What about group "B" ??

[Meeve]

Hi, I'm new here and I have a lot of questions. First, I heard about a group B in rally that were like supercar. Can anyone tell me more about this? Why was it stopped? What was the drivers and cars that did the best performance back then? Will it ever have suche a group again? I'd like to know all what you guys have to say.

Thanks, Vincent

[sollitt]

Why was it stopped?

Because, despite them being spectacular, they were dangerous.

Will it ever have suche a group again?

No.

[Meeve]

Because, despite them being spectacular, they were dangerous.

They were dangerous? I heard about accident yes... but isint it a bit normal after all this is a race no? Rallying is dangerous.. Was there anything espacialy dangerous with group B?

[WRCfan]

Speeds and the sheer performance of the cars. The cars appeared hard to handle at times.

They were banned because they were killing drivers, Toivonen's death was the straw that broke the camel's back...

All racing has risks, but you try to make the risks manageable (sp). Thus in today's WRC I think they have done that quite well compared to the focus on safety of the group B era. Not just with car's but all round safety too.

[Magnus]

They were dangerous? I heard about accident yes... but isint it a bit normal after all this is a race no? Rallying is dangerous.. Was there anything espacialy dangerous with group B?

Rallying isn´t that dangerous, and the development in this area since the 80ies has gone very far. High risk is a very bad promotor for the sport.

[Spud]

Speeds and the sheer performance of the cars. The cars appeared hard to handle at times.

They were banned because they were killing drivers, Toivonen's death was the straw that broke the camel's back...

All racing has risks, but you try to make the risks manageable (sp). Thus in today's WRC I think they have done that quite well compared to the focus on safety of the group B era. Not just with car's but all round safety too.

Agreed WRCfan, safety has improved by leaps and bounds since the 80s.But thinking about it now, Group B was dangerous....fun to watch and listen to ...but very dangerous nontheless.

[tmx]

Hi, I'm new here and I have a lot of questions. First, I heard about a group B in rally that were like supercar. Can anyone tell me more about this? Why was it stopped? What was the drivers and cars that did the best performance back then? Will it ever have suche a group again? I'd like to know all what you guys have to say.

Thanks, Vincent

There are many video documentary on the subject. It was dangerous one because the FIA did not pay enough attention to the sport, the regulation were loose and the cars were developing so fast. If FIA had restrain to car performance it may be a different story. It got to almost 600bhp at one point and accel as fast as F1 on gravel. Since the car were so spectacular and the roar of the engine, it draws a lot of spectators.

Regardless of that the WRC car today even though is limited to 300hp, they accel as fast and go much faster than group B car, with better handling and the active differentials. But there is better marshalling and event organizing which is the main safety key. Otherwize the WRC cars today is really much faster than Group B imo, maybe not acceleration but overall.

They were dangerous? I heard about accident yes... but isint it a bit normal after all this is a race no? Rallying is dangerous.. Was there anything espacialy dangerous with group B?

Much harder to handle compared to today. Good example is Portugal 1985 and 1986, where they were driving in the middle of a river of people, and being used to it, just accelling through them.

[jiipee64]

Just read a book By Kleiin

"Gruppe B - Aufstieg und Fall der Rallye-Monster "

That has a exellent story from that time

About the cars technology and POLITICS

Don't worry it's bilangual german/english

[Iskald]

Rallying isn´t that dangerous, and the development in this area since the 80ies has gone very far. High risk is a very bad promotor for the sport.

On what scale re. risk and danger do you place rallying, Magnus? World-wide statistics actually tell that rallying is one of the most dangerous sports, killing a number of competitors and spectators every year. The last couple of years hasn`t been that "bad", but 2005 was a nasty year with something like 13-14 deaths. There are not many other competitive sports - if any - with such bad statistics.

[pino]

It would be interesting to look at all the statistics and see where rallying is placed.

(J4MIE)