Editing Group B (section)

== Rallying ==
[[File:Rétromobile 2017 - Lancia 037 - 004.jpg|thumb|Lancia [[Lancia Rally 037|037]]|left]]

=== 1982–1983 ===
{{Main|1982 World Rally Championship|1983 World Rally Championship}}
The existing Groups 1–4 were still permitted in the World Rally Championship during the first year of the new groups.<ref>{{Cite web |title=juwra.com Rule changes 1982 |url=http://juwra.com/rules_1982.html |access-date=2022-05-30 |website=juwra.com}}</ref> Although some freshly homologated Group B cars were entered from the first round in Monte Carlo, no car from the group made podium at any of the season's 12 rallies.

Although the [[Audi Quattro]] was still in essence a Group 4 car, it carried [[Hannu Mikkola]] to the driver's title in 1983. [[Lancia]] had designed a new car to Group B specifications, but the [[Lancia Rally 037|Lancia 037]] still had [[rear-wheel drive]] and was thus less stable than the Quattro over loose surfaces. Nevertheless, the 037 performed well enough for Lancia to capture the manufacturers' title, which was generally considered more prestigious than the drivers' title at the time, with a win to spare. In fact, so low was Lancia's regard for the Drivers Championship that they did not enter a single car into the season finale RAC Rally, despite the fact that driver [[Walter Röhrl]] was still in the running for the title. This may have been, in part, because Röhrl "never dreamed of becoming a world champion."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Porsche Röhrl in Review – Porsche AG |url=https://www.porsche.com/international/aboutporsche/christophorusmagazine/archive/380/articleoverview/article02/ |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=Porsche HOME – Porsche AG |language=en-EN}}</ref>

[[File:Rétromobile 2017 - Opel Manta 400 - 1983 - 002.jpg|thumb|[[Opel Manta|Opel Manta 400]]]]
The lenient homologation requirements quickly attracted manufacturers to Group B. [[Opel]] replaced their production-derived [[Opel Ascona|Ascona]] with the Group B [[Opel Manta|Manta 400]], and [[Toyota]] built a new car based on their [[Toyota Celica|Celica]]. Like the Lancia 037, both cars were rear-wheel drive; while proving successful in national rallying in various countries, they were less so at the World Championship level, although Toyota won the 1983 [[Ivory Coast Rally]] with [[Björn Waldegård]] behind the wheel.

=== 1984–1985 ===
{{Main|1984 World Rally Championship|1985 World Rally Championship}}
[[File:Rétromobile 2017 - Austin Metro 6R4 - 1984 - 002.jpg|thumb|The [[Austin Metro#MG Metro 6R4 rally car|Metro 6R4]] was developed to compete in the [[1986 World Rally Championship season|1986 WRC]].]]
[[File:1984 Porsche 911 Sc Rs (73530371).jpeg|thumb|[[Porsche 911 (classic)|Porsche 911 SC RS]] homologation special for Group B rallying; developed for the [[1984 World Rally Championship season|1984 WRC]].]]
In 1984, Audi beat Lancia for both the manufacturers' title and drivers' titles, the latter of which was won by [[Stig Blomqvist]], but received unexpected new competition midway through the year. [[Peugeot]] had joined with its Group B [[Peugeot 205|205 T16]]. Like the Quattro, the T16 also had [[four-wheel drive]], but was smaller and lighter. At the wheel was 1981 driver's champion [[Ari Vatanen]], with future [[Ferrari]] [[Formula One]] team manager and FIA President [[Jean Todt]] overseeing the operation.

A crash prevented the T16 from winning its first rally, but the writing was on the wall for Audi. Despite massive revisions to the Quattro, including a shorter [[wheelbase]], Peugeot dominated the 1985 season, although not without mishap—Vatanen plunged off the road in [[Rally Argentina|Argentina]] and was seriously injured when his seat mounts broke in the ensuing crash. Fellow Peugeot driver [[Timo Salonen]] won the 1985 driver's title with five wins.

Although the crash was a sign that Group B cars had already become dangerously quick (despite Vatanen himself having a consistent record of crashing out while leading), several new Group B cars debuted in 1985:
* Late in the year, Lancia replaced their outclassed 037 with the [[Lancia Delta S4|Delta S4]], which featured both a turbocharger and a [[supercharger]] for optimum power output.
* [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] returned after several years away with the RS200 and the [[Ford Sierra RS Cosworth|Sierra RS Cosworth]] (though the latter went on to compete in Group A).
* [[Citroën]] developed and entered the [[Citroën BX|BX 4TC]], which had proven too heavy and cumbersome to be successful.
* [[Rover (car)|Rover]] created the distinctive [[Austin Metro#MG Metro 6R4 rally car|Metro 6R4]], which featured boxy bodywork and a large wing on the front of the car.

