Praise from Mouton for Rally Turkey

Michele Mouton, who gave women's presence in motorsport real meaning and remains the only woman to have won a round of the World Rally Championship, is a living legend whose influence touches every corner of the sport, from her active role at the International Automobile Federation (FIA), where she helps maintain rally safety standards, to much else besides. Most importantly, she is one of the people who approved the World Rally Championship's (WRC) arrival in Turkey in 2018...
A legend who began rallying by chance, as a co-driver at a friend's request, became a driver with her father's support, and rose on pure talent in the male-dominated world of motorsport... She remains the first and only woman to win a WRC round, taking Rally Sanremo in 1981. At just 24, Michele Mouton won her class at the gruelling Le Mans 24 Hours, a feat that inspired many women and has never been forgotten. In 1985 she crossed an ocean to take on Pikes Peak, the hill climb most of us first met through the 1988 short film Climb Dance, and won it in record time. Now she is a woman who has dedicated herself to the development of the rally sport she loves so much...

"The Turkish people are eagerly awaiting the WRC"

Mouton, who serves actively as FIA Safety Delegate, carries out a great deal of work to uphold safety standards in rallying. She is also among the most important figures who approved Turkey's inclusion on the WRC calendar and who admired the Turkish stages.

Michele Mouton, who came to Marmaris to carry out safety checks and inspections for the Rally Turkey stages to be held in and around Muğla on 13-16 September, said: "The World Rally Championship needed different roads, natural beauty and characterful stages. The beautiful, technical and characterful stages in and around Muğla, with their narrowing and widening roads and their softening and hardening surfaces, have everything a great rally needs. I can say that Turkey's natural beauty enchanted me. At that moment I believed Turkey should be part of this championship. The WRC's longing for characterful stages will be answered in and around Muğla on 13-16 September."

Mouton, who noted that she had seen some shortcomings when she attended a World Rally Championship event in Antalya previously, continued: "I can see now that Turkey places great value on motorsport. Almost all the shortcomings I saw have disappeared. The Turkish people are very interested in the championship and very excited. I think this interest will grow even more with the World Rally Championship event to be held this year."

"I got a chance and I held on to it tightly"

Despite being the first and only woman to win a WRC event, Mouton also said she does not want to compete in the WRC now. "I am very happy with the work I do at the FIA to improve the safety side of this sport, and that is motivation enough for me. Instead of competing, I now contribute to the development of the rally sport I love so much. Believe me, that motivation makes me happier than competing ever did," she said.

Describing it as a disappointment that no other woman has won in the WRC since, Mouton said: "If I managed it back then, other women could have too. Of course, to compete at the highest level and succeed, you need the right equipment and conditions. I got a chance and I held on to it tightly. Now I hope other talented female rally drivers out there waiting for us will have the same success story. That would make me very happy indeed."