All comes down to how you define it The fastest? The craziest? The most precise? The best wheel to wheel? But few have the total car control rally drivers have
It used to be a thing to reach out and touch the cars as they went past. Michèle Mouton tells a story that when her car got o the services, there was a finger hanging off a part of the car. She is an amazing driver and well worth checking out her story, she mixed with the boys and was within a few miles of winning a World championship......The closest the woman has ever come to winning a FIA world championship in any motorsport.
Group B and WRC cars both had/have a navigator aboard. The teams are allowed reconnaissance runs ("rekkies") to allow the navigator the chance to create the pace notes which are read back to the driver during the race itself. These car run on dirt, gravel, snow, ice and paved roads (tarmac) in rain or shine. These drivers are the best of the best and those that drove during the Group B era were something special.
This was the golden era of rallying....I was once a track marshal at the RAC Rally on the Chatsworth House stage in Derbyshire UK and let me tell you....when a Group B rally car passes you just inches away....YOU FEEL IT!!
@@robhallam8047 when a Ford Focus WRC 2002 driven by the Late Colin McRae passes a couple of meters of you, you feel it too, and the bang bang, you feel it even from a mile away
Ok, a bit of a lesson about rallying: - Those roads are not tracks, they're public roads and each stretch that goes from point A (start) to point B (finish) is called a stage. - The spectators are allowed to be there exactly because the roads are public but in those days the FIA cared more about money and entertainment than about the safety of the spectators, hence the sea of people you saw in some clips (most of them were from Rally Portugal). - There are all gravel rallies, all tarmac rallies and some snow rallies (like the Monte Carlo Rally) but in the Group B days some rallies had both gravel and tarmac surfaces.
The one in the Audi at the pedals is bad a s s Walter Röhrl: "When accelerating, the tears of emotion must flow horizontally towards the ear." "I don't wear a helmet for anything over 8 minutes on the Nordschleife!" "You can't treat a car like a human being. A car needs love!" "Good drivers have fly residue on the side windows." "A car is only fast enough when you stand in front of it in the morning and are afraid to unlock it." "Oversteer is when the passenger is scared. Understeer is when I'm scared." "If you see the tree you're driving into, you're understeering. If you only hear it, you have oversteer" "The true art of vehicle control can be recognized in unstable driving conditions!" "I was up to 200 in 10 seconds. I've already had to change gear five times. That's why my right hand is wider than my left. It's because I'm always changing gear in this car (Audi S1). I'm a real sports cripple!" "Popometer? If you feel anything on the car, it's the note they put on your toe!"
@@Tommy-he7dx Yeah, and the Scandinavians from the other teams asked Hannu Mikkola why Walter never came to Finnland. His answer was "We can be all glad that he never came"
I assume Walter was also in the Lancia🤷♂️ And if some people mean he was underrated. He’s driver of millennium🤷♂️ There is no one like Walter and even Nikki Lauda and Michael Schuhmacher knew that🤷♂️
Group B was finished at Tour De Corse 1986, when Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto crashed and died in their Lancia S 4, the car had more than 500 bhps and weighted on tarmac rally about a ton. It did 2.9 seconds from 0-60, on gravel., cars also were unassited, no power steering, no power breaks.
Yes. The level of development and innovation was insane. There was literally no limits to what you could do to the car so it got to the point where it was just too dangerous.
Henri Toivonen is buried a cemetary near where I live and every once in a while I go to pay my respect. Was only 6 when he perished, but was a fan like any 6yo boy at that time in Finland pretty much.
at least peugeot had power steering, i remember Timo salonen said that they lost power steering and lost time with that. but however, its not same as todays cars either. you had to have some muscles to fight thru all the stages with no much sleep etc..
The drivers had nerves of steel and superhuman reflexes. I met Walter Röhrl in 2011 and he's an imposing figure, not only in height, but presence. There's a video of him giving a popular German TV host (Barbara Schöneberger) a demo ride in an Audi S3. Chill Walter driving and a freaked out Barbara trying to keep her eyes open.
The Peugeot had each side these air intakes at the back for the intercooler. At a service point the mechanics found a finger on top of an intercooler. The fans were completley crazy. Someone tried to touch the car during the run.
12:15 The 5 cylinder Audi Quattro, the best sounding car of all time! FYI, there's always two people in the car even today, the driver and the copilot reading the pace notes for the driver, also, WRC=World Rally Championship. Oh, and this clip is of the only female driver in group B Michèle Mouton, undoubtedly the best female driver in history all categories, nobody else even comes close to her excellence driving.
7:40 - they still do it the same way, also they have to make their own pacenotes which means they drive the roads with civilian car at least once and write up what the road looks like and what kind of turn and like if there is big rock on road or so... they still have papers that co-pilot reads for the driver and they still hand write everything. at least something has not turned into stupid electric wondering :D
I discovered Group B rally racing in the early 80's in my teens. This arena of racing was just off the charts! These were pretty much stripped-down smallish cars with high horsepower. In comparison to today's cars, it would be like taking a Toyota Corolla and throwing a 400 to 500 horsepower engine in it and a suspension that was crazy tight with all-wheel drive in some cases. These racers were the probably the best drivers in the world, bar none!! They drove on snow, mud, ice, dirt, and on small town paved surfaces. Their skills were phenomenal!! Great reaction and feel free to do more of this or Formula 1.
The "shock" of Group B happens when you put their time into context/perspective. Kinda like "old heavy-metal" music.. Today, artists can go heavier, but at thatctime, there wasn't even "metal"..
WRC is faster, but cars are also way easier to handle with better tyres, suspension and just about everything. Safety and crowd control is also much better these days. Those Group B monsters wanted you to die. Also the rallies are way shorter now. They even used to drive at night. But this is not to say drivers were better. They are better to drive those old rally cars and new drivers are better in driving the new cars.
WRC cars are more agile, Group B cars were faster... the current record for "speed" is held by Stig Blomqvist's Audi Quattro A2 Group B, which covered 81 km in 25 minutes at the 1983 Rally of Argentina, at an average speed of 189 km/h (3.2 km x minute). It has not yet been surpassed by either Group A or WRC cars.
11:11 Yes, they really do have special narrow studded tires that bite into snow and ice. I don't know if it was the same in Group B, but today's cars often paradoxically have the best grip thanks to these tires on snow and ice.
Another good video to watch on YT is called ‘Climb Dance’ - when GrB was canned, Peugeot Sport reshelled their 205 T16 Evo to that of a 405 and took it to Pikes Peak to conquer- its an epic trip!
