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Didier Auriol
French racecar driver

Didier Auriol

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French racecar driver
Places
Work field
Gender
Male
Place of birth
Montpellier, France
Age
66 years
Didier Auriol
The details (from wikipedia)

Biography

Didier Auriol (born 18 August 1958) is a French former rally driver.

Born in Montpellier, and initially an ambulance driver, Auriol made his name as a French rally driver in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1990s. He became World Rally Champion in 1994, the first from his country to do so. He was a factory candidate for Lancia, Toyota and Peugeot among others, before losing his seat at Škoda at the end of 2003.

Career

At the age of 21, Auriol started rallying in an old Simca 1000. He drove the Simca 2 Years, then he got a Renault 5 Turbo, With this car, he drove in the French Rallye Championship. In 1986 he competed in a Metro 6R4. With this car, he won his first French Rallye Championship. He contested it again the following year, the first of the Group A years, in a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth and with his car he was French Rallye Champion 1987 and 1988.

Auriol won his first World Championship event, the 1988 Tour de Corse, whilst driving a works Ford Sierra RS Cosworth.It was the only time that season when Lancia were beaten in a straight fight, and the Lancia team duly signed him for the following year. He remained with the team for four seasons, driving three successive versions of the then-dominant Lancia Delta Integrale.In 1992, driving the final evolution of the car, he won six events in one season (a record until beaten by Sébastien Loeb in 2005), but poor results on other rounds and retirement on the last event of the season, the RAC Rally, handed the world championship to Carlos Sainz.

Auriol's Toyota Corolla WRC on display.

In 1993 Auriol switched to Toyota, and won his first event for the team, the Monte Carlo Rally.He did not win again that season, but the following year he won the Corsica, Argentina and San Remo rallies and went into the final round, in Great Britain, vying again with Sainz for the championship.Despite a poor showing on the rally he emerged as World Champion after the Spanish driver went off the road on the final day.In 1995, he took the first win for the Celica GT-Four ST205 in Tour de Corse.However, later in the same season, on the Rally Catalunya, Toyota were found to have used an illegal device in the turbocharger to increase the power of the engine, and were excluded from the results of the 1995 championship and banned for next year. 1996 Auriol contested only two World Championship events. He drove for Subaru in Sweden and for Mitsubishi in San Remo. 1997 he entered in Monte Carlo with private Ford, and drove couple of rallies with Toyota's new Corolla WRC. Auriol drove for Toyota two next years, gaining two wins. When Toyota retired from World Rally Championship after 1999, Auriol moved to SEAT on board of the SEAT Córdoba WRC E2. With Auriol's experience, SEAT managed to grab the third podium place at the Safari Rally in Kenya, and later that season to launch their third evolution of the Córdoba WRC. However at the end of the season the Spanish manufacturer retired from WRC to focus on the development of a special series of high performance cars. Auriol still managed to deal with Peugeot for 2001 season, but in only asphalt-rallies where Auriol managed to be quicker than his teammate, Marcus Grönholm. Auriol's only win that year came from Catalunya. 2002 was kind of gap year for Auriol, but he made contract with Skoda team for 2003. Auriol was responsible for the development work of the Škoda Fabia WRC.

Another notable achievement in Auriol's repertoire is being a six-time winner of the Tour de Corse, level record holder with Bernard Darniche. Even as late as 2001 Auriol was still racking up podiums there.

WRC victories

Auriol's Toyota Celica GT-Four 1995 Tour de Corse winning car.
Auriol with a Peugeot 206 WRC at the 2001 Rally Finland.
NumberEventSeasonCo-driverCar
1 32ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France1988Bernard OccelliFord Sierra RS Cosworth
2 33ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France1989Bernard OccelliLancia Delta Integrale
3 58ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo1990Bernard OccelliLancia Delta Integrale 16V
4 34ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France1990Bernard OccelliLancia Delta Integrale 16V
5 32º Rallye Sanremo – Rallye d'Italia1990Bernard OccelliLancia Delta Integrale 16V
6 33º Rallye Sanremo – Rallye d'Italia1991Bernard OccelliLancia Delta Integrale 16V
7 60ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo1992Bernard OccelliLancia Delta HF Integrale
8 36ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France1992Bernard OccelliLancia Delta HF Integrale
9 39th Acropolis Rally1992Bernard OccelliLancia Delta HF Integrale
10 12º Rally Argentina1992Bernard OccelliLancia Delta HF Integrale
11 42nd 1000 Lakes Rally1992Bernard OccelliLancia Delta HF Integrale
12 5th Telecom Rally Australia1992Bernard OccelliLancia Delta HF Integrale
13 61ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo1993Bernard OccelliToyota Celica Turbo 4WD
14 38ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France1994Bernard OccelliToyota Celica Turbo 4WD
15 14º Rally Argentina1994Bernard OccelliToyota Celica Turbo 4WD
16 36º Rallye Sanremo – Rallye d'Italia1994Bernard OccelliToyota Celica Turbo 4WD
17 39ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France1995Denis GiraudetToyota Celica GT-Four ST205
18 34º Rallye Catalunya-Costa Brava (Rallye de España)1998Denis GiraudetToyota Corolla WRC
19 3rd China Rally1999Denis GiraudetToyota Corolla WRC
20 37º Rallye Catalunya-Costa Brava (Rallye de España)2001Denis GiraudetPeugeot 206 WRC

