Following the success of Circuit Deja vu in 2016, Dr Beatty Crawford and Plum Tyndall are bringing their great rally reunion event back to Killarney this Easter, but with a twist as this time they are ‘Firing up the Group B Memories’, writes Trish Whelan.
“We will be celebrating the glory years like when the supercars swept into Ireland in the late eighties to take part in events like the Circuit of Ireland, the Ulster Internationally Rally, the Galway International Rally and the fabulous Kerry stages,” say the organisers.
“The superstars came with the supercars, Bloomquist, Mikkola, Mouton, Toivonen, Vatanen, Rohl, and our locals like Fisher, Cullen and MacHale got the chance to compete against the very best in the world on home soil.”
Group B gave birth to such exotic machines as the Audi Quattro S1 and S2 Sport Quattro S1. Ford’s RS200, and the Ferrari 308. Lancia were major players with their Rally 037 and Delta S4. Opel kept to two-wheel-drive but their Ascona 400 and Manta 400s got results. Nissan had their bulky 240RS, Renault their 5 Maxi Turbo, Porsche a derivative of the 911 and SC RS, and Peugeot developed their highly successful 205 T16. British Leyland were late with their Metro 6R4 which was still being developed when Group B was cancelled in 1986.
Now, the Deja vu organisers will seed the Group B entries and their replicas at the head of the parade on the Sunday Run where they will join the other exotic machines on the non-competitive tour of the great stages.
Pictured above: TV personality, Pamela Ballantine, with Dr Beatty Crawford (left) and Alan (Plum) Tyndall during the press conference to announce that international rally champions will be in Killarney this Easter to participate in Deja vu Killarney, 2017. Pamela will MC the Gala Dinner on Easter Sunday night in Killarney.
Pictured above: TV personality, Pamela Ballantine, with Dr Beatty Crawford (left) and Alan (Plum) Tyndall during the press conference to announce that international rally champions will be in Killarney this Easter to participate in Deja vu Killarney, 2017. Pamela will MC the Gala Dinner on Easter Sunday night in Killarney.
These World, French, Middle East, British, and Irish rally champions will all be in Killarney as guests of Deja Vu Killarney when the event relives the golden Group B rallying era of the 1980s on April 15 and 16.
