilometres (86 °F). Mikkola said he had never been in such a hot vehicle, and Röhrl estimated that the inside temperature of his car reached a "most unbearable" 70 °C (158 °F). Mouton led Röhrl by over an hour despite losing 25 minutes due to transmission difficulties, having just over half of the 5,000 km (3,100 mi) behind. Both Mouton and Röhrl suffered with a number of reliability issues on the third day, and her advantage over Röhrl shrank to 18 minutes. The Toyota Celica GT2000s of Eklund and Waldegrd were still over two hours behind. If Mouton goes on to hold off Röhrl, she will cut Röhrl's lead in the championship by only two points. Mouton will only need a third place in the RAC Rally to win the title if Röhrl wins, as a driver's seven best results counted toward the championship at the time. On the last day, she suffered from mechanical difficulties and had to have the complete fuel injection system modified. Röhrl and Mouton arrived at the same time for the next time on command. Mouton went off the road and rolled her car as she had just 600 kilometers to go. She rode the badly wounded Quattro for five kilometres before giving up.

Röhrl inherited the win and became the first two-time world champion in rallying. Mouton did not dwell on losing the title after losing her father. Röhrl had previously stated that he "would have accepted second place in the championship to Mikkola," but not to Mouton: "This is not because I doubt her abilities as a driver; rather, because she is a woman." He said that losing had devalued his results. Mouton defeated Toivonen to finish second second, behind Mikkola, at the Royal Athletic Conference. Audi became the first German company to win the manufacturers' world championship thanks to this achievement. Mouton received the International Rally Driver of the Year award at the inaugural Autosport Awards gala.

The 1983 season brought the WRC and Mouton's Group B to a halt. Audi Quattro A1 was now at the wheel. Audi had a new teammate, and Audi had signed Stig Blomqvist as their third regular driver. Mouton had a rough start to her season in Monte Carlo this year for the third year in a row. She parked herself off the road not far from her hometown town and into a stone wall at over 100 mph (60 mph). The car was destroyed, but Mouton and Pons were unharmed. Mouton told her teammate Roland Gumpert, later of Gumpert supercar fame, that she had to avoid a photographer. Mouton continued to post consecutive top finishes. Audi's quadruple win over Quattro turned her Quattro into a snow bank, placing her fourth in Sweden. Mouton finished second in Portugal to Mikkola, ahead of Lancia's Röhrl and Markku Alén. Mouton rode on three wheels after the first section of the Safari Rally, totaling over 1,600 km (1,000 miles), saying she was "completely exhausted" from the effort. Ari Vatanen of Opel and her colleague Mikkola finished third, with Opel's Ari Vatanen and her colleague Mikkola placing third. Mikkola and Mouton finished first and second in the drivers' championship after four events.

Audi unveiled the Quattro A2 at the Tour de Corse, which was 70 kg (155 lb) lighter and had an engine that had 30 more horsepower. Mouton's rally came to an end when her engine caught fire. She rolled her car on a hairpin turn 18 km (11 mi) from the start on the first stage in Greece. Rally New Zealand was for Mouton, a repeat of last year; she took the lead on the seventh stage and held it until her A2's engine failed, with only six of the 33 stages remaining. Mouton finished fifth in the championship after three others were cut off in a row. She then came in third, behind Mikkola and Blomqvist at Rally Argentina, but this would be her last podium finish of the season. Mouton took seventh place on the first day of the 1000 Lakes in Finland, after achieving two top-five times. Her car later caught fire, but she was able to continue in the case by following Mikkola's directions and driving into a lake. She eventually finished 16th after a string of top-ten finishes. The Lancia 037 and Mouton finished seventh in the Rallye San Francisco, with fuel injection issues dominating the tarmac stages. She got off to a good start and remained second in the season's final 12 stages. An Audi mechanic mistakenly filled Mouton's fuel tank with pure water, resulting in time-consuming repairs. She later resigned after being knocked out and finished fifth overall in the drivers' championship. Despite Mikkola's victory over Lancia in the drivers' championship, Audi had lost the company's title to Lancia after the latter's triple victory in Santé.

Audi welcomed two-time world champion Walter Röhrl to their main line-up in 1984, and Mouton has now played in five WRC events. She did not participate in the Monte Carlo Rally for the first time in nine years. However, Mouton has agreed to cover Radio Monte Carlo's case. She started her year off by placing second second at the Swedish Rally, behind compatriot and home favourite Blomqvist. "Finally finishing second was amazing," Mouton later said. It's like dancing when you're out rallying on ice or snow in a foreign country. From one side to the other. My dancing experience aided in my ascension. I loved it right away because of it. It was so nice to feel and move the car like that.

Sweden, in ice and snow, like ballet!"

This will be her last podium appearance in the World Rally Championship.

A rotor arm in Mouton's Quattro failed, causing the turbo to malfunction as well, which caused the turbo to break down as well. She resigned after being a victim to the team's ranking order; because the repairs were not expected to take too long, Gumpert ordered that Quattro be fixed by using Mouton's sister car as spares; Her debut in the new Sport Quattro at Acropolis Rally ended with engine overheating problems. Mouton came in ninth place in the 1000 Lakes after a short first day. She later crashed and continued without a windscreen, but her Quattro's damage could not be repaired in service. For the fourth year in a row, Mouton retired and left Finland pointless. She signed a contract extension with Audi in late October. At the RAC Rally, a small mistake resulted in a puncture, and Mouton's ranking went from third to fifth. She went on to barely miss out on the final podium position to Toyota's Per Eklund. Mouton's achievements placed her 12th in the drivers' world championship, a point behind Röhrl. Mouton made her debut in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the United States, driving an Audi Sport Quattro with her co-driver Fabrizia Pons. Martin Schanche was hampered by a flat right front flat and placed second overall in a record time, leaving behind several elite V8 single-seaters who had traditionally dominated the competition.

