The Absolute INSANITY of Group B Rally

#NASCAR #GroupB #rally
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Music in order of appearance:
Bojack theme
White Bat Audio - Hunting Robots
Final Fantasy X OST - Calm Before the Storm
APM Music - Lasting Hope (b)
Sung - Thunderlove
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[@nickklavdianos5136]

The most batshit insane racing series. The most batshit insane drivers The most batshit insane cars The most batshit insane spectators

[@darracqboy]

Yup

[@johnjuiceshipper4963]

Batshit evil FIA.

[@FlashoftheBlades]

Sounds about right.

[@SetsunaTheFandom]

Now we all know what the "B" in the "Group B" means...

[@joseangelgutierrez8122]

RACING MANIACS,I WISH THEY REVIVE THE GROUP B AND GO NUTS,

[@cirian75]

Group B Rules, the car must have 4 wheels, rules end.

[@RT-qd8yl]

Reminds me of cheaters night 😂

[@nickklavdianos5136]

The car must have 4 wheels (optional)

[@cavalierliberty6838]

Group b rules: vehicle

[@savegame3308]

@@nickklavdianos5136 >Brings a Saturn V to a rally.

[@XenonG]

I would argue they can have an 8 wheel limit, or tracks.

[@adamallen4178]

Timo Salonen looking like a radio shack employee, wearing glasses, and smoking a pack between stages. Elite

[@TripleAlfafa]

Personality-wise, an easy-going casual man. Liked to joke that what he's doing is office work because he gets to stay inside and just sit around.

[@pikminologueraisin2139]

timo raced the 240 until 85, then proceed to win the most of times during group B while looking chill and relax as hell what a champ

[@seannborba8416]

You mean during stages

[@jonnie2bad]

his team mechanics jokingly installed an ashtray and a kind of holder he could keep the pack in.

[@johngancarcik5682]

​@@jonnie2badI remember dick trickle having a compartment in his car to place a lighter

[@komiteunofficialaccount9224]

Fun fact: Michele Mouton is now FIA Safety Delegate, and works WRC events! Her job includes telling people off for standing where cars could crash to. There's an FIA video about it.

[@Pewnhound112]

I would do literally anything that woman told me to do, so that’s a fantastic appointment.

[@davdhartung9817]

She also came up with the idea of the Race Of Champions.

[@revenger210]

@@davdhartung9817 even more, the RoC came to be as a means to commemorate her late friend Henri Toivonnen, whose death affected her and other crews in the wrc deeply

[@saltmerchant749]

Michele Mouton is literally always the counter answer to when morons suggest that women can't race.

[@tylersimmons7105]

She did an interview a few weeks ago and it's absolutely worth a watch.

[@floydfanTN]

Even Slapshoes respects the time honored tradition of slapping some Dark Synthwave music over clips of Group B rally.

[@S1apShoes]

Had to do it to em

[@floydfanTN]

@@S1apShoes Thunder Love has been a regular on my playlists for a few years now. It's great to see it's still making rounds as a pseudo retro classic.

[@thealmightysnark5878]

It's what makes Art of Rally such a delight, moody chill colours, synthwave midi'ish tunes and just rally. In all it's glory through the years. I just love that game.

[@Phantom70702]

@@S1apShoes Any hints for the April Fools video this year?

[@johngancarcik5682]

​@S1apShoes it's just fitting dude but group B banjos would be fitting

[@Busch22Fan]

Group B was the Rally equivalent of "Hold my beer."

[@oriolgonzalez9328]

So that's what the B stands for...

[@MarianoLu]

This is the best explanation of Group B ever!

[@johngancarcik5682]

​@@MarianoLu the Florida of racing

[@miika6739]

That's where the "B" comes from👍

[@PharSyde6ix]

@@johngancarcik5682 Group B was Florida Man! 🤣

[@saintrocketIX]

"Name a combination of KZbinr and subject you didn't know you needed." This is my answer.

[@elrinconcuriosodesally3528]

First one for outsiders of Nascar was the Buick one

[@FlashoftheBlades]

@@mikaelgillberg7555Or the AK-74.

[@Mister_Matt_X]

@@FlashoftheBlades Or the 2005 US Grand Prix at Indianapolis.... Ugh... I just hate tire wars... So much drama...

[@FlashoftheBlades]

@@Mister_Matt_X SUPER GT currently has THREE different tire manufacturers - Bridgestone, Dunlop and Yokohama - and they’re not blowing tires with every turn of steering lock.

[@Mister_Matt_X]

@@FlashoftheBlades Ha! Good for them!

[@inha1ed]

I remember seeing a comment somewhere about how the drivers just saw the spectators as trees. If they saw them as people, they couldn't drive.

[@score6142]

yeah it was Walter Röhrl's line

[@mikeyerke3920]

I saw them as a bunch of idiots that ruined a great rally series.

[@klasseact6663]

Heard Michele Mouton say this is the doc "Rallying...The Killer Years"

[@raunchers1889]

@@mikeyerke3920 The spectators didn't ruin it, lol. The series didn't even end until a driver and their passenger died. It was a combination of all the safety issues.

[@mikeyerke3920]

@@raunchers1889 I’m aware of all that, but the idiots in the road never helped things.

[@Edelweiss1102]

Maybe to give you an idea about the absolute insanity that was Group B. The Lancis Delta S4 was Lancias purppose build Group B car and their answer to the likes of the Peugeot 205 or the Audi Sportsquatro. It was one of the first cars designed with computer technology, it used stuff like electrically timed direct injection and more. It had a mid mounted 1.8 L 4 cylinder engine which was both super and turbocharged. The official power output was about 450 hp, but many said that it was more like 500+ hp in actuallity. And they apparently were able to crank it up to 1000 hp at 5.5 bar on the testing block. The whole car barely weighted a ton. And they once did a track test at Estoril with a cranked up 800 hp version that laped only a few seconds of the F1 cars at the time, which were in their own turbo steroid age with power trains cranking out 1000+ hp in qualifying settings on a regular basis. So yeah, they drove cars with F1 level performance with barely any saefty meassures and on tiny wheels on gravel, dirt and ice, with humans as the track frontier. What could possibly go wrong.

