fbpx
Wikipedia

Group 5 (motorsport)

October 28, 2023

Group 5 was an FIA motor racing classification which was applied to four distinct categories during the years 1966 to 1982. Initially Group 5 regulations defined a Special Touring Car category and from 1970 to 1971 the classification was applied to limited production Sports Cars restricted to 5 litre engine capacity. The Group 5 Sports Car category was redefined in 1972 to exclude the minimum production requirement and limit engine capacity to 3 litres. From 1976 to 1982 Group 5 was for Special Production Cars, a liberal silhouette formula based on homologated production vehicles.

1st Generation Group 5 – "Special Touring Cars" (1966 to 1969) edit

In 1966 the FIA introduced a number of new racing categories including one for highly modified touring cars, officially known as Group 5 Special Touring Cars. The regulations permitted vehicle modifications beyond those allowed in the concurrent Group 1 and Group 2 Touring Car categories.[1] Group 5 regulations were adopted for the British Saloon Car Championship from 1966 [1] and for the European Touring Car Championship from 1968.[2] The Special Touring Cars category was discontinued after the 1969 season.

2nd Generation Group 5 - "Sports Cars" (1970 to 1971) edit

 
Group 5 Porsche 917 competing in the 1970 International Championship for Makes

For the 1970 season, the FIA applied the Group 5 classification to the Sports Car class which had previously been known as Group 4 Sports Cars. The minimum production requirement remained at 25 and the engine capacity maximum at 5 litres as had applied in the superseded Group 4. Group 5 Sports Cars contested the FIA's International Championship for Makes in 1970 & 1971, alongside the 3 litre Group 6 Prototype Sports Cars.

During 1970 the FIA decided to replace the existing Group 5 Sports Car category when the rules expired at the end of the 1971 season, so the big 917s and 512s would have to be retired at the end of that year. Surprisingly, Ferrari decided to give up any official effort with the 512 in order to prepare for the new 1972 season regulations. But many 512s were still raced by private teams, most of them converted to M specification. As a result of the rule change, sports car racing popularity suffered and did not recover until the following decade, with the advent of Group C which incidentally were forced out of competition in favour of the 3.5 atmo engine formula, reminiscent of events nineteen years previous.

Background to the 5 Litre Sports Car category edit

In an effort to reduce the speeds generated at Le Mans and other fast circuits of the day by the unlimited capacity Group 6 Prototypes such as the 7 litre Fords, and to entice manufacturers of 3 litre Formula One engines into endurance racing, the Commission Sportive Internationale (then the independent competition arm of the FIA) announced that the new International Championship for Makes would be run for Group 6 Sports-Prototypes limited to 3 litre capacity for the four years from 1968 through 1971.

Well-aware that few manufacturers were ready to immediately take up the challenge, the CSI also allowed the participation of 5 litre Group 4 Sports Cars manufactured in quantities of at least 50 units. This targeted existing cars like the aging Ford GT40 and the newer Lola T70 coupe.

In April 1968, the CSI announced that, as there were still too few entries in the 3 litres Group 6 Prototype category, the minimal production figure to compete in the Group 4 Sport category of the International Championship of Makes would be reduced from 50 to 25 starting in 1969 through to the planned end of the rules in 1971. This was mainly to allow the homologation in Group 4 of cars such as the Ferrari 250 LM and the Lola T70 which had not been manufactured in sufficient quantities to qualify (unless, in the case of the Lola T70, the open Can-Am cars were counted as well).

Starting in July 1968, Porsche made a surprising and very expensive effort to take advantage of this rule. As they were rebuilding race cars with new chassis every race or two anyway, they decided to conceive, design and build 25 versions of a whole new car for the Sport category with one underlying goal: to win its first overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In only ten months the Porsche 917 was developed, based upon the Porsche 908, with remarkable technology: Porsche's first 12-cylinder engine, and many components made of titanium, magnesium and exotic alloys that had been developed for lightweight hillclimb racers. Other ways of weight reduction were rather simple, like a gear lever knob made of Balsa wood.

When Porsche was first visited by the CSI inspectors only three cars were completed, while 18 were being assembled and seven additional sets of parts were present. Porsche argued that if they assembled the cars they would then have to take them apart again to prepare the cars for racing. The inspectors refused the homologation and asked to see 25 assembled and working cars.

