1981 World Rally Championship
World Champion | |
Driver: | Ari Vatanen |
Manufacturer: | Talbot |
Season dates | |
---|---|
Number of rallies: | 12 |
<1980 season |
The 1981 World Rally Championship was the ninth World Rally Championship organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was held in twelve races from January 24th to November 25th. Talbot won the manufacturers' championship. For the third time an official driver world champion was determined. Walter Röhrl did not compete as the reigning world champion from 1980 because his new contract partner Mercedes-Benz left shortly before the Monte Carlo rally. The Finn Ari Vatanen won the world championship in 1981 with a Ford Escort RS 1800.
vehicles
Teams and drivers
team | Manufacturer | automobile | driver | Co-driver | rally |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fiat Auto Torino | Fiat | Fiat 131 Abarth | Markku Alén | Ilkka Kivimäki | 1, 3, 6, 9-10 |
Attilio Bettega | Maurizio Perissinot | 1, 3, 6, 10 | |||
Dario Cerrato | Luciano Guizzardi | 1, 3, 10 | |||
Team Datsun Europe | Datsun | Nissan Stanza 160J | Timo Salonen | Seppo Harjanne | 3-7, 9-12 |
Shekhar Mehta | Mike Doughty | 4, 11 | |||
Yvonne Mehta | 6-7 | ||||
Tony Pond | Ian Grindrod | 3, 5, 10 | |||
Rauno Aaltonen | Lofry Drews | 4th | |||
Mike Kirkland | Dave Haworth | 4th | |||
Iórgos Moschous | Alexandros Constantacus | 6th | |||
Ricardo Zunino | Raúl Campana | 7th | |||
Jorge Recalde | Jorge del Buono | 7th | |||
Michel Mitri | Marcel Copetti | 11 | |||
Rothmans Rally Team | ford | Escort RS1800 | Ari Vatanen | David Richards | 1-3, 6-12 |
Pentti Airikkala | Risto Virtanen | 2, 9 | |||
Phil Short | 12 | ||||
Malcolm Wilson | Terry Harryman | 3, 6, 12 | |||
John Taylor | John Spiller | 11 | |||
Opel Euro Dealer Team / Publimmo Racing | Opel | Opel Ascona 400 | Jochi Kleint | Gunter Wanger | 1, 4, 6 |
Anders Kulläng | Bruno Berglund | 1-4 | |||
Talbot | Talbot | Sunbeam Lotus | Guy Fréquelin | Jean Todt | 1, 3, 5-8, 10, 12 |
Henri Toivonen | Fred Gallagher | 1, 3, 5-6, 9-10, 12 | |||
Stig Blomqvist | Bjorn Cederberg | 9, 12 | |||
Toyota Team Europe | Toyota | Toyota Celica 2000GT | Björn Waldegård | Hans Thorszelius | 3, 5-6, 9, 11-12 |
Per Eklund | Ragnar Spjuth | 3, 11-12 | |||
Jan-Olof Bohlin | 5 | ||||
Bjorn Cederberg | 6th | ||||
Tapio Rainio | Erkki Nyman | 9 | |||
Samir Assef | Jacques Jaubert | 11 | |||
Renault Sport Elf | Renault | 5 turbo | Jean Ragnotti | Jean-Marc Andrié | 1, 5 |
Martin Holmes | 12 | ||||
Mitsubishi Team Ralliart | Mitsubishi | Lancer Turbo | Anders Kulläng | Bruno Berglund | 6, 9, 12 |
Andrew Cowan | Johnstone Syer | 6th | |||
Derek Tucker | 12 | ||||
Kyösti Hämäläinen | Tapio Vanhala | 9 | |||
Antero Laine | Juha Piironen | 9 | |||
Audi Sport | Audi | Audi quattro | Hannu Mikkola | Arne Hertz | 1-3, 5-6, 9-10, 12 |
Michèle Mouton | Fabrizia Pons | 1, 3, 5-6, 9-10, 12 | |||
Franz Wittmann | Kurt Nestinger | 6, 9 | |||
Michele Cinotto | Emilio Radaelli | 10 |
Competitions
The kilometers entered correspond to the distance of the special stages. The distance of the connecting routes between the individual special stages is not included (except for the rally safari and Ivory Coast).
