Walter Röhrl

Walter Röhrl

Röhrl in 2003.
Personal information
Nationality	German
Born	(1947-03-07) 7 March 1947 Regensburg
World Rally Championship record
Active years	1973–1987
Teams	Porsche, Fiat, Opel, Lancia, Audi
Rallies	75
Championships	2 (1980, 1982)
Rally wins	14
Podiums	31
Stage wins	420
Total points	494
First rally	1973 Monte Carlo Rally
First win	1975 Acropolis Rally
Last win	1985 San Remo Rally
Last rally	1987 Acropolis Rally

Walter Röhrl (born 7 March 1947 in Regensburg) is a German rally and auto racing driver, with victories for Fiat, Opel, Lancia and Audi as well as Porsche, Ford and BMW.

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 chauffeur 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 skiing, 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. Shortly after winning the championship however he was fired from the team by team manager Tony Fall due to the fact he disliked competing in the RAC rally (the rally in which he had little success in).

Röhrl driving a Quattro in 2005.

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.

In 1987 Röhrl set up a new record in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb being the first driver to cover the 14.42 miles (19.99 km)-long mountain track to the Pikes Peak in less than 11 minutes. In his 600 hp (440 kW) Audi Sport quattro S1 it took him only 10:10.47 minutes to reach Pikes Peak on the road which at that time was mainly covered with gravel.

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. In 2011, Röhrl was inducted into the Rally Hall of Fame along with Hannu Mikkola.

WRC victories

#	Event	Season	Co-driver	Car
1	22nd Acropolis Rally	1975	Jochen Berger	Opel Ascona
2	25th Acropolis Rally	1978	Christian Geistdörfer	Fiat 131 Abarth
3	Critérium du Québec	1978	Christian Geistdörfer	Fiat 131 Abarth
4	48th Rally Monte Carlo	1980	Christian Geistdörfer	Fiat 131 Abarth
5	14th Rally Portugal	1980	Christian Geistdörfer	Fiat 131 Abarth
6	1st Rally Argentina	1980	Christian Geistdörfer	Fiat 131 Abarth
7	22nd Rally Sanremo	1980	Christian Geistdörfer	Fiat 131 Abarth
8	50th Rally Monte Carlo	1982	Christian Geistdörfer	Opel Ascona 400
9	14th Rallye Côte d'Ivoire	1982	Christian Geistdörfer	Opel Ascona 400
10	51st Rally Monte Carlo	1983	Christian Geistdörfer	Lancia Rally 037
11	30th Acropolis Rally	1983	Christian Geistdörfer	Lancia Rally 037
12	13th Rally New Zealand	1983	Christian Geistdörfer	Lancia Rally 037
13	52nd Rally Monte Carlo	1984	Christian Geistdörfer	Audi Quattro A2
14	27th Rally Sanremo	1985	Christian Geistdörfer	Audi Quattro Sport S1

External links

• Webpage from Walter Röhrl
• Walter Röhrl at rallybase.nl

Sporting positions
Preceded by Björn Waldegård	World Rally Champion 1980	Succeeded by Ari Vatanen
Preceded by Ari Vatanen	World Rally Champion 1982	Succeeded by Hannu Mikkola
Preceded by Shekhar Mehta	African Rally Champion 1982	Succeeded by Alain Ambrosino
Preceded by Marc Duez	Race of Champions Classic Master 1997	Succeeded by Miki Biasion
Records
Preceded by Björn Waldegård 36 years, 32 days (1979 season)	Youngest World Rally Champion 33 years, 232 days (1980 season)	Succeeded by Ari Vatanen 29 years, 212 days (1981 season)