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They were at the front of the field since the start on Wednesday, and they managed to score a regularity stage win on Thursday in this 7th E-Rallye Monte-Carlo. Spain’s Eneko Conde and Lukas Sergnese, winners of the FIA ecoRally Cup 2022, topped the SR6 stage between Ascros and Toudon (10.572 km) early in the afternoon in their Kia E-Niro, with a tiny margin over a trio of chasers grouped in 2nd place: Guido Guerrini and Artur Prusak (winner in 2016 as driver), in another Kia E-Niro, Didier Malga and Anne-Valérie Bonnel (Tesla Model 3), the winners in 2017, Philippe Demanet and Thierry Revel, in a very fine Polestar HR39.
All of which was enough to consolidate certain positions in the overall standings at the end of a very lively and intense day’s racing, as is often the case in the E-Rallye Monte-Carlo. Thursday’s final objective was to return to the Parc Fermé on Monaco Harbour, from 10:30 pm, to prepare for Friday with a bit of peace and quiet… and by carefully recharging the cars on one of 334 charging points of the Monaco On network, spread over many streets and car parks of the Principality.
Thanks to this win in RS6, the Spaniards jumped in the lead of the provisional overall standings, ahead of 2017 winners Didier Malga and Anne-Valérie Bonnel (Tesla Model 3), followed in 3rd place by the Aymard-Marcal crew that won RS4 in their Nissan Ariya.
Download the classification of the RS6
They had already made their mark yesterday: Jérôme Aymard and Christophe Marques, in their Nissan Ariya in the colours of the eBorn recharging network, had taken 3rd place in SR2. They did it again on Thursday morning, finishing 3rd in SR4. Then they did even better in SR5, between the Valberg ski resort and the village of Guillaumes (13.075km), further down in the valley.
It was the first victory of this 7th edition for the French crew, closely followed on this regularity stage by a joint trio in 2nd place: Jérémie Delran and Lotfi Tazrout in a Peugeot E-2008, Emmanuel and Carole Burel in a VW ID3, Nadia Delvaux and Jean-Marc Piret in a Peugeot E-208. With Didier Malga and Anne-Valérie Bonnel, former winners of the event, still in the hunt for overall honours, thanks to a 5th place in this SR5. And everybody looking forward to SR6, the final regularity stage of Day 2, but a short one (10km), between Ascros and Toudon.
Three regularity stages (SR) on the menu for Day 2 of the 7th E-Rallye Monte-Carlo, with the overall classification lead on Thursday morning by a tandem of Belgians who shone on Wednesday afternoon (victory in SR1, 2nd place in SR3): Eric Cunin and Alexandre Peeters, in a VW ID3 entered by Rent Speed Racing.
The first RS of the day, between Saint-Sauveur sur Tinée and Beuil (21.553km), passed through the village of Roubion and the dreaded Col de la Couillole (1678m), all in the rain and on a wet road. In these tricky conditions, a highly experienced team came out on top, in a Kia E-Niro carrying number 2 : Guido Guerrini and Artur Prusak (winner in 2016 as a driver). The Italian-Polish duo beat Antoine Dechamps and Didier Noirhomme in their Belgian VW Club VW ID4. Then the crews headed almost immediately for SR5 (Valberg-Guillaumes, 13.226km), before a welcome regroup in Puget-Théniers at noon.
We had to wait until the 3rd and final special stage of Day 1 of this 7th E-Rallye Monte-Carlo for a Tesla to come to the fore. Gautier Philippon and Enric Martin, entered by the Tesla Owner Club France, proved to be the best on the SR3 between La Cabanette and Col de Castillon (24.677km), the longest stage on the menu for this inaugural afternoon.
But as in the previous two stages, the Belgians were again at the front, aiming for another win “made in Brussels” and a spectacular hat-trick: Eric Cunin and Alexandre Peeters (VW ID3), had already won SR1. They came close to repeating that feat but had to settle for 2nd, maintaining a minimal 10-point gap over a French duo, Karel Colibert and Nathalie Zbinden in a Lexus RZ entered by Monaco’s Urban Planning Department. Daghe Munegu!