I was fortunate enough to do my work experience at school as a photographer at the Ulster rally (Northern Ireland) in the early 90’s. I had my mind blown by the whole experience.
Los '80 fueron época dorada del automovilismo, rally grupo B y Fórmula 1 en el más alto nivel, con los mejores pilotos de la historia, sin ayudas de conducción, habilidad, talento y valor en el más elevado nivel. Y no vayan a caer en que era un deporte de hombres, Michèle Mouton demostró coraje y habilidad como el que más y le tapó la boca a más de uno.
The Audi UR Quattro is my dream car! I've had over 10 or more Quattros from the Coupe 1.5 Straight 5, TT all .8 180, 1.8 225 and tye 3.2 V6, S5 3.0i, S6 5.2 V0 (Lamborghini engine) etc I can whole hardly recommend these cars! Wow! Love Group B! 💯😎❤️
The Killer B's. The bodywork was about the only original part left. It reminds me of the CAN/AM Series from the late 60's early 70's that had a very basic rule book and created some of the most iconic race cars of the time. Sadly there were several accidents the injured and killed spectators and drivers. The crash that ended Group B ruclips.net/video/Tmw0vDgTnO4/видео.htmlsi=0S01tqF-FVunMoFU
From 2017 until today we have the second Golden Era of Rallying, yeah, maybe not a lot of manufacturers (3 or 4), but if you remember, 1983 where only 2 Early 2000 were excellents years too
My dad was an amateur rally driver and in the 70's he'd sometimes take us out late at night in the countryside of Yorkshire in his Dolomite Sprint to show us how to do four wheel drift and opposite lock cornering. Cried laughing.
1980s, no abs, no power steering, kevalr bodies that weighed peanuts and 600+ horsepower in some cases. It was absolutely insane and you had to be crazy to pilot these things..
Group B ice and snow tires back in the days contained around 480 studs per tire and an stud outstick of 7-9 mm. It was better grip then on gravel even it might be hard to get your head around it 😊
The pilot makes the notes. The co-pilot writes them down and reads them to him to remind him what's ahead. No rules meant that those were innovative cars at the time. On the other hand no limits meant that they were difficult to drive. Especially when they were driven on the same roads and rally stages as the previous cars had been raced. Meaning narrow roads with lot of curves. And this was in the era when safely wasn't a priority. Some videos: "How to become a RALLY MASTER with Rauno Aaltonen"; ""Dear God"!! Ari Vatanen's big Rally moment in the Opel Manta 400", "Clarkson's favoriete Rally Battle: Audi Quattro VS. Lancia 037", "Markku Alén & Lancia Delta S4 - Part 1", "PEUGEOT 205 T16 - Best rally car ever? World Rally Championship", "Group B: When Rallying Got TOO FAST" and "Juha Kankkunen ja Markku Alén muistelevat hurjia rallin B-ryhmän aikoja".
One of the group B cars the Metro 6R4 the engine in that was used in the Jaguar AJ220 supercar (the 220 was the top speed it could go). So that demonstrates how powerful these things were.
Group B rally cars, which competed in the World Rally Championship from 1982 to 1986, are often regarded as some of the fastest and most powerful rally cars ever built. They were known for their extreme power-to-weight ratios and innovative technology. Many Group B cars had engines producing upwards of 500 horsepower, and their lightweight construction allowed them to achieve incredible acceleration and speed on both gravel and tarmac stages. In comparison, today's World Rally Championship (WRC) cars, which are based on the Rally1 regulations introduced in 2022, are also very fast but are designed with more stringent safety and environmental regulations. Modern WRC cars typically produce between 380 to 500 horsepower, depending on the configuration and hybrid technology used. They are highly sophisticated, featuring advanced aerodynamics, hybrid powertrains, and improved handling characteristics. While Group B cars were faster in terms of raw power and acceleration, modern WRC cars are designed for a different kind of performance, focusing on reliability, safety, and versatility across various surfaces. The high speeds of Group B cars were often tempered by their lack of safety features, leading to a number of serious accidents and ultimately the discontinuation of the category. In summary, while Group B cars might have been faster in a straight line and had a raw power advantage, modern WRC cars excel in overall performance, safety, and adaptability in a broader range of competitive scenarios.
Rally dakar next ? WRC is very crazy with the fact that driver is going through corner at high speed while listening to direction from the co-driver but Rally Dakar is another thing because you have to drive through desert covering thousand of miles from start to finish without knowing where is the track other than from the map/route that has been given and if you crash, stuck or having problem with the vehicle you have to solve it on your own , and IMO that's not the worst part because usually 1 vehicle have 2 or 3 people but Rally dakar have quite a lot of class including trucks , buggy , ATV and motorcycle and if you get stuck , crash or having mechanical problem you will have quite a hard time ( maybe there will be local people or tv crew watching you from helicopters but i hardly doubt they will help your )
"WRC is for boys, Group B was for men" There's an ironic thing about this quote. Between 1981 and late 1982 two women won 4 rallys (not championship) back to back on the Audi A1 Quattro. The greatest woman in motorsport Michèle Mouton (France) and her co-driver Fabrizia Pons (Italy) Great times for rally even tho the engeneering behind these cars was extreme and dangerous because champioship rules. The minimun requirement for weight was around 960 kilos and the engines were able to go from 300+ bhp to 500 bhp. The group was closed after the death of Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto on the Lancia Delta S4. Lost the car on a turn, flew out of the road and the exact moment they hit a tree, the vehicle turned into a fireball. Only the chassis was saved from that car.
There are professional drivers and there's WRC drivers, but above these were Group B drivers. Apparently the rally drivers motto is "If in doubt, flat out!"
For a VERY similar motorsport that also got discontinued for being too fast, the Kamaz Trucks of Dakar are 100% worth looking into! At one year's Dakar Rally, there's even an infamous helicopter video of the DAF 'Turbo Twin' truck- weighing in at 8 tons- overtaking a Puegot 405 (the earlier version is actually in this video, the funky little hatchback that looks like a box) as they sped through the desert at well over 100mph moments before the crash which would shut the class down.
Group B was the closest that humans have forced other humans to compete, since the day of the gladiators. The Lancia Delta S4 did 0-100 km/h in 2,5 seconds on gravel. The horsepowers were pushing up to 800-1000 hp, before they stopped it luckily.
