B FOR BEST
GROUP B is laid out before us. The most hallowed and controversial of all formulae, but one that is still so resonant today in all its outrageous glory and heart-rending grief. Nothing shone so brightly yet briefly as Group B, but that is not immediately obvious on a grey late-autumn day at Brittany’s Lohéac motorsports complex. The cars, though…
This is the collection of publishing magnate and some-time motor manufacturer Michel Hommell, who also owns the track and Le Manoir de l’Automobile museum at Lohéac, and it is stunning. Seven beasts, including Didier Auriol’s 1986 French Championshipwinning MG Metro 6R4 (then run by Rally Engineering Development of Widnes!); an ex-Carlos Sainz Renault 5 Maxi Turbo; an ex-Kalle Grundel Ford RS200, plus an Audi Quattro S1 with Walter Röhrl history, an ex-Bruno Saby Peugeot 205T16 and a brace of Lancias – Miki Biasion’s Delta S4 and ex-Fabrizio Tabaton 037.
Yet it is not all about the cars; we have a special guest driver ready to reacquaint himself with his halcyon days and share his memories of Group B, as this incredible collection is gathered for one final time before being sold by Artcurial in Paris in February. It’s billed as the most important collection of Group B cars ever to come to auction.
Who more appropriate to stand amid them, to recount their tales and share their secrets than Saby himself? The former French rally (and rallycross) champion, Dakar winner and WRC works driver for Lancia,