One Belgian team can hide another. After the victory of the Cunin-Peeters duo in SR1, Bernard Heine and Valérie Piette, entered by the Belgian VW Club in another ID3, took over in SR2, between La Bollène Vésubie and Peira Cava (18.106 km) via the ever famous Col de Turini. As if this was not enough, the first Belgian one-two finish of this 7th E-Rallye Monte-Carlo happened, thanks to Jean-François Devillers and Eric Chapa, two other members of the Belgian VW Club, who took their VW IDA GTX to 2nd place.
To save the honour of the French drivers, Jérôme Aymard and Christophe Marques, in their Nissan Ariya flying the colours of the eBorn recharging network, took 3rd place in this SR2, on a par with an all-female crew entered by the Tesla Owner Club: Lesly Legallais and Caroline Guerraz, in a Model 3.
Great fans of electric rallies… and rallies in general, the Belgians got this 7th E-Rallye Monte-Carlo off to a flying start. The team of Eric Cunin and Alexandre Peeters, in a VW ID3, were the best in SR1 on Wednesday afternoon, between Lucéram and Lantosque (19.576 km). The stage was run under cloudy skies, but a few sunny spells did brighten up this very first round on Col de Turini, in a landscape that was particularly rich in autumn colours.
Just behind the Belgians, one of the clear favourites is already in position: Didier Malga, a former winner of this rally, took 2nd place in this inaugural special stage, in a Tesla Model 3. Rounding out the podium are the current Bridgestone FIA Eco Rally Cup leaders, Czechs Michal Zdarsky and Jakub Nabelek, in their Hyundai Kona.
Technical and administrative scrutineering ended at midday this Wednesday, as planned, for 60 crews entered in the 7th edition of E-Rally Monte-Carlo… which is also the 23rd Rallye Monte-Carlo Zenn (Zero Emission, No Noise).
Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM) paved the way in 1995 by organising the first regularity rally for electric, battery or hydrogen-powered cars. And the line-up for this 2023 edition is particularly strong, with all six previous winners of the event, a former European rally champion and even a former Formula 1 driver!
For this 8th round of the Bridgestone FIA ecoRally Cup 2023, the ACM had to turn down entries. And this year’s line-up matches the reputation of all the road and circuit events that it organizes: 60 crews, 15 nationalities and 36 different models entered by 19 manufacturers. A record for the event and a guarantee of total suspense right up to the end of the last night.
Spain’s Eneko Conde and Lukas Sergnese (Kia E-Niro), last year’s winners of the FIA ecoRally Cup, will be up against the Czech team hoping to succeed them on the world stage, Michal Zdarsky and Jakub Nabelek (Hyundai Kona). There will also be two genuine stars, Belgian Bruno Thiry, European rally champion in 2003, and Italian Stefano Modena, a former F1 driver (70 Grand Prix contested, 3rd in Monaco in 1989). Also entered are all six former winners of this E-Rallye Monte-Carlo, the most prestigious round on the world calendar as it uses some of the legendary stages of its WRC version: Poland’s Artur Prusak (2016), now Guido Guerrini’s codriver in a Kia E-Niro, Didier Malga (2017), Alexandre Stricher (2018), Frédéric Ozon (2019), all three of them with a Tesla Model 3, Frédéric Lansiaux (2021) in a VW ID3 and Jacques Pastor (2022) in a Kia E-Niro. That’s a lot of candidates for victory at the end of the 1,000 km scheduled from 2pm on Wednesday to midnight on Saturday.
New for 2023, each daily route will be kept secret until one hour before the start, when the roadbook for the day is given to the competitors. Then, the menu of the day will be posted on ACM’s website and social networks when the first crew starts the day. As always, there will be several special stages to complete at night. And two main objectives remain the same: to respect the average speed set by the organisers, in each timed section, while managing the energy required to get back to Parc Fermé at the end of the day’s loop. Crews will then have a whole night to recharge their batteries on the numerous charging points of the Monaco On network, in the streets and parking lots of the Principality.