That has been the pinnacle of Motorsport, a level never reached again. It was all about the thrill of danger both for the drivers and the spectators. Safety was not an issue. There were no limits on engine power and aerodynamics, manufacturers were totally free to build the cars the way they wanted as long as they kept the weight no lower than 820 kgs and produced at least 400 street-legal versions of the car built for the racing. So real monsters were created. For instance the deadly Lancia Delta S4: a fierce monster, so fast and dangerous that actually brought Group B to an end.
The cars were powerful but also very (very!) light. The body pannels were paper thin with near to no reinforcement, minimal rollcage, no electronic aids, brutal boost, etc They were litteral death traps on wheels Modern rally cars are almost as fast but easier to tame and way safer
Here's the most amazing thing about rallying. They had to be real cars. Every Group B car had to have 200 road going versions that people could buy. They are still out there now.
And the absolute Beast was the Audi Quattro S1..... 560hp to 600hp in a 1200kg Car..... 0-60mph in about 2,9sec..... And the Master of the Beast, the best Driver of all Times was: Walter Röhrl in Germany we called him: "Meister" means Master (no additional designation needed) . He won the most difficult Rallye in the whole World, The Rallye Monte Carlo, 4 Times.in 4 different Cars! There is one Stage in this Rallye who was driven by Night..... It was called "die Nacht der langen Messer" which meaned "the Night of the long Knives".....
Not a huge rally knowledge guy, but from what i do know, Group B rally being basically unlimited was a period of explosive advancement in car performance technology. Engine forved inductions chassis drivetrain suspension aerodynamics. Everything went crazy and was constantly pushed to the limit in order to compete. Pretty sure something as iconic as Audis Quattro system was forged in Group B
3:35 The passenger is the navigator. He has meticulous notes that he calls out to the driver about upcoming corners, jumps etc usually a couple ahead. He'll call out how the angle, speed, gear etc in a shorthand as drivers often have to position their cars to slide around the corner before it's even visible. The navigator or Co-driver to be accurate is crucial.
No limits in engines, no safety restrictions... 1.6 - 2.5l turbocharged engines, 600 - 1000hp..... insanity taken to the max..... and then some... Divenire by Ludovico Einaudi is...perfect..
People look at these cars 40 years later, but often fail to realize how INSANELY, monstrously fast they were. The S1 Quattro was faster from 0-60 ON SNOW than the Formula 1 cars at that time were on the track. Way above 500HP in a car that used to weight a paper clip over 1 ton. Drivers often admitted that the cars were getting faster than their brains. They simply couldn't think fast enough to control these monsters and often counted on reflexes alone, which was still some times not fast enough.
i like how the video starts slow but speeds up, very cool. as a teenager in the 80s group b cars is what i picture when someone mentions rally. these cars are built like Nascar racecars except for rally courses which could be paved and dirt roads, definitely European origins guys.
Group B did have an impact on cars we drive today, the biggest of them was the thing we take for granted in 4 wheel drive in "ordinary" cars, AUDI was the 1st to have it, in fact it was so successful in their rally cars they were virtually unbeatabe........ The one shocking thing was the power they had, at the time it was unthinkable for a car to have 300bhp, but these did, nowadays you can just about buy anything with the same (or more) - - my Mercedes has almost 500!!! Just a dam pity that it was an inexperienced driver in a Ford RS200 (I think in Portugal) that lost control and killed 3 spectators (not to mention 30 injured) - - this brought an end to Group B
"dear God" that's Vatanen co driver Thierry Harryman. They were flying with the Opel Manta 400 in Rallye Manx against the 4wd Gr. b. Vatanen and Walter Röhrl are out of this world. You can see on race of champions 87 how this beast were well behind the grA that came in 87, after FIA banned the Gr. b. also monte carlo 85 and new zealand 85 is a great showcase of extract everything on a Gr. b. insanely fast.. near 600hp to 850kg with fuel tank under your butt
I was driving rallye in Sweden, locally, in the 90's. Not these cars, of course, but it was still intense to drive on very narrow roads at speeds up to 100 mph on snow and ice. You're so focused, that my co-driver could tell me about some close calls during the stage, that I had zero recollection of ;)
In my opinion, Group B created the greatest cars ever made. The one on my wall as a kid, the Porsche 959. After Group B it raced Paris~Dakar. It finished 1 and 2 in flying formation. Group B had the car makers salivating. The only restriction was that it had to be a production model. So Porsche made 200 cars just meet the requirements. That's why the US has none. They wanted 4 for crash testing, to make it road legal. Porsche said 'go forth and multiply'.
Among all the cars I've ever come at rallys, I've never experienced anything louder than a Porsche or Kit Car, but talking to some that were around for Group B just say you had to be there to believe how the Quattro was, they say it was a feeling as if the chirps and the engine filled all the air as it closed in. I just envy them for being able to witness that. Also, funny note: The winningest crew in the history of the WRC was made of polar opposites on physique; made up by Sébastien Loeb (short, athletic) and Daniel Elena (average height, definetly fat). They went on their legendary 9 WRC championships in a row, just unbeatable.
The thing about rally is that it's just on public roads. Closed off during the events, sure, but still normal roads. So everyone can come watch and they do, though audience today is much better mannered, and not trying to die, so they don't flock onto actual roads. There are also maps published in advance, suggestions of where to watch from, and where definitely not to watch from. Being on public roads is also why they need notes for the race. Multiple stages of random roads in a location they've likely never been in before other than briefly surveying the roads and taking notes. They only race on one section once then move on. About 500 miles in total, no one's memorizing that.
WRC Rally Finland was just last weekend. There is definately fresh content around RUclips for you to find. And one really good clip for you to react and get more depth for rallying in RUclips is "Juha Kankkunen ja Markku Alén muistelevat hurjia rallin B-ryhmän aikoja (Teknavi 2019)" It's two finnish legends reminiscing their careers. It does have good english subtitles and would be kinda unique video to react to.
I used to go and watch the group B rallying in my younger years when they were doing the UK 🇬🇧 stages. It Awesome to watch the cars fly by only a couple of feet away from you. It was eventually banned in 1986, I will let you Google search the reasons why it was banned.
in the end that is from same as "dear god" clip, the driver is finnish talent and one of the best drivers in world, Ari Vatanen, after he hit that rock fence he had tire puncture, as you can see weird moves on steering wheel, it totally slowed him a lot but he never gave up and im not 100% sure but i think he won that stage, he just kept going as fast as he could!
exactly, those people on the track, that was a lot of pressure on the riders... snow - that's clear, they also ride in Finland, Sweden, Monte Carlo is in January, so there's snow and ice up there
The very last scene is Ari Vatanen finishing a stage with a flat front tyre on the Manx rally in 1983. This has to be one of the bravest things I've ever seen. I highly recommend you watch it. On short stages it is sometimes quicker to limp home with a flat tyre than to stop and change it.
