The Fantastic, Mythical and Insanely Dangerous Group B Rally Championship
Motorsports have been around from the very beginning of the car age. Some even say that the racing world was born the minute the second car was made. Very soon, speed chasers become bona fide athletes, and racing attracted large crowds of spectators and admirers. The octane gladiators helped shaped the car industry one lap at a time. However, every once in a while, amongst the hundreds of championships, the stars align, and we witness the race series that presents the true pinnacle of the sport.
Championships like this remain forever recognized as ultimate moments in automobile history, never to be repeated or recreated, turning into legends passed to the next generation of racing fans. After some time, it is not about lap times, track records, or number of wins; it is about sheer excitement, iconic fire-breathing machines, fearless drivers, and deadly battles fought between the teams. When a racing series creates the same amount of interest, even 35 years after it was discontinued, you can be sure that this one of such championships. Yes, we are talking about mythical, fantastic, and incredibly dangerous Group B.
The Facts
Group B was FIA-sectioned rally championship series that ran from 1982 to 1986. Established as top class in rally racing, it was basically a replacement for both Group 4 (modified grand touring) and Group 5 (touring prototypes) classes. Back in the late '70s and early '80s, the main rally class was Group A, which was strictly production models, produced in at least 5000 examples with modifications and with various limitations on technology, displacement, and weight.
FIA witnessed the rise of new technologies in racing, mainly turbocharging and all-wheel-drive trains, and wanted to create a class with modified vehicles, loosely based on production models that would use such systems. Combining Group 4 and Group 5 and creating a Group B, FIA managed to give the manufacturers a chance to experiment with technology with little limitations in terms of weight or displacement. The only homologation requirement was that the car must be produced in at least 200 examples to qualify for the championship. The basic shape and layout of the street-legal models must resemble the rally version.
According to displacement, the Group B cars were divided into two smaller classes, which ran in the same events. Since all Group B models used turbocharged engines, FIA used a 1.4 equivalence factor (coefficient to multiply the engine displacement with) to place them into categories according to displacement. The 3.0-liter category consisted of vehicles with turbocharged engines with displacement up to 2.2-liters and up to 960 kilograms (2116 lbs) of weight. The other popular class was a 2.5-liter category in which cars with a displacement of 1.8 liters and a weight of up to 890 kilograms (1962 lbs) were allowed.
Since the cost of development of Group B cars was enormous, this class was mostly limited to factory teams. This means that motorsport departments fought not only for the title but also for prestige, and to just that, money was not the object. Group B was developed by the best engineers and driven by the rally racing's biggest names at the moment.
The Cars
One of the most significant claims to fame of Group B was the cars and the fact that rally monsters of the early '80s were something that the car industry never saw before or since. Heavily turbocharged, with power outputs ranging from 500 to 600 hp, massive turbo lags, and no driving aids, the Group B cars were often "faster than the driver's thought." To be honest, those rally beasts were downright frighting and capable of reaching 60 mph in 2.3 seconds. That is faster than the Bugatti Veyron, and the average Group B car did it on the gravel!
Audi Quattro S1
The first Group B legend was arguably the Audi Quattro S1, which took the manufacturer's title in 1982 and 1984. Its fantastic combination of heavily turbocharged inline five-cylinder engine, carbon-kevlar body, massive aero made, and iconic Quattro all-wheel-drive train made it famous and revolutionary in the racing world. Until Group B, Audi was just dull and slightly upscale Volkswagen, but success in the rally racing and on Pikes Peak transformed it into the company it is today.
The S1 was conservatively rated at 302 hp, but the real output was closer to 450 hp, with Audi's racing team stretching the rules to extract more power. In 1985, Audi presented the upgraded Quattro S1 E2 (often called the S2), which had numerous modifications and delivered up to 600 hp to all four wheels. However, by 1986 the Group B was discontinued, and this model never achieved its full potential.
Peugeot 205 T16
The success of Audi inspired many other manufactures to present unique Group B models. Peugeot was first to respond with sublime and blisteringly fast 205 T16. The company declared that T16 was based on their economy compact car, but everybody knew that homologation special had nothing to do with cheap, front-engine, and front-wheel drive model.
The T16 had utterly reworked chassis, body, all-wheel-drive, and engine moved behind the driver. The Peugeot 205 T16 had 200 hp in street trim, but racing versions were conservatively rated at 450 hp. The 205 T16 proved to be a worthy adversary to Audi's Quattro, and with slightly less weight, shorter wheelbase, this Group B icon managed to score impressive 16 WRC wins and claim the 1985 and 1986 manufacturer's title.
Lancia S4
One of the coolest and most extreme Group B machines was the insane Lancia Delta S4. For most of the '70s, Lancia dominated the WRC series with legendary Fulvia HF, Stratos, and 037 rally cars. However, the switch to all-wheel-drive and turbocharging left this company without a proper competitor, so in 1985, Lancia presented the S4.
Like the Peugeot 205 T16, Lancia claimed that it was based on their Delta family hatchback, but it was built from scratch with the unique engine placed centrally behind the driver. The 1.8-liter, four-cylinder unit was "twin-charged" (turbocharged and supercharged at the same time), which resulted in 490 hp output. Of course, crafty racing mechanics managed to extract a few more horses from this complicated but interesting unit, so rally-ready S4s had over 500 hp sent to all four wheels. The Lancia S4 never managed to win any titles, but it won 5 events out of 12 starts, which is fantastic.
