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The exceptional sometimes tends to replicate! Following the huge success of its previous edition, and under the recommendation of the Organizing Committee at Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM), Rally Monte-Carlo 2023, the inaugural event of FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), will again settle down next winter in the Principality. More compact geographically, but still very selective, the rally route – with 50% of the itinerary being modified, compared to 2022 – will have new features and a high number of difficulties, thanks to a series of very demanding special stages in the departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.
After three days devoted to recce, from Monday January 16 to Wednesday January 18, it will be time for the shakedown session, scheduled for Thursday January 19 from 9:31 am. Reserved to Priority 1 drivers only, and closed to the public for safety reasons, it will use the Col des Banquettes road (744m) towards Peille, starting from Place Saint-Sébastien in Sainte-Agnès, the highest coastline village in Europe. A winding climb of 2.29km and a perfect road to make final set-up adjustments before the official start on the same evening, from 6.30 pm, in the sumptuous setting of Place du Casino in Monte-Carlo. On the menu for this very first “Turini” night session, two special stages for a total of 40.93km, including a brand new version of “La Bollène-Vésubie / Col de Turini” (SS1 – 15.52km – 8:18 pm), starting for the very first time from Camp de Millo, and a very pacy stage “La Cabanette / Col de Castillon” (SS2 – 25.41km – 9:11 pm) which, for the very first time in the history of the rally, will allow drivers to race through five passes in a row: Col de l’Orme (1000m) then Col de l’Ablé (1149m), Col de Braus (1002m), Col Saint-Jean (642m) and Col de Castillon (706m).
On Friday January 20, crews will be heading for the north of the Alpes-Maritimes department and the second day of racing will total 106.18km against the clock. With a loop of three special stages to be covered twice, and an intermediate stop for a regroup and change of tires in Puget-Théniers, this will be a tough cocktail of hardships! Starting with “Roure / Beuil” (SS3/6 – 18.33km – 09:14 am / 2:08 pm) to be run at the foot of the Mercantour National Park, via Col de la Couillole (1678m), then a demanding sequence consisting of “Puget-Théniers / Saint-Antonin” (SS 4/7 – 20.06km – 10:22 am / 3:16 pm) followed by “Briançonnet / Entrevaux” (SS5/8 – 14.70km – 11:25 am / 4:19 pm) via Col du Buis (1196m) and Val-de-Chalvagne. In other words, this 2nd leg promises to be lively!
Next on the menu are Alpes-de-Haute-Provence for the third day of racing on Saturday January 21, which will total 98,43km spread over five special stages. Starting with the 2020 version of “Malijai / Puimichel” (SS9/11 – 17.47km – 09:38 am / 2:08 pm) and continuing with “Saint-Geniez / Thoard” (SS10/12 – 20.79km – 11:26 am / 3:56 pm) via Authon and its dreaded Col de Fontbelle. Between the two loops, there will be a “tire” stop and mandatory regrouping in the heart of Digne-les-Bains, on recently renovated Place du General de Gaulle. Eventually, at the end of yet another day without service, crews will have to take on “Ubraye / Entrevaux” (SS13 – 21.91km – 5:59 pm), at night, via Route de la Clue along Ravin-de-Chalvagne.
Last but not least, for the final leg on Sunday January 22, four special stages totaling 68.98km are scheduled, still without assistance. Two well-known stages in the hinterland, in the north-east of Alpes-Maritimes, to be covered twice by all the remaining crews, and not limited to 50 competitors by the regulations, as in previous years, in order to thank amateur crews for their commitment over the past few years. They will all have to deal with the long version of a traditional stage, “Lucéram / Lantosque” (SS14/16 – 18.97km – 08:01 am / 10:40 am) and a couple of passes in the inaugural stage of this 2023 edition “La Bollène-Vésubie / Col de Turini (SS 15/17 – 15.52km – 09:08 am / 12:18 pm). This famous special stage, at the second pass, will serve as Power Stage. Crews will then return to Monaco around 2:30 pm to pass the finish line, the best of them heading then to the Prize-Giving Ceremony on Place du Casino.
Stages, lengths and timings are indicative, until publication of the official itinerary.
Monaco, July 22, 2022
22th RALLY MONTE-CARLO ZENN / ZERO EMISSION NO NOISE
This 2022 edition of the 100% electric & hydrogen version of Rally Monte-Carlo makes another step forward by adopting a new philosophy with regards to power charging points. So that a strong recommendation of the Organizing Committee is validated: nightly charging parks are replaced by daily mobile charging points – in partnership with the LS Services company and the ISIOHM brand – in addition to fixed eborn network charging points all along the itinerary and Monaco On in Principality. This is another way to challenge the clearsightedness and wit of the crews, in order to face this brand new challenge.