=== 1986 ===
{{Main|1986 World Rally Championship}}
For the 1986 season, defending champion Salonen drove the new Evolution 2 version of Peugeot's 205 T16 alongside ex-Toyota driver [[Juha Kankkunen]]. Audi's new Sport Quattro S1 boasted over 600&nbsp;hp (450&nbsp;kW) and a huge snowplow-like front end. Lancia's Delta S4 would be in the hands of Finnish prodigy [[Henri Toivonen]] and [[Markku Alén]], and Ford readied its high-tech RS200 with [[Stig Blomqvist]] and [[Kalle Grundel]].

On the "Lagoa Azul" stage of the [[Rally de Portugal]] near [[Sintra]], Portuguese driver [[Joaquim Santos]] crested a rise, turning to his right to avoid a small group of spectators. This caused him to lose control of his RS200. The car veered to the right and slid off the road into another group of spectators. Thirty-one people were injured and three were killed. All of the top teams immediately pulled out of the rally and Group B was placed in jeopardy.

[[File:Rétromobile 2017 - Lancia Delta S4 - circa 1986 - 001.jpg|thumb|[[Lancia Delta S4]]]]
Disaster struck again in early May at the [[Tour de Corse]]. Lancia's Toivonen was the championship favorite, and once the rally got underway, he was the pace setter. Seven kilometers into the 18th stage, Toivonen's S4 flew off the unguarded edge of a tightening left-hand bend and plunged down a steep wooded hillside. The car landed upside down with its fuel tanks ruptured by the impact. The combination of a red-hot turbocharger, [[Kevlar]] bodywork, and leaking fuel ignited the car and set fire to the dry undergrowth. Toivonen and co-driver [[Sergio Cresto]] died in their seats.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thruxton.f9.co.uk/henri/henri_career.htm|title=Henri Toivonen Biography|website=www.thruxton.f9.co.uk|access-date=14 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061231234253/http://www.thruxton.f9.co.uk/henri/henri_career.htm|archive-date=31 December 2006|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.topgear.com/car-news/motorsport/corner-killed-group-b|title=The corner that killed Group B|date=19 May 2013|website=topgear.com|access-date=14 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027125851/https://www.topgear.com/car-news/motorsport/corner-killed-group-b|archive-date=27 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.autoevolution.com/news/group-b-rally-cars-the-killer-b-s-2724.html|title=Group B Rally Cars: The Killer B's|first=Alex|last=Oagana|date=22 November 2010|website=autoevolution.com|access-date=14 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114184710/https://www.autoevolution.com/news/group-b-rally-cars-the-killer-b-s-2724.html|archive-date=14 January 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> With no witnesses to the accident, it was impossible to determine what caused the crash other than that Toivonen had left the road at high speed. Some cite Toivonen's ill health at the time (he reportedly was suffering from the [[Influenza|flu]]);<ref name="Appunt">{{Cite web |url=https://www.classic-trader.com/it/magazine/toivonen-cresto-appuntamento-col-destino |title=Toivonen e Cresto: appuntamento col destino |access-date=25 July 2019 |archive-date=25 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725080754/https://www.classic-trader.com/it/magazine/toivonen-cresto-appuntamento-col-destino |url-status=dead }}</ref> others suggest mechanical failure or simply the difficulty of driving the car (although Toivonen, like Vatanen, had a career full of crashing out while leading rallies). Up until that stage he was leading the rally by a large margin, with no other driver challenging him.<ref name="Appunt"/>

The crash came a year after Lancia driver [[Attilio Bettega]] had crashed and died in his 037. While that fatality was largely blamed on the unforgiving Corsican scenery (and bad luck, as his co-driver, [[Maurizio Perissinot]], was unharmed), Toivonen and Cresto's deaths, combined with the Portugal tragedy and televised accident of F1 driver [[Marc Surer]] in another RS200 which killed co-driver [[Michel Wyder]], compelled the FIA to ban all Group B cars immediately for 1987. Audi decided to quit Group B entirely after the Corsica rally.