[@mrfoxyyy2870]

just shows that to keep a car like that on the road requires unimaginable skill and precision, a small mistake would end up costing your life or the life of a lot of others.

[@bigglyguy8429]

What went wrong was the pussies whining about a few deaths and injuries here n there. The only real racing left is IoW TT. Sad.

[@rolandet]

The Peugeot 1.8T engine was equiped with the Bosch k-jetronic injection system. This was electronically timed injection, like the Quattro already had.

[@Johnny_Cage_Official]

The real insane people who stand in the middle of the road when a 1000000+ RPM rally car is barreling towards them

[@monstertrucker35]

Hmmm. Sounds like they were idling.

[@mitchell-wallisforce7859]

@@monstertrucker35 Or some gigachad found a Tucker 48 and got some funni ideas...

[@100kOrBust]

They were safe, mustangs aren't in Group B

[@BopPop42]

@@100kOrBust Did you not see the video? Ford RS200s were doing the job before the mustang got in on the action (this is a joke, rip to those involved in that incident).

[@100kOrBust]

@@BopPop42 😂 good point

[@FrenchToast_740]

Look man, to each their own, I love and appreciate all motorsports (F1, WEC, Nascar, etc.) but i will never understand how someone can watch a rally and not immediately consider it the greatest motorsport in the world. It's literal art, the sound, the dust clouds, the locations of the stages.

[@taylortnt1175]

Every motorsport is the best in it's own way, if you say one is the best then there will be people who disagree with you solely because they find things that their favorite motorsport has that the other one lacks. It's how it is for example I love motorsports to and I watch almost everything, The WRC for me is top 3 but to me nothing beats asphalt racing to the finish 3 wide or a 2 car deul to the line. All motorsports is exciting can't limit everyone to have one because they're all good.

[@firstlast6085]

I don't even watch rally racing myself, but it really is the most pure form of motorsport. Take a street legal car, drive it on the street from one place to another. That's pretty much it.

[@strikemasterice2004]

Ypu could argue that the only thing missing is multiple drivers racing at the same time, so you get overtakes and what not. But I do prefer the way it is, a feels purer when it is just the one driver & navigator, car and road. Like you said, it feels like art. The driver is the artist, the car is the paint brush, the road is the canvas...

[@sauce1232]

If you think the sound of an engine or dust from a racing car passing by is art then you never listened to Chopin or seen a Van Gogh painting.

[@FrenchToast_740]

@@sauce1232 ive seen Starry Night in person at MoMA as well as multiple picassos, Dalis, Frida Kalo, and I’ve listened to Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, etc. Go watch Ayrton Senna lap Monaco and tell me that isnt art. Art isn’t limited to a brush, or an orchestra, expand your horizons you pretentious mouth breather.

[@emdotrod]

Group B is what happened when the pursuit of speed at any cost caused casualties. It was bonkers but I'm glad the sport is safer than ever.

[@0uttaS1TE]

Well, all rules are written in blood. It's insane to look at old Group B footage, and see what are essentially roadside moshpits, parting like a human Red Sea to a car so powerful it'd make Ferrari blush

[@zwjna]

Safer, and faster than ever. Modern WRC/Rally1 cars, also the Rally2 cars, just run circles around Group B cars. In fact, Group A left even more casualties right after it replaced Group B as the top category - as the cars were about as fast as the Group B even though they had only half the power, and the safety, while improved, still not good enough. Its fascinating that now we have the fastest, most spectacular rally cars ever made, with unmatched safety.

[@MooncricketsInc]

Group B>current whatever group it's called.

[@amogusenjoyer]

Ok but is it more fun than ever? ​@@zwjna

[@zwjna]

@@amogusenjoyer Yes.

[@ted_kazinsky]

you have the perfect combination of the knowledge, editing and resources that bigger influencers get but you still seem like a real person that I can understand and relate to. Great channel

[@cartergarrison4952]

And he pronounced Lancia correctly too!

[@RT-qd8yl]

Perfect description. Slap feels like a buddy you'd chat with about whatever, it doesn't feel like he's talking down to you.

[@S1apShoes]

@@cartergarrison4952 Shouts out to my language coach @drivethrough

[@FluffyBlueCow]

That's because he copied someone else's video from a year ago and made some slight changes

[@josie_the_valkyrie]

Not sure about the editing. The synthwave blast was a good few dB above the narration. 😅🧏‍♀️

[@girlwithaguitar24]

As an F1 fan, Jean Marie Balestre and the FIA in general is something you NEED to look into. Balestre was a literal SS officer for Occupied France, his successor Max Mosely was the son of the fascist British politician Oswald Mosely, and the antics that both men got up to could fill TOMES.

[@S1apShoes]

FIA officials are never outrunning the N@zi allegations

[@alexisborden3191]

And Bernie was also a bit of a fan of Hitler. The standards for FIA director is in fucking hell.

[@otaviofrn_adv]

we brazilians still hate Balestre for 1989

[@Nikolas.Singleton]

It's well known that Balestre was an undercover agent for the French and was even arrested by the Gestapo for planning an attack against the Nazis with the help of French Resistance. He wrote for the "Leagues Against" (which was an antisemitism paper) called "Le Droit de vivre". He was also an active anti racist militant before the occupation. He eventually received the Legion of Honour in 1968 from France for his services. Do a little research

[@alexisborden3191]

@@Nikolas.Singleton Bro everyone in France claims to be a member of the resistance. Except Balestre has no one who can corroborate that. There's no one he fed intel to, and there's no hard evidence of anything remotely resistive of the nazis. He wasn't arrested for planning any attack.

[@rwddesign879]

The thing that still gets me the most about GroupB is the time period. This was the 80s. Not the 70s, 60s, or 50s. Everything else had been pretty well sanitized by then, but rally just got even more insane.

[@MiguelGarcia-vj7oo]

Not endurance racing, your forgetting group C and GT1 in the 90s..........

