Group B, the scariest thing that happened in the woods since ghosts were invented
It was too beautiful and dangerous to exist in this world. Just like Heath Ledger
GROUP B. A world Rally Class whose four year history would be cemented in the minds and
myths of race fans for years. At its peak, thousands lined the streets to bare witness
the speed and fury of the cars and their engines that exploded in a beautiful cacophony of
flat fours, v-6s and inline 5s.
With nearly no regulations placed on the cars,
fearless thrived as they hurdled through actual streets of actual towns all over the world.
On snow, mud and asphalt, the Group B drivers defied
belief and cheated death.
How did group B come about? How did it end? Well grab your helmet and tighten up your harnesses baby,
cause we’re going for a ride. This is everything you need to know to get up to speed on Group B B racing.
This episode of Up to Speed is brought to you by MVMT Watches.I wear mine everyday and I've already been married 9 times.
Before Group B, the WRC was pretty cool- a bunch of cars racing around doing the best
they can to squeeze performance out of production cars. A lot of well loved cars and game changing
technology came out of WRC Group A. The legendary five cylinder Audi Quattro being just one of those.
But Group A had a ton of restrictions on power, size, technology and cost. AND the base model
for a Group A auto had to be mass-produced with at least 5000 units a year and had to
have 4 seats.
In contrast, Group B had few restrictions on technology OR design and only required
that weight was kept as low as possible. High-tech materials were permitted, and there were no
restrictions on boost. And for homologation requirements, manufacturers only needed to
produce 200 cars.
I mean I made 200 cars last week.That's nothing.
PLUS, they left a special “evolution” clause that meant year to year, if an update was
made to a model, only 20 cars needed to reflect the change, in Group A, you’d need to manufacture
a fresh 5000. That's also what they used to call me in highschool. Fresh 5000. Supp'
The only restrictions in Group B were: the cabin had to fit two seats and could not
be open roofed. A minimum weight calculated by engine displacement
Maximum tire width calculated by engine displacement.
And… that’s it. Those are all the rules.
It took about a season for manufacturers to realize the limitless performance potential
of the group. In its first year, Audi did little to change their Quattro from its Group
4 setup, but its still innovative drivetrain was advanced enough carry Hannu Mikkola to
the driver's title in 1983. Lancia, however, made more bold improvements to their rear-wheel
drive 037 in shape, weight and power, and the car was consistent enough to take the
Manufacturer's title.
After its inaugural season, Group B’s low homologation requirements attracted more manufacturers
and more experimentation. 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 wheel drive- they were powerful, and could dominate on asphalt, but, they were still
falling short when the terrain became less stable. And this was the beauty of Group B
Rally… the restrictions were so few, that manufacturers were free to explore the best
combination of power and drivetrain that would work over a myriad of different surfaces.
While Opel, Audi and Toyota were making tweaks to their existing cars, other teams realized
the low homologation requirements would allow them to start with a clean slate. Peugeot
engineer Jean Todt studied the restrictions, looked to Audi’s success, and came up with
a shorter four-wheel-drive car with more rear-biased weight distribution. The Peugeot 205 T16 was
homologated mid way through 1984. Featuring a mid-mounted, 1.8-liter turbocharged engine,
350 hp, and four-wheel drive, it was immediately competitive and became dominant from August
onward. The evolution nudged 400 hp. It would have won its first race, but driver Ari Vantenen
crashed just before finishing. He was leading the pack by a lot.
And speaking of crashes… these races and cars were getting so gnarly that crashes began
happening more and more frequently. Vantenen led a ton of races for Peugeot, but seldom
won them because he had a consistent record of crashing just before winning. Sound like my love life.
Part of the thrill of watching the races was the excitement of knowing that
drivers were toeing the line between triumph and calamity. Michelle Mouton, who Niki Lauda
described as “superwoman” was notorious for her fearless driving, and she was
no stranger to gnarly exits either. In her first group B race, she slid through a patch of
ice and crashed at over a 100 miles an hour.
Drivers were going so fast through such tight turns that their skills were being tested
like never before- Bjorn Waldegard looks back at the danger less romantically-- he’s since
said, “the cars were so quick your brain could not react in time; it was just too much.” That sounds f***in' nuts.
