With victories at Le Mans, in the WRC, and at Pikes Peak, Michèle Mouton is racing royalty well beyond rally circles. So when a new film project—let alone two—is announced about her, fans take notice.
Mouton’s popularity has surged in recent years. Following her induction into the Pikes Peak Hill Climb Hall of Fame this summer and her appearance in the 2021 Queen of Speed documentary, another project centered on the Audi rally legend is now underway.
The new production, titled Rallye 82, is a four-episode series (45 minutes per episode) recounting Mouton’s remarkable 1982 WRC season. By that time, she had already made history as the first woman to win a WRC round in 1981 and, in 1982, found herself battling Walter Röhrl for the world championship.
I wrote about this season in-depth for Audi Club North America’s quattro Magazine. If you want to read in-depth about her incredible feat of endurance and heart-braking near-miss with the world championship title, that story can be found HERE.
The series will debut on HBO Max before airing on France Télévisions and Germany’s ZDFneo. Ana Girardot will star as Michèle Mouton, with Matilda Lutz portraying her co-driver, Fabrizia Pons. Girardot’s father, Hippolyte Girardot, is also listed among the cast on IMDb—potentially taking on the role of Mouton’s father, who tragically passed away from cancer as the 1982 season came to a close.
Written by Haïga Jappain and Julien Lacombe and directed by Lacombe, the series is being produced by Empreinte Digitale and will be available in French, German, English, and Italian.
Given what’s known about the production, Rallye 82 will likely be filmed primarily in French, with at least a German dub. There’s no official word yet on English-language distribution in markets like North America, but with the HBO Max partnership, that seems a safe bet.