Michèle Mouton is a French former rally driver born on 23 June 1951. She is a renowned figure in the World Rally Championship, having competed for the Audi factory team and achieving four victories and a runner-up finish in the drivers' world championship in 1982.
Mouton's journey in rallying began as a co-driver, but she soon transitioned to the driver's seat, competing in national rallies and circuit racing. She won the two-litre prototype class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1975 and finished runner-up to Bernard Darniche in the European Rally Championship in 1977.
In 1978, Mouton won the Tour de France Automobile and recorded consistent results in her home events in the WRC, including the Tour de Corse and the Monte Carlo Rally. She was signed by Audi Sport in 1981 to partner Hannu Mikkola and took a surprise victory at the Rallye Sanremo in her first year with the Audi Quattro.
Mouton's 1982 World Rally season saw her finish a close second overall to Walter Röhrl, with wins in Portugal, Brazil, and Greece, and helped Audi secure its first manufacturers' title. She went on to finish fifth in the following year's championship.
Participating on a part-time basis in the WRC from 1984, Mouton won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the United States in 1985, setting a record time in the process. She then moved to Peugeot and won the German Rally Championship in 1986, becoming the first female driver to win a major championship in rallying.
Mouton retired from rallying in 1986 due to the ban of Group B supercars. However, she continued to be involved in the motorsport world, co-founding the international motorsport event Race of Champions in memory of her former rival Henri Toivonen in 1988.
In 2010, Mouton became the first president of the FIA's Women & Motor Sport Commission, and in 2011, she was appointed as the FIA's manager in the World Rally Championship.
Born in Grasse, a town on the French Riviera, Mouton grew up in a family that cultivated roses and jasmine on their large property. After graduating from high school, she began law studies but eventually dropped out to pursue a career in rallying.
Mouton's interest in rallying began at the age of 14, when she started driving her father's Citroën 2CV. However, she did not turn her attention to rallying until 1972, when her friend Jean Taibi asked her to practise the Tour de Corse with him. She later co-drove for him in the 1973 Monte Carlo Rally, the first-ever World Rally Championship event.
After a few more rallies, Mouton's father suggested she switch to driving if she wanted to continue in rallying, and promised to buy her a car and give her one-year to prove herself. Driving an Alpine-Renault A110, she debuted at the Rallye Paris - Saint-Raphaël Féminin and then tackled the Tour de France Automobile.