The « Great Start » will be given this year from Valence, the emblematic city in the Drôme department and long-time partner of Automobile Club de Monaco over the past few years. The meeting point is set for Wednesday October 26 at 2 pm on the Champ de Mars Esplanade, where the first crews will be sent off for a first leg with 100% Drôme roads, including three regularity stages (SR) in the Vercors mountains, a real monument to start with!
Destination Ardèche for the 2nd leg and heading for Privas, the prefecture of the department, on Thursday October 27. It will be a day of contrasts, with four regularity stages and a whole lot of new features, as well as a bit of tradition in Antraigues-sur-Volane: a sweet stop in front of the famous Remise, still managed by the Jouanny family who will provide delicious apple tarts to the crews heading back to Valence via Privas.
The next day, Friday October 28, the 3rd leg will be 500-km long heading South to Monte-Carlo and will probably be a memorable one with four regularity stages on the menu, over three departments (Drôme, Vaucluse and Var), including Mont-Ventoux, the mythical giant of Provence.
The 4th and last leg, on Saturday October 29, will have a definite WRC tone, with a series of former traditional stages of Rally Monte-Carlo, in the departments of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes, including famous passes such as Col de Bleine as a conclusion…
Provisional schedule
Publication of the Supplementary Regulation & Opening of entries: Friday August 26, 2022
Closing of the entries: Monday September 26, 2022
Publication of the Entry List: Friday October 7, 2022
LEG 1 : VALENCE / VALENCE – Wednesday October 26, 2022 – 180km
Start VALENCE, 2 pm – Esplanade du Champ de Mars
SR1 – Barbières / Bouvante – 36.03km – via Cols de Tourniol (1145m) and de la Bataille (1313m)
SR2 – Sainte-Croix / Beaufort-sur-Gervanne – 21.64km – via Col de la Croix (745m)
SR 3 – Gigors-et-Lozeron / Combovin – 16.78km – via Col Jérôme Cavalli (842m)
Arrival VALENCE – Esplanade du Champ de Mars
LEG 2 : VALENCE / VALENCE – Thursday October 27, 2022 – 300km
Start VALENCE, 7 am – Esplanade du Champ de Mars
Check Point PRIVAS – Parc Centre Aquatique Cap’Azur (Ardèche)
SR4 – Saint-Priest / Mirabel – 21.52km – via Col du Benas (795m)
SR5 – Seyras (Les Salelles) / Le Grimaldes – 16.57km – via Col de la Croix Blanche (890m)
SR6 – Sablières / Rocles – 21.90km
SR7 – Antraigues-sur-Volane / Saint-Andéol-de-Vals – 18,17 km – via Col de Genestelle (648m)
Check Point PRIVAS – Parc Centre Aquatique Cap’Azur (Ardèche)
Arrival VALENCE – Esplanade du Champ de Mars
LEG 3 : VALENCE / MONACO – Friday October 28, 2022 – 490km
Start VALENCE, 6 am – Esplanade du Champ de Mars
SR8 – Chastel-Arnaud / Crupies – 20.13km – via Col de la Chaudière (1047m)
SR9 – Beaumont-du-Ventoux / Sault – 29.96km – via Col des Tempêtes (1830m)
SR10 – Aiguines / Trigance – 29.21km – via Col d’Illoire (967m)
SR11 – Montauroux / Tanneron – 13.46km
Arrival MONACO – Terrasses du Solei
LEG 4 : MONACO / MONACO – Saturday October 29, 2022 – 320km
Start MONACO, 7:30 am – Les Terrasses du Soleil
SR12 – Le Fugeret / Thorame-Haute – 17.99km – via la Colle-Saint-Michel
SR13 – Lambruisse / Barrême – 23.44km – via Col du Défens (1230m)
SR14 – Ubraye / Briançonnet – 20.19km – via Cols de Laval (1100m) and du Buis (1196m)
SR15 – Saint-Auban / Andon – 15.03km – via Col de Bleine (1439 km)
Arrival MONACO – Les Terrasses du Soleil
Provisional schedule, stages and lengths until the official route is published.