[@jt1992ok]

In the words of 1995 WRC champ Colin McRae, "If in doubt, go flat out!" Great video as always S1ap. Respect from this UK fan.

[@otaviofrn_adv]

imagine if McRae came in the Group B days...

[@elliott811]

​@@otaviofrn_adv McCrae entered a Metro 6R4 in the Donegal International Rally. He was on par with drivers in modern machinery, man was a phenom.

[@johngancarcik5682]

​@otaviofrn_adv 😂😂 floor it till you see God then brake

[@VictoryAviation]

RIP McRae. Truly one of the best in WRC ever.

[@milito22510]

My mom used to live right above a Lancia dealer, and she still remembers the time one of their rally cars was exposed there: the Lancia Delta S4, the last of Lancia's Group B cars, known in Italy as "Ammazza Rally" (Rally Killer) for its astonishing performance. Sadly Lancia has become a farce of a constructor as of now, but they'll probably make a comeback in WRC with the new Ypsilon. It's really great to hear you talk about racing series outside of the US, I would love to hear more in the future.

[@B__L]

Lancia won't enter WRC when they only sell 1 model to 1 country in small numbers. Completely pointless waste of money.

[@mrspandel5737]

​@@B__L Unless you've been living under a rock, Stellantis are attempting to relaunch the Lancia brand very soon, with several new models, a Rallye program using the upcoming Ypsilon isn't that far fetched.

[@Dartingleopard]

​@@B__LFiat has been trying to relaunch them multiple times, whether when they were just themselves, FCA, or now as part of Stellantis. I would not be surprised if they actually can do it.

[@gian.4388]

Just pointing out that it's the Stratos that's called the "Ammazza Rally", the Delta S4 didn't have enough time to evolve and grow (not even a year) so it didn't actually win _that_ much before Group B's ban

[@MarianoLu]

I had the pleasure of seeing the Delta S4 live in the Cordoba Rally in Argentina my god I will never forget that, those cars and drivers were insane!! I always wants a Lancia, is a pity that the brand died, I know they are reviving it let’s hope

[@zerocool5395]

I'm surprised that they haven't made a Michele Mouton movie. Her story is legit super interesting and deserves a movie.

[@dusankocisevic6823]

Well, there is a documentary. Queen of speed is the title!

[@WYO_Dirtbag]

They'll cast her as black :)

[@RichardHennigan]

I've been saying this for years. Someone needs to make this.

[@richmondvand147]

hell more Group B movies period but yeah I'll take a story about a bamf french woman for 500 Alex!

[@faketaxidriver5651]

She appeared in the 2024 movie Lancia vs Audi, portrayed by Esther Garrel

[@emanuellopes8773]

Portuguese fan here. Rally is in Europe the motorsport of the middle classes, just like short track racing is in the US. It has a low barrier to entry, like in terms of the investment, no need for expensive tracks to race and for the fans, except for some special events, they can watch the race for free, even if you only watch one car every one or two minutes. It was the very popular in the mediterranean europe and Portugal, not only because of the economics, but also because of the mountenous terrain. And still today about 1M people watch the rally every year in Portugal, although this is the overall number for all the stages, so even if a lot of people saw at least one stage every day, that would put about 400k unique spectators in a country of 10M people. That's bonkers. Keep up the good work. PS: F1 is still popular, everybody seems to loves the AIA, but there in no economics that justify in my country to put up 25M€ for a race, and expected to make money. You essencialy need every expectator to put up at leats 500€ in tickets, parkings, concessions, etc, when the average salary is just 1000€ a month. And we dont need more state aid for millionaires and billionaires, although a lot of people demand the state put up the money for a F1 race.

[@TugaAvenger]

Haven't watched yet, but guarantee most of the crowds in the road clips are from our rally. We were nuts.

[@otaviofrn_adv]

vocês aí em Portugal são uns adeptos malucos pra tudo, herdamos muitas características de vocês aqui no Brasil. Depois que eu vi a Super Dragões apoiando o Jardel no Big Brother aí eu percebi isso.

[@KerythDraws]

Rally has got to be my favorite sport of all time because of how raw its competitive spirit is. Especially in how its an incredible showcase of skill.

[@richmondvand147]

and in some nations is a time honored tradition of taking your kids out for a day in the woods with a 100 dollar car to go ham

[@MarkiusFox]

Lest we not forget the car that Ferrari was going to enroll into Group B had it continued, the 288 GTO Evo. But, it came too little too late and never competed.

[@Starfire_Storm]

Nonono. The 288 GTO Evo was made to Group B regulations, yes. However, it was not made for rallying, but for circuit racing. People forget that Group B wasn't just for Rally cars, but for GT racing that sort of tried to be Group 5's replacement, but failed. Group B in Circuit Racing never really went much further than the Porsche 961 and was totally eclipsed by the huge success of Group C Prototypes. Ferrari was making the 288 GTO Evo for circuit racing, but when Group B got canned for rallying, it also did for circuit racing, but much more unceremoniously given only the 961 was around.

[@dylansmit3883]

​@@Starfire_Storm There actually is a Group B rally Ferrari though. In 1984 Michelotto made the factory supported 308 GT/M, basically an extreme evolution of their 308 Group 4. It had a longitudinal engine like the 288 after it, but no turbos. They rallied it once in a local event and then the project was abandoned.

[@Starfire_Storm]

@@dylansmit3883 That is very true, but the 288 GTO Evo specifically was never meant for rally.

[@dylansmit3883]

@@Starfire_Storm I wasn't questioning that of course. It's one of the most annoying myths around that the 288 GTO was supposed to be a rally car.

[@Starfire_Storm]

@@dylansmit3883 Yeah, but I guess that's what happens when Group B is pretty much synonymous with rallying given how much of a failure it was for circuit racing.

[@llmkursk8254]

Two corrections: 1) The regulation that the Lancia Stratos fit under was Group 4, the top division of rally. Rather than 5000 units, they only had to make 500. 2) The Porsche 959 never rallied under Group B. The 911 did, and you might’ve gotten that mixed up with the 959 being designed for Group B racing. The only other story I’d probably mention is the time in the 1972 Press on Regardless Rally in Michigan. That’s rally is the reason AWD systems were banned originally until Audi appealed. DirtFish have an amazing article on the Jeep Grand Wagoneer (Moby Dick) that effectively banned AWD.

