RMCH 2024: MICHEL DECREMER CONFIRMS TO LEAD THE RANKING

We start this new week and this new day of competition with the sun accompanying the crews throughout the day. Even today we found dry and clean roads which did not cause any major problems even on the two massifs, Diois and Baronnies, which hosted the second part of the Common Stage.

The start was at 8.00 and the first test SR9 Valdrôme – La Piarre of 13.930 crossed the Col de Carabes (1261 m), a natural border between the departments of Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. Giorgio Schon with Francesco Giammarino nibble on second from Michel Decremer and Jennifer Hugo, but come back at a distance in today’s second test, SR10 Laborel – Montauban-sur-l’Ouvèze of 20.865 km
with the Col de Perty (1302 m) with its hairpin bends in the final downhill part.
The Buis les Baronnies time control greets the crews for the lunch break, a quick refreshment to set off again towards test 11 Sainte-Jalle – Rémuzat of 16.673 km which crosses the Col de Soubeyrand (987 m), a clean test which does not reserve any major changes with high temperatures which did not cause any difficulty for the crews who found, on this test, 15°C. Finally the Recoubeau-Jansac – Pennes-le-Sec SR12 of 16.282 km through the famous Col de Pennes (1040 m); a slightly more technical test with uphill hairpin bends and narrowing of the road that makes our crews dance on the downhill hairpin bends. The rock wall on one side and the overhanging walls offer some extra excitement especially in the shaded parts, where we find a bit of humidity.
Michel maintains the lead of the standings, losing only a few seconds to Giorgio who comes dangerously close, closing the gap. Maurizio Aiolfi also moves up the rankings to 4th position. 19th place for the winners of the 2023 edition Claudio Enz and Cristina Seeberger, 36th place for Fabio Loperfido and Simone Calosi in their first participation in Monte Carlo.
Our Dakariano Garosci-Briani crew lost two positions, finishing in 46th position on the Fiat Ritmo “Alitalia”.

The last stop of the day in Crest with a checkpoint before returning to Valence which welcomes us one last
night.
Final day of the race tomorrow with 3 tests along the route that takes us back to Monte Carlo where the last two special tests await us, the last great night which always offers unique and unforgettable emotions and which often turns the rankings upside down.
We will continue to tell you about the thrill of living this adventure called Rallye Montecarlo Historique!
Cristina Biagi for Promotor Classic Magazine

RMCH 2024: DECREMER WITH THE PROMOTOR COLORS AT THE COMMAND OF AN ALL-SPRING MONTECARLO HISTORIQUE RALLYE

Sunday is characterized by the departure at 8 am. The crews reach Privas at 9.15 am and then head towards the first test of the day, the SR5 Lyas – Pourchères of 20.398 km where we record the holding of the lead in the general classification by Michel Decremer, standard bearer of the Scuderia Promotor, in 3rd place overall Giorgio Schon with Francesco Giammarino, 5th Aiolfi Maurizio with Carlo Merenda, Bruno Saby, not used to such high and low average temperatures, is in 20th position; 29th Fabio Loperfido and 35th place for the Dakarian crew Riccardo Garosci and Rudy Briani. Last year’s winners, Claudio and Cristina, are found in 37th position. A quick stop in the traditional Remise, where the Jouanny family welcomes the competitors with the inevitable slice of apple pie and ready to leave for the 28.245 km Burzet, Freyssenet – Saint-Martial test. Michel continues to be at the top and Giorgio Schon moves up one position, separating himself from Decremer by 11 seconds. Maurizio Aiolfi drops two positions from fifth. Loperfido with Calosi who were 29th after today’s first test, drop 5 positions, the same as our crew made up of Riccardo Garosci and Rudy Briani.
An hourly check at the Place du Marché in Saint-Agrève, before tackling the 27.193km Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid. Last year it was canceled due to adverse weather conditions of ice and snow, this year the competitors face it in significantly different conditions: the high temperatures recorded (10°C) make it a simple test bordering on boring for the low averages imposed by the organization. The first two crews are confirmed as at the top of the ranking, even if Michel leads the crew of Giorgio and Francesco by another 2 seconds.

