This year’s 5th running of the Monte Carlo Rally Historique featured 300 competitors in rally cars built up until the early 1970s. This event has rapidly gained prominence on the historic rally scene, drawing well-known names from the rally and racing world.
Unlike the new-style World Championship event for modern cars, which now sticks very closely to special stages in the Monaco area, the historic route uses the pattern of the rally in its early years, starting from seven points: Turin, Reims, Marrakesh, Barcelona, Bad Homburg, Stockholm and Athens.
Unusually warm weather saw no snow at all on the special stages as the early traces of winter melted early off the high roads of the Alps. This made the event a serious regularity challenge, with drivers and navigators working to arrive at controls with pin-point accuracy. The veteran drivers bemoaned the fact that there weren’t icy conditions to favor the skilled pilots over the stop watch and Halda brigade; and an unusual number of cars made it to the finish at the end of five days of driving.
Despite participation by Grand Prix drivers Jean Alesi and Erik Comas and rally stars Walter Rohr and Jean Ragnottil, overall victory went to the little Lancia Fulvia 1.3S Coupe of the Danish pairing of Otto and Britta Kristensen.
Submitted by Ed McDonough
