Group B Rally by Chase Seeley
When it comes to racing there are few events that can match the pure intensity and danger of rally racing. Even in this incredibly intense sport there is an unsung hero, a contest long past, a class of racing that makes today's rally seem like child's play, that class is group B.
In order to understand group B, the basic ideas of rally must be understood. Rally racing consists of primarily off-road courses that are very long and typically sprawl through dense forests and back country paths. These races can range from short closed circuits to, as said, long endurance races taking place on public roads and pathways. These tracks are populated with extremely modified vehicles designed to handle at the highest level in all conditions dirt, snow, gravel, pavement. These cars are flying through the turns so fast that the drivers rely almost completely on a co-driver in the passenger seat to instruct them where, when and how fast and hard to turn. All of this high speed action combined with rough road conditions can make rally racing very prone to crashes and injury. But no class was as wild and dangerous as group B.
The rally class group B was first introduced in 1982 and only ran until 1987. But in this short time there was an unprecedented amount of innovation that took place. Why? Because there were very few restrictions placed on the vehicles who were to race this class. This basically meant that whoever built the fastest car won and you could do basically whatever you wanted to do. This causes extreme competition between brands driving new design and innovation faster than ever before. This fast innovation led to many legendary cars, some including the Lancia Delta and the Audi Sport Quattro.
This openness and lack of restriction would also lead to its downfall. One of the defining features of group B rallies were the crazy fans. It was a common occurrence to see crowds of people conjuring directly in the middle of the track and only fleeing at the last second. These rowdy crowds mixed with uncontrollably fast cars was an extremely high risk. And eventually it became apparent that too many people were either getting injured or killed as a result of this wild race. This would lead to the banning of this race all together, never to see the light of day again.
But in the end, the human's competitive urge to triumph over all others is what drove this event to its greatest heights and in the end it is hard to not see the positive output that group B had on rally today and car culture as a whole.
In order to understand group B, the basic ideas of rally must be understood. Rally racing consists of primarily off-road courses that are very long and typically sprawl through dense forests and back country paths. These races can range from short closed circuits to, as said, long endurance races taking place on public roads and pathways. These tracks are populated with extremely modified vehicles designed to handle at the highest level in all conditions dirt, snow, gravel, pavement. These cars are flying through the turns so fast that the drivers rely almost completely on a co-driver in the passenger seat to instruct them where, when and how fast and hard to turn. All of this high speed action combined with rough road conditions can make rally racing very prone to crashes and injury. But no class was as wild and dangerous as group B.
The rally class group B was first introduced in 1982 and only ran until 1987. But in this short time there was an unprecedented amount of innovation that took place. Why? Because there were very few restrictions placed on the vehicles who were to race this class. This basically meant that whoever built the fastest car won and you could do basically whatever you wanted to do. This causes extreme competition between brands driving new design and innovation faster than ever before. This fast innovation led to many legendary cars, some including the Lancia Delta and the Audi Sport Quattro.
This openness and lack of restriction would also lead to its downfall. One of the defining features of group B rallies were the crazy fans. It was a common occurrence to see crowds of people conjuring directly in the middle of the track and only fleeing at the last second. These rowdy crowds mixed with uncontrollably fast cars was an extremely high risk. And eventually it became apparent that too many people were either getting injured or killed as a result of this wild race. This would lead to the banning of this race all together, never to see the light of day again.
But in the end, the human's competitive urge to triumph over all others is what drove this event to its greatest heights and in the end it is hard to not see the positive output that group B had on rally today and car culture as a whole.