Due to the snow and ice in the climb to Col de Pennes, a safety speed average, lower than the one originally planned, was imposed on competitors in SR3 (16.13km) between Recoubeau- Jansac and Pennes-le-Sec. It was the third regularity stage of the 25th Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique and it was won by a 1975 Volvo 242, entered by Germany’s Norbert Drexler and Austria’s Christian Roessler, tied with the 1964 Sunbeam Tiger of a Belgian crew, Carlo Mylle and Steven Vyncke. The competitors then passed the Crest time control (CH3) and finally arrived within the scheduled times in Valence, on the famous Champ de Mars. It was the end of the Classification Leg with a Mini Cooper S in the lead of the overall standing, the same Mini that won SR2.

The serious part really starts on Sunday, with four legendary stages for Leg 1 of 3, in Ardèche and Haute-Loire. In his Alpine-Renault, half a century after his legendary 1973 win in Monaco, Jean-Claude Andruet will go back in time… notably at La Remise in Antraigues-sur-Volane where the local apple pie was once dedicated to him, before it became distributed by the Jouanny Family to all competitors!