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Didier Auriol

{{Short description|French rally driver (born 1958)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}

{{Infobox WRC driver

| name = Didier Auriol

| image = Didier-Auriol-Peugeot-Sport-2001.jpg

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1958|8|18}}

| birth_place = Montpellier, France

| nationality = {{flagicon|FRA}} French

| Co-driver = {{flagicon|France}} Bernard Occelli
{{flagicon|France}} Denis Giraudet
{{flagicon|France}} Jean-Marc Andrié
{{flagicon|France}} Jack Boyère

| Years = 1984–2003, 2005

| Teams = Austin Rover, Ford, Lancia, Toyota, Subaru, Mitsubishi, SEAT, Peugeot, Škoda

| Races = 152

| Championships = 1 (1994)

| Wins = 20

| Podiums = 53

| Stagewins = 554

| Points = 747

| First race = 1984 Tour de Corse

| First win = 1988 Tour de Corse

| Last win = 2001 Rally Catalunya

| Last race = 2005 Monte Carlo Rally

}}

Didier Auriol (born 18 August 1958) is a French former rally driver. Born in Montpellier and initially an ambulance driver, he competed in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1990s. He became World Rally Champion in 1994, the first driver 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. His sister Nadine was also involved in rallying as a co-driver,{{Cite web|url=https://www.ewrc-results.com/coprofile/36006-nadine-auriol/|title=Nadine Auriol - rally profile eWRC-results.com|website=eWRC-results.com|access-date=10 April 2023}} while his brother Gerrard was also a former rally driver.{{Cite web|url=https://www-pour--charade-fr.translate.goog/pilote-762-didier-auriol.html?_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc|title=Didier AURIOL | Agissons pour Charade|website=www-pour--charade-fr.translate.goog|access-date=10 April 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://rally-japan.jp/en/about/didier/|title=About Didier|website=rally-japan.jp|access-date=10 April 2023}}

Career

At the age of 21, Auriol started rallying in an old Simca 1000. He drove the Simca for two years before getting a Renault 5 Turbo to compete in the French Rally 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 Rally 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 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.

File:Toyota Corolla WRC 01.jpg 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 with Denis Giraudet, who replaced his regular co-driver Bernard Occelli who was experiencing a family problem at that time.{{Cite web|url=https://dirtfish.com/rally/1995-rewind-auriol-win-thirys-corsican-heatbreaker/|title=1995 Rewind: Auriol wins Thiry's Corsican heatbreaker|date=5 May 2020}} 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.

In 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 a private Ford, and drove couple of rallies with Toyota's new Corolla WRC.

In 1998 Auriol became a Toyota full-time driver. he earned one win and four podiums, finishing fifth in the overall standings. In 1999 he scored one win and seven podiums, which placed him third in points.

As Toyota retired from World Rally Championship after 1999, Auriol moved to SEAT Sport, driving the SEAT Córdoba WRC E2. Using 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 landed a drive with Peugeot Sport for the 2001 season, but he had a largely difficult season; only on asphalt-rallies was Auriol able to be quicker than his teammate, Marcus Grönholm. Auriol's only win that year came in Spain, whereas he scored three third places at Sanremo, Corse and Australia. 2002 was a kind of gap year for Auriol, and for 2003, Auriol signed with Škoda Motorsport, and played a notable part in the development work of the Škoda Fabia WRC.

Auriol is a six-time winner of the Tour de Corse, a record jointly held with Bernard Darniche.

WRC victories

File:Toyota Celica GT-FOUR 02.jpg winning car.]]

File:2001 Rally Finland Peugeot Didier Auriol.jpg at the 2001 Rally Finland.]]

