Imagine a race that's flat out No horsepower limits No paved roads No barriers Just pure racing adrenaline flying through
a narrow forest This was the racing league that drivers had
asked for for years But just a few years into its inception, it
became the race the drivers begged officials to stop Group B rally is one of the most thrilling
motorsports that the world had ever seen But when not only drivers, but spectators
started dying, it quickly became the most dangerous. So lets dig into Group B and see how it grew
from a racing teams dream To the entire racing industry’s worst nightmare. I’m Guff, this is albon, Let’s give away
$1000!! We’re doing it again! And it's the last month of our giveaway, so
make sure you subscribe and drop a comment to get entered in to win $1000! The sport of Rally dates as far back as the
mid-1890s in Paris, France. They were automobile races from point A to
B and occasionally back to A. And the goal was not speed like you might
think, but instead navigation and endurance. Many rallies were extremely long races, and
were often used to prove a car's reliability. And on top of that, most of these events were
on public roads - At public hours. So if you brazenly broke traffic laws, well
you were out. Then, of course, there were the drivers. Not everyone was fortunate enough to own a
car in the 1900s So naturally, rally entrants consisted of
private car owners. People with so much wealth that they could
risk their pricey automobile for sport. And the race that put rally on the map? The Monte Carlo Rally. Starting in 1911, it was a rally of 23 cars
from 11 different locations that all drove to Monte carlo. The winners were picked based on the elegance
of their cars, passenger comfort and how good of condition the car arrived in. Yes, the original RALLY RACES were judged
on cleanliness and comfort Two things that perhaps never crossed Walter
Rohrl’s mind Anyways! War made the rally events come and go and
come again. But for the discerning automobile enthusiast
of the 20th century, Rally was always a staple. And the Monte Carlo rally continued to be
the prestige event, even through the 1960s. But, it was in the 60s that elegance and comfort
took a back seat. Drivers got bored. Spectators got bored! As cars got faster and more robustly engineered,
the once classy rally event became dull, and people wanted something else. So around 1960, the world of rally was introduced
to its biggest change yet. The Special Stage. These were events held on CLOSED roads for
the first time ever. And that meant that the drivers were free. Free of traffic, free of road laws, and perhaps
most importantly: Free to speed. First place was no longer reserved for the
most reliable cars, It was time to really race, and win the way
god intended: By being the fastest. This was a shift in the sport from car to
driver, and it changed the game completely. At the head of this shift was the Fédération
Internationale de l'Automobile. The FIA The FIA was formed way back in 1904 as an
association of nationally recognized motor clubs. And the FIA’s job was simple: To represent
the interests of drivers and to oversee international motorsports events. They decided who could race and who couldn’t And In 1954, the FIA introduced appendix J,
a rulebook of regulations on vehicle classes. Simply put, If your car didn't follow the
rules within appendix J, you couldn't compete. But this new movement of drivers wanting more
in the rally world caught the FIA’s attention, and it was their job to to listen to those
drivers So with the FIA, rally drivers took the special
stage rally event and created WRC in 1973.. The FIA was formed way back in 1904 as an
association of nationally recognized motor clubs. And the FIA’s job was simple: To represent
the interests of drivers and to oversee international motorsports events. They decided who could race and who couldn’t The World Rally Championship, the pinnacle
of rally racing. And with WRC, the world was finally starting
to see what these drivers and cars were truly capable of. WRC blew up. Even car manufacturers couldn't ignore the
newfound growth of special stage rally, and many created factory teams And thus began the GOLDEN AGE of Rally! A time with insane cars and even more insane
driving. Truly the best and sharpest drivers paired
with the nuttiest engineers. Like Lancia and their Stratos HF that dominated
so badly that the rules were changed. Or Renault’s 5 Turbo. Which proved to the world that you didn’t
have to start from a blank slate like Lancia to compete. And then of course, there’s Audi. A factory team that was laughed at for bringing
an AWD car to a rally. Back then, basically all rally cars were 2
wheel drive, and AWD technology was generally quite basic. People saw the Audi Quattro and said it would
be too heavy, too complex of a system. But just the fact that you know what the word
