Monte Carlo Rally
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The Monte Carlo Rally (officially Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo) is a rally racing event organized each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco who also organize the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco and the Monaco Kart Cup. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and southeast France.
From its inception in 1911 by Prince Albert I, this rally, under difficult and demanding conditions, was an important means of testing the latest improvements and innovations to automobiles. Winning the rally gave the car a great deal of credibility and publicity. Since 1973, the race has been held in January as the first race of the FIA World Rally Championship. The conditions typically comprise of dry tarmac, wet tarmac, snow, and ice, sometimes all in a single stage of the rally. This places a big emphasis on tyre choices, as a driver has to balance the need for grip on ice and snow with the need for grip on dry tarmac. For the driver, this is often a difficult choice as the tyres that work well on snow and ice normally perform badly on dry tarmac. See also Rally racing.
This rally features what is possibly the most famous rally stage in the world. The stage is run from La Bollène to Sospel, or the other way around, over a steep and tight mountain road with many hairpin turns. On this route it passes over the Col de Turini, which normally has ice and/or snow on sections of it at that time of the year. Spectators also throw snow on the road — in 2005, Marcus Grönholm and Petter Solberg both ripped a wheel off their cars when they skidded on snow most likely placed there by spectators and crashed into a wall. Marcus went on to finish fifth, but Petter was forced to retire as the damage to his car was extensive.
Until a few years ago, the Turini was also driven at night, with thousand of fans watching the Night of Turini as it was called, due to the strong high beam lights cutting through the night.
Contents |
[edit] Past winners
(list by Driver / Co-Driver and vehicle type)
[edit] 1911-1929
| Year | Winner | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | Henri Rougier — (Turcat-Mery) | Aspaigu — (Gobron) | Jules Beutler — (Martini) |
| 1912 | Jules Beutler — (Berliet) | Von Eismark — (Dunkop) | Meuiner — (Delaunay-Belleville) |
| 1924 | Jacques Edouard Ledure — (Bignan) | de Marquet — (Métallurgique) | Barbillon — (Bignan) |
| 1925 | François Repusseau — (Renault) | Mertens — (Lancia Lambda) | Lamarche — (FN) |
| 1926 | Victor A. Bruce/W J Brunell — (Autocarrier) | Bussienne — (Sizaire Frères) | Marika — (Citroën) |
| 1927 | Lefebvre/Despaux — (Amilcar) | Clausse — (Celtic-Bignani) | Bussienne — (Sizaire-Frères) |
| 1928 | Jacques Bignan — (Fiat) | Malaret — (Fiat) | Versigny — (Talbot) |
| 1929 | Sprenger van Euk — (Graham-Paige) | Szmick — (Weiss-Manfred) | Visser — (Lancia) |
[edit] 1930-1949
[edit] 1950-1969
[edit] 1970-1989
[edit] 1990-1999
| Year | Winner | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Didier Auriol/Bernard Occelli — (Lancia Delta HF Integrale) | ||
| 1991 | Carlos Sainz/Luis Moya — (Toyota Celica GT4) | ||
| 1992 | Didier Auriol/Bernard Occelli — (Lancia Delta HF Integrale) | Carlos Sainz/Luis Moya — (Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD) | |
| 1993 | Didier Auriol/Bernard Occelli — (Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD) | ||
| 1994 | Francois Delecour/Daniel Grataloup — (Ford Escort RS Cosworth) | Juha Kankkunen/Nicky Grist — (Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD) | |
| 1995 | Carlos Sainz/Luis Moya — (Subaru Impreza 555) | ||
| 1996 | Patrick Bernardini/Bernard Occelli — (Ford Escort RS Cosworth) — (no WRC Rally) | ||
| 1997 | Piero Liatti/Fabrizia Pons — (Subaru Impreza WRC97) | ||
| 1998 | Carlos Sainz/Luis Moya — (Toyota Corolla WRC) | ||
| 1999 | Tommi Mäkinen/Risto Mannisenmäki — (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) |
[edit] 2000-2006
| Year | Winner | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Tommi Mäkinen/Risto Mannisenmäki — (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) | Carlos Sainz/Luis Moya — (Ford) | Juha Kankkunen/ — (Subaru) |
| 2001 | Tommi Mäkinen/Risto Mannisenmäki — (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) | Carlos Sainz/Luis Moya — (Ford Focus RS WRC) | François Delecour/Daniel Gratloup — (Ford Focus RS WRC) |
| 2002 | Tommi Mäkinen/Kaj Lindstrom — (Subaru Impreza WRC) | Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena — (Citroën Xsara WRC) | Carlos Sainz/Luis Moya — (Ford Focus RS WRC 02) |
| 2003 | Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena — (Citroën Xsara WRC) | Colin McRae/Derek Ringer — (Citroen Xsara WRC) | Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti — (Citroen Xsara WRC) |
| 2004 | Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena — (Citroën Xsara WRC) | Markko Märtin/Michael Park — (Ford Focus RS WRC 3) | François Duval/Stéphane Prevot — (Ford Focus RS WRC 3) |
| 2005 | Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena — (Citroën Xsara WRC) | Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen — (Ford Focus RS WRC) | Gilles Panizzi/Hervé Panizzi — (Mitsubishi Lancer WR05) |
| 2006 | Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen — (Ford Focus RS WRC) | Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena — (Citroen Xsara WRC) | Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen — (Peugeot 307 WRC) |
[edit] External links
- Photos of the Rally cars Monte Carlo Jan 2006
- Turini Website with information on the Monte Carlo Rally
- Official Monte Carlo rally websitede:Rallye Monte Carlo
es:Rally de Monte Carlo fr:Rallye automobile Monte-Carlo nl:Rally van Monte Carlo pl:Rajd Monte Carlo pt:Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo fi:Monte Carlo -ralli sv:Monte Carlo-rallyt
