Which Audi factory driver won the 1981 Rallye Sanremo?

Audi factory driver Michèle Mouton won the 1981 Rallye Sanremo.

Mouton drove an Audi Quattro with Italian co-driver Fabrizia Pons, defeating the field on the mixed-surface Italian event. Their victory was Mouton’s first World Rally Championship win and the first WRC rally victory by a woman. The result also demonstrated the early competitive strength of Audi’s new four-wheel-drive technology.

The 1981 Sanremo route combined asphalt and gravel, making it a demanding test of both driver and car. Mouton finished ahead of Henri Toivonen’s Talbot Sunbeam Lotus and Tony Fassina’s Opel Ascona 400. Audi teammate Hannu Mikkola finished fourth in another Quattro.

Mouton went on to win three more WRC rallies for Audi in 1982 and finished runner-up in that year’s drivers’ championship. She is sometimes confused with Mikkola or Walter Röhrl because both were prominent Audi works drivers, but Mouton was the Sanremo winner.