Walter Röhrl: Late tribute to an icon 🎥
FIA HALL OF FAME Great honor for the world's best rally drivers: The FIA has inducted all previous world rally champions into the Motorsport Hall of Fame. Among them, as the only German speaker, the living legend Walter Röhrl. The ceremony took place on Wednesday evening, January 30, at the headquarters of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in Paris. In collaboration with Michelin [...]
The ceremony took place on Wednesday evening, January 30, at the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) headquarters in Paris. In collaboration with Michelin and Rolex, the Hall of Fame was launched in 2017 by the global automotive federation at both FIA headquarters in Paris and Geneva.
The first racing drivers to enter were all 33 Formula 1 world champions. Now the 17 rally world champions and their co-drivers followed. Among them, the only German speakers were the Germans Walter Röhrl and Christian Geistdörfer. They still have numerous fans in Switzerland as well. In addition, Röhrl is considered one of the best all-round racing drivers of all time.
Four victories at the Monte
Walter Röhl began his rally career in 1968 in private cars. In 1972, the Regensburg native became a works driver and immediately established himself among the world's best.
The German, who is now 71 and still in top condition, won the Rally Monte Carlo a total of four times on four different makes. In the meantime, Sébastien Ogier has also achieved this. Röhrl/Geistdörfer won the World Rally Championship title twice: in 1980 on a Fiat Abarth 131 and in 1982 on an Opel Ascona 400.
Second career with Porsche
In 1981, Röhrl competed in the German Rally Championship in a Porsche 924 and in the San Rem WRC race in a 911. In the 1980s, he began to participate in the development of Porsche sports cars, starting with the 964 Carrera 4 with all-wheel drive. This also included starts in major endurance races.
Röhrl has been associated with the Porsche brand for a quarter of a century and is active worldwide as a brand ambassador. Highlights of Röhrl's development and tuning activities were the Porsche 959, Carrera GT and 918 Spyder super sports cars.