[@Dartingleopard]

The 959 was also made into a rally raid car to take on the Paris-Dakar Rally and other similar events

[@VulpesHilarianus]

@@Dartingleopard Only after Group B was disbanded. Porsche tried modifying the car for Group S, but considering the car launched in 1986 and Group S was dropped before it was set to debut in 1987, they gave up and went for Paris Dakar where they'd been doing testing. And ruined everybody else's day because of how overengineered the 959 was to try and beat the 205 T16 Evo II.

[@johngeren1053]

The 911 GT RS was the Group B Porsche. The 959 was probably certified for the group, but it never ran in WRC because Porsche knew it was too big and heavy to win. It was very competitive in rally-raids.. The FISA had planned to have a Group B championship for Endurance racing. That is what the Ferrari 288 GTO was made for and possibly that was the real goal of the 959, too.

[@dusankocisevic6823]

Only one thing to add: Group A needed 5000 cars for homologation. Group B 200 cars, group 4 needed 500 cars.

[@pickeljuice9325]

Group B was the Cold War of the automotive industry, Who could go the fastest without unaliving themselves and the crowd

[@MrBlueBurd0451]

Rally is the very definition of needing to have a deathwish to be one of the greats.

[@knightofthenine3121]

Slap, there is the fact that when clarkson made the doc about group B's rivalry inbetween Lancia and Audi. It was shown that they were even using cardboard tubes painted to look like aluminium, and it was dangerous. Many of the Lancia's accidents were related to that.

[@B__L]

The cardboard roll cage was never actually proven

[@mitchell-wallisforce7859]

The cardboard cage wasn't actually a thing, Clarkson was just demonstrating a point.

[@dylansmit3883]

Clarkson also claimed Lancia needed to build 400 cars in that segment, and they cheated by only building 200 and treating FIA officials to lavish dinners with lots of wine and then showing them the same 200 cars twice. It's not a very accurate piece, is what I'm getting at here.

[@alexisborden3191]

The cardboard roll cage is not real. Clarkson just made that up. The reason they failed is because as Slap mentioned, they were made of aluminum not steel.

[@alexisborden3191]

@@dylansmit3883 People always say oh they made 200 when they had to make 400 but its not true, for one, its not even strictly what Clarkson claims, he just uses those numbers as a hypothetical. Except you can read the rules, and the actual number is 200 cars, and there are more than 200 Lancia 037s that exist.

[@jeracerx]

2:58 So there's a bit of a caveat at this bit, throughout the 70's the FIA used the same classes for both rallying and circuit racing, Groups 1-6, rallying only used Groups 1-4 with 1 and 3 being lightly modified touring ang GT cars respectively, and 2 and 4 being the same but for more modified cars. 5 and 6 where circuit racing exclusive, Group 5 being heavily modified production cars, and 6 being full prototypes. When 1982 rolled around the FIA replaced Groups 1-6 with A-C, but they still covered both racing and rallying. The classes technically allowed for less modification that the old Group 2 and 4, but making the production caps so low for Group allowed the base cars to be more extreme. Group A became used for touring cars and the lower class of rallying, Group B was for GT cars (although this never really took off in sportscar racing) and the top class of rallying, and of course Group C was for full prototypes. Group N came a bit later ,and that was for pretty much stock cars, similar to the old Groups 1 and 3.

[@alexisborden3191]

Yup, there was also groups 7 through 9. Initially group 7 was another type of prototype sports car, these are the cars that raced in Can-Am, if you played Gran Turismo, the Toyota 7 is a group 7 car that you would know. Eventually they changed things around, and group 7 referred to 'international formula cars' which encompassed Formula 1 Formula 2 and Formula 3 cars. Before that, the formula cars were under group 8, and group 9 cars were formula libre cars until f1 2 and 3 cars became group 7 and then the libre cars subsequently became group 8. And then they scrapped that for the group a b c in 82.

[@jeracerx]

@@alexisborden3191 I did know about Group 7, but didn't mention it as it was pretty much dead by the early 70s, but I didn't know about the Formula cars technically belonging to groups, interesting

[@mitchell-wallisforce7859]

@@jeracerx Group 8 was technically the basis for all single-seater racers in the 60's, at least if Wikipedia's table is correct. Group 9 was Formula Libre, a.k.a. "anything goes". Appendix J in the 60's was wild.

[@AlexLikesToons]

Standing roadside at a WRC rally is a bucket list experience for me. I just gotta know what it's like.

[@maybenot6075]

Get there early, setup camping chairs & a bbq and chill out until the cars come through & get ready for something crazy! You can hear the cars howling through the woods before and after they pass you, its honestly amazing! Iv done rally gb a few times & the top wrc cars are an experience!

[@TripleAlfafa]

As a local around Rally Finland, there's two things you need to know. Bring appropriate clothing and don't litter. Then enjoy watching drunk tourists behave badly between cars going fast.

[@billharwood5844]

If you're European then a visit to the goodwood festival of speed to see group b potter through the woods and Ireland for proper rallys with a delightful mix of modern and vintage vehicles driven by potato faced loons with balls bigger than my brain. Awesome for any fan of motor sport and a jolly nice place to spend some time.

[@billharwood5844]

Oh, forgot to add, take your good lady wife and test her knowledge of physics by seeing if she'll eat mud by failing to close her mouth and turn away at the exit of a turn. Weston beach races provided that particular lesson for my beloved. Oh how we laughed, well I did anyway. LPT: Never marry a woman who owns a shotgun or you cannot handily outrun.

[@otaviofrn_adv]

@@TripleAlfafa it's time for Kalle to win at home this season

[@BBAbest01]

SlapShoes covering one of, if not the MOST, notorious era's of Rally racing... Holy shit, yes please.