About Monte-Carlo E-Rally
This authentic road regularity competition, reserved to 100% Electric or Hydrogen propelled vehicles, is now very appreciated by constructors and other major players of the auto industry who wish to demonstrate, in the real world, the innovative and technological potential of their latest products. A new name was adopted in 2016, after Rally Monte-Carlo for Electric Vehicles (1995-1999), followed by Rally Monte-Carlo Fuel Cell & Hybrids (2005-2006), then Rally Monte-Carlo for Alternative Energy Vehicles (2007-2011) and Rally Monte-Carlo for New Energies / Rally Monte-Carlo ZENN (2012-2015). This is the 6th edition of E-Rally Monte-Carlo and it will count for the FIA Eco Rally Cup 2022.
Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) won the 79th Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix on Sunday, and the Mexican anthem resounded for the first time on the finish line, three hours after a start delayed by a huge storm. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Max Verstappen, in the other Red Bull, completed a podium all the more unexpected as Charles Leclerc, the local hero and big favorite, had his race wasted by a huge strategic error by Scuderia Ferrari. The Monegasque eventually took 4th place in this race which was promised to him.
Leclerc was in pole position on Sunday, shortly before 3:00 pm, after a deluge of stars on the starting grid. Then the sky darkened and the scenario for this glory day tipped into the unpredictable. The start was launched, more than an hour late, in slow motion behind the safety car. There were 75 laps to go and Leclerc was in the lead, on wet tyres, ahead of Sainz and the two Red Bulls, on a really wet track.
The first driver to switch to intermediate tires was Pierre Gasly, who had started at the back of the grid, and this choice initially paid off as the Frenchman moved up swiftly to 12th place. His example was followed immediately by Pérez, on lap 17. This was the turning point of the race because the Mexican got the right tires before his rivals. Leclerc imitated him, on the following lap, and the setbacks for the Scuderia began: three laps later, on lap 21, Sainz, who was in the lead, stopped in the Ferrari pit to put on slick tires, without ticking the intermediate tires box. But Ferrari, at the same time, asked Leclerc to do the same, despite having changed his tires three laps earlier.
The result was a traffic jam in front of the Ferrari garage, with a lot of time lost by Leclerc, and it was followed right away by an identical choice for the Red Bull drivers: slick tires on lap 22, to cover Ferrari’s strategy. The result appeared instantly. The Spaniard was 2nd, behind Pérez, and the Monegasque 4th, behind Verstappen, after the poor timing of this second stop. The order of the Top 4 never changed after this.
Then there was a miracle, when Mick Schumacher cut his Haas in half at the Swimming Pool. Schumi’s son came out unscathed but the red flag had to be waved, to give ACM marshals enough time to sweep away the debris and repair the TecPro barrier damaged by the American F1 car.
The last part of the race started at 5:15 p.m., for 45 minutes, without extra time, under the eyes of Zinédine Zidane and family. One of the numerous VIPs invited by the ACM, Alpine and other F1 teams, including Patrick Dempsey, Conor McGregor, Keylor Navas, James Foden, Ruben Dias, Mason Mount, LeBron James, GMK, but also Elon Musk, Khaby Lame, Jonathan Cohen, Squeezie, Naomi Campbell, Flavio Briatore, Claudio Capéo and Keith Harrington, among others.
This crazy race ended at 6:00 pm, in accordance with the 3-hour time limit written in the FIA regulations. It was Sergio Pérez’s third victory in F1, at the end of his 220th Grand Prix. He had already won in Bahrain in 2020, in a Racing Point, and Baku in 2021, in a Red Bull.
“Checo” immediately dedicated this win to Pedro Rodriguez, the legendary Mexican driver whose colors he wore on his helmet this weekend. Rodriguez won only twice in F1, in 1967 and 1970, and he finished 5th at Monaco Grand Prix in 1967. Pérez was not yet born. He is still 3rd in the World Championship, with 110 points, behind Max Verstappen (125) and Charles Leclerc (116). There are 15 more races this season, so everything is still possible, especially for Leclerc and Ferrari…
Dutchman Larry ten Voorde, the reigning champion in the Porsche Supercup, treated himself to a little health ride, on Sunday, in the streets of Monaco. Starting from pole position, he finished this half-hour race as the winner, just like last year, five seconds ahead of Dorian Boccolacci who kept German Laurin Heinrich until the chequered flag.
The Frenchman, 3rd in qualifying, had gained a place on the grid thanks to a penalty imposed on Briton Harry King. He made the most of it and managed to keep this 2nd place until the end, in order to climb on the spodium one step higher than last year.
