IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM THE OWNER

Greetings Group B fans,

It is with a heavy heart that I must announce the planned closure of the Rally Group B Shrine website at the end of the year unless you give assistance. This amazing 190+ page encyclopedia of Group B history that we worked so hard on will be gone!

I’ll be blunt: the organisation has never received the proper financial support from Group B fans and related rally communities since its beginnings in 2014. In fact, we haven’t had more than one or two yearly donations in the past 4 years, not to mention that every fundraiser failed miserably and, besides reactivating cookie-based ads, we are far short of paying the annual website hosting fees.

We’re also not counting other expenses related to supporting Group B events on the ground and helping other projects such as restorations and media productions – most of which we volunteered to do because we are passionate about Group B history and didn’t feel like a paycheck should be attached to it.

As such, I never had a choice but to plunder my personal funds to keep the operations going and, quite contrary to what some of you may think, I am FAR from being rich. In fact, all of my life savings are now sunk and I sadly cannot continue without risking losing my personal assets. All of this despite working on many jobs and the Shrine for a combined 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, for the last 20 years without a single day’s vacation… yet I’m still almost 4 years behind on updating and improving the website plus other related projects such as my solo efforts in North America (the rest of the team is in Europe). The breaking point has been reached financially, emotionally and physically (we’re not getting younger).

I believe that most of the problem lies within the sense of entitlement that 99.9% of people have about the information that they find online, without thinking for a second that what they are reading AND enjoying on their screens has come from years of hard work and sacrifice. Yes, that’s probably you, but most won’t have read this far.

The organisation has many times also been victims of poachers that have stolen our content and claimed it for their own – endless battles that monopolised the entirety of our time for a long while. This means that the quality product that the Rally Group B Shrine represented is now very much diluted. Furthermore, events and media projects also take a lot of effort; these things don’t simply sprout out of the ground for you to sit back and enjoy. Yes, I’m still talking about YOU, the reader.

The Rally Group B Shrine organisation itself will most likely soldier on behind the scenes and we’ll be looking into setting up a premium service for our offerings in the next year or two. Although on a personal note I am very saddened to attach a price to history and knowledge… but you have left us with little choice!

That being said, I must thank our little team of passionate people that, besides the strife that life puts us through on a daily basis, have given time and effort to the Rally Group B Shrine’s cause this past decade. With luck, we can look to greener pastures ahead.

YOU can still show your appreciation of the immense efforts we have put in by donating with the links below… but you won’t if the past is any indication – prove me wrong!

We do however wish to thank the handful of kind souls that have supported us throughout the years.

–Jay Auger
Rally Group B Shrine owner, chief editor and main author

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Since 2014, the Rally Group B Shrine is entirely dedicated to correctly preserving the history of the motorsport of rallying’s “Golden Era” (1982~1986) and to keep it alive through education; un-hyped and unbiased. The end goal is to provide an “official” online encyclopedia of the period so that the knowledge, anecdotes and stories of the people involved in Group B are never lost to time. The website currently features 190+ pages of information and is still expanding. You can easily browse the “encyclopedia of knowledge” by using the menu bar above (PC), or by clicking on the top right menu tab ≡ (mobile). Even long time fans of Group B will learn something new here!

The Shrine is not just an encyclopedia but a small team of dedicated people that helps to promote almost everything Group B around the world, including media projects such as documentaries, responding to demands for information, assisting car restorations and lending its support to historical rally events. If you enjoy the website then you are heartfully invited to donate so that we can remain online and continue our mission. No amount will be too small! Your help will fund the Shrine’s interminable work; past, present and future, plus giving the people who made Group B history a proper legacy. Please support the Shrine via the PayPal donation system.

–Jay Auger
Rally Group B Shrine Owner, Main Author and Chief Editor