Auriol was born in Montpellier, France, and initially worked as an ambulance driver. He began his rallying career at the age of 21 in an old Simca 1000. After driving the Simca for two years, he moved to a Renault 5 Turbo to compete in the French Rally Championship. In 1986, he drove a Metro 6R4 and won his first French Rally Championship. He secured the French Rally Championship again in 1987 and 1988, driving a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth.
Auriol made his World Rally Championship (WRC) debut in 1984 at the Tour de Corse. His first WRC event win came in 1988 at the Tour de Corse while driving for Ford. This victory marked the only time that season Lancia was beaten in a direct competition, leading to Lancia signing him for the following year.
Joining the Martini Lancia team in 1989, Auriol drove several versions of the dominant Lancia Delta Integrale. He won the Tour de Corse for the second consecutive year in 1989 and finished as championship runner-up in 1990, securing three rally wins. In 1992, he achieved a career-high of six victories in a single season, but ultimately finished third in the championship standings after a disappointing performance in the final events.
In 1993, Auriol switched to Toyota, winning his first event for the team at the Monte Carlo Rally. The following year, 1994, proved to be his championship-winning season. He secured victories in Corsica, Argentina, and San Remo. Heading into the final round in Great Britain, he was in contention with Carlos Sainz for the title. Auriol emerged as World Champion after Sainz went off the road on the final day.
In 1995, Auriol took the first win for the Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 at the Tour de Corse with co-driver Denis Giraudet. However, later that season, Toyota was excluded from the championship results and banned for the following year due to the use of an illegal turbocharger device. Auriol contested only two WRC events in 1996, driving for Subaru in Sweden and Mitsubishi in San Remo. He returned to Toyota in 1997 with their new Corolla WRC and became a full-time driver for the team in 1998, achieving one win and four podiums. In 1999, he secured one win and seven podiums, placing third in the points standings.
Following Toyota's withdrawal from the WRC after 1999, Auriol moved to SEAT Sport, driving the SEAT Córdoba WRC E2, where he achieved a podium finish at the Safari Rally. For the 2001 season, he joined Peugeot Sport, winning the Rally Catalunya and securing three third-place finishes. After a break in 2002, Auriol signed with Škoda Motorsport in 2003, contributing to the development of the Škoda Fabia WRC. His last WRC season was in 2003.
Auriol is a six-time winner of the Tour de Corse, a record he jointly holds with Bernard Darniche. He was the first Frenchman to win the World Rally Championship title in 1994.
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