Those were the golden days for rally (Group B) and for endurance racing (Group C)! If you have the opportunity to see those cars in action DO NOT MISS IT!!!
There is still a co-driver, just the same as there was then. No technology can replace them. They read the pacenotes, which they make during reccy, which is s a slow drive through of the course beforehand.
Grass track racing (UK) is a great watch as well. They have to have a co driver, they still do it the same way, with a note pad, and one recky of that leg of the Rally to get the notes.
Some of that swaying you are seeing is deliberate. They use it to move the weight (inertia) around the vehicle without losing engine speed. It's where the sport of drift racing started from. You might want to checkout drift racing in Japan. Or, an anime called 'Initial D'. Though that might be something you guys watch off screen. There are 3 seasons of it afterall.
The cars of group B traveled almost 270 km even on gravel. Today's WR cars go 190 kilometers per hour. 3 Pedal, clutch, brake, gas.even today, the co-driver reads the instructions to the driver from the magazine
Nah, the Audi S1 E2 had a topspeed of 228 km/h with a 6 speed gearbox. But even that speed wasn´t reached most of the time. Lancia and Peugeot weren´t faster.
@@helgelippert1970In the Jyväskylä race, the top speed was reached during the 1980s and 1990s, almost 300 kilometers per hour. Then a Finnish rally legend said that the car now has more power than is even needed. This phrase has not been heard in rally races since then, that a driver would have said that there was too much power. At that time, a different gearbox was even changed to a different special test .That top speed, if you read it on one of the Fia pages, throw that information in the trash. Fia claims that only 300 hp was taken from the cars of that time, even though up to 800 horsepower were taken from them.
@@testi_kanava68 Never heard about 270km/h and and 1000hp during a Finnland stage in group B. What I know is that Lancia had around 1000hp at about 5 bar boost for a very short time on a test bench. The engine would never be able to do a full rallye in this trim. Audi had 550hp at their last rallye in Portugal 1986 before they quit group B. Röhrl said this in serveral German interviews. Markku Alen mentioned in an interview that he got a special engine with around 700hp for the last rallye in 1986. That was the Olympus Rallye in Canada. The Peugeot pilots often choosen the smaller Turbos for better drivability of the 205, instead of maximum power. At the end of group B Lancia and Peugeot had about 550 to 600hp during a rallye, except from what I wrote above. Sorry to dissapoint you, but everything else are fairy tales.
They called it ''Modern Bullfighting''. If you could touch the cars on speed you were tough. 1 more thing about those cars was thar the drivers were scared when the drove these. Greetings from Sweden.
There's another great video about the history of Group B - it's actually a follow up to 'Too fast to race' called: 'Still too fast to race'. PS: To get a real vibe - in under 10 minutes - how it really felt and looked back in the 80s in real-time speed, checkout 'Group B The Age of the Supercar!'.
Even today, rallies are run by two people, and even today a pad of paper is used for notes. It is not a question of technology as you have hypothesized: navigation is an integral part of the sport. In addition to this, it is a real necessity: it is not a circuit that repeats itself, but road tests of hundreds of kilometers. It is humanly impossible to learn the route by heart to the point of covering it all at such speeds. Without the navigator, the driver would have to choose between halving the speed or risking his life at every single turn.
They definitely have special tires, and they also have sections on pavement. Michelle Mouton, 2nd in the World Group B Championship, came to America and won the Pike's P)eak hillclimb, which is equally insane.
Just for the record. The navigators have nothing to do with technology. They drive down the road, the driver makes the notes and the navigator reads it for him during the race. They're a team. They are in this together and wouldn't want this any other way.
Group B was for Men........ and Michelle Mouton 😊🤘❤️
Michelle was a real man :)
I was in love.
Your sentence in the wrong order
Focusing on the exception.
Classic.
@@paulsterling2610his what? Your sentence isnt even proper either
The best video about the history of group B is 'Group B - When Rallying got too Fast'.
That's the one to see next!!! The ins and out of Group B, it's biginings until the end!!
That video is a must if you have even just a little interest in rally.
Agree 100%
Insanity of Group B is the best IMO
Disagree with all the above 'To fast to race' is the one and only to watch. The followup is 'Still to fast to race'
It would be tough to argue against saying that rally drivers are the best drivers in the world.
No, no. Turning left is the peak of driving skills
@@isais207 If his Crew Chief lets him.
All comes down to how you define it
The fastest? The craziest? The most precise? The best wheel to wheel?
But few have the total car control rally drivers have
F1 divers have openly admit that rally drivers are on different level
@@scottcowie227 Bottas does rally during the off season
It used to be a thing to reach out and touch the cars as they went past.
Michèle Mouton tells a story that when her car got o the services, there was a finger hanging off a part of the car.
She is an amazing driver and well worth checking out her story, she mixed with the boys and was within a few miles of winning a World championship......The closest the woman has ever come to winning a FIA world championship in any motorsport.
There's actual footage of I believe to be all people Jean Todt removing fingers from the radiator of the Peugeot. Madness.
The group b era was certainly an insane moment for rally 😂
Oh jeez lol, oh well, wanted a memory and got it 😂
@@hugovilagAnd that is Juha Kankkunen's Peugeot after special stage 3 on Portugal Rally.
@@mikko9849 ty, never made out who truly was of the team, imagine picking up someone's fingers on your way to your maden WDC
Group B and WRC cars both had/have a navigator aboard. The teams are allowed reconnaissance runs ("rekkies") to allow the navigator the chance to create the pace notes which are read back to the driver during the race itself. These car run on dirt, gravel, snow, ice and paved roads (tarmac) in rain or shine. These drivers are the best of the best and those that drove during the Group B era were something special.
This was the golden era of rallying....I was once a track marshal at the RAC Rally on the Chatsworth House stage in Derbyshire UK and let me tell you....when a Group B rally car passes you just inches away....YOU FEEL IT!!
@@robhallam8047 when a Ford Focus WRC 2002 driven by the Late Colin McRae passes a couple of meters of you, you feel it too, and the bang bang, you feel it even from a mile away
Ok, a bit of a lesson about rallying:
- Those roads are not tracks, they're public roads and each stretch that goes from point A (start) to point B (finish) is called a stage.