The final days of Group B were also controversial. The Peugeots were disqualified from the [[Rally Sanremo]] by the Italian scrutineers as the 'skirts' around the bottom of the car were found to be illegal. Peugeot immediately accused the Italians of favouring Lancia.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} Their case was strengthened at the next event, the [[RAC Rally]], when the British scrutineers passed the Peugeots as legal in identical trim. FISA annulled the result of the Sanremo Rally eleven days after the final round in the United States. As a result, the championship title was passed from Lancia's Markku Alén to Peugeot's Juha Kankkunen. Salonen had won another two rallies during the 1986 season, becoming the most successful Group B-era driver with a total of seven wins.

=== Beyond WRC ===
[[File:Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Dakar 05.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ari Vatanen]]'s [[Dakar Rally|Dakar]]-spec 205 T16]]
[[File:SchancheBreitenederMelk1989.jpg|thumb|Three Ford RS200 E2, Audi Sport Quattro S1, MG Metro 6R4, and Peugeot 205 T16 E2 in the 1989 [[Rallycross]] EC round at [[Melk]]]]
Although 1987 saw the end of Group B rally car development and their appearance on the world rally scene, the cars did not disappear outright. They were still permitted in regional championships, providing they met the limit of 1600cc for four-wheel drive or were homologated prior to 1984.<ref name=":0" /> Future FIA president [[Mohammed Ben Sulayem]] was one [[Privateer (motorsport)|privateer]] who contested rounds of the 1987 [[Middle East Rally Championship]] in an Audi Quattro A2 and Opel Manta 400.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shacki |title=Season 1987 rally |url=https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1987/39-merc/ |access-date=2022-05-21 |website=eWRC-results.com |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shacki |title=Final results Rallye des Garrigues – Languedoc-Roussillon 1988 |url=https://www.ewrc-results.com/final/8968-rallye-des-garrigues-languedoc-roussillon-1988/ |access-date=2022-05-21 |website=eWRC-results.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Shacki |title=Final results Boucles de Spa Alphonse Delettre 1988 |url=https://www.ewrc-results.com/final/8988-boucles-de-spa-alphonse-delettre-1988/ |access-date=2022-05-21 |website=eWRC-results.com |language=en}}</ref>

Porsche's [[Porsche 959|959]] never entered a WRC event, though it did compete in the Middle East championship and won the [[Paris-Dakar Rally]] in 1986. Peugeot adapted their T16 to run in the [[Dakar Rally]]. Ari Vatanen won the event in 1987, 1989 and 1990. Improved Peugeot and Audi cars also competed in the [[Pikes Peak Hillclimb]] in [[Colorado]]. Walter Röhrl's Quattro S1 won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 1987 and set a new record at the time. Audi used their Group B experience to develop a production based racing car for the [[Trans-Am Series|Trans-Am]] and [[IMSA GT Championship|IMSA GTO]] series in 1988 and 1989 respectively.

Many ex-rally cars found homes in European [[rallycross]] events from the beginning of 1987 until the end of 1992. The [[Rover Metro#MG Metro 6R4 rally car|MG Metro 6R4]] and Ford RS200 became frequent entries in national championships. For 1993, the FIA replaced the Group B models in the [[FIA European Rallycross Championship|European Rallycross Championship]] with prototypes that had to be based on existing Group A models.

=== Group S ===
[[File:Lancia Delta ECV at Legendy 2014.JPG|thumb|Lancia ECV pictured at Legendy 2014]]
The cancellation of Group B, coupled with the tragedies of 1986, brought about the scrapping of Group B's proposed replacement: '''Group S'''.

Group S rules would have limited car engine power to 300&nbsp;hp (225&nbsp;kW). To encourage innovative designs, ten examples of a car would have been required for [[homologation]], rather than the 200 required for Group B. By the time of its cancellation, at least four Group S prototypes had been built: the [[Lancia ECV]], the [[Toyota MR2]]-based 222D, the Opel Kadett Rallye 4x4 (a.k.a. Vauxhall Astra 4S) and the Lada Samara S-proto, and new cars were also planned by both Audi (the 002 Quattro) and Ford (a Group S modification of the RS200). The cancellation of Group S angered many rally insiders who believed the new specification to be both safer than Group B and more exciting than Group A.

The Group S concept was revived by the FIA in 1997 as the [[World Rally Car]] specification, which persisted until 2021. WRC cars were limited to {{convert|380|hp|abbr=on}} and required 2500 examples of a model but, unlike Group S, also had to share certain parts with their base production models.