RE: The Early Group A Heroes of WRC

RE: The Early Group A Heroes of WRC

Thursday 27th September 2018

The Early Group A Heroes of WRC

The period between Group B's demise and WRC's 90s' heyday is little known, but rather interesting...



It isn't hard to see why those cars campaigned in the immediate aftermath of Group B's sudden cancellation tend to be overlooked by all but the most ardent of rally fans. Let's face it, as much as those dyed in the wool enthusiasts might enjoy poring over old images of Renault 11 Turbos and Mazda 323s slugging it out against early Deltas and three-door Sierras, they're little more than a footnote to most, lacking the drama of the cars which preceded them and the polished, professional appeal of the mid 90s Group A and WRC kit that came later.

Yet the cars rallied in this period, one spanning 1987 to approximately 1990 or so, were nothing if not fascinating. The manner in which Group A was promoted to the top of the sport, suddenly and with relatively little warning, meant that many of the cars owed a great deal to the WRC thinking which predominated in the '70s and '80s. Strength and reliability once again counted for almost as much as out-and-out performance, and the obstacle represented by a lack of four-wheel drive could, depending on the nature of the rally of course, be overcome through circumstance and talent.


The rallying world was in a state of flux, and a number of truly remarkable results would be scored before the pieces once again fell into position. Many were achieved in cars that would have struggled to bother the top ten of your average WRC even a mere 12 months previously, while the topsy-turvy nature of the championship resulted in giant killing feats, drivers in outwardly inferior cars digging deep to beat the all-wheel drive opposition, which for much of the period meant the Lancia Delta HF.

Jean Ragnotti provided one of the standout examples of this, the French tarmac hero moving from the 5 Maxi to the Renault 11 Turbo with deceptive ease. His most famous outing in the car occurred early on in the 'era' on the 1987 Rally Portugal, when the Deltas had already established themselves as the cars to beat.

A run of damper failures left the Lancia of Markku Alen floundering, which contrasted with the 180bhp, two-wheel drive Renault of Ragnotti, a proven car the Frenchman knew like the back ofhis hand. His decision to plump for semi-slick tyres on one of the mixed surface stages which made up the final day allowed him to muscle into second place, and he then set about taking chunks of time out of the leading Lancia. One of the greatest upsets in world rallying was only prevented when Alen's Delta received a new set of dampers late on the final day, though Ragnotti's second spot on the podium was still a phenomenal achievement, proof of his mastery of front-wheel drive rallying.


Ragnotti was far from alone, and a number of his contemporaries went one better and actually beat the might of Lancia and the Jolly Club, the most famous being Bernard Beguin on the 1987 Tour de Corse. The Frenchman wasted little time in eking out an advantage on the opening leg, taking a full 20 seconds off the dominant Lancias on the 26km run between Levie to Sotta, the fourth stage of the rally.

Corsica is almost as famous for its weather as it is for its corners though, and with rain cloudsbuilding as the opening leg progressed, Beguin and the rest of the Prodrive crew could've been forgiven for feeling a tad apprehensive bearing in mind the M3's two-wheel drive layout. The inevitable happened and the heavens opened, turning the Corsican stages into treacherously slippy tests patently unsuited to the E30, with a smattering of sleet and hail thrown in for good measure.


The Monte-like conditions meant that Beguin couldn't help but shed time on the stages centred around the Col de la Vaccia, and the slick-shod M3 relinquished the lead to the Delta of Loubet on SS5. The Lancia man was able to maintain this advantage for the rest of the opening leg and into the second day of the rally, until he attempted an ambitious 'cut' and incurred a puncture, once again allowing the hard-charging Beguin into the lead. It was a position he was to hold to the end, using the drying stages to his advantage and putting on a spellbinding performance to take a famous victory, the first and last outright WRC win of the M3's career.

Corsica proved a happy hunting ground for those with a lack of traction but a surfeit of commitment in this era, with Didier Auriol taking the first of six Tour de Corse victories in 1988, this time at the wheel of a Sierra Cosworth. This period was also notable in that it saw Audi finally claim overall victory on a rally it had been striving to 'bag' throughout the Group B era, the Safari. Fittingly given he was the first non-local to win the event outright in 1972, it fell to Hannu Mikkola to uphold Ingolstadt honour, and he did it in an Audi with much in common with the tough, resolutely production based Mk1 Escort he'd used 15 years previously, the 200 Quattro.


