With the release of the itineraries we enter the heart of this race, which has been awaited since August when registration opens where the crews begin to think about setting up the car.
DEPARTURE FROM MILAN. The 2024 edition is characterized by the renewed departure from Milan after having given way for the 2023 edition in Turin. This year the first car to leave will be from the city of Glasgow with 6 leaving in the morning at 8.30am on January 31st; On February 1st the 19 cars will also leave from Bad Hombourg at 2 pm, followed by Milan at 6 pm with the largest departure. 137 crews and the last 82 cars will set off from Milan at 7pm from Reims; then they will all concentrate in the principality of Monaco, in the splendid setting of Porto Hercules. The arrival of the first car is scheduled for around 3.30pm on Friday 2 February for the installation of the Tripy (the GPS device for checking average speeds, editor’s note), for a bit of well-deserved rest in parc fermé until next day waiting for the start.
The First Step. The crews will start on Saturday 3 February at 7am and will tackle a total of 470km of route with the first 4 special stages for a total of 70km timed. On February 4th, another 309 km of race with 4 special stages (100 km timed); on February 5, 351 km with 4 tests (68 km time trial). Final stage on February 6th of 416 km with 3 tests (60 km timed) and grand finale on the last night where they will battle on the two last special tests, the 16 Sospel – Col de Turini (19.774 km) and the 17 La Cabanette – Col de Braus (13,811 km) for a total of approximately 120 km of stage.
There will be 244 crews starting with 198 cars on high average and 46 on low average; Only 1 female crew will start from Milan with the number 100: Barbara Hemmerle Gollust and Isabelle Godin with their 1969 Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV.
The most represented nations: obviously they are the French with 103 crews, followed by 33 Italians, 15 from Great Britain, 11 Germans, 10 Swiss, 7 Norwegians, 7 Greeks, 6 crews represented respectively by Danish Belgians Spanish Polish, this year also 4 Ukrainian crews.
Milano Autostoriche: this is the largest Italian team which registers 18 crews; the other Italian teams are Grifone which boasts the registration of 6 crews and 5 from Scuderia Mirabella Mille Miglia.
Numbers down compared to 2023, an edition characterized by controversy regarding the extreme security measures implemented by the organization; many crews were penalized up to and including exclusion for having exceeded the speed limits by a few kilometers per hour when crossing some urban centres. Furthermore, again in 2023 the cancellation of one of the legendary snowy special tests certainly did not help: a bit of a contradiction considering that the Rallye Montecarlo Historique is considered epic for special tests with extreme conditions where the driver is called upon to bring out the his driving skills on very different surfaces, including ice and snow.
Positive note, it’s the news we’re not used to: the measurements of the special tests are finally all certain; no number has been omitted by imposing advanced mathematical calculations…
What will we see in this XXVI edition of the Rallye Montecarlo Historique?
We will be together with all the crews to update you daily!
Cristina Biagi x Promotor Classic MAGAZINE
Photo credits: Nicolò Mazzini