On April 20 Ferdinand Piëch displayed 25 917s parked in front of the Porsche factory to the CSI inspectors. Piëch even offered the opportunity to drive one of the cars, which was declined.

During June 1969, Enzo Ferrari sold half of his stock to FIAT, and used some of that money to do what Porsche did 6 months earlier with the 917, to build 25 cars powered by a 5-litre V12 in order to compete against them. With the financial help of Fiat, that risky investment was made, and surplus cars were intended to be sold to racing customers to compete for the 1970 season. Within 9 months Ferrari manufactured 25 512S cars.

Ferrari entries only consisted of the factory cars, tuned by SpA SEFAC and there were the private cars of Scuderia Filipinetti, N.A.R.T., Écurie Francorchamps, Scuderia Picchio Rosso, Gelo Racing Team and Escuderia Montjuich which not receive the same support from the factory. They were considered as field fillers, never as candidate for a win. At Porsche, however, JWA Gulf, KG Salzburg who were then replaced by Martini Racing for the following season, received all direct factory support and the privateers like AAW Shell Racing and David Piper Racing received a much better support than Ferrari's clients.

The 917 instability problem was resolved with a revised rear hatch, which was called 917K (Kurzheck). There was a long tail version known as the 917LH (Langheck). Towards the end of the 1970 season, Ferrari entered some races with a new version of the 512, the 512M which had a revised bodywork

3rd Generation Group 5 – "Sports Cars" (1972 to 1975) edit

 
Group 5 Ferrari 312PB competing in the 1972 World Championship for Makes

For 1972, the FIA applied the Group 5 classification to what had previously been known as the Group 6 Prototype Sports Cars category. These cars, now officially Group 5 Sports Cars, were limited to a 3-litre engine capacity and were to be the main competitors in events counting towards the FIA's newly renamed World Championship for Makes from 1972 to 1975. Unlike the old Group 5, there was no minimum production requirement.

4th Generation Group 5 – "Special Production Cars" (1976 to 1982) edit

 
A Lancia Beta Montecarlo contesting the 1980 World Championship for Makes in the Group 5 category.

For the 1976 season the FIA introduced a new Group 5 "Special Production Car" category, allowing extensive modifications to production based vehicles which were homologated in FIA Groups 1 through 4. These cars would contest the World Championship for Makes series from 1976 through to 1980 and then the World Endurance Championship in 1981 & 1982. The FIA rules restricted the width of the car, therefore cars were built with standard body widths but wide mudguard extensions. The regulation required only the bonnet, roof, doors and rail panel were left unmodified.[3] The rules however did not mention headlight heights, therefore when Porsche originally were to enter the 935 with the production headlight, they read the rules and discovered the loophole, therefore they raced the 935 with the hallmark flat nose. The category was also mostly associated with the wide boxy wheel arches and extravagant body style. The category would be banished after 1982 in favour of the Group B regulation, but continued to compete in JSPC, IMSA GTX category and other national sports car racing championships for a few more years. The only non-circuit events that used Group 5 cars were in the Giro D'Italia Automobilistico rally.

Group 5 cars edit

Cars homologated by the FIA as Group 5 cars included the following:

1st Generation edit

2nd Generation edit

3rd Generation edit

4th Generation edit

Racing Series that included FIA Group 5 cars edit

1st Generation edit

2nd Generation edit

3rd Generation edit

4th Generation edit

Groups 1-9 edit

Categories and Groups of Appendix J 1954 - 1965
Categories 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965
I. Touring A. Touring
II. Sports II. Grand Touring B. Grand Touring
- C. Sports
Group 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965
Group 1 Normal series production
Group 2 "Grand Touring" series prod Modified series prod Modified series prod
Group 3 Special series production Grand Touring Cars
Group 4 Series production Normal GT series prod Sports Car
Group 5 International Modified GT series prod -
Group 6 - GT specials -
Source:[4][5]
Categories and Groups of Appendix J 1966 - 1981 (Production requirement)
Categories 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981
A. Production
B. Special B. Experimental Competition B. Racing Cars
C. Racing Cars -
Group 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981
Group 1 Series Touring (5000)
Group 2 Touring (1000) Special Touring (1000)
Group 3 Grand Touring (500) Series Grand Touring (1000)
Group 4 Sportscars (50/25) Special Grand Touring (500) Grand Touring (400)
Group 5 Special Touring Cars Sports cars (50) Sports cars Special cars derived from Groups 1-4
Group 6 Prototype sportscars - Two-seater racecars
Group 7 Two-seater racecars International formula
Group 8 Formula racing cars International formula Formula libre racing cars
Group 9 Formula libre racing cars -
Source:[4][5]
Note: Special may be replaced with Competition in some official documents.

