Group B legends arrive at Silverstone

Having been given the honour of hosting the very first official World Championship Formula One race in 1950, Silverstone is rightly revered around the globe as the home of Grand Prix racing in the U.K.

The hallowed Northamptonshire venue, though, has also staged World Rally Championship action in its illustrious past - a chapter in the circuit's history that ended exactly 20 years ago in 1999 and which will be retold at this summer's Silverstone Classic (26 to 28 July).

A special rallying showcase organised by Slowly Sideways will not only feature legendary beasts from the audacious Group B era but also Colin McRae's iconic blue Subaru Impreza - the very car in which the swashbuckling Scot competed at Silverstone in 1997 en route to winning his third and final Network Q RAC Rally.

Back in the days of crowd-pleasing Sunday Spectator Stages set at stately homes and race tracks, the World Rally Championship roared into Silverstone on five occasions - the first visit came in 1980 then again in 1989, 1997, 1998 and finally in 1999.

Those years straddle the legendary Group B era, which came between 1983 and 1986 - an omission that will be plugged at the Classic as the Slowly Sideways showcase will include a number of these fearsome Group B monsters including Ford RS200, Nissan 240RS and Peugeot 205 T16 icons. 

Often termed 'Formula One in the forests', Group B regulations were introduced for the 1982 season with only a few restrictions and allowing almost unlimited power. Cars could be mid-engined two-seaters and manufacturers only had to produce 200 examples that bore no more than a passing resemblance to showroom models to meet minimal homologation requirements.