Spanish Rally Championship (Group B era)

Spain had one of the longest calendars in Europe, and its asphalt rallies in Catalonia, Asturias and the Canary Islands drew Europe’s best privateers. Group B brought Renault 5 Turbos, a Ferrari and finally the Lancia 037 to the Spanish title — and gave a young Carlos Sainz his first big results.

28
events in 1982
2
titles for Servià’s 037
1983
separate gravel championship created
1984
title for a Ferrari 308 GTB

Champions

Year Driver Co-driver Car
1982 Antonio Zanini Sabater Talbot Sunbeam Lotus
1983 Genito Ortiz — Renault 5 Turbo
1984 Antonio Zanini Joan Autet Ferrari 308 GTB
1985 Salvador Servià Sabater Lancia 037
1986 Salvador Servià Sabater Lancia 037

Zanini, Ortiz and Servià — and the young Carlos Sainz — in the Spanish championship from 1982 to 1986.

Season by season

1982. Antonio Zanini won the title in a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, a Group 2 car; he and Sabater won the Asturias and Catalunya rallies. The Bilbao rally and the Costa Brava went to Fassina’s Opel Ascona 400.

1983. Genito Ortiz won the title in a Renault 5 Turbo entered by FASA-Renault, with wins in Asturias and on El Corte Inglés in the Canary Islands; Miki Biasion won the Costa Brava and Alicante in a Lancia 037. A separate Spanish gravel championship was created that year.

1984. Zanini and Joan Autet won the title in a Ferrari 308 GTB — one of the few championships won by the Ferrari. Carlos Sainz finished second on the Rally Catalunya.

Salvador Servià, Spanish champion in 1985 and 1986 in a Lancia 037, photographed in 2018.
Salvador Servià, Spanish champion in 1985 and 1986 in a Lancia 037, photographed in 2018.Photo: User:Jcorengo via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

1985. Salvador Servià won the Asturias rally in a Lancia 037 entered by RACC Bendiberica, with Sainz second in a FASA Renault 5 Turbo; Sainz won El Corte Inglés. Servià took the first of two titles.

1986. Servià and Sabater won Alicante and Girona in the 037 and retained the title. The big international Spanish rallies — the Costa Brava, Asturias and Catalunya — went to Tabaton’s Lancia Delta S4, with Sainz second on all three in a Renault 5 Maxi Turbo and Zanini third in Asturias in a Marlboro Ford RS200. Sainz won El Corte Inglés again, and won the Spanish title in 1987.

Champions follow the English and Spanish Wikipedia lists, which agree. They name Servià’s co-driver as Víctor Sabater, whereas eWRC-results.com lists ‘J. Sabater’ beside Servià on several 1985–86 rounds, so we give only the surname. Zanini’s 1982 co-driver appears in eWRC entries by surname only. Event winners come from eWRC-results.com.

In pictures 1 photos

Pere Pi, Salvador Servià, Antoni Guil and Josep Maldonado (from left), 2014
Pere Pi, Salvador Servià, Antoni Guil and Josep Maldonado (from left), 2014Photo: Peprovira via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

More from Championships

Dutch Rally Championship (Group B era)Van der Marel’s Manta 400 and Andervang’s RS200: the Dutch championship, most of it raced in Belgium and Germany.Read more →Finnish Rally Championship (Group B era)A separate Group B class from 1983, won every year by an Audi Quattro: Lampi, Laine and Heinonen on Finnish snow and gravel.Read more →Irish Tarmac Rally Championship (Group B era)Coleman, McHale and the Opel Manta 400 on the narrow asphalt of Galway, the Circuit of Ireland and the Lakes.Read more →Belgian Rally Championship (Group B era)Spa, Ypres and the Condroz: Duez, Snijers and Droogmans in the Belgian championship from Porsche to Ford RS200.Read more →Italian Rally Championship (CIR, Group B era)Jolly Club, Grifone and the private Lancias: the Italian championship from Tognana’s Ferrari to Cerrato’s Delta S4.Read more →German Rally Championship (DRM, Group B era)Audi, Opel and then Peugeot: Demuth, Weber, Grundel and Mouton in the German championship from 1982 to 1986.Read more →

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (ES), Campeonato de España de Rally — https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campeonato_de_España_de_Rally
  2. Wikipedia (EN), Spanish Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Rally_Championship
  3. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1982 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1982/6-erc/
  4. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1983 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1983/6-erc/
  5. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1984 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1984/6-erc/
  6. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1985 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1985/6-erc/
  7. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1986 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1986/6-erc/

All text is original writing for Grouve Sports Management Group, based on the sources above. Facts checked on 21 October 2026.

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