References edit

  1. ^ a b M.L Twite, The World's Racing Cars, 1971, page 173
  2. ^ ETCC 1968-1969 : The Group 5 Years 2011-03-07 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from "Touring Car Racing History" on 12 January 2009
  3. ^ . Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  4. ^ a b "Regulations - Period Appendix J | FIA Historic Database". historicdb.fia.com. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
  5. ^ a b "APPENDIX K TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPORTING CODE" (PDF).

External links edit

  • FIA Group 5 Special Production Car regulations for 1976 Retrieved from www.fia.com on 27 January 2008
  • Group 5 Stratos info
  • Zakspeed Ford Capri Turbo info

October 28, 2023
group, motorsport, group, motor, racing, classification, which, applied, four, distinct, categories, during, years, 1966, 1982, initially, group, regulations, defined, special, touring, category, from, 1970, 1971, classification, applied, limited, production, . Group 5 was an FIA motor racing classification which was applied to four distinct categories during the years 1966 to 1982 Initially Group 5 regulations defined a Special Touring Car category and from 1970 to 1971 the classification was applied to limited production Sports Cars restricted to 5 litre engine capacity The Group 5 Sports Car category was redefined in 1972 to exclude the minimum production requirement and limit engine capacity to 3 litres From 1976 to 1982 Group 5 was for Special Production Cars a liberal silhouette formula based on homologated production vehicles Contents 1 1st Generation Group 5 Special Touring Cars 1966 to 1969 2 2nd Generation Group 5 Sports Cars 1970 to 1971 2 1 Background to the 5 Litre Sports Car category 3 3rd Generation Group 5 Sports Cars 1972 to 1975 4 4th Generation Group 5 Special Production Cars 1976 to 1982 5 Group 5 cars 5 1 1st Generation 5 2 2nd Generation 5 3 3rd Generation 5 4 4th Generation 6 Racing Series that included FIA Group 5 cars 6 1 1st Generation 6 2 2nd Generation 6 3 3rd Generation 6 4 4th Generation 7 Groups 1 9 8 References 9 External links1st Generation Group 5 Special Touring Cars 1966 to 1969 editIn 1966 the FIA introduced a number of new racing categories including one for highly modified touring cars officially known as Group 5 Special Touring Cars The regulations permitted vehicle modifications beyond those allowed in the concurrent Group 1 and Group 2 Touring Car categories 1 Group 5 regulations were adopted for the British Saloon Car Championship from 1966 1 and for the European Touring Car Championship from 1968 2 The Special Touring Cars category was discontinued after the 1969 season 2nd Generation Group 5 Sports Cars 1970 to 1971 edit nbsp Group 5 Porsche 917 competing in the 1970 International Championship for MakesFor the 1970 season the FIA applied the Group 5 classification to the Sports Car class which had previously been known as Group 4 Sports Cars The minimum production requirement remained at 25 and the engine capacity maximum at 5 litres as had applied in the superseded Group 4 Group 5 Sports Cars contested the FIA s International Championship for Makes in 1970 amp 1971 alongside the 3 litre Group 6 Prototype Sports Cars During 1970 the FIA decided to replace the existing Group 5 Sports Car category when the rules expired at the end of the 1971 season so the big 917s and 512s would have to be retired at the end of that year Surprisingly Ferrari decided to give up any official effort with the 512 in order to prepare for the new 1972 season regulations But many 512s were still raced by private teams most of them converted to M specification As a result of the rule change sports car racing popularity suffered and did not recover until the following decade with the advent of Group C which incidentally were forced out of competition in favour of the 3 5 atmo engine formula reminiscent of events nineteen years previous Background to the 5 Litre Sports Car category edit In an effort to reduce the speeds generated at Le Mans and other fast circuits of the day by the unlimited capacity Group 6 Prototypes such as the 7 litre Fords and to entice manufacturers of 3 litre Formula One engines into endurance racing the Commission Sportive Internationale then the independent competition arm of the FIA announced that the new International Championship for Makes would be run for Group 6 Sports Prototypes limited to 3 litre capacity for the four years from 1968 through 1971 Well aware that few manufacturers were ready to immediately take up the challenge the CSI also allowed the participation of 5 litre Group 4 Sports Cars manufactured in quantities