Ford RS200
As one of the companies which participated in WRC events from the very beginning, Ford felt that it was left out from the Group B scene. Since the Group B rules provided much freedom to the constructors, Ford realized that making something out of regular Escort Mk3 will not do and went to construct a unique, mid-engine sports car called RS200.
The basic layout was very similar to the competitors, turbocharged by 1.8 or 2.1-liter (in later models) positioned behind the passengers, special chassis and suspension set up, and lightweight and aerodynamically-efficient bodies. Even though the power output was up to par with the rest of the Group B greats, Ford RS200 wasn't that successful, and its racing career was plagued with problems and accidents.
The Honorable Mentions
Besides the four cars we listed above, many more cars had Group B homologation and FIA's permit to enter the events. However, not all of them were successful or competitive enough. Some arrived too late when the class was already canceled, and some lacked all-wheel-drive systems, which would make them obsolete compared to Quattro or S4. Like Porsche 959, some cars never got the chance to participate in Group B racing but managed to use technology and win similar events like the Paris Dakar Rally in 1986. Some 50 cars were granted the Group B homologation but only a handful ever raced. Most of them were left in prototype stages or were used in local events by small teams who couldn't afford factory-produced rally cars.
Back in the mid-80s, the world was still divided between communist Eastern Block and capitalist West. Nevertheless, Group B's magic managed to overcome the differences and became very popular behind the Iron Curtain. In late 1984, Russian state-owned car manufacturer VAZ introduced Lada Samara EVO, a proper Group B rally car, built according to FIA specifications with a centrally positioned four-cylinder turbocharged engine, lightweight body, and all-wheel-drive system. Unfortunately, production difficulties, lack of funding, and the fact that Lada EVO arrived too late forbid it from participating, but rally fans agree that it would be fantastic if the Soviet rally team could join along with their Western colleagues.
The Drivers
The most crucial part of Group B legend is the drivers. Such incredible cars demanded individuals with impressive driving skills, lightning-fast reflexes, a complete lack of fear, and insane concentration levels. It is safe to say that the drivers made the cars iconic and created that mystic of danger and speed. When asked what it is like to drive a Group B at full throttle, late Finish driver Henri Toivonen said: "Like sitting on a box of TNT, igniting it and trying to control the explosion."
People like Juha Kankkunen, Walter Rohl, Ari Vatanen, Stig Blomquist, Markku Alen, Hanu Mikola, and Michele Mouton (first lady driver to win a WRC event) fought on dirt, asphalt, and mud, trying to tame almost uncontrollable and notoriously dangerous rally beasts. Unfortunately, some of them gave their lives in a relentless quest for speed.
The Discontinuation
Right from the start, rally experts, drivers, and the FIA knew that Group B was extremely dangerous. The cars reached an insane performance level, which wasn't followed by safety equipment, technology, and rules for spectators. In those days, the crowd could freely approach the course, and events were very popular with the fans. Seeing and hearing those rally beasts made spectators high on adrenaline and wanted to get close to the cars so much that they blocked the drivers' way. When looking at the footage from the period, it insane how people crowded the roads in front of the cars going at full speed.
Group B cars had notoriously sketchy handling, and enormous turbo lag constantly surprised the drivers during cornering. Having a 600 hp in a car that weighs less than 900 kilograms and driving it flat-out through the crowd of people was a disaster waiting to happen. And, finally, it did in 1986. Joakim Santos, driving a Ford RS200, lost control on Rally Portugal, skidded off the road straight into the crowd injuring 31 people and killing three people. Out of respect, all major teams withdrawn from the event.
In May of the same year, on Rally Corsica, Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto were killed instantly when their Lancia S4 flew off the road at high speed and plunged down the hill. Toivonen, 29, was crowd favorite and championship lead at the moment of his death. After the horrible accident in Portugal and the Toivonen crash, FIA decided that the only reasonable thing is to discontinue Group B in total. The rally fans protested, but manufacturers respected the decision. After four years of millions of dollars invested in chasing seconds, risking the drivers and spectators' lives, and after a series of smaller and bigger accidents, everybody needed a break.
The Legacy
Even though the rally racing scene is very active today, it is nearly as exciting and dynamic as it was in Group B days. Modern cars are possibly faster but hardly as exciting, good looking, or as fascinating as those early turbocharged monsters were. In the case of Group B, the old saying "Racing improves the breed" is accurate, and turbocharging, all-wheel-drive systems, composite materials, and engineering tricks have all found the way in production models, and rally success did wonder for marketing. The S4 project spawned one of the best hot hatches of all times, the Lancia Delta HF Integrale, and Audi built its entire image on Quattro technology and its racing supremacy.
However, the importance of Group B is measured by more than just numbers and advertising potential. To millions of rally fans out there, this was the real golden age of motorsport. The short but immensely exciting period when the winner wasn't determined by the sponsor's cheque instead with the person's courage and driving skill behind the wheel.
