The Demise of Group B Rally
This is how the "Golden Age of Rallying" came to an end.
Unless you have been completely oblivious to rallying for all of your life, you will have heard of the legendary era of motorsport that was Group B rally. Group B, introduced in 1982, is still considered to be one of the most dangerous and competitive periods of rallying to date. It led to the creation of some of the best rally cars of all time, such as the Lancia 037, Audi Quattro, and Ford RS200. Group B rally cars were some of the fastest cars of their time, with many having reported 0-60 times of under 3 seconds (on gravel). This was made possible through the use of newly developed four-wheel drive systems and engines producing in excess of 500 brake horsepower. They were also very lightweight, with some cars weighing less than 2,000 pounds. Combine all of this, and you have dangerously fast cars driving flat out on uneven roads. While this was a spectacle to watch, an unfortunate string of events led to the eventual ban of Group B rally after the 1986 season.
"Lancia Rally 037" by exfordy is licensed under CC BY 2.0
1985
Group B rally got off to a smooth start in 1982 with relatively few incidents for the first few seasons. While there was still uncertainty regarding the safety of the Group B cars, there hadn't been enough major accidents to justify a ban this early. It wasn't until 1985 that serious problems began to arise. One of the first major incidents in Group B rallying took place at the Tour de Corse rally on May 2, 1985. Attilio Bettega, driving a Lancia 037, was speeding through a left turn when he slid into a ditch at the exit of the corner. This caused both Bettega and his co-driver, Maurizio Perissinot, to go flying into a tree. The impact heavily damaged the Lancia, but Perossinot was able to escape the car with no major injuries. Bettega, however, was not as lucky and was reported dead at the scene as a result of the impact.
Shortly after in Argentina, another major accident took place. A Peugeot 205 T16, driven by Ari Vatanen, flipped over during a jump resulting in the destruction of the car. The roll cage absorbed most of the impact, but Vatanen was still left severely injured. He was able to escape the wreckage with a broken leg, a crashed chest, and fractured vertebrae. Vatanen's chances of survival seemed slim, but he was able to recover.
"AUTO/ARI VATANEN" by cmonville is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Both of these incidents caused the FISA to examine the safety of the Group B cars. As the season progressed, drivers began to complain about the difficulty they had driving the cars. Many thought that the cars were too fast and light and said that they didn't have enough time to react if something went wrong. At the end of the 1985 season, the FISA changed certain rules in an effort to make Group B rally safer. These changes included a ban on the use of aluminum roll cages as well as certain aerodynamic parts. These new regulations would attempt to make the cars safer in the event of a crash and force cars to take corners more slowly.
The Spectators
Not all of the safety concerns of Group B rally came from the cars. A major issue was the spectators. Group B was immensely popular after its first few seasons, therefore many people came to watch each rally. Unlike most forms of motorsport, rallying wasn't made with spectator safety in mind. Rally stages didn't have grandstands along every corner, which meant that as more and more people began to attend the rallies, roads were lined with thousands of people. While this sometimes wasn't an issue, rallies such as the Portugal Rally had major problems. In Portugal, some spectators would make a game out of dodging the cars, and a few even attempted to touch them as they drove past. This meant that the drivers were having to watch out for spectators darting across the road and people moving out of the way at the last second. If a car were to lose control, many fans would be killed. While the spectators were a recognized issue, little was done over the years to improve spectator safety.
"Opel Manta 400" by Burks'y is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
1986
At the start of the 1986 season, there was conflict over what should be done about group B rally. While safety was becoming more of a priority than before, many issues were still being ignored. Some of these issues became apparent early on in the season during the Portugal Rally. On the first day of the rally, a Ford RS200, driven by Joaquim Santos, lost control and slid into a crowd of people on the side of the road. Not only did this leave three spectators dead and thirty more injured, but it also led to chaos around the accident. News of the crash took a while to reach the race officials, so the rally continued for some time after the incident. This upset many of the spectators. The emergency vehicles had a hard time getting through the angry mobs to reach the accident. The incident led to conflict between the drivers and the FISA, and the cause of the crash was heavily disputed. All of the factory team drivers decided to withdraw from the rally and wrote a letter to the race officials. They wrote that the spectators were the cause of the crash and that the cars and drivers were not at fault. Audi even said that they would retire from Group B if the safety concerns were not addressed. The FISA didn't do anything after the Portugal Rally and threatened the drivers with penalties if they did not continue to race.
Not long after the Portugal Rally incident, disaster struck at the Tour de Corse. On May 2nd, 1986, Henri Toivonen, driving a Lancia Delta S4, and his co-driver Sergio Cresto crashed on a long left corner. The car drove off the road and fell into some trees, where it caught on fire. While there were reports of some seeing the flames and hearing an explosion, no one was there to witness the crash. The other drivers began to pass the scene of the crash and called for help. The race officials stopped the stage immediately, but the emergency services were delayed reaching the accident. By the time they arrived, the Lancia was a burnt pile of metal, and Toivonen and Cresto appeared to have been consumed by the flames. Even though the FISA inspected the crash, the true cause of the incident was never found. Although, there were a few contributing factors including the removal of the car's skid plates and the use of a thin fuel tank.
"Henri Toivonen / Sergio Cresta :'( #toivonen #lancia #rally #WRC #deltas4" by manjonastur is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
The End of an Era
On the same day as Toivonen's crash, a meeting was held between the FISA president, Jean-Marie Balestre, and the Lancia-Martina team boss, Cesare Fiorio. They agreed that Group B couldn't go on like this and decided that it had to stop. Not long after, a press conference was called that announced the immediate stop of further development of the Group B rally cars. This included a ban on aerodynamic aids and the ban of Group B competition after the 1986 season. The planned replacement for Group B, Group S, was also rendered invalid during the press conference.
Group A was eventually made the new top class of the World Rally Championship in 1987. While rallying is much safer today, it has never reached the same level of excitement and competition that Group B was able to achieve. Group B rally cars were insanely fast and ended up being too difficult to control, so safety concerns led to its inevitable demise. It certainly deserves to be known as the "Golden Age of Rallying."
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Comments (1)
I wasn’t around yet when group b was active, but I wish it was still here.