of at least 50 units This targeted existing cars like the aging Ford GT40 and the newer Lola T70 coupe In April 1968 the CSI announced that as there were still too few entries in the 3 litres Group 6 Prototype category the minimal production figure to compete in the Group 4 Sport category of the International Championship of Makes would be reduced from 50 to 25 starting in 1969 through to the planned end of the rules in 1971 This was mainly to allow the homologation in Group 4 of cars such as the Ferrari 250 LM and the Lola T70 which had not been manufactured in sufficient quantities to qualify unless in the case of the Lola T70 the open Can Am cars were counted as well Starting in July 1968 Porsche made a surprising and very expensive effort to take advantage of this rule As they were rebuilding race cars with new chassis every race or two anyway they decided to conceive design and build 25 versions of a whole new car for the Sport category with one underlying goal to win its first overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans In only ten months the Porsche 917 was developed based upon the Porsche 908 with remarkable technology Porsche s first 12 cylinder engine and many components made of titanium magnesium and exotic alloys that had been developed for lightweight hillclimb racers Other ways of weight reduction were rather simple like a gear lever knob made of Balsa wood When Porsche was first visited by the CSI inspectors only three cars were completed while 18 were being assembled and seven additional sets of parts were present Porsche argued that if they assembled the cars they would then have to take them apart again to prepare the cars for racing The inspectors refused the homologation and asked to see 25 assembled and working cars On April 20 Ferdinand Piech displayed 25 917s parked in front of the Porsche factory to the CSI inspectors Piech even offered the opportunity to drive one of the cars which was declined During June 1969 Enzo Ferrari sold half of his stock to FIAT and used some of that money to do what Porsche did 6 months earlier with the 917 to build 25 cars powered by a 5 litre V12 in order to compete against them With the financial help of Fiat that risky investment was made and surplus cars were intended to be sold to racing customers to compete for the 1970 season Within 9 months Ferrari manufactured 25 512S cars Ferrari entries only consisted of the factory cars tuned by SpA SEFAC and there were the private cars of Scuderia Filipinetti N A R T Ecurie Francorchamps Scuderia Picchio Rosso Gelo Racing Team and Escuderia Montjuich which not receive the same support from the factory They were considered as field fillers never as candidate for a win At Porsche however JWA Gulf KG Salzburg who were then replaced by Martini Racing for the following season received all direct factory support and the privateers like AAW Shell Racing and David Piper Racing received a much better support than Ferrari s clients The 917 instability problem was resolved with a revised rear hatch which was called 917K Kurzheck There was a long tail version known as the 917LH Langheck Towards the end of the 1970 season Ferrari entered some races with a new version of the 512 the 512M which had a revised bodywork3rd Generation Group 5 Sports Cars 1972 to 1975 edit nbsp Group 5 Ferrari 312PB competing in the 1972 World Championship for MakesFor 1972 the FIA applied the Group 5 classification to what had previously been known as the Group 6 Prototype Sports Cars category These cars now officially Group 5 Sports Cars were limited to a 3 litre engine capacity and were to be the main competitors in events counting towards the FIA s newly renamed World Championship for Makes from 1972 to 1975 Unlike the old Group 5 there was no minimum production requirement 4th Generation Group 5 Special Production Cars 1976 to 1982 edit nbsp A Lancia Beta Montecarlo contesting the 1980 World Championship for Makes in the Group 5 category For the 1976 season the FIA introduced a new Group 5 Special Production Car category allowing extensive modifications to production based vehicles which were homologated in FIA Groups 1 through 4 These cars would contest the World Championship for Makes series from 1976 through to 1980 and then the World Endurance Championship in 1981 amp 1982 The FIA rules restricted the width of the car therefore cars were built with standard body widths but wide mudguard extensions The regulation required only the bonnet roof doors and rail panel were left unmodified 3 The rules however did not mention headlight heights therefore when Porsche originally were to enter the 935 with the production headlight