Know Your GT-R History : Group A

What does Group A mean to you? I can’t really say I paid much attention in the heyday of Group A. I was old enough to notice, and old enough to care about racing, but since I was in the US, it’s just not something we got a chance to see here in the 1990’s.

The FIA or Federation Internationale de l'Automobile  introduced Group A in 1982 to replace modern touring cars, and Group N to replace standard touring cars.

Normal FIA Group A requirements stated that a minimum of 2500 cars had to be produced to qualify, until 1991, then 5000 were required as a minimum. The FIA however allowed Evolution models to be homologated with a minimum of 500 cars like the Nismo Nissan Skyline GT-R(560 produced).  Check out some of the Group A and Australian touring car videos above. Below, there is also the first 5 pages of the FIA Group A Homologation paperwork for the Nismo R32 Skyline GT-R. 

My Nismo Nissan Skyline GT-R. #500

There were three divisions within Group A, Division 3 for cars above 2500cc, Division 2 for cars with engine displacement between 1600 and 2500 cc, and Division 1 for cars with less than 1600cc displacement. 

Group A was phased out in 1994, when German DTM switched to a 2.5 liter engine formula. In Japan the Japanese Touring Car Championship switched to what would eventually become JGTC and then Super GT.  Australian touring car switched to a V-8 formula in 1993, which became V-8 Supercar.

The series that used the Group A formula.

·         Australian Touring Car Championship 1985-1992

• Nissan Skyline GT-R won Championship 1991-1992

·         Australian 2.0 Litre Touring Car Championship 1986-1987

·         Australian Endurance Championship 1985-1986 & 1990-1991

·         Australian Manufacturers' Championship 1985-1991

·         British Touring Car Championship 1983-1990

·         Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft 1984-1994

·         European Touring Car Championship 1982-1988

·         All Japan Touring Car Championship 1985-1993

• Nissan Skyline GT-R won Championship 1990-1993

·         World Rally Championship 1987-2001

·         World Touring Car Championship 1987

The cars

·         Alfa Romeo 33 ·         Alfa Romeo 75 ·         Alfa Romeo Alfasud ·         Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV and GTV/6 ·         Audi Coupé GT5E ·         Audi 80 GLE ·         Audi V8 ·         Austin Metro ·         BMW 323i ·         BMW 5 series ·         BMW 635 CSi ·         BMW M3 E30 ·         Fiat Uno ·         Ford Capri ·         Ford Falcon XE ·         Ford Escort RS 1600i ·         Ford Escort RS Turbo ·         Ford Escort RS Cosworth ·         Ford Mustang ·         Ford Sierra RS Cosworthand RS500 ·         Ford Sierra XR4Ti and XR4i ·         Holden VK Commodore SS ·         Holden VK Commodore SS Group A

·         Holden VL Commodore SS Group A ·         Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV ·         Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV ·         Holden Gemini ·         Honda Civic Si (AU) ·         Honda Civic SiR (EF9) ·         Honda Civic SiR and SiR-II (EG6) ·         Jaguar XJS ·         Lancia Delta Integrale ·         Maserati Biturbo ·         Mazda 323 GTX/GT-R ·         Mazda 929 ·         Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 ·         Mercedes-Benz 190E Evolution ·         Mercedes-Benz 190E Evolution II ·         MG Maestro 1600 ·         MG Maestro 2.0 EFi ·         Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 ·         Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution I - VI ·         Mitsubishi Starion ·         Nissan Gazelle ·         Nissan Pulsar EN13 ·         Nissan Pulsar GTI-R ·         Nissan Skyline RS-X ·         Nissan Skyline GTS-R ·         Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32) ·         Nissan Skyline GT-R NISMO (R32)

·         Peugeot 206 GTi ·         Peugeot 206 RC (GTI 180) ·         Opel Ascona ·         Opel Monza 3.0E ·         Opel Omega ·         Rover SD1 3500/Vitesse ·         Subaru Impreza WRX andSubaru Impreza WRX STI ·         Subaru Legacy ·         Subaru Vivio ·         Talbot Sunbeam TI ·         Toyota Celica Supra ·         Toyota Celica ST162 ·         Toyota Celica GT-Four (ST165) ·         Toyota Celica GT-Four (ST185) ·         Toyota Celica GT-Four (ST205) ·         Toyota Corolla FX AE82 ·         Toyota Corolla AE86 ·         Toyota Corolla AE92 ·         Toyota Corolla AE101 ·         Toyota Supra and Turbo-A ·         Vauxhall Astra GTE/Opel Kadett GSi ·         Volvo 240 turbo ·         Volvo 360 ·         Volkswagen Golf GTI ·         Volkswagen Scirocco

Nissan Skyline GT-R - R32 History

GT-R history 1989-1998

August 1989 – R32 GT-R debuted

February 1990 – GT-R Nismo debuted

March 1990 – Group A GT-R debuted and won its first race

November 1990 – 1990 Group A series Champion

August 1991 – Spa Francocious 24 hr Endurance Race , Group A GT-R won the race (First time for a Japanese car to win)

November 1991 – 1991 Group A series Champion

November 1992 – 1992 Group A series Champion

March 1993 – GT-R Vspec debuted

November 1993 – 1993 Group A series Champion

February 1994 – GT-R Vspec II debuted

April 1994 – GT Racing series debuted and the GT-R won



Source: Wikipedia and gtrusablog.com