RALLY RACING

Automotive racing, also known as auto racing, car racing and motor racing, is a motorsport in which cars race competitively. While each individual sport has its own set of rules and goals, in general the goal is to cross the finish line as quickly as possible or in first place.

1.	Brief history of how it began

For as long as there have been automobiles, there have been people who have raced them. The first recorded race took place in 1867. Later on, during the 20th century, various sports such as sports car racing, stock car racing, drag racing, open-wheel racing, rallying and many others were formed.

1.1	Introducing the motorsport I’ve chosen
1.2	If I were to list all individual motorsports, I’d have to go on forever, so I’ve decided to only talk about RALLYING.




2.	Rally racing

2.1	Definition
Rallying is a motorsport in which specially built road-legal cars race on public or private roads.
Instead of running on a circuit, contestants and their co-drivers race from point to point. There are between 15 and 25 so called stages in each round. Unlike circuit racing, all cars depart at a different time so two racers meeting is unlikely. One may win a rally by going the fastest in a stage or by finishing in an ideal journey time. It takes place on all kinds of terrain, from tarmac to gravel, dirt, ice and snow, at any time of the year. This means drivers compete in all kinds of severe conditions on rough terrain, and this is why the sport attracts many spectators.

There are multiple rally groups, however, I will only focus on groups A, B and R.

2.2	GROUP A
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Homologation rules are rules which the manufacturers must oblige in order to compete with the car they want. Most group A cars were modified versions of small turbocharged four-wheel-drive cars such as the Lancia Delta Integrale, Toyota Celica GT-Four, Subaru Impreza WRX and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.
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2.3 Group B
Group B replaced Group 2 and Group 4 from 1982 to 1986. It featured some of the fastest, most powerful and most sophisticated rally cars of all time and is considered the golden era of rally racing. However, due to a series of fatal crashes, in which both drivers and spectators passed away, the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) had to disestablish it. Despite its short life, Group B has obtained legendary status among car enthusiasts.

In contrast to group A’s strict rules, group B had little to no homologation rules and this let manufacturers go wild. In just 5 years, the power output of rally cars had more than doubled.

Since they were free to do whatever they wanted, manufacturers began to compete to create the perfect rally car which would dominate on all kinds of surfaces.

Peugeot created the 205 Turbo 16 which featured 350 horsepower and four-wheel-drive.

Audi upgraded their existing Quattro platform and competed with the Quattro S1. It sported 600 horsepower which was unheard of at the time and four-wheel drive in order to get past rough terrain. Michele Mouton won first place in 1981 and was nicknamed “Superwoman”.

Here are some interesting and mostly terrifying facts about group B.

And these are some of the most infamous crashes in group B history which ultimately led to the FIA putting a halt to it.