The Rothmans Porsche 911 SC RS proved that Group B didn’t need 4WD to be absolutely awesome
This weekend, Rally Sweden marks the return of the World Rally Championship. However, unlike round one in Monte Carlo, there are no R-GT class Porsche 911s lining up for today’s shakedown.
Still needing our special stage fix, we’ve turned our attention to something a little more classic this week, chancing across some rare Group B onboard from the Rothmans Porsche Rally Team, run by Prodrive.
The factory-backed Porsche 911 SC RSs saw the majority of their success in the Middle East with Saaed Al-Hajri behind the wheel however, David Richards team also brought the cars over to Ireland where they were spectacularly pedalled by local ace, Billy Coleman.
Coleman (one of Ireland’s top rally drivers) won the 1985 Donegal Rally in the 911 SC RS, following that up with second at that year’s Cork Rally. The following season started with similar success as the Irishman and co-driver, Ronan Morgan secured victory at Galway.
Therefore, they had every right to believe that a win was on the cards heading into the 1986 Circuit of Ireland, an event Coleman had won three times (albeit driving non-Stuttgart machinery).
Unfortunately, an accident ruled the Rothman Porsche 911 SC RS out of the overall reckoning but, as this video from Special Stage 2 shows, Coleman definitely had the speed to take the fight to David Llewellin and his winning MG Metro 6R4.
Watching this brings back good memories of our time behind the wheel of Prodrive’s resplendent Rothmans Porsche 911 SC RS just over 12 months ago. We have to admit though, we weren’t pushing as hard as Billy Coleman!
To read our full track test of the Group B Porsche 911 SC RS, as well as an interview with Prodrive boss, David Richards, order your copy of Total 911 issue 109 now for just half price. Alternatively, you can download it straight to your digital device here.
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