The 1981 World Rally Championship was the ninth season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). The season consisted of 12 rallies. While this number was the same as the previous year, one change was made to the schedule, replacing New Zealand with the Brazil.

The 1981 World Rally Championship for Drivers was won by Ari Vatanen driving a Rothmans Rally Team Ford Escort RS1800, the only time a privateer team has won the Drivers' Championship until 2017. The Makes' Championship was won by Talbot with their Sunbeam Lotus. It also saw the beginning of a new era in the sport with the arrival of the Audi Quattro, the first four-wheel drive rally car. Initially regarded as too heavy and complex for rally stages, it proved its worth with three wins in its debut season, including a maiden victory for Michèle Mouton at the Rallye Sanremo, the only woman to win a WRC event.

Teams and drivers

Team	Constructor	Car	Drivers	Rounds
Audi Sport	Audi	Quattro	Hannu Mikkola	1-3, 5–6, 9–10, 12
			Michèle Mouton	1, 3, 5–6, 9–10, 12
			Franz Wittmann	6, 9
			Michele Cinotto	10
Fiat Auto Torino	Fiat	131 Abarth	Markku Alén	1, 3, 6, 9–10
			Attilio Bettega	1, 3, 6, 10
			Dario Cerrato	1, 3, 6, 10
Talbot	Talbot	Sunbeam Lotus	Guy Fréquelin	1, 3, 5–8, 10, 12
			Henri Toivonen	1, 3, 5–6, 9–10, 12
			Stig Blomqvist	9, 12
Rothmans Rally Team	Ford	Escort RS 1800	Ari Vatanen	1-3, 6–12
			Pentti Airikkala	2, 9, 12
			Malcolm Wilson	3, 6, 12
			John Taylor	11
Toyota Team Europe	Toyota	Celica 2000GT	Björn Waldegård	3, 5-6, 9, 11-12
			Per Eklund	3, 5-6, 11-12
			Tapio Rainio	9
			Samir Assef	11

Championships

1981 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers

Rank	Manufacturers	Event												Total points
		MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	ARG	BRA	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR
1	Talbot	17	-	17	-	17	15	18	-	-	17	-	16	117
2	Datsun	-	-	13	18	15	13	17	-	12	-	18	-	106
3	Ford	-	-	9	-	12	18	-	-	18	7	-	16	80
4	Opel	15	-	11	12	8	-	-	-	8	15	-	-	69
5	Audi	-	-	13	-	-	-	-	-	14	18	-	18	63
6	Fiat	8	-	18	-	-	16	-	-	16	5	-	-	63
7	Renault	18	-	-	-	7	10	15	-	-	-	-	11	61
8	Toyota	-	-	15	-	11	-	-	-	3	-	16	9	54
9	Peugeot	-	-	-	10	-	4	12	-	-	-	11	-	37
10	Lancia	10	-	-	-	18	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	28
11	Porsche	4	-	-	-	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	19
12	Škoda	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
13	Dodge	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
14	Mitsubishi	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	3	4

1981 World Rally Championship for Drivers

Rank	Driver	Event												Total points
		MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	ARG	BRA	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR
1	Ari Vatanen	0	15	0	-	-	20	0	20	20	4	2	15	96
2	Guy Fréquelin	15	-	6	0	15	10	20	15	-	0	8	0	89
3	Hannu Mikkola	0	20	0	-	0	0	-	-	12	10	-	20	62
4	Markku Alén	4	-	20	-	-	15	-	-	15	2	-	0	56
5	Shekhar Mehta	-	-	-	20	-	8	15	0	-	-	12	-	55
6	Timo Salonen	-	-	0	10	0	0	0	-	10	0	20	0	40
7	Henri Toivonen	8	-	15	-	0	0	-	-	0	15	-	0	38
8	Michèle Mouton	0	-	10	-	0	0	-	-	0	20	-	0	30
9	Pentti Airikkala	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	10	30
10	Per Eklund	0	2	0	-	6	0	-	-	0	-	15	6	29
11	Jean Ragnotti	20	-	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	28
12	Bernard Darniche	6	-	-	-	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	26
13	Stig Blomqvist	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	12	23
14	Jorge Recalde	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	10	-	-	-	-	22
15	Anders Kulläng	10	10	0	0	-	0	-	-	0	-	-	2	22
16	Jochi Kleint	12	-	-	8	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	20
	Tony Pond	-	-	8	-	12	-	-	-	-	0	-	0	20
18	Björn Waldegård	3	-	12	-	0	0	-	-	2	-	0	0	17
19	Rauno Aaltonen	0	-	-	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15
20	Mike Kirkland	-	-	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12
	Attilio Bettega	0	-	0	-	-	12	-	-	-	0	-	-	12
	Domingo De Vitta	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	12	-	-	-	-	12
	Antonio Fassina	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	-	-	12
24	Björn Johansson	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	0	12
25	Terry Kaby	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	11
26	Jean-Pierre Ballet	0	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10
	Ernesto Soto	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	10
	Michel Mitri	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	10
29	Ricardo Albertengo	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	-	10
	Carlos Torres	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	8
	Luigi Battistolli	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	8
32	Lasse Lampi	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	0	8
33	Jean-Claude Lefèbvre	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
	Iórgos Moschous	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
	Luis Etchegoyen	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	6
	Gustavo Trelles	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	6
	Miki Biasion	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	6
	Alain Ambrosino	-	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	6
39	Sören Nilsson	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	4	-	-	-	-	5
	Horacio Maglione	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	5
41	Rafael 'Cid'	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
	Yoshio Iwashita	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
	Jean-Michel Tichadou	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
	'Carlo'	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
	Federico West	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	4
	Samir Assef	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	4
47	Ola Strömberg	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Manuel Queirós Pereira	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Jayant Shah	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Gérard Swaton	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Václav Blahna	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Luís Romero	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	3
	Julio Berges	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	3
	Dario Cerrato	0	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	3
	Jacques Durieu	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	3
56	Jacques Alméras	2	-	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Joaquim Moutinho	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Malcolm Smith	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Camille Bartoli	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Pavlos Moschoutis	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Miguel Tubal	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	2
	Maria Carmo Zacarias	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	2
63	Alain Coppier	1	-	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Kenjiro Shinozuka	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Rod Hall	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Jean-Felix Farrucci	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
	Claude Laurent	0	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	0	-	0	0	1
	Antero Laine	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	0	-	0	1
	Federico Ormezzano	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1
	Roger Clark	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1