[@justinkoster4417]

the 80s were the golden era of motor sports. group B in rallying, group C at le mans, massive turbos in F1 and nascars going 220mph. the top guys in the WRC are insane they have to be completely fearless ive played a good amount of DIRT rally and my brain can barely keep up with the the group A cars

[@Statusinator]

I miss the cocaine era.

[@m_ryko]

yeah i agree, even in games too. Unlike any other racing sims (or any circuit racing) for me, i find rally games much harder especially when going flat out while the co driver yapping out the corner layout. Can't even keep up with the pacenotes with my slow ahh brain. 🤣

[@louisc76]

Rally is my favorite Motorsport. The current Rally1 cars are actually faster than group B. Just safer. But the drivers and co-drivers are just a different breed of racer.

[@RT-qd8yl]

I grew up out in the country field bombing, taking quads in the dunes, trail riding, etc. Those guys do stuff multiple times an hour that I wouldn't even *imagine* attempting. I'm pretty sure the only thing keeping their cars right side up is the weight of their balls.

[@louisc76]

@@RT-qd8yl Lol, indeed!

[@tangydiesel1886]

It's wild how well they've improved safety. I went to the pikes peak hill climb museum, and on display is a rally car that went off the side of the mountain. (They survived) in the story from the driver, he said he hit the brake and turned the wheel. The brake pedal went to the floor, and he told himself he was going for a ride. There's even the video of him launching off the mountain.

[@michabaranowski2710]

To be frank, the speed of Group B cars is way too overestimated. Even 1990s Group A already outperformed Group B cars in terms of stage times. WRC cars from 2017-2021 period and current Rally1 would obliterate Group B into oblivion.

[@louisc76]

@@michabaranowski2710 it’s just classic remember berries… I think for the most part what makes the Group B cars so memorable was the unique powertrains and the peak popularity of rally at the time. But many of the Lancia cars in particular seemed like they’d strap a beast of an engine to a chassis duct taped and tie wrapped together!

[@railfan6087]

For those wondering, Stig Blomqvist is the father of current IndyCar driver Tom Blomqvist.

[@hitrecord7830]

Is he related to Scott bloomquist the famous dirt track racer?

[@Angel-wo8gv]

3:15 to 3:45 is an absolute masterpiece of an intro. My hairs were standing up. Congratulations no this amazing vid, the best one on Group B i've seen.

[@Blaze0539]

Fun Fact: Group actually did have rules on engine size limits that are many confusing, and might have been how the F.I.A somehow, someway, and likely after many lines of Miami White Powder, decided that the 2.6L "R26B" 4-Rotor that powered the Le Mans winning 787B Group C car somehow was equal to something like a 6.5L V12 and thus was bigger than the coming 3.5L F1 style engine size limits that effectively killed Group C. This is why even though the Lamborghini Countach is "Technically" listed as Homologated for Group B, it ever raced as it never managed to get through all the paper work for Engine Size and exemptions for such as within Group B the max allowable Non-Super/Turbo-charged engine allowed was like 4000cc or about 4.0L. The Countach at the time had something like a 4.7L V12. Even just look at the Group B Homologation list on the Wikipedia page, some of them are "Take with a grain of salt" levels of baffling such as a FSO Polonez and even at least at one "Pickup truck" in the form of a Peugeot 504. With it being very hard to verify if many actually did race, some did, some were leftovers from Group 4, such as the Ferrari 308GTS, some were Group A cars so OP the F.I.A bumped them into Group B such as the Alfa GTV6. Group B was insane for it's mostly lack of rules, but doubly more insane given it still had way more rules than even Group C did at the same time period, which was effectively damn near enough just Can-Am levels of "The only rule is your fuel tank must be this big, no smaller, no bigger than this" and literally everything else was allowed. Group B managed to get more insane than Group C and Can-Am in spite of the fact it actually had some basic rules that were "Supposed" just keep it from getting that insane in literally less than half a decade as a group.

[@dylansmit3883]

There actually was an Alfa Romeo GTV6-based Group B prototype with a mid engine RWD layout. It was never raced though.

[@alexisborden3191]

Yeah the limits were fairly loose, the engine size really only being limited by a corrosponding increase in minimum weight for larger displacement engines.

[@johngeren1053]

The GTV6 was never bumped up to Group B. It could often beat most of the 2 wheel drive Group Bs on the right roads - like Corsica - with the right crews - like Loubet /Vieu. All the GTV6 you see were Group A or N (stock). It was really a bit heavy for rallying and the Busso V6 is a great motor, but in its original form it has only 2 camshafts and 12 valves, so the power to weight ratio was not that good. What it had was great traction, balance and surefooted handlng.

[@reneengelke3218]

The rotary is obviously bigger than 3.5 litres. A single rotor of a four stroke rotary engine needs 360° to complete a full combustion cycle with all chambers combined whereas a single cylinder of a four stroke piston engine needs 720° for a complete cycle. The rotary therefore has two powercycles in the same time a normal engine has one. A 655ccm 4 Rotor therefore has a displacement of about 5240ccm. The stuff about the Countach is bollux. In 1985 they wanted to homolgate the Countach 5000 QV for Group B but suprise surprise they hadnt built enough 5000 QV since production only started in 1985. In 1988 enough had been build to be eligible for Group B so they homologated it but it just never went anywhere which isnt a surprise considering Group B road racing was dead by then. There certainly wasnt a 4l engine limit in Group B considering both the 4.2l / 4.6l Porsche 930 and the 4.7l / 5l Porsche 928S were homologated and racing as well. The 5.7l Corvette C4 was homologated too though I couldnt find any trace of the C4 actually racing in any FIA series.

[@dylansmit3883]

On the rotary: the displacement is irrelevant as the FIA specified they had to be reciprocating piston engines. They wanted a direct link to the F1 engine regs.

[@Racer881Ken]

You know it's a good day when SlapShoes uploadeds

[@tim.noonan]

And when it’s not about NASCAR you know it’s gonna be something wild. Like hot dogs!

[@Racer881Ken]

@@tim.noonan real

[@Mister_Matt_X]

Good ol' S1apShoes knows how to make someone's day better! This guy ROCKS!!!!