:

class="wikitable"

! Number

! Event

! Season

! Co-driver

! Car

1

| {{Flagicon|France}} 32ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France

| 1988

| Bernard Occelli

| Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

2

| {{Flagicon|France}} 33ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France

| 1989

| Bernard Occelli

| Lancia Delta Integrale

3

| {{Flagicon|Monaco}} 58ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo

| 1990

| Bernard Occelli

| Lancia Delta Integrale 16V

4

| {{Flagicon|France}} 34ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France

| 1990

| Bernard Occelli

| Lancia Delta Integrale 16V

5

| {{Flagicon|Italy}} 32º Rallye Sanremo – Rallye d'Italia

| 1990

| Bernard Occelli

| Lancia Delta Integrale 16V

6

| {{Flagicon|Italy}} 33º Rallye Sanremo – Rallye d'Italia

| 1991

| Bernard Occelli

| Lancia Delta Integrale 16V

7

| {{Flagicon|Monaco}} 60ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo

| 1992

| Bernard Occelli

| Lancia Delta HF Integrale

8

| {{Flagicon|France}} 36ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France

| 1992

| Bernard Occelli

| Lancia Delta HF Integrale

9

| {{Flagicon|Greece}} 39th Acropolis Rally

| 1992

| Bernard Occelli

| Lancia Delta HF Integrale

10

| {{Flagicon|Argentina}} 12º Rally Argentina

| 1992

| Bernard Occelli

| Lancia Delta HF Integrale

11

| {{Flagicon|Finland}} 42nd 1000 Lakes Rally

| 1992

| Bernard Occelli

| Lancia Delta HF Integrale

12

| {{Flagicon|Australia}} 5th Telecom Rally Australia

| 1992

| Bernard Occelli

| Lancia Delta HF Integrale

13

| {{Flagicon|Monaco}} 61ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo

| 1993

| Bernard Occelli

| Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD

14

| {{Flagicon|France}} 38ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France

| 1994

| Bernard Occelli

| Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD

15

| {{Flagicon|Argentina}} 14º Rally Argentina

| 1994

| Bernard Occelli

| Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD

16

| {{Flagicon|Italy}} 36º Rallye Sanremo – Rallye d'Italia

| 1994

| Bernard Occelli

| Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD

17

| {{Flagicon|France}} 39ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France

| 1995

| Denis Giraudet

| Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205

18

| {{Flagicon|Spain}} 34º Rallye Catalunya-Costa Brava (Rallye de España)

| 1998

| Denis Giraudet

| Toyota Corolla WRC

19

| {{Flagicon|China}} 3rd China Rally

| 1999

| Denis Giraudet

| Toyota Corolla WRC

20

| {{Flagicon|Spain}} 37º Rallye Catalunya-Costa Brava (Rallye de España)

| 2001

| Denis Giraudet

| Peugeot 206 WRC

WRC results

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"

! Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! WDC

! Points

1984

! nowrap| Didier Auriol

! nowrap| Renault 5 Turbo

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FRA
Ret

| GRC

| NZL

| ARG

| FIN

| ITA

| CIV

| GBR

|colspan=4|

! –

! 0

1985

! nowrap| Didier Auriol

! nowrap| Renault 5 Maxi Turbo

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FRA
Ret

| GRC

| NZL

| ARG

| FIN

| ITA

| CIV

| GBR

|colspan=4|

! –

! 0

1986

! nowrap| Austin Rover World Championship Team

! nowrap| MG Metro 6R4

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FRA
Ret

| GRC

| NZL

| ARG

| FIN

| CIV

| ITA

| GBR

| USA

|colspan=3|

! –

! 0

1987

! nowrap| Ford France

! nowrap| Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| FRA
8

| GRC

| USA

| NZL

| ARG

| FIN

| CIV

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| ITA
4

| GBR

|colspan=3|

! 22nd

! 13

rowspan=2| 1988

! nowrap| Ford France

!rowspan=2 nowrap| Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

| MON

| SWE

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| POR
Ret

| KEN

|colspan=12|

!rowspan=2| 7th

!rowspan=2| 32

nowrap| Ford Motor Co

|colspan=4|

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| FRA
1

| GRC

| USA

| NZL

| ARG

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| FIN
3

| CIV

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ITA
Ret

| GBR

|colspan=3|

rowspan=2| 1989

!rowspan=2 nowrap| Martini Lancia

! nowrap| Lancia Delta Integrale

| SWE

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| MON
2

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| POR
Ret

| KEN

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| FRA
1

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| GRC
2

| NZL

| ARG

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FIN
Ret

| AUS

|colspan=6|

!rowspan=2| 5th

!rowspan=2| 50

nowrap| Lancia Delta Integrale 16v

|colspan=10|

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ITA
Ret

| CIV

| GBR

|colspan=3|

1990

! nowrap| Martini Lancia

! nowrap| Lancia Delta Integrale 16v

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| MON
1

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| POR
2

| KEN

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| FRA
1

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GRC
Ret

| NZL

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| ARG
3

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FIN
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUS
Ret

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| ITA
1

| CIV

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| GBR
5

|colspan=4|

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2nd

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 95

1991

! nowrap| Jolly Club

! nowrap| Lancia Delta Integrale 16v

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MON
Ret

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SWE
9

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| POR
2

| KEN

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| FRA
2

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| GRC
4

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| NZL
3

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| ARG
3

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| FIN
2

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUS
Ret

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| ITA
1

| CIV

| ESP

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GBR
12

|colspan=2|

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 101

1992

! nowrap| Martini Racing

! nowrap| Lancia Delta HF Integrale

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| MON
1

| SWE

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| POR
Ret

| KEN

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| FRA
1

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| GRC
1

| NZL

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| ARG
1

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| FIN
1

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| AUS
1

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ITA
Ret

| CIV

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| ESP
10

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GBR
Ret

|colspan=2|

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 121

1993

! nowrap| Toyota Castrol Team

! nowrap| Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| MON
1

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SWE
Ret

| POR

| KEN

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| FRA
2

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GRC
Ret

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| ARG
3

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| NZL
3

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| FIN
3

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUS
Ret

| ITA

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| ESP
2

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| GBR
6

|colspan=3|

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 92

1994

! nowrap| Toyota Castrol Team

! nowrap| Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MON
Ret

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| POR
2

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| KEN
3

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| FRA
1

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GRC
Ret

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| ARG
1

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| NZL
5

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| FIN
2

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| ITA
1

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| GBR
6

|colspan=6|

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1st

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 116

1995

! nowrap| Toyota Castrol Team

! nowrap| Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MON
Ret

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SWE
5

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| POR
5

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| FRA
1

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| NZL
2

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUS
Ret

|style="background:#000000; color:#ffffff"| ESP
DSQ

| GBR

|colspan=8|

|style="background:#000000; color:#ffffff"| DSQ

|style="background:#000000; color:#ffffff"| 51

rowspan=2| 1996

! nowrap| 555 Subaru World Rally Team

! nowrap| Subaru Impreza 555

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SWE
10

| KEN

| IDN

| GRC

| ARG

| FIN

| AUS

|colspan=9|

!rowspan=2| 25th

!rowspan=2| 4

nowrap| Team Mitsubishi Ralliart

! nowrap| Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III

|colspan=7|

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| ITA
8

| ESP

|colspan=7|

rowspan=3| 1997

! nowrap| R.A.S. Sport

! nowrap| Ford Escort RS Cosworth

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MON
Ret

| SWE

| KEN

| POR

| ESP

| FRA

|colspan=10|

!rowspan=3| 11th

!rowspan=3| 6

nowrap| H.F. Grifone

! nowrap| Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205

|colspan=6|

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| ARG
5

| GRC

| NZL

|colspan=7|

nowrap| Toyota Castrol Team

! nowrap| Toyota Corolla WRC

|colspan=9|

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FIN
8

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| IDN
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ITA
8