Quattro is, is proof enough that Audi had something really special back then But that era of rally was quickly coming to
an end in the late 70s. Because, like before, drivers got bored with
the current class limitations and asked the FIA for changes, and this time the manufacturers were even
on their side. The timing couldn't be better, Jean-Marie
Balestre was just elected president of the FIA’s International Sporting Commission
in 1978 And he had a reputation for getting his way. After all, he was the one that let Audi enter
the race with power going to every wheel. And he was always ready to break some rules
if he thought it was the right thing to do. Some called Balestre a visionary. Others called him a Nazi. He’d call himself a survivor and then sue
you for defamation if you said otherwise. But we’re not here for Balestre. we’re here for Group B rally. So when drivers and manufacturers approached
him asking for more freedom and less oversight, Balestre saw dollar signs Remember the notoriously strict appendix J
of the FIA rules? Well, it got totally revamped to better reflect
modern racing. Out went the old ‘group 1 to 6’ classifications. And in it’s place, Group N Group A, and of course, Group B Speaking of B, you better B ready to save
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joinhoney.com/albon And start saving today! Group B was the class that drivers and manufacturers
had begged the FIA for. It was the ‘anything goes’, free for all,
have your cake and have nikocado avocado eat it too class. It replaced both the old group 3 and 4 classes And It was the perfect recipe for a sport
that was growing faster than Formula 1 in its prime. Factories finally got to flaunt their engineering
talent, drivers were now able to prove they had the
guts to drive anything anywhere, and the FIA and Balestre had a spectator smash
hit in the making. But that's not to say Group B didn't have
some rules. Cars still had minimum legal weight. Tires couldnt exceed a maximum width. And the car still needed a roof and enough
space to fit 2 drivers But that was basically it! There were no rules on design You could make the car as big or as small
as you pleased. Use whatever materials you wanted. Oh and of course the power!! The power was limitless. Strap on a turbocharger, or a supercharger. HELL, put both!! The only caveat was, your horsepower number
would classify you into subgroups within group B to maintain even competition. And as far as homologation rules go? Manufactures only had to make 200 road cars
of their group B racers within 12 months, WAY less than the 5000 in group A, And if you made a change to your Group B car
the next year, you only had to make 10% more total road cars to make your “evolution
model” legal to race. Which unlocked the ability for teams to make
improvements year over year. And oh boy, did manufacturers show up. Audi brought the Quattro DNA into Group B
with the A1 in 1983 A 340bhp turbocharged inline 5 AWD monster! That weighed under 2500 pounds. But then there was Lancia. Their rivalry with Audi in the 1983 season
was an unforgettable moment in racing history The Lancia Rally 037 was a car built from
the ground up as a dedicated Group B rally car It was a mid-engined, rear wheel drive, designed
by the help of Pininfarina and Abarth . And It was the unofficial successor to that
Lancia Stratos that changed the game years ago. At its debut, it rocked a 2.0L 4 cylinder
supercharged engine that made 265hp, And it was that Lancia that bested Audi to
win the very first group B season in 1983, Audi’s loss left a sour taste in their mouths, So naturally, they went back to the drawing
board and came out with the Quattro A2 And although it couldn’t take the title
the next year, it did set a new precedent. Audi was updating their car far faster than
any other team, and with the new FIA rules, it was totally legal. And halfway through the next year Audi debuted
the Audi Sport Quattro S1, And this? This was THE Audi. The S1 was the most powerful car in the lineup,
with 444hp through a 2.1L inline five Legendary drivers like Michelle Mouton, Stig
Blomqvist, Walter Rohrl and Hannu Mikkola piloted the Audi at its peak, winning the
overall WRC championship in 1984. But this was Group B baby, and everyone was
gunning to be king of the hill. Midway through the 84 season, Peugeot homologated
its 205 T16 race car. This was one of the craziest cars rally racing
has ever seen. It had an Inline 4 that made over 500HP, thanks
to 3-bar of boost through its Garrett turbo. It set a fastest time record immediately at
its first event and went on to win the WRC manufacturers championship in both 1985 and
1986. But there's an asterisk to that 1986 season
that I’ll get to later. Of course, along with every great car was
a great driver. Like Timo Salonen, the winningest driver in