- The spectators are allowed to be there exactly because the roads are public but in those days the FIA cared more about money and entertainment than about the safety of the spectators, hence the sea of people you saw in some clips (most of them were from Rally Portugal).
- There are all gravel rallies, all tarmac rallies and some snow rallies (like the Monte Carlo Rally) but in the Group B days some rallies had both gravel and tarmac surfaces.
The one in the Audi at the pedals is bad a s s Walter Röhrl:
"When accelerating, the tears of emotion must flow horizontally towards the ear."
"I don't wear a helmet for anything over 8 minutes on the Nordschleife!"
"You can't treat a car like a human being. A car needs love!"
"Good drivers have fly residue on the side windows."
"A car is only fast enough when you stand in front of it in the morning and are afraid to unlock it."
"Oversteer is when the passenger is scared. Understeer is when I'm scared."
"If you see the tree you're driving into, you're understeering. If you only hear it, you have oversteer"
"The true art of vehicle control can be recognized in unstable driving conditions!"
"I was up to 200 in 10 seconds. I've already had to change gear five times. That's why my right hand is wider than my left. It's because I'm always changing gear in this car (Audi S1). I'm a real sports cripple!"
"Popometer? If you feel anything on the car, it's the note they put on your toe!"
But he hated the Jumps, Finland was off his calendar :)
@@Tommy-he7dx True.
"If I wanted to fly, I would have become a pilot!" Walter R.🤷♂😂
@@arnodobler1096 Can't argue with that :)
He is a criminally underrated driver, who had success wherever he went
@@Tommy-he7dx Yeah, and the Scandinavians from the other teams asked Hannu Mikkola why Walter never came to Finnland. His answer was "We can be all glad that he never came"
I assume Walter was also in the Lancia🤷♂️ And if some people mean he was underrated. He’s driver of millennium🤷♂️ There is no one like Walter and even Nikki Lauda and Michael Schuhmacher knew that🤷♂️
Group B was finished at Tour De Corse 1986, when Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto crashed and died in their Lancia S 4, the car had more than 500 bhps and weighted on tarmac rally about a ton. It did 2.9 seconds from 0-60, on gravel., cars also were unassited, no power steering, no power breaks.
Yes. The level of development and innovation was insane. There was literally no limits to what you could do to the car so it got to the point where it was just too dangerous.
Henri Toivonen is buried a cemetary near where I live and every once in a while I go to pay my respect. Was only 6 when he perished, but was a fan like any 6yo boy at that time in Finland pretty much.
at least peugeot had power steering, i remember Timo salonen said that they lost power steering and lost time with that. but however, its not same as todays cars either. you had to have some muscles to fight thru all the stages with no much sleep etc..
@@MrBanaanipommi Salonen had half an inch bigger steering wheel , and more tiheämpi raidetanko. Hah hah en keksinyt ny tähän englannin sanastoo.
WRC1 2024 520 bhp, ~1200kg, 0-100 in 3 seconds.
The drivers had nerves of steel and superhuman reflexes. I met Walter Röhrl in 2011 and he's an imposing figure, not only in height, but presence. There's a video of him giving a popular German TV host (Barbara Schöneberger) a demo ride in an Audi S3. Chill Walter driving and a freaked out Barbara trying to keep her eyes open.
The Peugeot had each side these air intakes at the back for the intercooler. At a service point the mechanics found a finger on top of an intercooler. The fans were completley crazy. Someone tried to touch the car during the run.
A lot of those clips were off Michelle Mouton! She's awesome!!!!!
12:15 The 5 cylinder Audi Quattro, the best sounding car of all time!
FYI, there's always two people in the car even today, the driver and the copilot reading the pace notes for the driver, also, WRC=World Rally Championship.
Oh, and this clip is of the only female driver in group B Michèle Mouton, undoubtedly the best female driver in history all categories, nobody else even comes close to her excellence driving.
Lancia Stratos sounded better .
@@marekbarycz4397 No, not even close.
7:40 - they still do it the same way, also they have to make their own pacenotes which means they drive the roads with civilian car at least once and write up what the road looks like and what kind of turn and like if there is big rock on road or so... they still have papers that co-pilot reads for the driver and they still hand write everything. at least something has not turned into stupid electric wondering :D
I discovered Group B rally racing in the early 80's in my teens. This arena of racing was just off the charts! These were pretty much stripped-down smallish cars with high horsepower. In comparison to today's cars, it would be like taking a Toyota Corolla and throwing a 400 to 500 horsepower engine in it and a suspension that was crazy tight with all-wheel drive in some cases. These racers were the probably the best drivers in the world, bar none!! They drove on snow, mud, ice, dirt, and on small town paved surfaces. Their skills were phenomenal!! Great reaction and feel free to do more of this or Formula 1.
Group B might look faster, but modern WRC cars are actulay faster by a large margin
Yeah, but they are primarily faster in the turns, the straight line speed of group B was insane
Average speed by miles, topspeed not. Acceleration quite even.
The "shock" of Group B happens when you put their time into context/perspective.
Kinda like "old heavy-metal" music.. Today, artists can go heavier, but at thatctime, there wasn't even "metal"..
WRC is faster, but cars are also way easier to handle with better tyres, suspension and just about everything. Safety and crowd control is also much better these days. Those Group B monsters wanted you to die. Also the rallies are way shorter now. They even used to drive at night. But this is not to say drivers were better. They are better to drive those old rally cars and new drivers are better in driving the new cars.
WRC cars are more agile, Group B cars were faster... the current record for "speed" is held by Stig Blomqvist's Audi Quattro A2 Group B, which covered 81 km in 25 minutes at the 1983 Rally of Argentina, at an average speed of 189 km/h (3.2 km x minute). It has not yet been surpassed by either Group A or WRC cars.
11:11 Yes, they really do have special narrow studded tires that bite into snow and ice. I don't know if it was the same in Group B, but today's cars often paradoxically have the best grip thanks to these tires on snow and ice.
Another good video to watch on YT is called ‘Climb Dance’ - when GrB was canned, Peugeot Sport reshelled their 205 T16 Evo to that of a 405 and took it to Pikes Peak to conquer- its an epic trip!
I was fortunate enough to do my work experience at school as a photographer at the Ulster rally (Northern Ireland) in the early 90’s. I had my mind blown by the whole experience.
