Preview Race Retro

Group B rally action and 450 stands at Stoneleigh show

One of the biggest ever gatherings of Group B rally cars, many of them in action on a demonstration special stage, will feature at Race Retro, the International Historic Motorsport Show at Stoneleigh Park near Coventry on March 23-25.

The event will include 450 stands covering 70 years of historic motorsport. After a trade day on Friday, public days on Saturday and Sunday will include live action from the four-wheel-drive, turbocharged Group B rally cars of the 1980s. French ace Michèle Mouton will be a star attraction at the wheel of her 1985 Pikes Peak Hillclimb 500bhp Audi S1 Sport Quattro.

Mouton’s S1, now owned by John Hanlon, is one of nearly 40 rally cars, including about 25 Gp B cars, to be demonstrated. “I don’t believe that we’ve ever had so many works Group B cars together at one time,” says organiser Steve Davies from the Slowly Sideways organisation. 

As well as Mouton, Björn Waldegård will be in action in the Porsche 911SC he used on the 2005 East African Safari Classic, while Russell Brookes will drive an Opel Manta 400. 

Mouton will open the show on Saturday, while 1969 Le Mans Porsche 917 team-mates Richard Attwood and Vic Elford will open it on Sunday. They will then meet visitors and sign autographs.

Advance one-day tickets cost £18 (two-day ticket, £32). Visit www.historicmotorsportshow.com or call the ticket hotline on 08701 262121.