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Group B

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Group B Ford RS200
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Group B Ford RS200

The Group B referred to a set of regulations for competition vehicles in touring car racing and rally racing regulated by the FIA. Group B was introduced by the FIA in 1982 as replacement for both Group 4 (modified grand touring) and Group 5 (touring prototypes) cars.

Group A referred to production-derived vehicles limited in terms of power, weight, allowed technology and overall cost. Group A was aimed at ensuring a large number of privately-owned entries in races.

By contrast, Group B had few restrictions on technology, design and the number of cars required for homologation to compete. Weight was unrestricted, high-tech materials were permitted, and there was no limit on power. The category was aimed at car manufacturers by promising outright race victories and the subsequent publicity opportunities without the need for an existing production model.

Group B was initially a very successful concept, with many manufacturers joining the premier World Rally Championship, and increased spectator numbers. But the cost of competing quickly rose, and the performance of the cars proved too much, resulting in a series of fatal crashes. As a consequence Group B was cancelled at the end of 1986 and Group A regulations became the standard for all cars until the advent of World Rally Cars in 1997.

In the following years Group B found a niche in the European Rallycross Championship, with cars such as the MG Metro 6R4 and the Ford RS200 competing as late as 1992. For 1993, the FIA replaced the Group B models with prototypes that had to be based on existing Group A cars, but still followed the spirit of Group B, with low weight, 4WD, high turbo boost pressure and staggering amounts of power.

Contents

Group 2 and Group 4

Until 1983 the two main classes of rallying were called Group 2 and Group 4. Major manufacturers competed in Group 4, which required a minimum of 400 examples of a competition car. Notable cars of the era included the Lancia Stratos, Ford Escort and Fiat 131 Abarth.

In 1979 the FISA (then the name of the FIA's motorsport regulatory division) legalized all wheel drive (AWD). However, at the time it was generally felt that the extra weight and complexity of AWD systems would cancel out the performance benefits, so the car companies were not keen on using it.

This belief was shattered when Audi launched the AWD Quattro in 1980. While the new car was indeed heavy and cumbersome, its levels of off-road grip were staggering: That year a quattro was used as an official race car and driven by professional driver Hannu Mikkola. At one particular rally its combined time for all the stages was nine minutes quicker than that of the rally winner.

The Quattro was officially entered in the 1980 Janner Rally in Austria and easily won. Audi kept on winning throughout 1980 and 1981 seasons, although lack of consistent results meant that Ford took the driver's title in 1981 with Ari Vatanen driving a rear-drive Escort. The team's victory at the 1981 Rallye San Remo was particularly historic: Piloted by Michèle Mouton, it was the first time a woman won an international rally. Mouton placed second in the drivers' championship the next year, behind Opel's Walter Röhrl.

1983-1985

the Peugeot 205 T16 winning the 1984 1000 Lakes Rally driven by Ari Vatanen
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the Peugeot 205 T16 winning the 1984 1000 Lakes Rally driven by Ari Vatanen

In 1983, the FISA decided to separate the rally cars into three classes: Group A, Group B and Group N. Although the Audi Quattro was still in essence a Group 4 car, it carried Hannu Mikkola to the driver's title in 1983. Lancia had designed a new car to Group B specifications, but the Lancia 037 still had rear wheel drive and was thus less consistent than the Audi over different surfaces (generally the Lancia had the upper hand on tarmac, with the Audi remaining superior on looser surfaces such as snow and gravel).

The low homologation requirements quickly attracted manufacturers to Group B. Opel replaced their production-derived Ascona with the Group B Manta 400, and Toyota built a new car based on their Celica. Like the Lancia 037 both cars were rear drive, but unlike the Lancia they met with little success, although Toyota won the 1983 Ivory Coast Rally after hiring desert driving specialist Bjorn Waldegaard.

In 1984, Audi's Stig Blomqvist beat Lancia to the driver's title, although the victory was bittersweet: Midway through the year Peugeot had joined the rallying scene with its Group B 205 T16. The T16 also had all wheel drive and was smaller and lighter than the Audi Quattro. At the wheel was the 1981 driver's champion Ari Vatanen, with future Ferrari Formula One team manager Jean Todt overseeing the operation. A crash prevented the T16 from winning its first rally but the writing was on the wall for Audi.

Despite massive revisions to the Quattro, including a shorter wheelbase, Peugeot dominated the 1985 season. Although not without mishap: Vatanen plunged off the road in Argentina and was gravely injured when his seat mountings broke in the ensuing crash.

