10 Facts About Group B

Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile.

Group B regulations fostered some of the fastest, most powerful, and most sophisticated rally cars ever built and their era is commonly referred to as the golden era of rallying.

Group B was for grand touring cars with a minimum two seats, redefined as sports grand touring cars in 1986.

Group B 5 had never been permitted in the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers.

Group B had few specific rules outside those covering all groups in Article 252 and 253, which covered such things as safety cages or parts defining a car like windscreens or rear view mirrors.

Related searches

Some Group B manufacturers went further, Peugeot for example, installed an F1-derived Turbo Lag system to their engine, although the technology was new and not very effective.

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.

Independent teams would enter the European Championship too, though the limited options of permitted Group B cars were not as competitive or ubiquitous as newer Group A cars.

Porsche 961 prototype, intended to be the basis for a Group B homologation, won the GTX class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1986 race but crashed and caught fire in 1987.

Era of Group B is often considered one of the most competitive and compelling periods in rallying.