Events

1981 World Rally Championship event map

Black = Tarmac	Brown = Gravel	Blue = Snow/Ice	Red = Mixed Surface

1981 World Rally Championship schedule and results

Round	Rally name	Stages	Podium finishers
			Rank	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Time
1	Rallye Monte Carlo (24–30 January)	32 stages 757 km Tarmac	1	Jean Ragnotti	Jean-Marc Andrié	Renault 5 Turbo	9:55:55
			2	Guy Fréquelin	Jean Todt	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus	9:58:49
			3	Jochi Kleint	Gunter Wanger	Opel Ascona 400	10:02:54
2	Swedish Rally[1] (13–15 February)	25 stages 369 km Snow/Ice	1	Hannu Mikkola	Arne Hertz	Audi Quattro	3:48:07
			2	Ari Vatanen	David Richards	Ford Escort RS1800	3:50:00
			3	Pentti Airikkala	Risto Virtanen	Ford Escort RS1800	3:51:47
3	Rallye de Portugal (4–7 March)	46 stages 681 km Gravel/Tarmac	1	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Fiat 131 Abarth	8:27:26
			2	Henri Toivonen	Fred Gallagher	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus	8:36:36
			3	Björn Waldegård	Hans Thorszelius	Toyota Celica 2000GT	8:43:47
4	Safari Rally (16–20 April)	77 controls 5209 km Gravel	1	Shekhar Mehta	Mike Doughty	Datsun Violet GT	+3:39 pen
			2	Rauno Aaltonen	Lofty Drews	Datsun Violet GT	+3:44 pen
			3	Mike Kirkland	Dave Haworth	Datsun 160J	+4:51 pen
5	Tour de Corse (30 April–2 May)	24 stages 1144 km Tarmac	1	Bernard Darniche	Alain Mahé	Lancia Stratos HF	14:26.23
			2	Guy Fréquelin	Jean Todt	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus	14:42:25
			3	Tony Pond	Ian Grindrod	Datsun Violet GT	14:45.29
6	Acropolis Rally (1–4 June)	57 stages 960 km Gravel	1	Ari Vatanen	David Richards	Ford Escort RS1800	13:17:25
			2	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Fiat 131 Abarth	13:22:00
			3	Attilio Bettega	Maurizio Perissinot	Fiat 131 Abarth	13:25:19
7	Rally Codasur (18–23 July)	18 stages 1341 km Gravel	1	Guy Fréquelin	Jean Todt	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus	14:22:52
			2	Shekhar Mehta	Mike Doughty	Datsun Violet GT	15:01:04
			3	Jorge Recalde	Jorge del Bouno	Datsun 160J	16:01:19
8	Rallye do Brasil (6–8 August)	20 stages 714 km Gravel	1	Ari Vatanen	David Richards	Ford Escort RS1800	9:39:40
			2	Guy Fréquelin	Jean Todt	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus	9:48:11
			3	Domingo De Vitta	Daniel Muzio	Ford Escort RS	10:19:46
9	1000 Lakes Rally (28–30 August)	46 stages 440 km Gravel	1	Ari Vatanen	David Richards	Ford Escort RS1800	4:07:27
			2	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki	Fiat 131 Abarth	4:08:26
			3	Hannu Mikkola	Arne Hertz	Audi Quattro	4:10:19
10	Rallye Sanremo (5–10 October)	59 stages 751 km Gravel/Tarmac	1	Michèle Mouton	Fabrizia Pons	Audi Quattro	8:05:50
			2	Henri Toivonen	Fred Gallagher	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus	8:09:15
			3	Antonio Fassina	Rudy Roberto Dalpozzo	Opel Ascona 400	8:12:08
11	Rallye Côte d'Ivoire (26–31 October)	56 controls 5087 km Gravel	1	Timo Salonen	Seppo Harjanne	Datsun Violet GT	+9:57 pen
			2	Per Eklund	Ragnar Spjuth	Toyota Celica 2000GT	+11:09 pen
			3	Shekhar Mehta	Mike Doughty	Datsun Violet GT	+11:22 pen
12	RAC Rally (22–25 November)	65 stages 722 km Gravel/Tarmac	1	Hannu Mikkola	Arne Hertz	Audi Quattro	8:30:00
			2	Ari Vatanen	David Richards	Ford Escort RS1800	8:41:05
			3	Stig Blomqvist	Björn Cederberg	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus	8:43:36