Finally, the last test SR8 Lalouvesc – Labatie-d’Andaure of 24.025 km marks the end of this cool but sunny day along the entire route which does not upset the overall ranking except for the Garosci – Briani crew who had excellent performances throughout the day but which here causes him to lose 15 positions. A last traditional CO in Tournon-sur-Rhône to head back to Valance.

Everyone would have expected, in today’s wonderful tests, especially on the Burzet and the Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, two of the symbolic tests of Monte Carlo, more severe weather conditions; the roads were completely dry even in the shaded sections with temperatures of 10°C… anomalous in this period.
The forecast gives no news of imminent disturbances, so we expect a splendid sunny day for tomorrow too.
Also tomorrow we will wake up at 5am to cover the tests they will face 2 hours before all the crews. See you tomorrow evening for updates on the day!

Cristina Biagi x Promotor Classic Magazine

Photo Credits: Renè Official Photographer

RMCH 2024: 1st DAY OF COMPETITION – CLASSIFICATION ETAPE

The classification stage began at 7:00 am. The crews left from the port of Monte Carlo covering 128 km to reach the first timed race Soleilhas – Castellane of 16.087 km where the first competitor was expected at 9.55am and ended on Lac de Chaudanne.
The victory of this special is won by crew no. 243 Fabio Loperfido and Simone Calosi, aboard the splendid Lancia Fulvia Coupe 1.300 Rally. However, the duo was unable to continue their performance on the second timed race Chaudon-Norante – Digne-les-Bains of 16.085 km which crossed the famous Col de Corobin (1211 m) where they slipped to ninth place overall; instead we point out a great exploit of couple no. 25 Michel Decremer, representative of the Scuderia Promotor in the 2023 Italian Major Events Championship in which he won the overall classification of the media trials, reaching first position overall in the general classification, tied with 3 other crews. The competitors then reached the Digne Les Bains time control.

In the afternoon they continued north with the third Ventavon – Chabestan timed race of 20.292 km across the Col de Faye (922 m) and followed by the Vercors massif where Michel Decremer conquered the summit, leaving crew no. 243 Loperfido-Calosi in 14th place. After this special test, crew no. 209 Giorgio Schon and Francesco Gianmarino, are in third place overall aboard the marvelous Austin Mini Cooper S, a crew of Milano Autostoriche with a low average.
The day ends with test number 4 La Cîme du Mas – Col Gaudissart of 17.535 km including the difficult Col de l’Écharasson (1146 m) which saw the winner of crew 25 Michel Decremer who will start tomorrow in second place position.

At the end of the day our crew no. 156 Garosci-Briani aboard the Fiat Ritmo finished in 27th position in the General Ranking.
Only the first two special tests determine the starting order of the second day of competition.

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The day was characterized by sun and serenity, and not even the coveted or feared Col de l’Écharasson reserved shivers except in a very small stretch where the very little snow on a very short stretch of the route was reported by a fun group of spectators, to give a little thrill to this race which has more of a spring flavor than a winter one as expected from Monte Carlo.
Last two time checks in Saint-Jean-en-Royans and finally Valance for the parc fermé of Camp de Mars, host city again this year.
See you tomorrow for new updates!

Cristina Biagi x Promotor Classic MAGAZINE

Photo Credits: ACM & Photo Renè Official Photographer

RMCH 2024: The Program Of The First Test Day

We get to the heart of the race with the first day of Special Tests at the 2024 Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique.

Today the crews will tackle the first 470 km with 4 Special Stages and 4 Time Controls to reach Valance in the evening.

Photo Credits: Renè Official Photographer

RMCH 2024: The Approach Stage Ends

The long approach stage has just ended. The crews, after traveling just over 1,000 km, parked the cars in Porto Ercole, in the splendid setting of the port of Monte Carlo, facing the first long night. They faced some inconveniences due to the alternate closure of the Frejus tunnel, which stopped many crews for an hour and the closure of some roads led to finding alternative routes, compared to the faster and smoother road, to be able to arrive in time at the established time checks. All this led to canceling the pre-established hours of sleep (already few in general, it was calculated around 3 hours of rest…) we therefore saw them very tired and worn out.
Unfortunately, the many kilometers have also led to the cars becoming tired and some problems have emerged: there are already withdrawals due to mechanical problems.

