Walter Röhrl
Encyclopedia
Walter Röhrl is a German rally
and auto racing driver, with victories for Fiat
, Opel
, Lancia
and Audi
as well as Porsche
, Ford
and BMW
.
, Röhrl was invited to drive his first rally in 1968.
Röhrl was a World Rally Championship
favorite throughout the 1970s and 1980s, winning the Monte Carlo Rally
four times with four different marques. His co-driver for many years was Christian Geistdörfer
. His Fiat 131
Abarth carried him to the 1980
title, clinched with his victory in that year's San Remo rally, but it was arguably his equivalent success in 1982
that impressed most of all, with Röhrl fending off audacious four-wheel drive opposition, led by Audi
's resurgent Michèle Mouton
, to take the title, by virtue of consistency, in his increasingly outmoded rear-drive Opel Ascona
400. It was also during this time that he won the African Rally Championship
, in 1982.
In 1983, he joined Lancia
to pilot the new, rear-wheel drive Lancia 037
, before finally changing his machinery, in 1984
, to the four-wheel drive Audi Quattro
, an automobile actually incidentally produced in his home state of Bavaria
.
Despite being selective in his choice of top-level events, albeit during a time when this was a less unusual occurrence for top-line drivers in the championship, he still scored 14 WRC victories in his career.
Röhrl was also successful in road racing events, and called "Genius on Wheels" by Niki Lauda
. In the 1992 24 Hours Nürburgring
race which saw fog and heavy rain in the night, he hardly slowed down, anticipating the corners by timing. The race was nevertheless interrupted for hours.
In Italy, he was elected "Rallye driver of the century". In France he was elected "Rallye driver of the millennium" in November 2000. A jury out of 100 worldwide motorsports experts elected him "Best Rallye driver ever" in Italy.
In recent years, he has been retained as the senior test driver for Porsche road cars, famously setting quick laptimes for them testing round the famous Nürburgring
Nordschleife, for example with the Porsche Carrera GT
.
Röhrl was expected to make his competitive return to the Nürburgring 24 hour race in 2010 at the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. However, he was forced to withdraw from the event due to a back injury. It was to be his first 24 hour race in 17 years, since his last start in 1993.
Rallying
Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...
and auto racing driver, with victories for Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
, Opel
Opel
Adam Opel AG, generally shortened to Opel, is a German automobile company founded by Adam Opel in 1862. Opel has been building automobiles since 1899, and became an Aktiengesellschaft in 1929...
, Lancia
Lancia
Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Some modern Lancias are seen as presenting a more...
and Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
as well as Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
, Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
and BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
.
Career
At the age of 16, Röhrl began working for the commercial director of a company that legally represented the Bishop of Regensburg along with 6 further Bishops in Bavaria, and skiied in his spare time. In time he became a qualified ski instructor and a keen driver, and became the chauffer to the commercial director, covering up to 120,000 kilometres annually. Some unqualified reports have stated he was once the Bishop's own driver, but this has been acknowledged as untrue. Having also now been active in sports like skiingSkiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
, Röhrl was invited to drive his first rally in 1968.
Röhrl was a World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
favorite throughout the 1970s and 1980s, winning the Monte Carlo Rally
Monte Carlo Rally
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rally Monte Carlo is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and...
four times with four different marques. His co-driver for many years was Christian Geistdörfer
Christian Geistdörfer
Christian Geistdörfer is a German former rally co-driver. His career in motorsport lasted from 1975 to 1990. From 1977 to 1987, he co-drove to German rally driver Walter Röhrl, winning the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1980 and 1982. The pair also won the Monte Carlo Rally four times...
. His Fiat 131
Fiat 131
The Fiat 131, additionally called "Mirafiori", is a small/medium family car produced by the Italian car manufacturer Fiat from 1974 to 1984. It was exhibited at 1974 Turin Motor Show....
