All racing drivers are brave, but even among them, rally drivers are special kind of fearless. If you need proof, just type ‘Group B Rally’ into the Google machine and get ready for some of the most butt cheek-clenching onboard footage you’ve ever seen.
If you don’t have time to scour the web for old Group B footage, why not check out the video below of Liam Doran’s demonic 900 horsepower Ford RS200 at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed? The Goodwood hill climb isn’t nearly as deadly as a rally stage, however Doran’s specially prepared RS200 is probably twice as dangerous as today’s World Rally Championship cars.
According to Speedhunters, Doran’s RS200, affectionately named ‘Rosie, was purpose built to take on the unlimited class of the Pikes Peak Hillclimb. As such, it’s equipped with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine, a huge Garrett turbocharger, a nitrous system and a methanol injection system. This is good for 925 horsepower, which rockets the little Ford from 0-62 mph in a neck-breaking 1.7 seconds.
Pat’s no stranger to fast cars, but even he acknowledges Rosie is a bit on the wild side. “Every time I get in it, it tries to kill me,” he tells Goodwood, which for most people would be something they say right before turning around and selling the car, but not Pat. The car’s been in his family since the early 1990s, and no matter how many times it nearly kills him (the tally is at two right now) he always comes happily running back to Rosie.
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