 Röhrl at Retro Classics Stuttgart, Germany in 2012 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  German |
| Born | (1947-03-07)7 March 1947 (age 78) Regensburg, Germany |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 1973–1987 |
| Co-driver | Jochen Berger Claes Billstam Willi-Peter PitzChristian Geistdörfer Phil Short |
| 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 | 1975Acropolis Rally |
| Last win | 1985San Remo Rally |
| Last rally | 1987Acropolis Rally |
Walter Röhrl (German pronunciation:[ˈvaltɐˈʁøːɐ̯l]ⓘ; born 7 March 1947) is a Germanrally andauto racing driver, with victories forFiat,Opel,Lancia andAudi as well asPorsche,Ford andBMW. Röhrl had 14 victories over his career, with his notable achievements including winning theWorld Rally Championship twice: in 1980 in a Fiat Abarth and in 1982 while driving for an Opel. He has also competed in other forms of motorsport, such as an endurance racing, winning in the GTP +3.0 class in the24 Hours of Le Mans in1981 with the Porsche System team. Röhrl also set thePikes Peak International Hill Climb record in 1987 driving, anAudi Sport Quattro S1 E2. He is often regarded as one of the greatest rally drivers of all time.
Röhrl grew up as the youngest of the three children of a stonemason in Regensburg, Bavaria, nearMunich. His parents separated when he was ten years old. From then on he lived with his mother. After leaving school he completed a commercial education at Bishop's Ordinariate Regensburg.[citation needed] At the age of 16, Röhrl began working for the commercial director of a company that legally represented theBishop of Regensburg along with six further Bishops inBavaria, and skied 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.
Röhrl was invited to drive his first rally in 1968.
Röhrl was aWorld Rally Championship favourite throughout the 1970s and 1980s, winning theMonte Carlo Rally four times with four different marques. His co-driver for many years wasChristian Geistdörfer. HisFiat 131 Abarth carried him to the1980 title, clinched with his victory in that year'sSan Remo rally. For 1981, Röhrl signed a five-year deal withMercedes-Benz, who planned to compete with a500 SL roadster in 1981 and 1982, to be followed by a purpose-built, mid-engined, turbocharged Group B car in 1983. In the end, Mercedes-Benz withdrew shortly before the first rally of the season and cancelled the Group B program. Röhrl was given a DM 900,000 lump sum and release from his five-year contract, but too late in the season to get a seat.[1]
A few months later, Röhrl and Geistdörfer took a short-term engagement with Porsche and campaigned aPorsche 924 Carrera GTS in six rounds of the German rally championship. Röhrl also started theSan Remo rally in a Porsche 911 SC, but was forced to retire with driveshaft trouble while in second place. Röhrl has referred to this as his most bitter retirement, as he had been hoping that a victory would help coax Porsche into committing to a full WRC effort.
It was arguably his second title, in the1982 World Rally Championship season, that impressed most of all, with Röhrl fending off four-wheel drive opposition led byAudi's resurgentMichèle Mouton, to take the title by virtue of consistency in his increasingly outmoded rear-driveOpel Ascona 400. It was also during this time that he won theAfrican Rally Championship in 1982.[2] However, shortly after winning the championship, he was fired from the team by team managerTony Fall because he disliked competing in the RAC rally (the rally he had little success in).[3][4] Röhrl had already had severe arguments with Fall about publicity activities for the team sponsor, tobacco companyRothmans. Röhrl, as a strict nonsmoker, refused to do any filming for Rothmans publicity spots, claiming that he had been hired as a driver, not an actor, and that he could not see any sense in promoting tobacco as a non-smoker.[5]
In1983, he joinedLancia to pilot the new, rear-wheel driveLancia 037, before finally changing his machinery in1984 to the four-wheel driveAudi Quattro, a car produced in his home state ofBavaria.