Crew 18 – Angelo Sticchi Damiani with Massimo Liverani arrived at the port, but broke the head gasket of the Fiat 124 Abart; 42 – Maurizio Verini and Laura Martines, already from Milan began to experience problems with the Fiat Many interventions were carried out on the roadside and even we reconnaissance personnel brought a driveshaft to a crew in difficulty.
Tomorrow morning we will see the list of starters and I will also update you on the weather conditions and the situation of the special tests; from tomorrow morning I will be busy carrying out the reconnaissance of the special tests to communicate to the crews what problems they will have to face test by test.


Stay connected!


Cristina Biagi x Promotor Classic MAGAZINE

Photo Credits: Cristina Biagi & Renè Official Photographer

RMCH 2024: GAROSCI – BRIANI ON BOARD THE FIAT RITMO N°165

The Rallye Montecarlo Historique is a one-of-a-kind race, described to us by the crew 165 Riccardo Garusci and Rudi Briani

Riccardo Garosci, can you tell us about this race from your point of view?

I find myself, for the fifth time in my almost fifty-year career as a driver, at the start of the Monte Carlo Rally. It is the fifth time: 3 editions of the modern WRC and 2 in the Historique version, like this one which starts from Milan. It’s a beautiful race, almost the same route as the modern one but on roads open to traffic and therefore with double attention, where sometimes even an ‘easy’ average of 50/h is impossible to respect (e.g. Turini). I do the Monte because, in addition to the sand of the deserts (Rudy and I are among the very few Italians to have done the Dakar on 3 continents…) I like the snow. But, this year too, as in 2022, I fear that we will remain… dry! That’s fine too: Alessio De Angelis and Promotor have made a great car available to us (especially if there is snow) as in 2022: the Fiat Ritmo with Alitalia colors which debuted at Monte in 1975. We are here, as always to have fun and be with mates from different teams and countries. We will have the colors of Grifone, the historic team that brought many champions to rallies. With Promotor’s preparation and assistance, I am sure that we will put a car on the road that has made many enthusiasts dream. After all, I myself chose the Rallies because that day in January 1972, still without a driving licence, I too, a young boy but already a fan, was there in the port of Monte Carlo, rejoicing in the victory of the ‘little’ Lancia Fulvia driven by ‘Great’ Sandro Munari…

Your navigator, Rudy Briani, returning from the Dakar Classic and the WRC as a reconnaissance team, you are a close-knit team…

Faithful companion of many adventures is Rudy Briani with whom last year in January, in our first Dakar Classic (after 4 of the modern ones for me and 7 for him…) we finished fourth overall out of 90. This January he returned, to improve: second overall with Traglio jr. and again with a Nissan Terrano as in 2023.

I remember when I involved him in (our) first Paris-Dakar in Africa, in 2001… he was just over twenty years old but already with clear ideas and determination, sometimes too much so! Then together in 2007 as winners of the Rally Raid World Cup in T2 with Ralliart’s Pajero (and in T1 the winner was Carlos Sainz, now over 60 like me and just winner of the modern Dakar in Arabia). 

Rudy, who left in early January for the Dakar Classic, came down to get into the WRC reconnaissance car and now to the historic… 

I’m very happy with second place in the Dakar classic, very close to first, this year has been a tough adventure. Then the Monte Carlo WRC went very well, rallying is my strongest passion, it was wonderful even though being a scout and therefore starting well before everyone else, you see very little. You can savor the environment a little from a distance, but you experience the atmosphere. Now let’s start with the historian with a splendid car and his friend Riccardo with whom we will soon celebrate 25 years together. This year there are some regulatory changes… we’ll play it and see how it goes. The current weather conditions indicate roads without particular atmospheric conditions that could have a particular impact… there is no snow or ice. It is always a great emotion to leave for this rally which boasts participation of the highest level with a number of participants. Doing well here has great value.

And we will follow them and collect other testimonials and comments!

Cristina Biagi x Promotor Classic MAGAZINE

Cristina Biagi x Promotor Classic MAGAZINE