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BOOK REVIEW GROUP A: WHEN RALLYING CREATED ROAD CAR ICONS RRP €49.90
“During those 10 years, rallying died a little.” The latest book in the series by World Rally Championship historian John Davenport, covering the Group A years between 1987 and 1996, doesn’t shy away from the fact that it’s not a fondly remembered era. Released last year, When Rallying Created Road Car Icons follows previous efforts in which Davenport delves into Groups 2, 4 and B – the latter giving Group A a tough act to follow.
It wasn’t helped by the initial domination of Lancia. Its Integrale was the most successful example in the early A years of a manufacturer quickly responding to Group B’s demise by assimilating existing motorsport-derived technology into tuned road cars with a minimum production of 5000 examples.
Then came Toyota’s Celica Turbo before new challengers from Ford, Subaru and Mitsubishi arose.
Group A was also dogged by controversies resulting from a well-meaning but fundamentally problematic rulebook that stipulated engines most produce no more than 300bhp – even though, as Davenport notes, “there was no way of checking whether an engine once installed in the car was over the limit”.
It was also hurt by the “much-despised” rotation of rallies that devalued grandee events, as little-known names grasped opportunities to bolster their CVS on those poorly attended rounds that didn’t count towards the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championship points. Patrick Bernardini, anybody?
Davenport highlights it as a starting point for the gradual decline of rallying “outside the interest of its hardcore enthusiast to the point where national media practically ignored it”, but there were positives to be had. Group A spawned the first driver to truly transcend his discipline in 1995 champion Colin
Mcrae; a non-scandinavian beat the Finns in their own back yard for the first time courtesy of Carlos
Sainz on the 1000 Lakes of 1990, and it gave a platform to future stars in Tommi Makinen – the last Group A champion in 1996 – and Richard
Burns to name but two.
The main crux of the book, complemented throughout by photographs from the glorious Mcklein archive (a shot of Sainz, still in full racewear, enjoying a beer in a Kenyan swimming pool is one of Autosport’s favourites), is dedicated to a year-by-year history summarising the key technical and sporting rule changes at the start of each chapter before delving into the events of all the main rallies.
Davenport doesn’t shy away from the many controversies but nor does he waste time dwelling on them either. Instead, he opts to devote a chapter to the black arts of Group A at the end of the book after an overview of all the manufacturers involved; from major players to the plucky efforts of Opel –
Sepp Haider’s two-wheel-drive Kadett was an outright winner on Rally New Zealand in 1988 – and F2 marques such as Peugeot and Skoda.
The result is an effective and highly accessible overview that covers all the bases, with a full results section at the end to remind you of the time a humble
Renault 5 Turbo won the Ivory Coast Rally in 1989, and when Daihatsus filled positions fifth through to seventh on the 1993 Safari.
Naturally, one of its highlights is the aforementioned chapter exploring the black arts. It cover matters from illegal fuel on Sainz’s Jolly Club Lancia on the 1993 Sanremo, allegations of nitrous oxide being injected into the Integrale’s engine through a fire extinguisher valve on the same event two years prior and, most famously of all, Toyota’s illegal turbo restrictor system uncovered on Rally Catalunya in 1995, described by then FIA president Max Mosely as
“the most sophisticated and ingenious device
I have seen in 30 years of motorsport”.
While Group A may not be fondly remembered, this is still a fine addition to the set for WRC history buffs. We can’t wait for the World Rally Car-era book to come out…