|
rally | rank | driver | vehicle | Total time h: min: sec |
Number of WP | length | Started | in the target |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Monte Carlo Rally January 24th to 30th, 1981 |
1. | Jean Ragnotti | Renault 5 Turbo | 9:55:55 | 32 | 757.00 km | 263 | 83 |
2. | Guy Fréquelin | Talbot Sunbeam Lotus | + 02:54 | |||||
3. | Jochen Kleint | Opel Ascona 400 | + 06:59 | |||||
Rally Sweden 13th to 15th February 1981 |
1. | Hannu Mikkola | Audi Quattro | 3:48:07 | 25th | 369.00 km | 116 | 73 |
2. | Ari Vatanen | Ford Escort RS1800 | + 01:53 | |||||
3. | Pentti Airikkala | Ford Escort RS1800 | + 03:40 | |||||
Rally Portugal 4th to 7th March 1981 |
1. | Markku Alén | Fiat 131 Abarth | 8:27:26 | 46 | 678.00 km | 95 | 24 |
2. | Henri Toivonen | Talbot Sunbeam Lotus | + 09:11 | |||||
3. | Björn Waldegård | Toyota Celica 2000 GT | + 16:21 | |||||
Safari Rally April 16-20, 1981 |
1. | Shekhar Mehta | Datsun Violet GT | 3:39:00 | 77 time controls |
5209 km | 70 | 21st |
2. | Rauno Aaltonen | Datsun Violet GT | + 0:03:44 | |||||
3. | Mike Kirkland | Datsun 160J | + 1:12:00 | |||||
Rally France April 30th to May 2nd 1981 |
1. | Bernard Darniche | Lancia Stratos HF | 14:26:23 | 24 | 1144.60 km | 120 | 42 |
2. | Guy Fréquelin | Talbot Sunbeam Lotus | + 16:02 | |||||
3. | Tony Pond | Datsun Violet GT | + 19:06 | |||||
Rally Greece 1st to 4th June 1981 |
1. | Ari Vatanen | Ford Escort RS1800 | 13:17:25 | 57 | 995.59 km | 133 | 23 |
2. | Markku Alén | Fiat 131 Abarth | + 04:35 | |||||
3. | Attilio Bettega | Fiat 131 Abarth | + 07:54 | |||||
Rally Argentina July 18-23, 1981 |
1. | Guy Fréquelin | Talbot Sunbeam Lotus | 14:22:52 | 18th | 1,346.60 km | 80 | 26th |
2. | Shekhar Mehta | Datsun Violet GT | + 38:52 | |||||
3. | Jorge Recalde | Datsun 160J | + 1:31:27 | |||||
Rally Brazil August 6-8, 1981 |
1. | Ari Vatanen | Ford Escort RS1800 | 9:39:40 | 20th | 714.00 km | 76 | 9 |
2. | Guy Fréquelin | Talbot Sunbeam | + 08:31 | |||||
3. | Domingo De Vitta | Ford Escort | + 40:06 | |||||
Rally Finland 28-30 August 1981 |
1. | Ari Vatanen | Ford Escort RS1800 | 4:07:27 | 46 | 453.09 km | 146 | 66 |
2. | Markku Alén | Fiat 131 Abarth | + 00:59 | |||||
3. | Hannu Mikkola | Audi Quattro | + 02:52 | |||||
Rally Sanremo October 5th to 10th 1981 |
1. | Michèle Mouton | Audi Quattro | 8:05:50 | 59 | 751.00 km | 63 | 27 |
2. | Henri Toivonen | Talbot Sunbeam Lotus | + 03:25 | |||||
3. | Antonio Fassina | Opel Ascona 400 | + 06:18 | |||||
Ivory Coast Rally October 26th to 31st, 1981 |
1. | Timo Salonen | Datsun Violet GT | 9:57:00 | 56 time controls |
5087 km | 51 | 9 |
2. | Per Eklund | Toyota Celica 2000GT | + 1:12:00 | |||||
3. | Shekhar Mehta | Datsun Violet GT | + 1:25:00 | |||||
Rally Great Britain November 22-25, 1981 |
1. | Hannu Mikkola | Audi Quattro | 8:30:00 | 65 | 722.00 km | 151 | 54 |
2. | Ari Vatanen | Ford Escort RS1800 | + 11:05 | |||||
3. | Stig Blomqvist | Talbot Sunbeam Lotus | + 13:36 |
Overall rating
WRC drivers' championship
rank | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 20th | 15th | 12 | 10 | 8th | 6th | 4th | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|
Manufacturers' championship WRC
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Individual evidence
- ↑ ewrc-results.com: Season 1981 , February 8, 2015