The intense battle between Lancia and Audi at the 1983 World Rally Championship will feature in a new movie by Lionsgate.
Race for Glory: Audi vs Lancia focuses on the true life events of the intense rivalry between the two marques as they competed for the manufacturers’ title.
Directed by Stefano Mordini (The Invisible Witness and Steel), the film will focus on the “real life David vs Goliath” story. Here’s everything you need to know about Race for Glory: Audi vs Lancia ahead of its release...
What is the release date for Race For Glory: Audi vs Lancia?
Race For Glory: Audi Vs Lancia will be released on 5 January 2024. The film is inspired by the true rivalry between Audi and Lancia for the 1983 World Rally Championship.
How to watch Race For Glory: Audi vs Lancia
Race For Glory: Audi Vs Lancia will be released in US theaters on 5 January but will also be available on demand and on digital streaming platforms.
Although a UK release is yet to be confirmed by Lionsgate, the film company has its own streaming platform, Lionsgate+ so it is likely the movie will be streamed on there. UK viewers can subscribe to the platform for £5.99 through the Lionsgate+ app or Virgin TV and Amazon Prime.
Who will star in Race For Glory: Audi Vs Lancia?
Actor Daniel Brühl will star as German engineer Roland Gumpert, who helped secure 24 rally wins and two rally world championship titles for the Audi team under his leadership as race director. Brühl is a familiar face after portraying three-time Formula 1 world champion Niki Lauda in the 2013 movie Rush. The Spanish-German actor has also appeared in Captain America: Civil War and Inglorious Basterds.
Italian actor Riccardo Scamarcio will also star as Cesare Fiorio, the former team manager of Lancia’s WRC team.
Fiorio was also the former Formula 1 sporting director for Ferrari. Scamarcio has previously starred in John Wick: Chapter 2, The Summer House and The Last Paradiso.
The film will also star Volker Bruch as German rally legend Walter Röhrl. After driving for Fiat, Opel, Lancia and Audi, Röhrl scored 14 victories, including two World Rally Championship titles and the GTP +3.0 class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Race For Glory: Audi Vs Lancia also features Katie Clarkson-Hill, Bruno Gouery and Esther Garrel.
What is Race For Glory: Audi Vs Lancia about?
It features the real life story of the 1983 World Rally Championship. Audi were the favourites to dominate the season with their Quattro, a four-wheel drive car against Lancia’s two-wheel drive 037.
The Audi Quattro began production in 1980 following a similar design to a vehicle produced by Volkswagen for the German military, the Type 183 Iltis coupe. The car had won Audi the manufacturers’ title race during the 1982 season, and the team’s drivers Michèle Mouton and Hannu Mikkola took second and third in the drivers’ race.
Lancia also debuted their 037 in 1982 but had little success, with the team finishing towards the bottom of the grid. German driver Röhrl took the championship victory for Opel before joining Lancia for the 1983 World Rally Championship.
Lancia went into the championship with Röhrl and Markku Alén leading their team of seven drivers. The pair would face off against the successful Mouton and Mikkola who drove alongside Audi’s eleven drivers in their Quattro A1 and A2 cars.
Audi went into the championship very well funded and had the opportunity to keep developing their car over the course of the season under the watch of German engineer Gumpert. Lancia was led by Fiorio but the team were the underdog of the season, with a lower budget than its rival.
Lancia had previously won the WRC four times, previously running the Stratos and Fulvia which had seen them become a multiple rally winner.
SPOILER ALERT!
The first event of the 1983 World Rally Championship took place in a snowy Monte Carlo, where the Lancia 037 appeared to be at a disadvantage from its Audi rival.
Fiorio said: “I think the biggest surprise was for us to win the Monte Carlo event. It was the first event of the year and normally it was a rally that we should have lost as there was snow, but we managed to take it away somehow. That is when we knew we were competitive.”
Fiorio had ordered 300 tons of salt from Italy and had spread it over the different stages of the course, which melted the snow. The team were then able to use slick tyres and changed their tyres in the mid-stages of the rally to make the most of the unseasonably dry roads.
Audi did not know about the melted snow and sent their cars out on snow tyres to discover that a large portion of the roads were clear. This tactic from Lancia helped them gain an 11-minute advantage by the end of the rally and secured them the victory.
The two teams won 10 out of the 12 rounds between them and also secured 30 of the championship’s 36 podium positions. Lancia secured the 1983 manufacturer championship for the first time since the team’s three consecutive wins between 1974 and 1976 despite choosing not to take part in several events in the calendar.
Audi had made a slight comeback towards the second half of the season and won three out of the final four events, but it was not enough as Lancia wrapped up the title with two rounds to spare.
Lancia’s victory in the 037 was also the last time a two-wheeled drive car won the World Rally Championship.
Other World Rally Championship films
Race for Glory: Audi Vs Lancia is not the first time the World Rally Championship has been captured for film and TV. In 2021, Mouton’s life and career was the subject of a Sky original documentary, Queen of Speed.
The programme told the story of how Mouton fought to compete in the male-dominated motorsport during the 1970s and 80s which saw her win four WRC races, making her the only woman to have done so.
The documentary is available on Sky Documentaries, as well as NOW TV and sees a personal account from Mouton herself, as well as interviews with co-driver Fabrizia Pons and her rivals Ari Vatanen and Walter Rohrl.
RedBull TV also has a documentary titled Sebastien Ogier – The Final Season. The 80-minute film looks at the Frenchman’s 2021 season – his last full WRC season of his career.
Ogier said: “I was very critical about many details to keep it as accurate as possible, but it is always a challenge to fit 15 years of a career into an hour and 20 minutes. But I’m very happy with it”
The documentary looks at Ogier’s entire career including the driver receiving his first go-kart at the age of eight and his dreams of following in the footsteps of Ayrton Senna. Ultimately the financial realities led to the Frenchman deciding to pursue a career in rallying which resulted in four consecutive WRC titles between 2013 and 2016.
Sebastian Ogier – The Final Season can be viewed online on RedBull TV.