Listen, these cars were using kevlar doors to save on weight, they were using massively
overpowered engines and employing cutting edge suspensions out of necessity. Body-kits
were radical amalgams of aero-innovations and induction channels or cooling vents. Bigger
engines meant wider wheelbase and tires, but a heavier minimum weight. As small engine
power output improved, you’d have the lightest cars on the circuit pumping out over 400 horsepower.
The technological achievements of Group B were at once a recipe for glory and all out disaster.
And guys, if you’re getting upset because I keep using the word “gnarly…” After
races, when they worked on the cars, Mechanics would find things like severed fingers in the cars. Teams
had therapists and psychologists on retainer because just WORKING on Group B cars was that
traumatic. Those who won or placed in stages were exalted.
But just finishing a race alive was enough tao cement your status as an elite rally driver. driver.
By end of 1985, in addition to ravenous Group B attendance, and accomplished, heroic drivers,
there was an outright cornucopia of competing cars, all testing theories about the right
mix of balance, power, weight and wheels. Lancia replaced their outclassed 037 with
the Delta S4, which featured both a turbocharger and a supercharger. Ford had returned after
several years away with the Ford RS200, which made a purported 550 HP at all four wheels.
Citroën developed and entered the BX 4TC, which was a cumbersome little beast. Rover
created the distinctive Metro 6R4, which featured almost comical, boxy bodywork and a large
spoiler mounted on the FRONT of the car, and Audi's new Sport Quattro S1 boasted over 600
hp (450 kW) and had a frickin' snowplough for the front end.
We are now in uncharted territory, and the stage is set to find out the world’s best
rally car and the world’s best driver.
And one young finnish driver- Henri Toivonen, after years of unfulfilled potential, was
emerging as a gifted vunderkind for whom Group B seemed the perfect format. Where more mature
drivers were all too aware of the dangers, Henri, in his mid 20s- pushed as hard as he
could. Rally legend Walter Röhrl said “Henri was a little bit crazy. He was fast and always
getting faster, like someone in a trance." I could never be faster. Henri reached the
point where it was only a question of time before something went badly wrong.
And early in 1986, something did go badly wrong. On the "Lagoa Azul" stage of the Portuguese
Rally near Sintra, Portuguese national champion Joaquim Santos crested a rise, turning to
his right to avoid a small group of spectators. This caused him to lose control of his RS200.
The car veered to the right and slid off the road into the spectators. Thirty-one people
were injured and three were killed. All the top teams immediately pulled out of the rally
and Group B was placed in jeopardy.
This crash came a year after Lancia driver Attilio Bettega crashed and died in his 037.
His co-driver Maurizio Perissinot was uninjured, so the fatality was largely blamed on the
unforgiving Corsican scenery and bad luck. But, with such a massive injury toll and the
death of 3 spectators, the Lagoa Azul accident was making it apparent that Group B may be
too dangerous to exist. The promising driver Toivonen and his co-driver,
Sergio Cresto sat at the start of the Tour De Corse, waiting for the signal. When they
launched in the turbo and supercharged lancia, all four wheels gripped at the pavement to
send them hurtling past hundreds of spectators who lined the streets. But just seven kilometres
into the stage, their S4 flew off the unguarded edge of a tight left turn and plunged down
a steep, wooded hillside. The fuel tanks ruptured, and the car became a fireball on impact. When
crews arrived nearly 30 minutes later, the inferno had left nothing of the Lancia but
a charred tangle of tubing. Toivonen and Cresto's death, combined with
the Portugal tragedy, forced the FIA to act: Group B cars were immediately banned in 1987.
Group B was done. It was an amazing time in automotive ingenuity and ultimately proved
too dangerous to exist. Could it happen today? With modern technology
and safety? Honestly, probably not.
There is a certain beauty in those things that can scare us. The raw power and magnificence
of a waterfall as you stand at the base; the exhilaration atop a cliff as as you stare down to the hard earth
stories below. This is the allure of Group B. It was an intersection of Icarian aspiration
and technology in racing that can never be duplicated, and has become all the more mythic
for its short existence.
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This is everything you need to know to get up to speed on Group B.
This one was a little bit serious.Not a lot of jokes. It's pretty much about people dying.
How many times have you watch those group B videos on the internet which are just like ??????
Uh, send me a dollar for a Lamborghini. And as always: like, comment, subscribe and share.