Yes, Virginia, There Was A Time Before “Oh Noes, Someone Might Get Hurt”
Back in 1982, “Group B” rules were introduced for rally car races. Group A was basically a stock car, with lots of limits on power and modifications. Group B was a Katie-Bar-The-Door, let it rip, hold my drink and watch this blast.
The spectators got into the spirit of Group B. Why let the drivers have all the fun? They wandered all over the racecourses like lemmings and took photographs while the mirrors of the cars scratched their belt buckles and the tires ran over their feet. It was glorious. But like all wonderful things, some Debbie Downers got all upset about all the dead and injured people littering the racecourses, and whined about it. Before 1987 rolled around, Group B races were cancelled, and Group A rules were all there were.
Stupid dead people’s families are always ruining everything for everyone. It’s getting so I can’t even buy lawn darts at a yard sale anymore.
3 thoughts on “Yes, Virginia, There Was A Time Before “Oh Noes, Someone Might Get Hurt””
There’s a moral here, somewhere. Right?
Like I’m known for around here, I’m going obtuse with this. Herman Wouk, in his Winds of War series, used these types of (horse) races in pre-war Europe as a metaphor for the nationalist political environment there. Sort of a “see how many people we can run down while we pageant” kind of thing.
The metaphor here is “don’t fence me in while I get this picture while this race car is trying to frogger me.”
Glad we got that straight. Gentlemen. Start ye’er engines!
Casey Klahn!
I marshalled on several rallies back then.
Great cars, great drivers, the age when the game seemed to be all about stuffing a thousand horsepower into a tiny car, four wheel-drive, four wheel drifts, full throttle, foot to the floor….
Marshalling was tough because so many spectators had no idea of how many ways they could be killed and injured.
Before one stage, I was threatened with violence for telling a group to get off the banking on the outside of a bend. It was, they said, the perfect photo opportunity site,
I then got a radio call to move some firefighting equipment to the bridge further down. The first car through was an Audi Quattro, with fresh knobbly tires. It blasted the bank with gravel, and three of the group ended up in the hospital, with face and eye injuries.
Ah, happy days!
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