The European remembers all this well. I am 47 years old, my father used to take me to see such matches. passion, speed was a festival. beautiful times
Los '80 fueron época dorada del automovilismo, rally grupo B y Fórmula 1 en el más alto nivel, con los mejores pilotos de la historia, sin ayudas de conducción, habilidad, talento y valor en el más elevado nivel.
Y no vayan a caer en que era un deporte de hombres, Michèle Mouton demostró coraje y habilidad como el que más y le tapó la boca a más de uno.
Vatanen my Nr 1 for decades now ! Runners up Toivonen, Alen, Mikkola, Blomqvist, Röhrl etc. Thanks for your comments. Subscribed! Cheers Robin
Note the left foot braking so that the driver can keep his foot on the accelerator!
The Audi UR Quattro is my dream car! I've had over 10 or more Quattros from the Coupe 1.5 Straight 5, TT all .8 180, 1.8 225 and tye 3.2 V6, S5 3.0i, S6 5.2 V0 (Lamborghini engine) etc I can whole hardly recommend these cars! Wow! Love Group B! 💯😎❤️
The Killer B's. The bodywork was about the only original part left. It reminds me of the CAN/AM Series from the late 60's early 70's that had a very basic rule book and created some of the most iconic race cars of the time.
Sadly there were several accidents the injured and killed spectators and drivers.
The crash that ended Group B
ruclips.net/video/Tmw0vDgTnO4/видео.htmlsi=0S01tqF-FVunMoFU
From 2017 until today we have the second Golden Era of Rallying, yeah, maybe not a lot of manufacturers (3 or 4), but if you remember, 1983 where only 2
Early 2000 were excellents years too
Please check out the video about why it ended
you should watch the video named " Group B: When Rallying Got TOO FAST . alot of explanation in that video too.
My dad was an amateur rally driver and in the 70's he'd sometimes take us out late at night in the countryside of Yorkshire in his Dolomite Sprint to show us how to do four wheel drift and opposite lock cornering. Cried laughing.
1980s, no abs, no power steering, kevalr bodies that weighed peanuts and 600+ horsepower in some cases. It was absolutely insane and you had to be crazy to pilot these things..
Group b cars were insane and the drivers are too, the greatest cars ever built
All rally cars back then & today have a co-driver. The co-driver is an essential part of the sport.
You should check out Climb Dance, a 1990 film of a run up the Pike’s Peak hill climb.
@4:45 There is a huge difference between Americans and europeans regarding safety etc. In Europa we do care less. And danger is just a fun thing.
6:55 Car number 7 Henri Toivonen at RAC 1985. Debut rally for Lancia S4 and Henkka won and another legend Markku Alen was 2nd with another S4.
Group B ice and snow tires back in the days contained around 480 studs per tire and an stud outstick of 7-9 mm.
It was better grip then on gravel even it might be hard to get your head around it 😊
The pilot makes the notes. The co-pilot writes them down and reads them to him to remind him what's ahead. No rules meant that those were innovative cars at the time. On the other hand no limits meant that they were difficult to drive. Especially when they were driven on the same roads and rally stages as the previous cars had been raced. Meaning narrow roads with lot of curves. And this was in the era when safely wasn't a priority. Some videos: "How to become a RALLY MASTER with Rauno Aaltonen"; ""Dear God"!! Ari Vatanen's big Rally moment in the Opel Manta 400", "Clarkson's favoriete Rally Battle: Audi Quattro VS. Lancia 037", "Markku Alén & Lancia Delta S4 - Part 1", "PEUGEOT 205 T16 - Best rally car ever? World Rally Championship", "Group B: When Rallying Got TOO FAST" and "Juha Kankkunen ja Markku Alén muistelevat hurjia rallin B-ryhmän aikoja".
One of the group B cars the Metro 6R4 the engine in that was used in the Jaguar AJ220 supercar (the 220 was the top speed it could go). So that demonstrates how powerful these things were.
If you haven't covered it yet, the isle of man tt races will blow your mind
Yes
Group B rally cars, which competed in the World Rally Championship from 1982 to 1986, are often regarded as some of the fastest and most powerful rally cars ever built. They were known for their extreme power-to-weight ratios and innovative technology. Many Group B cars had engines producing upwards of 500 horsepower, and their lightweight construction allowed them to achieve incredible acceleration and speed on both gravel and tarmac stages.
In comparison, today's World Rally Championship (WRC) cars, which are based on the Rally1 regulations introduced in 2022, are also very fast but are designed with more stringent safety and environmental regulations. Modern WRC cars typically produce between 380 to 500 horsepower, depending on the configuration and hybrid technology used. They are highly sophisticated, featuring advanced aerodynamics, hybrid powertrains, and improved handling characteristics.
While Group B cars were faster in terms of raw power and acceleration, modern WRC cars are designed for a different kind of performance, focusing on reliability, safety, and versatility across various surfaces. The high speeds of Group B cars were often tempered by their lack of safety features, leading to a number of serious accidents and ultimately the discontinuation of the category.
In summary, while Group B cars might have been faster in a straight line and had a raw power advantage, modern WRC cars excel in overall performance, safety, and adaptability in a broader range of competitive scenarios.
Group B was when someone said "So what can we do if we don't have limits?"
It was glorious.
Rally dakar next ? WRC is very crazy with the fact that driver is going through corner at high speed while listening to direction from the co-driver but Rally Dakar is another thing because you have to drive through desert covering thousand of miles from start to finish without knowing where is the track other than from the map/route that has been given and if you crash, stuck or having problem with the vehicle you have to solve it on your own , and IMO that's not the worst part because usually 1 vehicle have 2 or 3 people but Rally dakar have quite a lot of class including trucks , buggy , ATV and motorcycle and if you get stuck , crash or having mechanical problem you will have quite a hard time ( maybe there will be local people or tv crew watching you from helicopters but i hardly doubt they will help your )
"Group B - When Rallying got too Fast" thats more insane than that you watched here
"WRC is for boys, Group B was for men"
There's an ironic thing about this quote. Between 1981 and late 1982 two women won 4 rallys (not championship) back to back on the Audi A1 Quattro. The greatest woman in motorsport Michèle Mouton (France) and her co-driver Fabrizia Pons (Italy)
Great times for rally even tho the engeneering behind these cars was extreme and dangerous because champioship rules. The minimun requirement for weight was around 960 kilos and the engines were able to go from 300+ bhp to 500 bhp.