The race is on!
Copyright ACM / Philippe Magoni
Overview of the different media that will be following the event daily.
Press & Radio : For the 5th year in a row, the media crew made up of Denis Carreaux (Editor-in-Chief of the Nice Matin Group) and Virginie Decorte (VINCI Autoroutes Radio Presenter) are among the entries. Immerse yourself in the heart of the E-Rallye! On board their BMW i5 (No. 17), the daily adventures of the 2 journalists will be chronicled on Radio VINCI Autoroutes (107.7 FM) and in the columns of Nice-Matin, the event’s media partners.
Website & Social Media : Follow the event in full on the official Automobile Club de Monaco accounts (Facebook / Instagram / LinkedIn / Twitter / YouTube / TikTok). Also find articles, routes, results, photos & videos ons and reaction the website www.acm.mc.
Newsletter: Subscribe to the E-Rallye Monte-Carlo newsletter, and receive every evening the summary of the day in images and videos, enhanced with articles on the daily life of the 60 crews involved.
Local press: In 2023, the E-Rallye will be taking place in and around the Principality of Monaco. The press and local channels will be present to cover this 7th edition.
Sportity: Download the Sportity mobile app on your smartphone and enter the code ERAMC2023 to follow the live results and receive the Race Direction’s decisions.
This enthusiastic response is the reward for all the considerable efforts made by the Organising Committee of Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM) in the field of electric mobility, with absolutely no pause since the creation of the very first Rallye Monte-Carlo for Electric Vehicles. “For this 7th edition of the ‘zero emission’ version of Rallye Monte-Carlo, innovation is back in line with the spirit advocated since the very first edition, in 1995. For this 2023 edition, we have decided to change the venue, so that E-Rallye Monte-Carlo returns to its traditional autumn quarters in the Principality of Monaco. Centralising the event on Monegasque soil means we can offer our competitors a symbolic and prestigious postcard, as well as enjoying the destination for 5 days…“, insists Jacques Rossi, Chairman of the ACM’s New and Electric Energies Commission.
As the 8th round on the Bridgestone FIA ecoRally Cup 2023 calendar, E-Rallye Monte-Carlo 2023 promises to be a blend of modernity, prestige and intensity. “This 7th edition will be an opportunity for competitors not only to cover some 1,000 kilometres of the hinterland, but also to take a trip to Italy, and in fact to Dolceacqua. The Organising Committee wanted this to celebrate the twinning between the Italian town and Monaco, which will be solemnly concluded on November 3, five centuries to the day after the syndics of Dolceacqua swore their loyalty to Augustin Grimaldi, Lord of Monaco. The route has been kept secret for the very first time since the event’s inception, but it will include visits to some of the most legendary places in the history of Monte-Carlo. The 60 crews taking part, and in particular the two stars of the 2023 event, Stefano Modena (former F1 driver – 70 GPs contested – 3rd of the 1989 Monaco Grand Prix) and Bruno Thiry (2003 European Rally Champion), are also sure to appreciate these roads…“, explains Eric Barrabino, ACM General Commissioner.
Nestled in the heart of Carré d’Or, the Terrasses du Soleil will host the Parc Fermé, the Rally’s headquarters, at the foot of prestigious Casino de Monte-Carlo. Last and not least, there will be no need to organise a specific recharging park, as the capacity and development offered by Monaco On, with 334 charging points spread in public car parks and on the streets, will enable all competitors to recharge their vehicles easily, within the time limits imposed by the organisers…
We were very saddened to learn about the death of our friend Gilles Gard, a long-time competitor in the #ERallyeMonteCarlo. The man from the Lot was primarily a gentleman, whose sense of adventure left an indelible mark on French motorsport. Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family and friends.