Abarth carried him to the 1980
1980 World Rally Championship season
The 1980 World Rally Championship season was the eighth season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 12 rallies...
title, clinched with his victory in that year's San Remo rally, but it was arguably his equivalent success in 1982
1982 World Rally Championship season
The 1982 World Rally Championship season was the tenth season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 12 rallies. By this time, the schedule format had become generally stable, with only one or two changes to venues year to year...
that impressed most of all, with Röhrl fending off audacious four-wheel drive opposition, led by Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
's resurgent Michèle Mouton
Michèle Mouton
Michèle Mouton is a French former rally driver. Competing in the World Rally Championship for the Audi factory team, she took four victories and finished runner-up in the drivers' world championship in 1982...
, to take the title, by virtue of consistency, in his increasingly outmoded rear-drive Opel Ascona
Opel Ascona
The Opel Ascona was a mid-sized car produced by Opel. It had three generations produced from 1970 to 1988. In motorsport, the Ascona 400 rally car driven by Walter Röhrl won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in the 1982 season....
400. It was also during this time that he won the African Rally Championship
African Rally Championship
The African Rally Championship is an international automobile rally championship organized by the FIA. The championship was first held in 1981 and won by Shekhar Mehta...
, in 1982.
Lancia
Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Some modern Lancias are seen as presenting a more...
to pilot the new, rear-wheel drive Lancia 037
Lancia 037
The Lancia Rally 037 was a mid-engine rally car built by Lancia in the early 1980s purely for the FIA Group B World Rally Championship. Driven by Markku Alén, Attilio Bettega, and Walter Röhrl, the car won Lancia the manufacturers' world championship in the 1983 season...
, before finally changing his machinery, in 1984
1984 World Rally Championship season
The 1984 World Rally Championship season was the 12th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 12 rallies following the same schedule as the previous season. Stig Blomqvist beat the defending world champion and Audi teammate Hannu...
, to the four-wheel drive Audi Quattro
Audi Quattro
The Audi Quattro is a road and rally car, produced by the German automobile manufacturer Audi, now part of the Volkswagen Group. It was first shown at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show on 3 March.The word quattro is derived from the Italian word for "four"...
, an automobile actually incidentally produced in his home state of Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
.
Despite being selective in his choice of top-level events, albeit during a time when this was a less unusual occurrence for top-line drivers in the championship, he still scored 14 WRC victories in his career.
Röhrl was also successful in road racing events, and called "Genius on Wheels" by Niki Lauda
Niki Lauda
Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver and three-time F1 World Champion. More recently an aviation entrepreneur, he has founded and run two airlines and was manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years.- Early years in racing :Born in Vienna,...
. In the 1992 24 Hours Nürburgring
24 Hours Nürburgring
The 24 Hours Nürburgring is a touring car and GT endurance racing event on the Nürburgring Nordschleife . With a lap length of over , it allows the participation of more than 200 cars, and over 700 drivers.-Overview:...
race which saw fog and heavy rain in the night, he hardly slowed down, anticipating the corners by timing. The race was nevertheless interrupted for hours.
In Italy, he was elected "Rallye driver of the century". In France he was elected "Rallye driver of the millennium" in November 2000. A jury out of 100 worldwide motorsports experts elected him "Best Rallye driver ever" in Italy.
In recent years, he has been retained as the senior test driver for Porsche road cars, famously setting quick laptimes for them testing round the famous Nürburgring
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...
Nordschleife, for example with the Porsche Carrera GT
Porsche Carrera GT
The Porsche Carrera GT is a mid-engined sports car that was manufactured by Porsche in Leipzig, Germany.- History :The development of the Carrera GT can be traced back to the 911 GT1 and LMP1-98 racing cars. Due in part to the FIA and ACO rule changes in 1998, both designs had ended. Porsche at...
.
Röhrl was expected to make his competitive return to the Nürburgring 24 hour race in 2010 at the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. However, he was forced to withdraw from the event due to a back injury. It was to be his first 24 hour race in 17 years, since his last start in 1993.