The 200 was patently unsuited for stage rallying at the end of the 80s; a heavy, ponderous barge with plenty of power but little in the way of handling poise, traits which helped it triumph on the WRC's famous yearly hoon through the East African scrub. It was to mark one of the last times such a car would win this event (though it was actually the first four-wheel drive car to triumph), and as the 1980s gave way to the 1990s it became increasingly apparent that not even the Safari was immune from the march of progress.

It wasn't to last, and within four seasons the overall rallying landscape would look markedly different, the rallying hegemony soon re-established and order restored. Lancia's erstwhile domination of the WRC, one built upon ever improved evolutions of the Delta, would be punctured by Toyota and its Celica ST165, in the process becoming the first Japanese team to regularly best an established European 'heavyweight' on home turf. Power figures spiralled (at least until the FIA, alarmed at the pace of forced induction progress, mandated a series of ever more draconian restrictors) and both chassis and transmission technology came on in leaps and bounds, Toyota's Xtrac 4WD system the most obvious example of this.

The seasons in the immediate aftermath of Group B's cancellation are but a fragment of the World Rally Championship's long and storied history, and a frequently overlooked one at that. Yet they represent an interesting period, one where the sport's top tier was effectively flung back in time by a decade or more, at least in terms of the ethos underpinning many of the cars. It represented a glorious throwback to a more innocent rallying era, one utterly alien from the polished, professional sport we have today.


This story was written by Jamie Arkle of The Gravel Crew, which you can find on Facebook here. It's full of weird and wonderful rallying anecdotes, and well worth a look!








[Photos: MotorsportImages]

 

 

Author
Discussion

Futse

Original Poster:

182 posts

184 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
Great article, nice to read a bit about this period.

Be sure to look for Patrick Snijers in the 1988 Manx Rally in his M3. Epic stuff :-)

big_rob_sydney

3,394 posts

193 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
I tend to agree with the fact that this period is a little lost in the overall discussion.

Its how I feel about rallying today, actually.

For me, it was either the monsters of group B, or that period when Mitsubishi and Subaru dominated. I know Loeb did well, but by that stage I had fallen out of love for it.

Coatesy351

861 posts

131 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
For me its my second favourite rallying period after group B.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

189 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
For many my age, this is the "core" of rallying and where most of the interesting road going variants hail from.


If you want to stick more with title, where are the pictures of a particular Scottish lady and cars like this:



Edited by 300bhp/ton on Thursday 27th September 12:02


Edited by 300bhp/ton on Thursday 27th September 16:16

KillianB4

150 posts

110 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
A fantastic era of rallying overshadowed by what came before and after it but had some great talent on the stages. Can watching videos of Ragnotti ever get old?

mrbarnett

1,090 posts

92 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
This makes for interesting reading. I was familiar with Group A on the circuits, but what's interesting is seeing the same (or very similar) cars out in the wilderness of the rally stages.

big_rob_sydney said:
I tend to agree with the fact that this period is a little lost in the overall discussion.

Its how I feel about rallying today, actually.

For me, it was either the monsters of group B, or that period when Mitsubishi and Subaru dominated. I know Loeb did well, but by that stage I had fallen out of love for it.
For me, I lost interest in rallying when the competing cars started to diverge from what was available on the roads. The Peugeot 206, for example, was a world away from the car on the rally stages. This really turned me off motor sport in general.

Mr Peel

478 posts

121 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
Good piece. But we only managed a single post before all the "it's rubbish these days" stuff started up. Must try harder PH!

Only a week to go to Rally GB clap

Kccv23highliftcam

1,783 posts

74 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
Mr Peel said:
Good piece. But we only managed a single post before all the "it's rubbish these days" stuff started up. Must try harder PH!

Only a week to go to Rally GB clap
Tut Tut, now that is " rubbish these days"

loskie

5,145 posts

119 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
Much talk but no pics of the Renault, why?

loose cannon

6,029 posts

240 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
v.a.g would never allow there website to post it


adam.

407 posts

210 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
A great read, that, thank you.

Being an 80s child that largely grew up in the 90s, Group A is my hero. And as such now run a poster car of the period, in a tri-pointed star.

It was nice to read about it's infancy, and being thrust into the limelight after Group B's demise.


LotusOmega375D

7,582 posts

152 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
Something that pretty much everyone is unaware of is how development of Group A cars was so intense, that they were already beating the Group B stage times within less than 18 months of the ban. Auriol's 2WD Sierra Cosworth achieved this feat in May 1988 with the fastest ever winning average speed recorded at the Tour de Corse.