Although the crash was a sign that Group B cars had already become dangerously quick, a rash of new Group B cars entered the rallying world in 1985:

1986

The stage was set for 1986 to be a very exciting season. Defending champion Timo Salonen had the new Evolution 2 version of Peugeot's T16 with ex Toyota driver, Juha Kankkunen. Audi's new Sport Quattro S1 boasted over 600 hp (450 kW) and a huge snowplow-like front end. Lancia's Delta S4 would be in the hands of the Finnish prodigy Henri Toivonen and Markku Alen, and Ford was ready with its high tech RS200 with Stig Blomqvist and Kalle Grundel.

However, everything was to go tragically wrong on the first stage of Portuguese Rally near Sintra. Portuguese national champion Joaquim Santos crested a rise to find the road blocked with spectators crowding to see the fastest cars come through. Trying to stop, he lost control of his RS200 and plunged into the crowd. Thirty-one people were injured and four were killed. All the top teams immediately pulled out of the rally and Group B was placed in jeopardy.

Disaster struck again in early May at the Tour de Corse. Lancia's Toivonen was leading the championship, and once the rally got underway he was the pace setter. Seven kilometres into the 18th stage, Toivonen's S4 flew off the unguarded edge of a left hand hairpin bend and crashed into a ravine. The car's under-slung fuel tanks immediately ruptured and set fire to the dry undergrowth. Only a cloud of smoke and the lack of Toivonen's car at the finish indicated that something was very wrong. By the time rescue workers made it to the remote spot (some 30 minutes, by some accounts) all that remained of the car was a blackened frame with the remains of Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Cresto inside. With no witnesses to the accident, it was impossible to determine what caused the crash. Some cite Toivonen's ill health at the time (he reportedly was suffering from flu); other suggest mechanical failure, or simply the difficulty of driving the machine.

By a tragic irony, the crash came exactly a year after Lancia driver Attilio Bettega had crashed and died in his 037. While that fatality was largely blamed on the unforgiving Corsican scenery, Toivonen and Cresto's death in a survivable crash, combined with the Portugal tragedy, compelled the FISA to act: Group B cars were immediately banned for 1987. Audi decided to quit Group B entirely after Corsica.

The final days of Group B would also be controversial. The Peugeots were disqualified from the Rally San Remo by the Italian scrutineers as the 'skirts' around the bottom of the car were deemed to be illegal. Peugeot immediately accused the Italians of favouring the Lancias. Their case was strengthened at the next event, the RAC Rally, when the British scrutineers passed the Peugeots as legal in identical trim. Eleven days after the final round in America, FISA anuled the result of the San Remo Rally. As a result the championship title was passed from Lancia's Markku Alen to Peugeot's Juha Kankkunen.

Disposition

the Peugeot 205 T16 in the 1989 Dakar Rally
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the Peugeot 205 T16 in the 1989 Dakar Rally

Although 1987 saw the end of the Group B cars on the world stage, they did not disappear from motor sport. Peugeot adapted their T16 to run in the Dakar Rally. Ari Vatanen won the event in 1989 and 1990. Improved Peugeot and Audi cars also competed in the Pikes Peak Hillclimb in Colorado. Audi used their Group B experience to develop a sports racing car for the IMSA series in 1990. Ford sold off their RS200s to private buyers, with many being used in Rallycross events. The Metro 6R4 also became a frequent sight in Rallycross and the car was also entered in British and Irish national championship events. Porsche's 959 never entered a World Rally event, although it did compete in the Middle East championship and swept the Dakar.

In recent years the popular Colin McRae Rally computer racing game series has brought the extinct Group B cars to the attention of younger generations by including many of them as un-lockable 'bonus cars' to reward progress in the game. Group B cars also featured in the Gran Turismo series.

Group S

As well as the cancellation of Group B, the tragedies of 1986 also brought about the scrapping of Group B's proposed replacement: Group S.

Group S rules would have limited car engine power to 300 hp (225 kW). To encourage innovative designs, only ten examples of a car would have been required for homologation, rather than the 200 required for Group B. By the time of its cancellation, at least two Group S prototypes had been built: The Lancia ECV and the Toyota MR2, and new cars were also planned by both Audi (the 002 Quattro) and Ford (a Group S development of the RS200). The cancellation of Group S angered many rally insiders who considered the new specification to be safer than Group B and more exciting than Group A.

The Group S concept was revived by the FIA in 1997 as the World Rally Car specification which, as of 2006, is still in use. WRC cars are limited to 300 hp and require 20 examples of a model but, unlike Group S, are required to share certain parts with production cars.

Cars

Group B:

Group S:

Drivers

External links

 

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