[@davidtoups4684]

What he didn't mention was that in the Lancia Delta S4 that Henri Toivonen crashed, the driver and co-driver literally sat on top of the fuel tank! Those things were insane deathtraps!

[@cunever]

Of all the “group B” movies, videos, and documentaries out there, your take stands out for one simple reason: it’s about group B! All others shed way too much light either on the cars and manufacturers, the drivers, or the gore. This one and all the other stuff you put out are becoming legend. So good of you to do this!!

[@ollieminecraft]

Group B be like: *IF YOU HAVE 4 WHEELS AND AN ENGINE, YOU'RE GOOD*

[@SpikeDotGIF]

Everyone involved in Group B were insane. The drivers, engineers, co-drivers, fans, everyone. Oh, and love the random FFX track.

[@user-nb7co9hs3g]

*Group B, the Florida Man of Racing.*

[@kyledodson2992]

I’m no feminist, but that Michele Muton should have a show or something about her. It’s a great story that could inspire young women who wanna get into motorsports.

[@lanternsown3525]

Team Audi's Michèle Mouton and the Audi Quattro were an awesome pairing.

[@DJ88Masterchief]

Rally might be the most crazy, but it is so much harder to watch vs F1, NASCAR, WEC, and Indycar.

[@Uberseh1]

A must have line in a documentary like this, when you reference the Stratos, "Just look at that thing!" Love it.

[@SeanGavin-rf5vd]

The severed finger story was 2 severed fingers found lying on top of a Peugeot 205 GTI's intercooler when the mechanics removed the rear engine clamshell after rally stage. .

[@jawnhansen235]

I’m a simple man. I see this guy post a new mini documentary and I watch it.

[@craigcolavito5606]

I'm an F1 and Euro-centric road racing fan, but I jumped on the SlapShoes hype train back when he was looking for Airbase Speedway. I loved his presentation style and learned a bunch about NASCAR, and began to really appreciate the sport a heck of a lot more, and now I am thrilled to see some of my preferred areas of racing being covered by him in his animatable style. Keep on rockin' SlapShoes

[@Mister_Matt_X]

I too jumped on the S1apSh0es band wagon when that video about Air Base Speedway but also about the North Wilkesboro Speedway video and I've never got off and I'm still on the band wagon... This guy is the equivalent of Auto Racings secret agent, secret weapon or secret base... Whatever the case is he is definitely good at it! I'm from the states and my fedora hat goes out to him and his work! Keep up with the amazing content S1apSh0es you never disappoint me and many others!

[@johnharris6655]

My dad sold Porsches and Audis in the 70's and 80's. He usually brought home a Porsche as his demo car, But I remember him bringing home the Quattro when it first came out. That was a beast on the street, it was like driving on rails. You can imagine how they were in racing.

[@Audiojack_]

Greetings from Finland, S1apSh0es talking about rallying is a great combo. This stuff really brings people together, appreciating all the different kinds of racing from NASCAR to rallying!

[@officialxverzusz]

I grew up watching rally races. I've had those DVD collections of races and racer interviews and crashes and I absolutely loved rewatching them over and over.

[@troyneal8772]

What perfect timing, I JUST started looking into WRC for the first time a couple days ago, and here one of my fave KZbinrs decides to cover it.

[@sdx3918]

The people who made the Group B and Super Modified rulesets should shake hands, have a seat, smoke on something and work together on creating some abomination of a motorsport league, and with track records like that who knows what that'll be..

[@johnvaughan22]

the ford rs200, audi quattro s1 and the porsche 959 rally raid are some of the coolest cars ever built

[@johnvaughan22]

the 959 was actually designed w the intentions to join group b but the series folded before they got the chance

[@johnvaughan22]

also, there’s a reason why audis all wheel drive is still labeled as quattro and they’re one of 2 companies still making a 5cyl engine

[@Starfire_Storm]

@@johnvaughan22It was designed for Group B, but for Group B circuit racing, and that's how the Porsche 961 became a thing, which did raced, just not too many times.

[@TheD404]

Group B is the optimal out come of a conversation that goes like this "Think we can get that to work?" "I dunno probably, might as well try."

[@SiVlog1989]

This sums up the sheer insanity of Group B cars. In 1986, Henri Toivonen, driving a Lancia Delta S4 at the Estoril track in Portugal, set a lap time that would have not just qualified for the F1 race that year, but 8th quickest. The head curator of the university I attended between 2017-21 knew and worked with Henri Toivonen, so you can imagine how he felt when Toivonen lost his life

[@sewinfoool]

Sadly that is a myth there is a tiny bit of truth, the S4 did a run there that would have compared to when F1 did pre season testing not to the actual qualifying session. Super fast insanity yes but F1 qualifying speed no.

[@alexisborden3191]

If there was even a shred of truth to this we'd have the time. You mean to tell me that a 500hp 900kg car would be 8th on a grid of cars that were purpose built for circuit racing, made far more downforce, had far larger tyres, made upwards of 1000hp and weighed 540kg? Ok even if you believe the stories that Lancia could trim the engine up to 1000hp and that they did that on that day. A car that weighs twice as much as the F1 cars isn't coming anywhere close to qualifying with them.

[@AbrahamArthemius]

That is sadly just a myth. Yes, they're running the car on the same track as the F1 cars but it was during pre-season testing. It's nowhere near the actual speed an actual F1 car will do. If you're doing it on a sim it proves it was just a myth, heck even doing basic math will prove it as a myth.😅

[@brentruvio6556]

The amount of winding tight country back roads that are in North Carolina you would think rally racing would come here😢

[@Dartingleopard]

There are rally races in the US, but not WRC, most are up north though.

[@TripleAlfafa]

Ask around for a local racing club if they'd be willing to organize one. Make sure to read guides that FIA has done for protocol. Talk to the local government about road closures for special stages.

[@LewisF451]

If theres a more iconic, evocative single video clip in motor racing than that Quattro powersliding out of the corner and the man walking into shot hands on head ... well I've yet to see it.