Behind ten Voorde, Boccolacci and Heinrich, a nice fight pitted Luxembourg’s Dylan Pereira (4th), the winner at Imola last month, against King (5th) and another German, Michael Ammermüller (6th), the winner in Monaco in 2019. It was the most anticipated race of this historic season, that of the 30th anniversary of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup. And it was won by the defending champion. No surprise.
Brazilian Felipe Drugovich, starting in pole position, won the Formula 2 Feature Race on Sunday after resisting during 42 laps to Théo Pourchaire who tried everything, but in vain, to overtake him. The gap between the two young drivers, who still lead the way in the general classification of the championship, varied between three tenths and one second, depending on the interventions of the Safety Car, but the French ART Grand Prix driver never had an opportunity to pass the leader of the MP Motorsport team.
Two drivers had stalled on the grid, Liam Lawson and Roy Nissany, and then started from the pits, without any hope of doing well in the race. At the front of the grid, Drugovich jumped into the lead, followed by Pourchaire, Jack Doohan and Juri Vips. Winner of the Sprint Race on Saturday, Dennis Hauger stopped first in the pits, to change tyres, then Doohan, the son of a former motorcycle world champion, was overtaken in the pits during his tire change, by Vips whose team of mechanics was faster.
There was a first appearance of the Safety Car, halfway through the race, after Cordeel touched the wall at the Antony-Noghès corner. The race started again for 20 laps, with Drugovich half a second ahead of Pourchaire, who had pitted at the same lap to change tyres. Then a second exit of the red Mercedes was caused by another misfortune for Clément Novalak: the French rookie was pushed against the wall by Lawson at the exit of the Fairmont hairpin, 18 laps from the end.
After the restart, Drugovich remained very vigilant with Pourchaire in his mirrors, and Vips further behind. The places of honor were taken by Doohan, ahead of Enzo Fittipaldi, the grandson of Emerson, a double F1 world champion in the 70s, Marcus Armstrong , Dennis Hauger, winner of the Sprint Race on Saturday, and Jehan Daruvala, one of the major title contenders. Finally, there was a last small collision between Calan Williams and Ayumu Iwasa, who were fighting for 10th place, at the Fairmont Hairpin.
In the F2 championship, after ten rounds, Drugovich, the winner four times, is now 32 points ahead of Pourchaire, but the season is far from over.
Race 2 of the Formula Regional Europe by Alpine Championship (FRECA) opened Sunday in style and was won, as expected, by Swede Dino Beganovic. He started from pole position, lead all the way through and is now an even stronger leader at the top of the championship: 3 wins this season, and three second places, in six rounds. An almost perfect score for the talented member of the Ferrari Driver Academy.
Winner of Race 1 on Saturday, Frenchman Hadrien David had a good and steady race, after taking an excellent start, and he never gave Italian Gabriele Mini the slightest hope of overtaking him. Most of the single-seaters arrived safely, around thirty in total, and the first podium of the day concluded a race without surprise, on a dry track, as a few clouds were beginning to settle in the Monegasque sky. Laurens Van Hoepen was the fastest rookie. Dutch Driver, Laurens Van Hoepen, was also invited on the podium as the “fastest rookie of the day”.
The Formula 2 Sprint Race, late Saturday afternoon (30 laps), was won by Norwegian Dennis Hauger (Prema Racing), ahead of Indian teammate Jehan Daruvala who took valuable points for the championship. Hauger took advantage of a major incident at the start, when poleman Jake Hughes stalled on the grid, instantly losing the benefit of his 10th place on Friday in qualifying and his pole position due to the reverse grid concept (for the top ten drivers in qualifying).
Hauger and Daruvala took the opportunity to jump into the lead, followed by Marcus Armstrong, Enzo Fittipaldi, Juri Vips, Frenchman Théo Pourchaire, the winner last year in the Principality, Jack Doohan and Liam Lawson, the sons of two world motorbike champions. While Felipe Drugovich (MP Motorsport), the championship leader, suffered a puncture and had to return to the pits, losing all chances of scoring points.
Another racing incident occurred when French rookie Clément Novalak was pushed into the safety barrier by a competitor, at La Rascasse. His car stalled and the race direction sent the Safety Car on track to slow down the pack. Then the race restarted but nothing changed in the standings.
Drugovich will have another chance on Sunday when he starts from pole position for the Feature Race, with Pourchaire by his side on the front row. This is scheduled at 9:50 am, for 42 laps or one hour maximum.
