Group 1 (motorsport)

The Alfasud TI Group 1 of Alfa Romeo at the 1974 Rallye Sanremo

The Group 1 racing class referred to FIA regulations for cars in touring car racing and rallying. Throughout their existence the group retained a definition of being standard, series production touring cars, and of having a character of being unmodified or not specifically prepared for racing. The class was introduced in the then new Appendix J of the International Sporting Code in 1955 and was replaced by Group N in 1982.

History

From their inception in 1955 until 1965, Group 1, officially documented at first as the first group, were included in Category I (or A), Touring Cars, with a production requirement of between 600 and 1000 cars in a 12 month period. The two categories had up to six groups in this time era, but not consistently or retaining the same definitions.

In 1966 the FIA categories were restructured and Group 1 were placed in Category A, Production Cars, with Category B and C used for Sports and Racing cars respectively. Group 1 essentially remained the same in character but with a heightened production requirement of 5000 cars. In 1982 the numbered groups were replaced by Groups N, A, B, C, D and E.

Appendix J Classifications and Definitions 1955 - 1965

Group	Category	1955	1956	1957	Category	1958	1959	1960	Category	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965
Group 1	I. Touring	Normal series production			I. Touring	Normal series production			A. Touring	Normal series production
Group 2		"Grand Touring" series prod				Modified series prod				Modified series prod
Group 3		Special series production				Special series production			B. Grand Touring	Grand Touring Cars
Group 4	II. Sports	Series production			II Grand Touring	Normal GT series prod			C. Sports	Sports Car
Group 5		International				Modified GT series prod			-	-
Group 6	-	-				GT specials
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Appendix J Classifications and Definitions 1966 - 1981 (production requirement)

Group	Category	1966	1967	1968	1969	Category	1970	1971	Category	1972	1973	1974	1975	Category	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981
Group 1	A. Production Cars	Series Touring (5000)				A. Production Cars	Series Touring (5000)		A. Production Cars	Series Touring (5000)				A. Production Cars	Series Touring (5000)
Group 2		Touring (1000)					Special Touring (1000)			Special Touring (1000)					Special Touring (1000)
Group 3		Grand Touring (500)					Series Grand Touring (1000)			Series Grand Touring (1000)					Series Grand Touring (1000)
Group 4		Sportscars (50/25)					Special Grand Touring (500)			Special Grand Touring (500)					Grand Touring (400)
Group 5	B. Special Cars	Special Touring Cars					Sports cars (50)		B. ...	Sports cars					Special cars derived from Groups 1-4
Group 6		Prototype sportscars				B. ...	Prototype sports cars		-	-				B. Racing Cars	Two-seater racecars
Group 7	C. Racing Cars	Two-seater racecars				C. Racing Cars	Two-seater racecars		C. Racing Cars	Two-seater racecars					International formula
Group 8		Formula racing cars					Formula racing cars			International formula					Formula libre racing cars
Group 9		Formula libre racing cars					Formula libre racing cars			Formula libre racing cars				-	-
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