[@donswier]

The best overall summary of rally I've ever witnessed. Your description of the origin of rally is *unbeatable*. If I ever have trouble describing my favorite sport, this video will be the one I recommend. The horseracing track analogy with F1, NASCAR, Sprintcar makes it obvious why rally is so attractive to us lifelong fans. Maybe as a non-European you understand the broad overview?

[@FlashoftheBlades]

While Walter Roehl played a part in Lancia winning the 1983 Manufacturers Championship, it was actually Hannu Mikkola, a compatriot of Salonen, who won that year’s Drivers Championship for Audi because Lancia didn’t contest every rally that year. That year’s Audi Quattro was the A1, which was barely changed from its Group 4 version. 1984 saw the debut of the A2, while 1985 is when the S1 premiered. It was 12.6 inches shorter to make the car more maneuverable on the rally stages, along with featuring a huge turbocharger and Kevlar-reinforced doors. Good luck trying to buy its road-going counterpart, because that was 4x more expensive than the regular Quattro. “It’s a Quattro, that costs quattro, a Quattro!” - James Pumphrey, host of Donut Media’s Up To Speed series in the episode on the Audi Quattro. As for the Lancia 037, 1983 was the peak for that car. Between Audi updating the Quattro and the arrival of the Peugeot 205 T16, the writing was on the wall for Lancia as vividly as if one left a toddler alone with a Sharpie. They were going to have to build their own AWD beast. And what a beast they built, with the Delta S4. Design-wise, they went the same route that Peugeot did, with a mid-engine AWD hatchback. And it was competitive immediately, winning the 1985 season finale Rally Great Britain with Henri Toivonen at the wheel. He then won the 1986 season opener Monte Carlo Rally, retired from the Swedish Rally with engine problems, and was among those that withdrew after Santos’ accident in Portugal. There are a number of theories for what caused Toivonen’s fatal crash in the 1986 Tour de Corse. He had been ill with the flu leading up to the rally and was also dealing with the lingering effects of a back injury he sustained in a crash in either 84 or 85. He didn’t say anything about the latter, fearing he might lose his seat. One of the theories is that the effects of said back injury caused him to blackout as he approached the corner where he crashed. But short of a séance, we’ll likely never know for sure what really happened. Audi and Ford withdrew from the remainder of the 1986 season after the Tour de Corse, leaving Peugeot and Lancia to slug it out for the championship. Part of the freeze on aero development included the banning of side skirts, but apparently, Peugeot found a loophole and gave that rule the middle finger. This reached a head at that year’s Rally San Remo in Italy, where the Peugeots were disqualified for still running the side skirts. Peugeot accused the rally organizers of favoring Lancia, the home brand. They appealed the disqualification, which was initially upheld until the FIA annulled the results altogether. Lancia accused the FIA, a French organization headed by a Frenchman, of favoring Peugeot, a French manufacturer. Baelestre had a notorious history of favoring French drivers and teams, which reached its climax at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix. While the WRC currently has no rally in the USA 🇺🇸, there is Rally America, which has three regional championships. So you can still get your rally fix if you live in the States.

[@TripleAlfafa]

WRC is currently exploring an event in Tennessee as the Rally USA for their schedule. I do hope that the locals can provide that necessary degree of professionalism the event needs.

[@FlashoftheBlades]

@@TripleAlfafaDo you know exactly where in Tennessee this rally might happen, assuming that anything has even been said about an exact location?

[@TripleAlfafa]

@@FlashoftheBlades Last I heard, the planned first event is sometime in 2026 and the venue is Chattanooga + surrounding counties.

[@FlashoftheBlades]

@@TripleAlfafa Ah. I’ve only been in the Knoxville area and the vicinity of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The roads in and around the Park would be a blast to drive in a rally car. Not sure what they’re like around Chattanooga since I’ve never been to that part of Tennessee.

[@RedCometXIII]

S1ap's use of the FFX soundtrack always gets me.

[@jacobs.9797]

I just knew immediately what I could expect from this video when I saw your name and the thumbnail, and you did not disappoint. Top quality stuff right here Slap!

[@BiTi3030]

NASCAR: We have the best drivers! F1: No! We have the best drivers! Group B: *Slams beer* Get in, sit down, shut up, and hang on! We’ll show you what driving is all about!

[@haraldgrundetjern2184]

Great video, hope one day you will cover Isle of Man TT

[@hugovilag]

No tickets being sold, that's the case only if a stage is run inside a circuit. Stages are free to watch 👍 Ahh, and there's actual footage of fingers beings removed from the top of the radiator of the T16, cut off by the intake. Met 2 guys that were at the worst crashes of the Group B. Silvio Malvar, rally driver well known around here was at the '86 Rally Portugal just 2 corners away from where Santos went off the road. Then my driving school teacher, he was at Corsica that fateful day, waiting for the cars at the town where the stage ended, he told how much time took to know what actually happened as cars stopped coming. As he told, until they found one marshall with a radio they didn't got any info on what had happened.

[@theflaneur__]

Absolutely elite documentary making 👏🏾 well done Slapshoes 👏🏾

[@mat7966]

Great job. The transition to the main story is fantastic.

[@northpointaxe6167]

In Hillsborough north Carolina there is what's left of the first Nascar race track, up until the 1960s it was in use and one could buy a huge fried baloney sandwich and sit on the cement grand stand and watch the races, the track center had a sort of midway with lots of attractions. Now the track center is overgrown with pines and the track itself has narrowed to a walking trail. Still a historic place to visit if you're into racing and want to see where bootleggers became motorsports heros.

[@topofthecircle]

I know WRC has tried to make inroads here in the States, but they've pushed the possible next Rally U.S.A. until 2026, citing concerns around insurance.

[@Dartingleopard]

Hopefully they can add a US Rally, that would be awesome.

[@Luke24160]

Love all your videos man, they're such good quality

[@BBQDad463]

Thank you for this video. I remember seeing clips of this sort of racing way back when. Insane. Simply insane.