they read the rules and discovered the loophole therefore they raced the 935 with the hallmark flat nose The category was also mostly associated with the wide boxy wheel arches and extravagant body style The category would be banished after 1982 in favour of the Group B regulation but continued to compete in JSPC IMSA GTX category and other national sports car racing championships for a few more years The only non circuit events that used Group 5 cars were in the Giro D Italia Automobilistico rally Group 5 cars editCars homologated by the FIA as Group 5 cars included the following 1st Generation edit Abarth 1000 TC Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA BMW 2002 Ford Escort Twin Cam Mercedes Benz 300SEL Porsche 911 BMC Mini Cooper S 999 cc2nd Generation edit Porsche 917 includes the Kurzheck K Langheck LH widebody shortnose 917 20 Ferrari 512M S Lola T70 Ford GT40 Mk 13rd Generation edit Ferrari 312P March 73S March 74S March 75S Matra Simca MS670 Mirage M6 Alfa Romeo T33TT 12 Alpine A441 Renault Alpine A4424th Generation edit Porsche 935 includes the 935 77 935 78 known as the Moby Dick and the customer Kremer K3 and K4 and the JLP variation BMW 320i Turbo Carma FF Dallara Icsunonove Toyota Celica LB Turbo RA22 1st generation Dome Celica Turbo RA45 2nd generation TOM S Corolla G5 A40 Nissan Skyline RS Silhouette Formula Nissan Nichira Impul Silvia two nose variations Mazda RX 7 252i Mazda RX 7 253 253i 253SR Mazda RX 7 254 254i Nissan Bluebird SSS Turbo BMW 3 5 CSL BMW M1 Lancia Stratos Turbo Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo Ferrari 512 BB LM Zakspeed Ford Capri Turbo Ford Escort Zakspeed Zakspeed Lotus Europa Gr 5 Greenwood Widebody Corvette Aston Martin RHAM 1Racing Series that included FIA Group 5 cars edit1st Generation edit European Touring Car Championship 1968 to 1969 British Touring Car Championship 1966 to 1969 2nd Generation edit International Championship for Makes 1970 to 1971 Interserie3rd Generation edit World Championship for Makes 1972 to 1975 4th Generation edit World Championship for Makes 1976 to 1980 World Endurance Championship 1981 to 1982 Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft IMSA GTX All Japan Sports Prototype Championship Fuji Super Silhouette Series 1979 to 1984 Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy de 1986 Giro automobilistico d Italia it 1977 80 Giro d Italia automobilisticoGroups 1 9 editCategories and Groups of Appendix J 1954 1965 Categories 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965I Touring A TouringII Sports II Grand Touring B Grand Touring C SportsGroup 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965Group 1 Normal series productionGroup 2 Grand Touring series prod Modified series prod Modified series prodGroup 3 Special series production Grand Touring CarsGroup 4 Series production Normal GT series prod Sports CarGroup 5 International Modified GT series prod Group 6 GT specials Source 4 5 Categories and Groups of Appendix J 1966 1981 Production requirement Categories 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981A ProductionB Special B Experimental Competition B Racing CarsC Racing Cars Group 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981Group 1 Series Touring 5000 Group 2 Touring 1000 Special Touring 1000 Group 3 Grand Touring 500 Series Grand Touring 1000 Group 4 Sportscars 50 25 Special Grand Touring 500 Grand Touring 400 Group 5 Special Touring Cars Sports cars 50 Sports cars Special cars derived from Groups 1 4Group 6 Prototype sportscars Two seater racecarsGroup 7 Two seater racecars International formulaGroup 8 Formula racing cars International formula Formula libre racing carsGroup 9 Formula libre racing cars Source 4 5 Note Special may be replaced with Competition in some official documents References edit a b M L Twite The World s Racing Cars 1971 page 173 ETCC 1968 1969 The Group 5 Years Archived 2011 03 07 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from Touring Car Racing History on 12 January 2009 GREAT RACING CARS Toyota Celica LB Turbo Gr5 Page 1 of 2 Archived from the original on 2011 07 15 Retrieved 2010 09 19 a b Regulations Period Appendix J FIA Historic Database historicdb fia com Retrieved 2022 05 19 a b APPENDIX K TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPORTING CODE PDF External links editFIA Group 5 Special Production Car regulations for 1976 Retrieved from www fia com on 27 January 2008 Group 5 Stratos info Zakspeed Ford Capri Turbo info QV500 com info on M1 Gr 5 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Group 5 motorsport amp oldid 1178592169, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.