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| AUS
3

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GBR
Ret

|colspan=2|

1998

! nowrap| Toyota Castrol Team

! nowrap| Toyota Corolla WRC

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| MON
14

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SWE
6

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| KEN
4

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| POR
Ret

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| ESP
1

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| FRA
6

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ARG
Ret

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| GRC
2

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| NZL
2

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| FIN
4

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ITA
Ret

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| AUS
3

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GBR
Ret

|colspan=3|

! 5th

! 34

1999

! nowrap| Toyota Castrol Team

! nowrap| Toyota Corolla WRC

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| MON
3

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SWE
4

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| KEN
2

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| POR
3

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| ESP
2

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| FRA
5

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| ARG
3

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GRC
Ret

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| NZL
4

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FIN
Ret

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| CHN
1

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| ITA
3

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUS
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GBR
Ret

|colspan=2|

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 52

rowspan=2| 2000

!rowspan=2 nowrap| SEAT Sport

! nowrap| SEAT Córdoba WRC Evo2

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MON
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SWE
10

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| KEN
3

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| POR
10

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ESP
13

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ARG
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GRC
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NZL
Ret

|colspan=8|

!rowspan=2| 12th

!rowspan=2| 4

nowrap| SEAT Córdoba WRC Evo3

|colspan=8|

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FIN
11

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| CYP
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FRA
8

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ITA
17

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| AUS
8

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GBR
9

|colspan=2|

2001

! nowrap| Peugeot Total

! nowrap| Peugeot 206 WRC

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MON
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SWE
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| POR
8

|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| ESP
1

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ARG
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| CYP
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GRC
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| KEN
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FIN
Ret

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| NZL
6

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| ITA
3

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| FRA
3

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| AUS
3

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GBR
7

|colspan=2|

! 7th

! 23

2002

! nowrap| Didier Auriol

! nowrap| Toyota Corolla WRC

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MON
Ret

| SWE

| FRA

| ESP

| CYP

| ARG

| GRE

| KEN

| FIN

| GER

| ITA

| NZL

| AUS

| GBR

|colspan=2|

! –

! 0

rowspan=2| 2003

!rowspan=2 nowrap| Škoda Motorsport

! nowrap| Škoda Octavia WRC Evo3

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| MON
9

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SWE
18

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| TUR
Ret

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| NZL
8

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| ARG
6

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GRE
9

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| CYP
Ret

|colspan=9|

!rowspan=2| 13th

!rowspan=2| 4

nowrap| Škoda Fabia WRC

|colspan=7|

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GER
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FIN
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| AUS
12

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ITA
12

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FRA
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ESP
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GBR
11

|colspan=2|

2005

! nowrap| Didier Auriol

! nowrap| Peugeot 206 WRC

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MON
Ret

| SWE

| MEX

| NZL

| ITA

| CYP

| TUR

| GRE

| ARG

| FIN

| GER

| GBR

| JPN

| FRA

| ESP

| AUS

! –

! 0

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://rallybase.nl/index.php?type=profile&driverid=28 rallybase.nl] – Dider Auriol's profile

{{Commons category|Didier Auriol}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-ach}}

{{succession box | before = Carlos Sainz | title = Autosport
International Rally Driver Award | after = Juha Kankkunen | years = 1992}}

{{s-sports}}

{{succession box | title = Race of Champions
Champion of Champions | years= 1993–1994 | before = Andrea Aghini | after = François Delecour}}

{{succession box|before= Juha Kankkunen|title=World Rally Champion|years=1994|after= Colin McRae}}

{{succession box | title = Race of Champions
Champion of Champions | years= 1996 | before = François Delecour | after = Carlos Sainz}}

{{succession box | title = Race of Champions
Champion of Champions | years= 1999 | before = Colin McRae | after = Tommi Mäkinen}}

{{s-end}}

{{World Rally Champions}}

{{Autosport International Rally Driver Award}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auriol, Didier}}

Category:1958 births

Category:Lancia people

Category:Sportspeople from Montpellier

Category:World Rally Champions

Category:World Rally Championship drivers

Category:French rally drivers

Category:Living people

Category:Peugeot Sport drivers

Category:Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers

Category:Cupra Racing drivers

Category:Škoda Motorsport drivers