Other Definitions
group b (dict)
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Group BIn relation to motorsport governed by the FIA, Group A and Group B referred to two sets of regulations for competition vehicles in touring car and rally racing. 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. 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 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 recce 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 Michle 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 Rhrl. 1983-1985 In 1983, the FISA decided to separate the rally cars into two classes: Group A and Group B. 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. 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 Waldegard. 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 it's 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 it's 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: - Late in the year, Lancia replaced their outclassed 037 with the Delta S4, which featured both a turbocharger and a supercharger for optimum power output.
- Ford returned after several years aways with the Ford RS200
- Citron attempted to build a Group B car, but the BX 4TC was too heavy and cumbersome to be successful.
- Rover created the distinctive Metro 6R4, which featured boxy bodywork and a large spoiler mounted on the front of the car.
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. 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 Ford was ready with it's high tech RS200. 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 Henri 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. By the time rescue workers made it to the remote spot all that remained of the car was a blackened frame with the remains of Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Cresto inside. 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 rallying 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 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 game series has brought the extinct Group B cars to the attention of younger generations by including many of of them as un-lockable 'bonus cars' to reward progress in the game. Screenshot 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 200. By the time of its cancellation, at least two Group S prototypes had been built: The Lancia ECV and the Toyota MR2. 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 2005, 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. Performance The performance of the purpose-built Group B cars was incredible: Henri Toivonen drove a Delta S4 around the Portuguese Grand Prix track, Estoril, so quickly that he could have qualified just five places from the pole in the 1986 Grand Prix race. This same car could accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h on gravel in just 2.3 seconds. The sheer and raw power of the Group B cars brought excitement and danger to rallying in the 1980's. But the ban of these cars was inevitable a few years later after such a heavy number of deaths and injuries. Cars Group B: Group S: Drivers External links - Group B history site: http://www.stormloader.com/groupb/index.html
- Group B summary: http://www.kiwisport.net/groupb.html
- Rallybase complete results: http://www.rallybase.nl/index.php
- Henri Toivonen tribute: http://www.thruxton.f9.co.uk/henri/toivonen_intro.htm
- Group B car images: http://www.photo-rallye.com/grb/F-grb-A.htm
- Lancia Group B cars: http://www.oka.urban.ne.jp/home/marie/eng/kit/vol.3.htm
- Lancia rally cars: http://www.pubblimais.it/ecv.htm
- Peugeot 205 T16 images: http://www.kiwisport.net/4images/categories.php?cat_id=7
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