group B, who dominated in that Peugeot 205 T16. Or Stig Blomqvist, one of the drivers behind
Audi’s dominance along with Hannu Mikkola, of course. Then there’s Markku Alen at Lancia with
Walter Rohrl. Or Juha Kankkunen, the 1986 champion with
Peugeot. And of course we cannot go on without recognizing
the Queen of the hill, Michele Mouton. She never won outright in WRC, but before
group B she took the gold at the 24hrs of Le Mans. helped Audi win its first manufacturer’s
title in 1982, And set the hillclimb record at Pikes Peak
in 1985 All these drivers, along with their iconic
cars and thrilling racing were why Group B was more popular than even Formula 1. 100,00 people, 200,000 even 400,000 people
were counted at some of the scheduled WRC races. Spectators spilled over from the sidelines
right into the course. Everyone wanted to get as close as possible
for the perfect vantage of the cars sliding by. And if you were in the way? Then you better move fast. Team mechanics would see their cars come back
with blood stains on it, hair caught on the body panels, and sometimes even fingers. And as Group B got more popular, being a spectator
became more and more sketchy. But maybe that was to be expected? At its core, Group B was inherently dangerous, And even though this is what the drivers and
manufacturers had asked for, things were turning sour quickly. Drivers were starting to fear for their safety. And It was one thing that the cars were ridiculously
fast with relatively little safety. But the unpredictable spectators added a whole
new element of danger. Drivers were constantly complaining to the
FIA about things being thrown at their cars… obstacles being placed on the track.. Gravel being added to corners to upset the
cars balance And the racing committee that made the rules? That was FISA, Jean Marie Balestre and the FIA’s governing
body of motorsport. And well, they didn't exactly make it any
better. They agreed with drivers that racing was getting
more precarious, but yet they really didn’t do much to fix it Races were not canceled, spectators were not
limited. With the cashflow that Group B was generating,
the FIA saw the danger as a risk that was acceptable. Well, that is, until it wasn't. On May 2nd, 1985, tragedy struck during the
Tour de Corse Rally when the Lancia 037 flew off track, directly into a tree. The roof was torn open by the tree, the car
was mangled. The co-driver, Maurizo, made it out okay and
limped back to the course to flag down the following cars for help. It took ambulances 20 minutes to arrive to
the scene, but it didn't matter, the driver Attilo Battega was killed on impact The entire rally world took a step back and
petitioned the FIA for changes. And while everyone’s safety concerns were
heard by the officials Ultimately, the FIA ruled that the severity
of the crash was a result of too much speed and Attilo was killed at no fault to the car's
structures or safety devices. So the racing continued.. But later that season, Ari Vatanen crashed
in Argentina. His car flipped over and he broke his legs,
his ribs and even punctured a lung. He and his co-pilot may have survived, but
Ari never raced in group B again. At this point Balestre and the FIA were forced
to update the rules, inaction would be borderline criminal at this point. So going into the 1986 season, aluminum roll
cages were illegal and there were more rules on aerodynamics and spoilers. But that was really it… Nothing on spectators, or barriers, or horsepower
and size. And that’s probably because an entirely
new rally group was in the works for the upcoming season, Group S. This was Jean Marie Balestre’s newest lovechild. It was to be the replacement to Group B. And it had an even lower barrier to entry,
one that only required 10 road cars to be homologated Which meant that manufacturers had no excuse
not to race But before group S could come to fruition,
the tragedies kept coming in Group B This time it was the Portugal Rally in March. Portugal was infamous for their love of motorsports. Niki Lauda beat Prost here by half a point. Senna’s first ever win was here in Portugal. And it's safe to say that a Group B rally
in Portugal was a serious event Around 400,000 spectators showed up to witness
the racing. There were two incidents. The first was fairly minor in retrospect. Tino Salonen hit a cameraman with the rear
of his Peugeot 205. The cameraman was badly hurt but he lived
to tell the story and Timo was able to finish his stage. And while you could blame the cameraman for
being too close to the stage, he had nowhere else to stand there were just too many people on the sidelines But that accident was all but forgotten… Because not long after, Joaquim Santos was
launching off the start line in his Ford RS200 Santos was Portugal’s very own driver. The hometown boy who was finally getting his