Charles Leclerc will start from pole position on Sunday at 3:00 pm, in his Ferrari, for the 79th Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, after emerging victorious from a perfectly managed qualifying session. He started it by posting a phenomenal time (1:11.376), in line with his faultless performance since Friday. And the session ended with a big blunder by Sergio Pérez, Max Verstappen’s lieutenant at Red Bull Racing.
This qualifying session, the most anticipated of the entire F1 season, began with Q1 interrupted two minutes from the end, when Yuki Tsunoda hit a safety barrier with his AlphaTauri: five drivers were then eliminated, namely China’s Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), both Canadians Nicholas Latifi (Williams) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Thailand’s Alex Albon (Williams) and Frenchman Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), who hoped better from this session but was trapped by the red flag.
There was another notable elimination in Q2, Australian Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), accompanied in his misfortune by Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and both Haas drivers, Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher, five drivers grouped together in two tenths of a second. And four teams were to be doubly represented in Q3: Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes and Alpine, while McLaren could only count on Lando Norris and Aston Martin on Sebastian Vettel.
There were only 12 minutes of suspense left and the big crowd, in the grandstands and the VIP boxes, was not disappointed. Most of the spectators, in particular the Monegasques and Italians, were hoping for a pole position for Charles Leclerc. They were overwhelmed by a slightly unexpected 1-2 from the Scuderia, with the added bonus of an ideal scenario: by hitting the safety barrier just before the tunnel, on his own, in the last minutes of the session, Pérez prevented teammate Verstappen from finishing his ultimate attempt to beat Leclerc’s time.
So Leclerc kept his second pole in a row at Monaco Grand Prix, and the 14th of his career, with the added bonus of his great Dutch rival on the second row. It could hardly have turned out better for the Monegasque. The test of truth is still scheduled for Sunday at 3:00 pm. Leclerc will be the real favourite.
Free Practice 3, Saturday at lunchtime, allowed Sergio Pérez to shine again, by stealing the best time from Charles Leclerc at the very end of the session, in order to come back to 2-1 in the provisional score of the weekend’s meetings between Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull Racing. The Mexican achieved a super lap in 1:12.476, creating a 41/1000 gap on the Monegasque hero, credited a little earlier with a 1:12.517, following two Friday sessions that Leclerc had dominated from start to finish .
The leading quartet in this last rehearsal was completed by Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari, ahead of reigning world champion Max Verstappen in the other Red Bull, who probably saved a bit of energy for the qualifying session scheduled for 4 pm. This qualifying session promised to be hotter than ever: behind the two “top teams” of the moment a fair distribution happened between five other teams: Pierre Gasly 5th in his Alpha Tauri, Lando Norris 6th in his McLaren, and Lewis Hamilton in 7th place (7 as in his collection of world titles), in his Mercedes, on which some problems may have been solved since yesterday.
The Top 10 of this very last free practice session was completed by Kevin Magnussen (Haas) 8th, George Russell (Mercedes) 9th and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) 10th. So that Q1 and especially Q2 will probably be very intense, in order to determine the names of drivers allowed to chase pole in Q3. To be continued.
Ferrari and Red Bull went blow for blow in Free Practice 2, just to end Friday on a positive note, with a slight psychological advantage. The leading quartet moved for an hour, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, for the Scuderia, Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez, for Red Bull Racing, ensuring a colorful spectacle, without sparing their efforts. At the end of this first street brawl, a perfect teaser for a fierce weekend, the local hero, Monegasque Charles Leclerc, finished at the top of the time sheet, same as in FP1 earlier in the afternoon, with a time of 1:12.656, just ahead of his Spanish teammate and both Red Bull drivers in an unusual order, with the Mexican ahead of the Dutchman.
Behind the four untouchables, the places of honor were also hotly contested, between five different teams: McLaren, with Lando Norris (5th) all alone following Daniel Ricciardo’s big crash at the Swimming Pool, which caused a red flag to be deployed for several minutes, Mercedes with George Russell (6th), AlphaTauri thanks to Pierre Gasly (7th), Alpine represented by Fernando Alonso (8th) and Aston Martin, with Sebastian Vettel (9th) in the Top 10. So that Saturday promises to be thrilling with a qualifying session where no expert can reasonably predict a detailed result. It will happen Saturday from 4 pm in the streets of Monaco. And it will be hot.
Photo : © Philippe Magoni