The group was closed after the death of Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto on the Lancia Delta S4. Lost the car on a turn, flew out of the road and the exact moment they hit a tree, the vehicle turned into a fireball. Only the chassis was saved from that car.
I read somewhere that after those races the drivers after the race often found several fingers between their car parts...
There are professional drivers and there's WRC drivers, but above these were Group B drivers. Apparently the rally drivers motto is "If in doubt, flat out!"
Modern day rally drivers are just as skilled.
For a VERY similar motorsport that also got discontinued for being too fast, the Kamaz Trucks of Dakar are 100% worth looking into!
At one year's Dakar Rally, there's even an infamous helicopter video of the DAF 'Turbo Twin' truck- weighing in at 8 tons- overtaking a Puegot 405 (the earlier version is actually in this video, the funky little hatchback that looks like a box) as they sped through the desert at well over 100mph moments before the crash which would shut the class down.
I still love the lancia... ultimate machine to me. Incredible
Recommend the Chris Harris on Cars video with the Lancia Delta S4 and Lancia Stratos on a tyre demo test day.
Group B was the closest that humans have forced other humans to compete, since the day of the gladiators. The Lancia Delta S4 did 0-100 km/h in 2,5 seconds on gravel. The horsepowers were pushing up to 800-1000 hp, before they stopped it luckily.
My era!
Co-driver cant have motionsickness !
Cool reaction !
👍👍👍💕🇸🇪😎
That has been the pinnacle of Motorsport, a level never reached again. It was all about the thrill of danger both for the drivers and the spectators. Safety was not an issue. There were no limits on engine power and aerodynamics, manufacturers were totally free to build the cars the way they wanted as long as they kept the weight no lower than 820 kgs and produced at least 400 street-legal versions of the car built for the racing. So real monsters were created. For instance the deadly Lancia Delta S4: a fierce monster, so fast and dangerous that actually brought Group B to an end.
The Spanish festival with the bull run is the San Fermin festival.
The cars were powerful but also very (very!) light. The body pannels were paper thin with near to no reinforcement, minimal rollcage, no electronic aids, brutal boost, etc
They were litteral death traps on wheels
Modern rally cars are almost as fast but easier to tame and way safer
Here's the most amazing thing about rallying. They had to be real cars. Every Group B car had to have 200 road going versions that people could buy. They are still out there now.
And the absolute Beast was the Audi Quattro S1..... 560hp to 600hp in a 1200kg Car..... 0-60mph in about 2,9sec..... And the Master of the Beast, the best Driver of all Times was: Walter Röhrl in Germany we called him: "Meister" means Master (no additional designation needed) . He won the most difficult Rallye in the whole World, The Rallye Monte Carlo, 4 Times.in 4 different Cars! There is one Stage in this Rallye who was driven by Night..... It was called "die Nacht der langen Messer" which meaned "the Night of the long Knives".....
Beautiful
Not a huge rally knowledge guy, but from what i do know, Group B rally being basically unlimited was a period of explosive advancement in car performance technology. Engine forved inductions chassis drivetrain suspension aerodynamics. Everything went crazy and was constantly pushed to the limit in order to compete. Pretty sure something as iconic as Audis Quattro system was forged in Group B
3:35
The passenger is the navigator. He has meticulous notes that he calls out to the driver about upcoming corners, jumps etc usually a couple ahead. He'll call out how the angle, speed, gear etc in a shorthand as drivers often have to position their cars to slide around the corner before it's even visible. The navigator or Co-driver to be accurate is crucial.
Fantastic music
RIP to the Lancia Delta S4, my favorite car to come out of group B
Group B + Lots of people on the road = Portugal ! 😊
No limits in engines, no safety restrictions... 1.6 - 2.5l turbocharged engines, 600 - 1000hp..... insanity taken to the max..... and then some... Divenire by Ludovico Einaudi is...perfect..
You need to watch one of the Collin McRae tribute videos. He was probably the most naturally gifted rally drivers to ever live.
Imagine driving 500hp deathtraps with no electronics
People look at these cars 40 years later, but often fail to realize how INSANELY, monstrously fast they were. The S1 Quattro was faster from 0-60 ON SNOW than the Formula 1 cars at that time were on the track. Way above 500HP in a car that used to weight a paper clip over 1 ton. Drivers often admitted that the cars were getting faster than their brains. They simply couldn't think fast enough to control these monsters and often counted on reflexes alone, which was still some times not fast enough.
That Audi sound 😍 x
i like how the video starts slow but speeds up, very cool. as a teenager in the 80s group b cars is what i picture when someone mentions rally. these cars are built like Nascar racecars except for rally courses which could be paved and dirt roads, definitely European origins guys.
Group B did have an impact on cars we drive today, the biggest of them was the thing we take for granted in 4 wheel drive in "ordinary" cars, AUDI was the 1st to have it, in fact it was so successful in their rally cars they were virtually unbeatabe........ The one shocking thing was the power they had, at the time it was unthinkable for a car to have 300bhp, but these did, nowadays you can just about buy anything with the same (or more) - - my Mercedes has almost 500!!! Just a dam pity that it was an inexperienced driver in a Ford RS200 (I think in Portugal) that lost control and killed 3 spectators (not to mention 30 injured) - - this brought an end to Group B
"dear God" that's Vatanen co driver Thierry Harryman. They were flying with the Opel Manta 400 in Rallye Manx against the 4wd Gr. b. Vatanen and Walter Röhrl are out of this world. You can see on race of champions 87 how this beast were well behind the grA that came in 87, after FIA banned the Gr. b. also monte carlo 85 and new zealand 85 is a great showcase of extract everything on a Gr. b. insanely fast.. near 600hp to 850kg with fuel tank under your butt
Luv u both trying to learn the history of rally
I was driving rallye in Sweden, locally, in the 90's. Not these cars, of course, but it was still intense to drive on very narrow roads at speeds up to 100 mph on snow and ice. You're so focused, that my co-driver could tell me about some close calls during the stage, that I had zero recollection of ;)
I saw this one video that floored me. On snow, at night, thru a forest
In my opinion, Group B created the greatest cars ever made.
The one on my wall as a kid, the Porsche 959.
After Group B it raced Paris~Dakar.
It finished 1 and 2 in flying formation.
Group B had the car makers salivating.
The only restriction was that it had to be a production model.
So Porsche made 200 cars just meet the requirements.
That's why the US has none. They wanted 4 for crash testing, to make it road legal. Porsche said 'go forth and multiply'.
