Michèle Mouton

Michèle Mouton is the first and only woman to win a World Rally Championship round—a feat she accomplished four times—and came within striking distance of claiming the 1982 drivers’ title against the sport’s toughest men.

EARLY YEARS

Born 23 June 1951 in Grasse, France, Michèle Hélène Raymonde Mouton grew up among the jasmine and rose farms her parents tended in the south of France. Her father owned a Citroën 2CV, and at fourteen, she was already piloting it around the twisty roads of the French Riviera—an early hint that she had a thing for speed[2][6][8].

By 1972, at twenty-one, her casual interest became something more serious. She accompanied driver Jean Taibi as a spectator to the Tour de Corse Rally and was immediately hooked. She took the co-driver’s seat not long after, but quickly realized she belonged behind the wheel, not reading pace notes. She switched to driving an Alpine-Renault A110 in national rallies, and that was it—she was a racer[1][2].

OTHER INTERESTS

No information available.

EARLY SUCCESS

Mouton didn’t waste time proving herself. In 1973, she finished seventh overall and first in the women’s category at a 580-kilometer rally in Broves. The following year, she placed second overall and won the Group 3 class at the Critérium National du Rouergue, earning herself the French and European ladies’ champion titles. She also managed twelfth overall at the Tour de Corse, a World Rally Championship event—not bad for someone just getting started[4][5].

Then came 1975 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mouton and her all-female crew piloted a Moynet LM75 prototype in the 2-litre class. When it started to rain, she stayed out on slicks and started passing everyone. Her pit crew begged her to stop, but she refused. “I was passing everyone,” she recalled years later[4]. They won their class and finished twenty-first overall. It was audacious, a little reckless, and entirely Michèle[1][4][6].

By 1975, French oil company Elf had taken notice and sponsored her professional rallying career[4]. In 1977, driving a Porsche 911 RS, she claimed her first major rally victory at the RACE Rally of Spain. Later that year, she won the Tour de France Rally in a Fiat 131 Abarth—a car she described as handling “like a big truck, not a car”[2][4]. She also finished runner-up to Bernard Darniche in the 1977 European Rally Championship with Fiat France[1].

A crash at the 1978 Côte d’Ivoire rally—600 kilometers from what could have been a victory—was a bitter setback, but it didn’t slow her down for long[4].

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 1975: Won 2-litre prototype class at 24 Hours of Le Mans with an all-female crew, finishing 21st overall in a Moynet LM75[1][4][6].
• 1977: First major rally victory at RACE Rally of Spain in a Porsche 911 RS; won Tour de France Rally in a Fiat 131 Abarth; runner-up in European Rally Championship with Fiat France[1][2][4].
• 1981: Became the first woman to win a World Rally Championship round at Rallye Sanremo, Italy, driving an Audi Quattro, holding off Henri Toivonen and Ari Vatanen—who had famously declared before the race, “Never can nor will I lose to a woman”[1]. She left him speechless.
• 1982: Won three more WRC rounds—Portugal, the Acropolis in Greece, and Brazil—and led the drivers’ championship heading into the penultimate rally at Côte d’Ivoire[1][2][3]. Her father died of cancer at 7 a.m. the morning the race started. She wanted to go home, but her mother told her to drive. She kept the news secret from everyone except her co-driver Fabrizia Pons and crashed later in the event[3]. She finished second in the championship to Walter Röhrl.
• 1985: Won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb outright in an Audi, setting a record time of 11:25.39. She beat Bobby Unser and bettered Al Unser’s record by thirteen seconds, despite a penalty. “They didn’t know how determined I am!” she said afterward[1][3].
• 1986: Won the German Rally Championship driving a Peugeot, taking six of eight events including Rallye Deutschland and Sachs Baltic. She became the first woman to win a major rallying championship, clinching the title at the seventh round. She was also declared winner of the Hessen Rallye after Marc Surer’s fatal accident[1]. Shortly after, she retired from rallying when Group B was banned.

INSPIRATIONS

No specific influences documented, though her father’s Citroën 2CV and her mother’s insistence that she keep racing after her father’s death both played pivotal roles in her career.

REPUTATION

Mouton earned the nickname “der schwarze Vulkan”—the Black Volcano—for her fiery temperament and dark hair[1]. She became known as the “Queen of Speed” and is widely regarded as the most successful woman in World Rally Championship history[2][3]. She excelled in the worst conditions—rain, fog, darkness—and had a particular talent for taming the Group B “monsters” that defined rallying’s most dangerous era[3][4].

Her 1981 Sanremo victory stunned the rallying world and broke open a door that had been firmly shut to women. She defied stereotypes, proved doubters wrong, and did it all with a level of skill and determination that forced even the most skeptical of her male rivals to respect her[1][2][7]. The media celebrated her as a pioneer, and her legacy remains untouched: she is still the only woman to win a WRC round[2][3][6].

Long-time co-driver Fabrizia Pons was with her from the 1981 Sanremo win onward, a partnership built on trust and shared ambition[1][3][6].

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

No information available. Mouton retired from rallying soon after winning the 1986 German Rally Championship when Group B was banned[1].

References:

Wikipedia: Michèle Mouton
Blunik: Michele Mouton Queen of Speed
Hagerty Media: Michele Mouton Took On the World and Won
Škoda Motorsport: Michelle Mouton Girl Who Tamed Monsters
HistoryRacingPedia: Michele Mouton Beginnings 1973-1974
Petersen Automotive Museum: Michele Mouton
TB Auto: Michèle Mouton the Greatest Female Driver in History
Top Gear: Documentary Celebrates Extraordinary Talents Michele Mouton