From 1981 onwards, the Audi quattro turned the world of rallying on its head. The Rally quattro already put in an impressive performance in the autumn of 1980 when it was entered in the Urbibel Rally on the Portuguese Algarve (European Rally Championship) on a non-competitive basis as a "course car" for test purposes. The newly enlisted pairing of Mikkola and Hertz piloted the Audi with the start number "0" so masterfully that they could have won the race by almost half an hour.
The Rally quattro had its first outing in the World Rally Championship at the Monte Carlo Rally in January 1981. Rally champion Bernard Darniche, who was racing for Lancia at the time, had this to say about Hannu Mikkola's performance: "He started a minute behind me and I couldn't believe my eyes when I suddenly caught sight of him in my rear-view mirror. And in a flash he'd already passed me – not with a big, dramatic manoeuvre but casually, in the same way I'd overtake my grandmother. Beyond belief, impossible, incredible! We can give up driving! We can all go home!"