moment to shine. But 2 miles into this 1500 mile rally, everything
went wrong. Santos says a spectator stepped onto the track
in front of the car, forcing him to swerve out the way, when he tried to swerve back
into the track, the car was too far gone. His co-driver, Miguel Olivera remembers the
moment vividly. He said that when you're a co-driver, everything
happens too fast, you're forced to look down and read your pacenotes and all you can do
is feel the course around you. But after that swerve, all there was was bump
after bump after bump. He didn’t see it but he felt it all. Those bumps were the car was running over
people in the crowd. When the car finally stopped, Santos was in
the driver seat, laying still with his head on the steering wheel, frozen. Not dead, just frozen from shock. 32 people were injured. 3 people died, including a mom and her 11
year old child. To this day, there’s still mixed accounts
what actually happened. But that doesn't change the outcome of that
terrible event And while the deaths of innocent bystanders
was heartbreaking The hardest part to stomach was that the race
went on. The drivers staged at the top of the rally
didn't know what happened until they passed the gruesome scene. Drivers had to get to the finish line to flag
down the safety team. And it's said that 11 more cars still ran
after that crash. When the racing teams found out what happened,
they banded together and left for their hotel where they held a strike. They signed a handwritten letter for the FISA
officials. And that letter had 1 demand, to stop the
rally. Surely, the unified call from various teams,
along with the clear proof that the race was too dangerous was more than enough to finally
convince the officials. Audi even vowed to pull out completely, promising
never to come back to Rally until safety concerns were addressed. But the letter didn’t work. Balestre and the officials wanted the teams
to know that THEY were in charge, and so the rally wasn’t stopped, it continued
on for the weekend. And Balestre went so far as to say that he
would punish teams that said they wouldn’t race. So, Group B continued, somehow surviving another
grievous incident. But just 2 months later, the final nail would
be put in the Group B coffin. At the Tour de Corse in France Henri Toivonen was piloting the Lancia Delta
S4, and he was winning stage after stage But between stages, Henri himself told interviewers
how bad it was out there. “After 4 hours of driving- it's hard to
keep up with the speed. So, with a modern car like this, it's just
impossible to race here. It's physically exhausting and the brains
can't keep up with it anymore” And during the second day of racing, Henri
and his Lancia went off on a sharp left corner with no guardrail overlooking a steep hill. The car landed upside down, the fuel tank
ruptured and the car exploded. Henri Toivenen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto
died in that burning Lancia. It wasn't until a number of other cars crossed
the finish line that their team became worried that something happened. The finishing drivers mentioned they had seen
black smoke off the edge of a turn and so a rescue team was sent out. But when they got there, all they could do
was quell the flames. Both of the drivers were gone. And while there's plenty of controversy surrounding
that day, any criticisms of Henri’s driving was just misdirection. The world had finally seen enough tragedy
with Group B, And Balestre and his committee finally had
no choice. After this season Group B was to be officially
banned forever FISA conducted an investigation and claimed
that the driver’s reactions were too slow to keep up with how fast the Group B cars
had become. But that was them passing on the blame. Group B cars could have had better fuel cells,
better roll cages, Spectators could have been limited, barriers
could have been put in place And most important of all, the officials could
have just listened to the damn drivers. Watching footage of Group B racing is mesmerizing. It is truly racing at its most extreme, its
most impressive. But the cost for a sport like that was just
too high for all those involved. Today, Rally continues, but in the way that
the drivers of yesteryear had pushed towards Safer cars, better courses, far fewer spectators. We really have learned from the difficult
lessons of Group B. But even still, one can’t help but look
back at that era with awe and admiration Because those cars, those drivers, those feats
of pure heroism, Are moments that racing fans will never forget. Thank you so much for watching Don’t forget to subscribe and drop a comment
for your chance to win $1000 And check out Paypal Honey at the link in
the description You can also find us at instagram or discord
linked below the like button I’ll see you guys in the next one!