WRC results

YearEntrantCar12345678910111213141516WDCPoints
1984Didier AuriolRenault 5 TurboMONSWEPORKENFRA
GRCARGBRAFINITACIVGBR0
1985Didier AuriolRenault 5 Maxi TurboMONSWEPORKENFRA
GRCNZLARGFINITACIVGBR0
1986Austin Rover World Championship TeamMG Metro 6R4MONSWEPORKENFRA
GRCNZLARGFINITAGBRUSA0
1987Ford FranceFord Sierra RS CosworthMONSWEPORKENFRA
GRCUSANZLARGFINCIVITA
GBR22nd13
1988Ford FranceFord Sierra RS CosworthMONSWEPOR
KEN7th32
Ford Motor CoFRA
GRCUSANZLARGFIN
CIVITA
GBR
1989Martini LanciaLancia Delta IntegraleSWEMON
POR
KENFRA
GRC
NZLARGFIN
AUS5th50
Lancia Delta Integrale 16vITA
CIVGBR
1990Martini LanciaLancia Delta Integrale 16vMON
POR
KENFRA
GRC
NZLARG
FIN
AUS
ITA
CIVGBR
2nd95
1991Jolly ClubLancia Delta Integrale 16vMON
SWE
POR
KENFRA
GRC
NZL
ARG
FIN
AUS
ITA
CIVESPGBR
3rd101
1992Martini RacingLancia Delta HF IntegraleMON
SWEPOR
KENFRA
GRC
NZLARG
FIN
AUS
ITA
CIVESP
GBR
3rd121
1993Toyota Castrol TeamToyota Celica Turbo 4WDMON
SWE
PORKENFRA
GRC
ARG
NZL
FIN
AUS
ITAESP
GBR
3rd92
1994Toyota Castrol TeamToyota Celica Turbo 4WDMON
POR
KEN
FRA
GRC
ARG
NZL
FIN
ITA
GBR
1st116
1995Toyota Castrol TeamToyota Celica GT-Four ST205MON
SWE
POR
FRA
NZL
AUS
ESP
GBRDSQ51
1996555 Subaru World Rally TeamSubaru Impreza 555SWE
KENIDNGRCARGFINAUS25th4
Team Mitsubishi RalliartMitsubishi Lancer Evo IIIITA
ESP
1997R.A.S. SportFord Escort RS CosworthMON
SWEKENPORESPFRA11th6
H.F. GrifoneToyota Celica GT-Four ST205ARG
GRCNZL
Toyota Castrol TeamToyota Corolla WRCFIN
IDN
ITA
AUS
GBR
1998Toyota Castrol TeamToyota Corolla WRCMON
SWE
KEN
POR
ESP
FRA
ARG
GRC
NZL
FIN
ITA
AUS
GBR
5th34
1999Toyota Castrol TeamToyota Corolla WRCMON
SWE
KEN
POR
ESP
FRA
ARG
GRC
NZL
FIN
CHN
ITA
AUS
GBR
3rd52
2000SEAT SportSEAT Córdoba WRC Evo2MON
SWE
KEN
POR
ESP
ARG
GRC
NZL
12th4
SEAT Córdoba WRC Evo3FIN
CYP
FRA
ITA
AUS
GBR
2001Peugeot TotalPeugeot 206 WRCMON
SWE
POR
ESP
ARG
CYP
GRC
KEN
FIN
NZL
ITA
FRA
AUS
GBR
7th23
2002Didier AuriolToyota Corolla WRCMON
SWEFRAESPCYPARGGREKENFINGERITANZLAUSGBR0
2003Škoda MotorsportŠkoda Octavia WRC Evo3MON
SWE
TUR
NZL
ARG
GRE
CYP
13th4
Škoda Fabia WRCGER
FIN
AUS
ITA
FRA
ESP
GBR
2005Didier AuriolPeugeot 206 WRCMON
SWEMEXNZLITACYPTURGREARGFINGERGBRJPNFRAESPAUS0
The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
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