In 1987, Röhrl set up a new record in thePikes Peak International Hill Climb by being the first driver to win the 12.42 miles (19.99 km) long mountain track to thePikes Peak in less than 11 minutes. In his 600 hp (440 kW)Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 he did the American hillclimb in 10 minutes and 47.850 seconds[6] 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 (he declined to do the1000 Lakes Rally in Finland due to his dislike of jumps and cars getting airborne,[7] he did the RAC Rally in Britain only once more after 1979 and he only did theSwedish Rally twice, despite finishing third in 1982), albeit during a time when this was not unusual for top-line drivers in the championship, Röhrl still scored 14 WRC victories in his career.
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 meeting in Italy elected him "Best Rallye driver ever". In 2011, Röhrl was inducted into theRally Hall of Fame along withHannu Mikkola[8] and, in July 2016, was inducted intoGermany's Sports Hall of Fame.[9]
Röhrl was also successful in road racing events and was called "Genius on Wheels" byNiki Lauda. Together withJürgen Barth, he took a class victory in the 1981 Le Mans 24 Hours at the wheel of a Porsche 924 Carrera GTP (actually a 944 prototype), finishing seventh overall. Together withHarald Grohs andDieter Schornstein [de], he started in two races in theWorld Sportscar Championship the same year on aPorsche 935, winning the Silverstone 6 Hours race. In the 199224 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 recent years, he has been retained as the senior test driver for Porsche road cars, setting quick laptimes for them testing round theNürburgring Nordschleife, for example, with thePorsche Carrera GT.
Röhrl was expected to make his competitive return to the Nürburgring 24-hour race in 2010 at the wheel of aPorsche 911 GT3 RS. However, he was forced to withdraw from the event due to a back injury.[10] It was to be his first 24-hour race in 17 years, since his last start in 1993.
| # | Event | Season | Co-driver | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Acropolis Rally | 1975 | Jochen Berger | Opel Ascona |
| 2 | Acropolis Rally | 1978 | Christian Geistdörfer | Fiat 131Abarth |
| 3 |  Critérium du Québec | 1978 | Christian Geistdörfer | Fiat 131 Abarth |
| 4 |  Rally Monte Carlo | 1980 | Christian Geistdörfer | Fiat 131 Abarth |
| 5 |  Rally Portugal | 1980 | Christian Geistdörfer | Fiat 131 Abarth |
| 6 |  Rally Argentina | 1980 | Christian Geistdörfer | Fiat 131 Abarth |
| 7 |  Rally Sanremo | 1980 | Christian Geistdörfer | Fiat 131 Abarth |
| 8 | Rally Monte Carlo | 1982 | Christian Geistdörfer | Opel Ascona 400 |
| 9 |  Rallye Côte d'Ivoire | 1982 | Christian Geistdörfer | Opel Ascona 400 |
| 10 | Rally Monte Carlo | 1983 | Christian Geistdörfer | Lancia 037 Rally |
| 11 | Acropolis Rally | 1983 | Christian Geistdörfer | Lancia 037 Rally |
| 12 |  Rally New Zealand | 1983 | Christian Geistdörfer | Lancia 037 Rally |
| 13 | Rally Monte Carlo | 1984 | Christian Geistdörfer | Audi Quattro A2 |
| 14 | Rally Sanremo | 1985 | Christian Geistdörfer | Audi Quattro Sport S1 |
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Porsche System | Jürgen Barth | Porsche 944 LM | GTP +3.0 | 323 | 7 | 1st |
| 1993 | Le Mans Porsche Team |  Hurley HaywoodHans-Joachim Stuck | Porsche 911 Turbo S LM-GT | GT | 79 | DNF | DNF |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | European Rally champion 1974 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | World Rally champion 1980 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | World Rally champion 1982 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | African Rally champion 1982 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Race of Champions Classic Master 1997 | Succeeded by |
| Records | ||
| Preceded by | Youngest World Rally champion 33 years, 232 days (1980 season) | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