Usget

5,426 posts

210 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
Really enjoyed reading that and enjoyed the pics even more. I love this era of rally car, there's so much variety.

soxboy

6,063 posts

218 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
It was an interesting period at first with what seemed like lots of random cars which were rushed out to race after the sudden demise of Group B. I remember watching the National Breakdown rally in 1987 at Lghtwater Valley, one of the first events of the season, where Jimmy McRae had a very showroom fresh Delta, right down to factory alloys and metallic blue paint with pinstripe.

Matt Bird

1,450 posts

204 months

PH Reportery Lad

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
loskie said:
Much talk but no pics of the Renault, why?
Nothing more sinister than not being able to find one licensed for editorial use, honest! Apologies. Glad to see it's been addressed!

Matt Bird

1,450 posts

204 months

PH Reportery Lad

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
300bhp/ton said:
shame about the bullst title/premise at the top of the page. rolleyes

For many my age, this is the "core" of rallying and where most of the interesting road going variants hail from.


If you want to stick more with title, where are the pictures of a particular Scottish lady and cars like this:



Edited by 300bhp/ton on Thursday 27th September 12:02
I feel this might come back to bite me, but it's a genuine question: the title is Early Group A Heroes of WRC, the story features words and pics of early Gp A WRC cars, and yet an SD1 should be mentioned? We love an SD1 at PH

https://www.pistonheads.com/regulars/ph-spottedyky...

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-britishcars/ro...

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-britishcars/bb...

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/general-pistonhea...

but I can't really see what the issue is here?

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

189 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
Matt Bird said:
Nothing more sinister than not being able to find one licensed for editorial use, honest! Apologies. Glad to see it's been addressed!
So Matt, can I ask, why do you feel this period 1987+ is "little known"?

Also, as Group A was introduced in 1982, why have you titled this as "Early Group A heroes"?

The article itself is good and interesting, just the title seems unfitting.

Usget

5,426 posts

210 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
300bhp/ton said:
Matt Bird said:
Nothing more sinister than not being able to find one licensed for editorial use, honest! Apologies. Glad to see it's been addressed!
So Matt, can I ask, why do you feel this period 1987+ is "little known"?

Also, as Group A was introduced in 1982, why have you titled this as "Early Group A heroes"?

The article itself is good and interesting, just the title seems unfitting.
FUMMIN

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

189 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
Matt Bird said:
I feel this might come back to bite me, but it's a genuine question: the title is Early Group A Heroes of WRC, the story features words and pics of early Gp A WRC cars, and yet an SD1 should be mentioned? We love an SD1 at PH

https://www.pistonheads.com/regulars/ph-spottedyky...

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-britishcars/ro...

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-britishcars/bb...

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/general-pistonhea...

but I can't really see what the issue is here?
Hi Matt, thanks for the reply.

Maybe we are at cross purposes here.

Group A cars were competing before 1987, such as the Rover SD1 and the Peugeot 205 driven by the likes of Lousie Aitken Walker.

Although I admit it was the Group 4 and then Group B cars which where the front runners. But none the less Group A was present on the world stage from 1982. On this basis the late 80's aren't the "early" years of Group A. That was my query.


I'm also at a loss how anyone can think the era you refer to is "little known". Watch any rallying coverage from that era and events are packed. And it's the era that spawned so many enthusiast cars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rally_cars#G...



Maybe for people younger than I, that were born after this period it is more unknown. But that's true of almost anything and someone born 18 years ago probably has little knowledge of the early WRC class cars or people like Richard Burns.

JarkleTGC

4 posts

66 months

Thursday 27th September 2018
quotequote all
I wrote the article so I may as well field some of the queries.

Firstly, apologies if you feel the title is misleading. I certainly didn’t mean it to be so, rather a means of highlighting that those cars campaigned in the late ‘80s tend to be overlooked by those not stage side at the time or with a rallying interest limited to better known cars and era, so Group 4 Escorts, Group B Quattros and modern World Rally Car kit, basically.

Ditto the ‘Early Group A’ bit; I was attempting to highlight the Group A machines thrust to the fore in the wake of the incidents in ’86. I’m well aware that a great many Group A cars competed in years before ’87, many of which deserve greater recognition than they receive (Alfa GTV6, anyone?), I was merely trying to convey how unforeseen results could be scored by unfancied car & driver combos in the years immediately following the category’s sudden promotion to the top of the rallying world.

Anyway, glad most of you liked it, and feel free to check out my Facebook page, The Gravel Crew, if you fancy more of the same.
Jamie
https://www.facebook.com/WorldRallying/