World Rally Championship Review 1983

Overview

Looking back at the 1983 World Rally Championship season the quality of the field and the array of stunning cars is simply breathtaking. Besides defending champ Walter Röhrl and eventual victor Hannu Mikkola, there were no fewer than six past or future champions in the field: Stig Blomqvist, Markku Alen, Ari Vatanen, Timo Salonen, Miki Biasion, Björn Waldegård and Juha Kankkunen. With the introduction of the Lancia 037 and Audi Quattro A1 in the early 1980s, World Rallying had entered the supercar age and the big money attracted big name drivers and made for sensational showdowns on gravel, ice, tarmac and snow. With Audi and Lancia throwing the kitchen sink at their factory efforts the battle between the German and Italian rallying giants dominated the whole season and the furious back and forth battle went all the way to the wire.