[@AbrahamArthemius]

One of the biggest reason why modern Rally1 cars (heck, even the lower Rally2 class, WR, & old Group A cars) are faster than Group B is basically the advancement of engine, suspension, & tyre technology. A Group B car may have all the horsepower number but they are very peaky with tons of turbo lag making those power only useful on the straights, while a modern rally car basically balances out those powerband, having super quick acceleration but still with a pretty good top speed (200kph/120mph) coupled with its sheer agility on corners, and suspension system that can handle jumps like nobody's business.

[@jussjack]

Everyone wake up, s1ap uploaded

[@bubbamarkland1992]

Love you videos. I’ve watched so many on group B and was gonna skip over it until I saw it was you

[@combatwombat594]

This was a hell of a video. Way to do Group B justice! If I ever have to explain Group B to someone, I'm just going to show them this video. Awesome man :)

[@FH4Player6397]

Yey a new S1lapSh0es video! :D

[@Mountain_Dewd9]

While the US doesn't have any WRC events, we do have the American Rally Association. They run from February through October, and every event is completely free to spectate! It's also much more low-budget compared to WRC, but that also means that it's incredibly easy to enter a grassroots team. I hope you make more rally videos, and look to see if there's a rally near you!

[@thestinkycheeseman2208]

Ha. It's insanely expensive. Over 1k to enter an event, and they don't pay anything. They also regulate who can drive what class of cars. The ARA exists as a giant fucking commercial for Monster Energy, Subaru America, etc....

[@matturner6890]

THANK YOU for making a video about this. Can't think of anyone who could do it better.

[@TheBje551]

Very well done Video ! i always love your racing content ! It's so well explained !

[@CertifiedCarsonHocevarMoment]

S1ap is finally taking about rally

[@mitchlesinski7803]

How fuckin hard would it have been to just have better crowd control and better emergency services.

[@kitwhitmore5970]

Excellent piece on Group B. I would love to see a more in depth film covering some of the legendary races but this was terrific thanks

[@bobdobalina838]

I never forget when I lived in Paris, my friend had a Lancia Delta Integrale and took me for I ride. As we were drifting through the streets of paris, He kept saying in his heavy French action. Eeet eez just too fast. Eet eez just too fast. Legendary.

[@Combatant5]

Group B: where a rave meets a race.

[@707shmokey]

The fans ruined it

[@broforcee]

rally drivers have the biggest balls to drive that fast into a corner. huge respect to them

[@Reuben-]

That intro was well done and executed. Gave me chills with that build up. So very cool!

[@pandaexpress7326]

When the fia was fun “Ah fuck it if it’s got wheels run it”

[@FluffyBlueCow]

So you just copied Albon's video? Some slight changes, but beat for beat, the same video and structure.

[@KyleB_RCR8]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane @S1Ap.

[@Goosey_82]

Great video! Been an Audi fanboy for a while, and it all started at group B. Thanks for covering this insane era of motor racing.

[@razorsitch9882]

Great video man, I enjoy everything you put out. Thank you.

[@jeffbrownirl]

Thank you 🙏 so much for your accurate and entertaining videos!

[@BusyMEOW]

That was such a well narrated video! Rally for me is the purest form of racing, not racing against other drivers but the clock.

[@hilanddoug]

The American Rally Association and the National Auto Sport Association host rallies in the USA. They're not televised as far as I know, but lots of people attend. I just went to my first one- the Sno-Drift Rally in Atlanta, Michigan, and it was everything you see in this video. Not to be missed if you're a rally fan.

[@clgmotorsport3021]

I saw clips on IG of Bonfire Alley at Sno Drift and it's got me wanting to go next year. Incredible event.

[@mhh7544]

In 86 Audi Evo 2 put out over 500bhps as did T 16, and Lancia S 4 did almost 600, but Alen said raicing setup was close to 500. Thanks for including Attilio and Aris crashes, most tubers dont mention those horrific crashes at all, tho the crash vid is not from Argentina, but Tour De Corse 1985 from which him and Terry walked away. In Argentina he barrel rolled from 120 mph, his seat broke, and he was thrown around inside the car, suffering severe injuries to his legs and torso and life-threatening internal bleeding. He spent 18 months recovering first from his physical injuries, and then from severe depression. He went on to make a complete recovery and his return to motorsport in 1987 saw him go on to win the Paris-Dakar Rally four times; with Peugeot in 1987, 1989 and 1990, and with Citroën in 1991, he also drove Subaru WRC and Ford WRC. During the 80`s 10% ( 500 000 )of our population were around the forests to watch 1000 Lakes Rally Finland, and we had the best drivers, Salonen,Mikkola,Alen,Kankkunen,Toivonen.... I saw these cars live when I was a teen.

[@Bad.ventures]

Excellent video!! Superb storytelling and very informative. Thank you

[@bluejay4214]

I wasn’t expecting Slapshoes to cover my favorite era of racing… nice 👍

[@nickcoutts2402]

great video, i knew about group b from forza n stuff but never knew it was this crazy.

[@walyap8094]

Great video. That ending segment was fantastic.

[@0ompaLoompa]

That little documentary brought tears to my eyes. Had everything. The action, the characters,the sadness and at the end:the hope. I remember watching some stages on tv with my father back when I was 4-5 years old. Haven't watched WRC for years, but those clips at the end definitely made me hungry for it. For some reason, there is just a little more excitement when watching a race and death is always on the line for everyone involved. Sad but true.

[@HassanIbrahimRally57]

Something even more crazier is that the current Rally1 cars are WAY FASTER than these Group B cars and can match the acceleration of an F1 Car on Gravel.

[@Starfire_Storm]

The thing bout Group B cars, is not that they were *too* fast, it's that they handled awfully and had terrible safety for the speeds they were going. Even Group A cars in their latter years were faster than Group B cars.

[@TripleAlfafa]

@@Starfire_Storm Eh, they didn't start doing similar stage times until the 2000's and even then, the WRC machinery back then was loaded with some crazy trick suspension that was linked to GPS positions so they'd be soft on gravel or hard on asphalt.

[@Starfire_Storm]

@@TripleAlfafa It still resulted in similar speed, and that's what matters.

[@johnnybisone3596]

Yo that was awesome - thank you for making this