Barbie MacLaurin
Queen of Speed

"I don't need to see my trophies every day, I know what I've done."

Michèle Mouton opens a dusty box and shows the camera one of the most coveted cups by all drivers in the world, the "Pikes Peak International Hill Climb" trophy. Tarnished, with the plaque peeling off. She has never cared much about trophies; when reminded that she was the only woman to beat men in the top class, the WRC, she shows her determined character and insists on being remembered as a driver and nothing more. Mouton was one of the strongest drivers of all time, she drove and tamed cars like the Fiat 131 Abarth, the Lancia Stratos, and the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16. But most importantly, she made the Audi Quattro immortal. A mediocre car manufacturer that wasn't selling cars found its fortune in a small but determined girl from Grasse who was born with a fierce will to break barriers and go beyond. This beautiful documentary film tells the story of a woman who challenged all prejudices, defeating men in one of their last bastions of testosterone: motor racing. Going beyond physical limits with a perfect, balanced mind capable of anticipating moves and predicting obstacles. As her historical rival Walter Röhrl recalls, it's in the race against time that a driver's value is seen. In an era when driving a Group B car at full speed on roads surrounded by people was a task for the reckless before it was for talented drivers, Michèle Mouton demonstrated that tenacity and perseverance led to achieving set goals. However, as her longtime friend and co-driver Fabrizia Pons points out, Michèle had the natural gift; she was born for it: racing. The historic San Remo of 1981, the 1982 world championship won by Audi thanks to her, though she lost the driver's title due to the mess the mechanics made in Côte d'Ivoire with the clutch that destroyed her more than an hour advantage over Walter Röhrl. But it was the 1985 Pikes Peak that was her masterpiece. The most famous race in America, one of the historic races in world motorsport. Millions of testosteronic Americans had to bow to the "queen of speed" who made her Audi Quattro S1 fly to the limit of its mechanical capabilities to eternally set the record for reaching the summit of Colorado Springs. The only woman in history, and until then the only non-American driver. Trophies can also be stored in a shack in the garden, because as Walter Röhrl emphasizes, people will always remember her while her name will forever remain in the annals.