Among all the cars I've ever come at rallys, I've never experienced anything louder than a Porsche or Kit Car, but talking to some that were around for Group B just say you had to be there to believe how the Quattro was, they say it was a feeling as if the chirps and the engine filled all the air as it closed in.
I just envy them for being able to witness that.
Also, funny note:
The winningest crew in the history of the WRC was made of polar opposites on physique; made up by Sébastien Loeb (short, athletic) and Daniel Elena (average height, definetly fat). They went on their legendary 9 WRC championships in a row, just unbeatable.
The thing about rally is that it's just on public roads. Closed off during the events, sure, but still normal roads. So everyone can come watch and they do, though audience today is much better mannered, and not trying to die, so they don't flock onto actual roads. There are also maps published in advance, suggestions of where to watch from, and where definitely not to watch from.
Being on public roads is also why they need notes for the race. Multiple stages of random roads in a location they've likely never been in before other than briefly surveying the roads and taking notes. They only race on one section once then move on. About 500 miles in total, no one's memorizing that.
WRC Rally Finland was just last weekend. There is definately fresh content around RUclips for you to find.
And one really good clip for you to react and get more depth for rallying in RUclips is "Juha Kankkunen ja Markku Alén muistelevat hurjia rallin B-ryhmän aikoja (Teknavi 2019)"
It's two finnish legends reminiscing their careers. It does have good english subtitles and would be kinda unique video to react to.
“The really good drivers have dead flies on their side windows.” Walter Röhrl
This we gonna watch!
I had my cars Samantha.
WRC World Rally Championship.
I used to go and watch the group B rallying in my younger years when they were doing the UK 🇬🇧 stages. It Awesome to watch the cars fly by only a couple of feet away from you. It was eventually banned in 1986, I will let you Google search the reasons why it was banned.
in the end that is from same as "dear god" clip, the driver is finnish talent and one of the best drivers in world, Ari Vatanen, after he hit that rock fence he had tire puncture, as you can see weird moves on steering wheel, it totally slowed him a lot but he never gave up and im not 100% sure but i think he won that stage, he just kept going as fast as he could!
exactly, those people on the track, that was a lot of pressure on the riders... snow - that's clear, they also ride in Finland, Sweden, Monte Carlo is in January, so there's snow and ice up there
The very last scene is Ari Vatanen finishing a stage with a flat front tyre on the Manx rally in 1983. This has to be one of the bravest things I've ever seen. I highly recommend you watch it. On short stages it is sometimes quicker to limp home with a flat tyre than to stop and change it.
Those were the golden days for rally (Group B) and for endurance racing (Group C)! If you have the opportunity to see those cars in action DO NOT MISS IT!!!
More group b, anything you can find
There is still a co-driver, just the same as there was then. No technology can replace them. They read the pacenotes, which they make during reccy, which is s a slow drive through of the course beforehand.
Grass track racing (UK) is a great watch as well.
They have to have a co driver, they still do it the same way, with a note pad, and one recky of that leg of the Rally to get the notes.
sweet, nice, love some racing, try on any sunday, steve mcqueen was even in it
and pikes peak runs
Ive watched rallying in person here in the uk
I always found a safety tree to stand behind
Some of that swaying you are seeing is deliberate. They use it to move the weight (inertia) around the vehicle without losing engine speed. It's where the sport of drift racing started from.
You might want to checkout drift racing in Japan. Or, an anime called 'Initial D'. Though that might be something you guys watch off screen. There are 3 seasons of it afterall.
The cars of group B traveled almost 270 km even on gravel. Today's WR cars go 190 kilometers per hour. 3 Pedal, clutch, brake, gas.even today, the co-driver reads the instructions to the driver from the magazine
Nah, the Audi S1 E2 had a topspeed of 228 km/h with a 6 speed gearbox. But even that speed wasn´t reached most of the time. Lancia and Peugeot weren´t faster.
@@helgelippert1970In the Jyväskylä race, the top speed was reached during the 1980s and 1990s, almost 300 kilometers per hour. Then a Finnish rally legend said that the car now has more power than is even needed. This phrase has not been heard in rally races since then, that a driver would have said that there was too much power. At that time, a different gearbox was even changed to a different special test .That top speed, if you read it on one of the Fia pages, throw that information in the trash. Fia claims that only 300 hp was taken from the cars of that time, even though up to 800 horsepower were taken from them.
@@testi_kanava68 Never heard about 270km/h and and 1000hp during a Finnland stage in group B. What I know is that Lancia had around 1000hp at about 5 bar boost for a very short time on a test bench. The engine would never be able to do a full rallye in this trim. Audi had 550hp at their last rallye in Portugal 1986 before they quit group B. Röhrl said this in serveral German interviews. Markku Alen mentioned in an interview that he got a special engine with around 700hp for the last rallye in 1986. That was the Olympus Rallye in Canada. The Peugeot pilots often choosen the smaller Turbos for better drivability of the 205, instead of maximum power. At the end of group B Lancia and Peugeot had about 550 to 600hp during a rallye, except from what I wrote above. Sorry to dissapoint you, but everything else are fairy tales.
They called it ''Modern Bullfighting''. If you could touch the cars on speed you were tough. 1 more thing about those cars was thar the drivers were scared when the drove these. Greetings from Sweden.
There's another great video about the history of Group B - it's actually a follow up to 'Too fast to race' called: 'Still too fast to race'.
PS: To get a real vibe - in under 10 minutes - how it really felt and looked back in the 80s in real-time speed, checkout 'Group B The Age of the Supercar!'.
Even today, rallies are run by two people, and even today a pad of paper is used for notes. It is not a question of technology as you have hypothesized: navigation is an integral part of the sport. In addition to this, it is a real necessity: it is not a circuit that repeats itself, but road tests of hundreds of kilometers. It is humanly impossible to learn the route by heart to the point of covering it all at such speeds. Without the navigator, the driver would have to choose between halving the speed or risking his life at every single turn.
Pace notes are still used today to tell the driver about two corners ahead
They definitely have special tires, and they also have sections on pavement. Michelle Mouton, 2nd in the World Group B Championship, came to America and won the Pike's P)eak hillclimb, which is equally insane.
From time to time, this kind of competition results in fatalities, and mostly among spectators.
Just for the record. The navigators have nothing to do with technology. They drive down the road, the driver makes the notes and the navigator reads it for him during the race. They're a team. They are in this together and wouldn't want this any other way.