Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique
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As every year now, there are about ten days between the two Monte-Carlo rallies, the modern WRC and the historic, the latter not attracting the same clientele at all, and especially not the same spectators.
In a flawless performance Decremer led from start to finish to score his second victory in the event Photos Courtesy ACM
After a flawless run, Belgian Michel Decremer won the 26th edition of the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique for the second time, driving the same Opel Ascona 400 that he drove to a win in 2017. Glasgow on Wednesday 31 January, and on the evening of 1 February, Reims, Milano and Bad-Homburg were the starting cities for the 233 crews that took the start out of the 248 that were entered. Almost everyone gathered in Monaco on Friday afternoon (there were eight retirements for mechanical reasons, including that of Maurizio Verini, European champion in 1975). Frédéric Lombard reports…
To celebrate the centenary of the first start of the famous concentration run in Glasgow, with five competitors, it was the turn of 25 passionate teams to start there in 2024 and, after a 2000km route, with the exception of four retirements, all who reached Monte-Carlo received commemorative medals for this long but great journey
On Saturday morning, the 225 competitors reached Valence after having completed four regularity zones in the Alpes-Maritimes, the Alpes de Haute-Provence, the Hautes-Alpes and finally in the Drôme. As has become more frequent, this year the competitors were to discover a totally dry route with even spring-like temperatures.
Lying just a handful of points behind, Giorgio Schon didn’t get the chance to challenge Decremer after the last stage was cancelled due to thick fog
Decremer and his navigator Jennifer Hugo arrived in Valence with a 90-point lead over the Spanish crew of Louis Climent Asensio and Victor Buades (BMW 323) and 100 points ahead of compatriots Maxime Castelein and Filip Deplancke (Sunbeam Tiger). 222 crews completed the classification stage.
Global warming has meant that in recent years snow and ice have been absent from this winter event. This year there were springlike conditions all along the route
On Sunday, after a well-deserved night of rest, crews headed to the Ardèche with 4 ZR on the program and an obligatory stop for a tarte aux pommes at the famous restaurant “La Remise” in Antraigues, celebrating its 60th anniversary. It was then on to Lachamp-Raphaël, Saint Bonnet le Froid, and La Louvesc, but as in the 2020 and 2022 editions there was no trace of snow, the hoped-for white gold having totally forgotten to invite itself to the rally. This at least served to make the choice of tyres an easy one. The parc fermé in the Champ de Mars was surrounded by a large crowd of spectators in Valence as 219 teams rolled in.
Read all about it in our Mar 2024 issue…
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