Audi's WRC service was limited for the 1985 season following Peugeot's latest setbacks to Peugeot Talbot Sport, Peugeot's factory team led by Jean Todt. Mouton and Mikkola were assigned to testing and development positions. She rode both the Sport Quattro and its successor, the Quattro S1 (Sport E2). Mouton said that the S1 was the most challenging rally vehicle she had driven: "I agree the maximum had gone too far." We didn't have the reflexes to regulate it properly. The car was difficult to drive, but not the short Quattro before."

Despite the fact that Mouton appeared in just one world championship tournament during the season, she was crowned Rally Championships in full. Her campaign was plagued by reliability issues, and she had only one finish. Mouton stopped after losing her Quattro in a jump during the National Breakdown Rally. She finished second in another Quattro after technical difficulties culminated in her early retirement at the Circuit of Ireland. Mouton had been closing in on the leading Wilson until a transmission issue forced her to resign, forcing her to cancel. She set the fastest time on the first stage of the Ulster Rally but then fell short due to a mechanical failure. Mouton tried to start her Quattro but then crashed out five stages later.

The long-distance Rallye Côte d'Ivoire was Mouton's only WRC event of the year. Pons was co-driven by Arne Hertz as Pons was sick at the time of the investigation. After the first day, Mouton was up and tied for second with Toyota's Juha Kankkunen. On the next day, her Quattro suffered serious engine problems, but Audi mechanics appeared to have fixed it off the road in the jungle. At the same time, Audi's Sport Quattro "chase vehicle," a fast-service vehicle, was removed, and Audi was accused of swapping the cars. The team gathered Mouton just before the finish, but the news later reported evidence. Despite the fact that her rallying year was a disappointment, Mouton made a fruitful return to the Pikes Peak, winning the overall in her Sport Quattro. Despite muddy weather exacerbated by a hail storm, she tied Al Unser Jr.'s 1982 record by around thirteen seconds. The win of the French woman angered some of her male peers. Bobby Unser was reported to have been vocal about his loss, to which Mouton replied, "If you have the balls, you should run me back down as well."

Mouton left Audi in late 1985 to join Peugeot for the coming season. In a Peugeot 205 Turbo 16, she competed in the German Rally Championship and two WRC events, with which the marque had won the previous year's world championships. Mouton recruited Terry Harryman, who had been left jobless following Ari Vatanen's death. Mouton, nicknamed "der schwarze Vulkan" (The Black Volcano), has won six of the eight events in the German championship, including the Rallye Germany. Despite the fact that the Hessen Rallye was suspended due to the death of Formula One's co-driver Michel Wyder, Mouton was named the champion. After winning her fifth game of the season, she earned the German national championship in the seventh and penultimate rounds, the Sachs Baltic. She became the first female driver to win a major rallying championship.

Mouton's WRC victories were her home events: Monte Carlo Rally and Tour de Corse. She was running in eighth place after eleven stages in Monte Carlo, but she was soon disqualified due to oil pump issues. Mouton was given the second evolution of the car for the Tour de Corse in May. She blasted off the clock and remained third place behind Lancia's Henri Toivonen and teammate Bruno Saby. However, she ran into gearbox issues on the tenth stage and was forced to pull out of work. Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto fell out from the lead and died in their positions the next day. Mouton was still in Corsica, and she told her boyfriend that "if they do not stop the Group B now, it will be the end for me." FISA introduced new guidelines and barred the Group B supercars from participating in the following year.

Mouton resigned from rallying in October, two weeks after winning the German Rally Championship title. The decision was based on the end of the Group B era, she cited "a good time to stop" at the time. Mouton crowned her career by winning the Drei-Städte Rallye (Three Cities Rally), ahead of Armin Schwarz's MG Metro 6R4 in the same month.

Mouton co-founded the international motor sport championship for rally drivers in 1988 with Fredrik Johnsson in honor of Toivonen and to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the world championship for rally drivers. The event started with the world's top rally racers, but now includes stars from other genres, such as Formula One, NASCAR, Le Mans, and MotoGP, who compete in matched vehicles.

Mouton served in rally raids for Ari Valianten and Jacky Ickx in 1988 and 1989. Mouton rode a 205 T16 Grand Raid chase car and exchanged spare parts for Vain and Henri Pescarolo, but also ranked sixth overall, with a rank of sixth overall. In 2004, and 2009, she served as a press pilot in the Dakar Rally. Mouton finished second in the London-Sydney Marathon in 2000, behind former teammate Stig Blomqvist. Mouton and Fabrizia Pons have reunited in New Zealand for the 2008 Otago Classic Rally. Mouton competed with a 911 in the Rallye du Maroc in 2010 and finished second to Grégoire De Mévius.

Mouton became the first president of the FIA's Women & Motor Sport Commission in 2010. "For many years people have asked me why there have been no people following in my footsteps," she said. I'm hoping that the Commission will answer the question and that we can attract and help women in all sectors of our sport." Mouton was appointed FIA's manager in the World Rally Championship in 2011, having already chaired a task group on rallying. Mouton also serves on the Rally Hall of Fame's nomination committee. Since being a candidate for nomination, she resigned in March 2012. Mouton was inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside two-time world champion Carlos Sainz.

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