6 replies to this topic

[ChrisD]

I have read that the Monte Carlo Rally originally started from a number of different points round Europe, and that participants could choose their starting point.   I cannot find any reference to when this practice ended, and the rally adopted a common route.  Can anyone enlighten me?  Thanks in anticipation.  Chris

[Vitesse2]

The entry lists on Rallye.Monte.Carlo seem to indicate that the change occurred in 1990.

[AAGR]

There were multiple town starts until 1997.

 

(Ref : Martin Holmes's authoritative World Rally annuals)

[Rupertlt1]

1962:

Dep: Glasgow.

Check points: Melrose, Roxburghshire; Banbury, Oxfordshire; Ye Olde Felbridge Hotel, East Grinstead; Dover.

"After arriving in France the British contingent will drive south to Bourges, then northeast to Gerardmer, before turning south again to join the route common to all competitors for the last 16 hours, which starts at Chambery and covers tricky mountain roads in the Central Massif and Alpes Maritimes."

Boulogne > Bourges > Rheims > Gérardmer > Chambery

 

1963:

Starting points: Athens, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Lisbon, Monte Carlo, Paris, Stockholm and Warsaw. Converging on Chambery.

 

"After leaving Wishaw tonight, the Glasgow starters head for Dover along a recommended route which will take them through Warwick, Kidlington, Wokingham, Bagshot, Reigate, Redhill, East Grinstead and Tunbridge Wells. They cross the Channel to Boulogne early tomorrow morning and then head through Lisieux, Rennes and Angers, reaching Bourges tomorrow night."

 

RGDS RLT

Edited by Rupertlt1, 31 July 2021 - 14:36.

[F1matt]

I am sure Bad Homburg was one of the starting points, that is a 10 hour drive to Monte Carlo without a competitive stage, easy to see why the drivers and teams wanted it scrapped. 

[BRG]

There were multiple town starts until 1997.

 

(Ref : Martin Holmes's authoritative World Rally annuals)

Shots of the cars on the 1997 rally show that they still carried the large white sticker giving their start town.  In 1998, these no longer appear. 

 

So Graham Robson (AAGR) and Martin Holmes were right (not that either of them need me to back them up!)

[Myhinpaa]

1965 was the last year the concentration run counted for anything resultwise, apart from completing it and making the start proper.

 

1997 only privateers did a concentration run from multiple starting points, for all the works entered drivers (23) they started first

from Monte Carlo on Saturday morning with the Mickey Mouse stage in Monaco, the one and only for the first leg.

 

Still the works cars carried big white stickers indicating their starting points as the privateers who took part in the concentration run.

Hence why all the stickers on the works cars reads : "MONTE CARLO"

 

A classic performance by Piero Liatti and Fabriza Pons with their victory in a Prodrive run Subaru.

 

Some onboard footage of them from the Catalunya round in April the same year, shows how the co-driver can "drive" the car too!