Upcoming Events
The end of the Common Leg of the 27th Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique, on Tuesday morning on the way to Monaco, was a succession of three regularity stages, each more beautiful than the last, starting with RS13 between La Charce and Rosans (12.6km), via Col de Pommerol. It was run early in the morning in temperatures of -5°C, with one notable absentee: Bruno Saby, a former Monte Carlo winner (in 1988, in a Lancia Delta HF), whose Ford Capri has finally given up, due to the clutch issue that appeared on Sunday. The Saby-Marques crew had remained in the Top 15 since the start. It was a pity, as was the retirement on Sunday of the number 3 Lancia Fulvia of Claudio Enz and Cristina Seeberger, the Swiss duo who won RMCH in 2023.
Another retirement on Monday morning was that of the number 26 Porsche 911 SC, for a mechanical reason. The crew, made up of Pierre Bos and Christian Boulanger, handed in their Tripy-R electronic box before leaving the Parc Fermé in Valence. This was before the Alfa Romeo Giulia GT belonging to the Denuzière family, Georges and Xavier, had a problem, forcing the driver to park his Italian beauty on the side of the road, in order not to impede the passage of the other competitors.
At the top of the standings, this RS13 enabled a Lancia Fulvia HF 1.3 to shine, that of Denmark’s Kenneth Simonsen and Otto Kristensen, tied with the Volkswagen GTI of Andrei Ponomarev and Victor Polyakov. These two crews finished ahead of the orange Porsche 924 of Jörg Pohlemann and Marc Stoll, with a smart Martini livery, which had won RS7 on Sunday around Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid.
The overall standings remained unchanged, with Belgium’s Decremer-Hugo (Alfa Romeo Giulia) still leading the way ahead of Spain’s Climent Asensio-Jimenez Valls (BMW 323i) and Italy’s Rossi-Frascaroli (Lancia Fulvia).
This year, for the first time in the history of Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique, Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM) is introducing the first “Monte Carlo Historique Power Stage” during the last regularity stage (RS17) of this 27th edition.
The modalities of this challenge will be published in a special bulletin at 4:30 pm (article 24.5)
It was the last regularity stage of a very long day, between Recoubeau-Jansac and Pennes-le-Sec (RS12, 16.1 km), and it confirmed what most observers of the 27th Rallye Monte Carlo Historique believe. Victory on Col de Turini, shortly before midnight on Tuesday, is likely to come down to two crews who have dominated this 2025 edition, head and shoulders: the Belgian duo of Michel Decremer and Jennifer Hugo, in an antique 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia TI and the Spanish tandem of Luis Climent Asensio and Carles Jimenez Valls, in a slightly more recent BMW 323i (1981).
These two teams finished RS12 in the same order as they had finished RS6 on Sunday afternoon. And the climb over Col de Pennes (1040 m) didn’t trouble them at all, as they were immersed in their battle at the top, before the return to Valence for a final night in the Drôme. They only took 40 penalty points, over 16km, and continued to extend their lead over their theoretical pursuers, who only have five stages left on Tuesday to turn the tables.
In detail, the top two crews in this 27th edition were separated by 220 points after SR6 at midday on Sunday. They are only 300 points apart on Monday evening after SR12, which gives an idea of the intensity of the battle. The Belgians are playing in the low average category, which only involved around thirty crews on Monday morning, and the Spaniards in the high average class, with 170 other cars at the start of the Common Leg.
Another small detail: on Monday evening, there were still 198 cars parked on Champ de Mars in Valence, compared with 203 at sunrise on Monday morning. It’s another sign that the preparation of the cars for a Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique is becoming more and more thorough, more and more serious, more and more perfect, whatever the age of the cars. And there is only one more day to go, this Tuesday, between Valence and Monaco…
Two British citizens, Steve and Tony Graham, in a Lancia Fulvia 1600 HF, put the United Kingdom colours up the mast of the 27th Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique, by winning the longest stage on Monday afternoon between Montauban-sur-l’Ouvèze and Roussieux (RS11, 39.2 km). Another classic of the Monegasque rally, via Col de Perty (1302m), Col de Reychasset (1052m) and Col de Pierre-Vesce (1013m).
The Graham family finished the stage with 60 penalty points, level on points with the BMW 323i of the Spanish runners-up in the provisional overall standings, Luis Climent Asensio and Carles Jimenez Valls, who continue to pose a threat to the ultra-solid leaders, Michel Decremer and Jennifer Hugo (Alfa Romeo Giulia TI). It’s a relative threat, however, because the Belgians are holding their own, as evidenced by their 2nd place in this stage, tied with a top-class driver, Bruno Saby, paired with Christophe Marques in the number 38 Ford Capri. Two men who had to ‘mechanise’ instead of having lunch, when the clutch cable on their car failed just before the midday break.
More fear than harm for Saby-Marques, and still the lead of the race for Decremer-Hugo, ahead of the Spanish BMW, the Lancia Fulvia of Italians Rossi and Frascaroli, the Jaguar of Lithuania’s Raysis and Meilunas, the Fiat 128 Rally of Greece’s Georgosopoulos and Iatridis, the small Austin Cooper of Italy’s Schon and Giammarino, the Sunbeam Tiger from Belgium’s Castelein and Plancke, and so on. That’s 11 different makes in the top 11 places, including Bruno Saby’s Ford (11th). The suspense therefore remains total in this 1st part of the Common Leg, before the final stage of the day, RS12, and a welcome return to Valence…
They had to wait until Day 3 of the 27th Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique to win a stage, but it’s finally done. Belgians Michel Decremer and Jennifer Hugo consolidated their position as overall leaders in their 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia TI by winning the RS10 between Saint-Nazaire-le-Désert and Chalançon (27.472km) on Monday morning. The first part of this stage was different from Saturday afternoon’s SR4, as it was run in the opposite direction and took in different roads.
The number 200 Alfa, which set off from Reims on Thursday and has been at the forefront since Saturday, left nothing but crumbs for its main rivals. They lost big points on this stage including three passes, run under an immaculate blue sky in freezing cold conditions: Col de Muse (932m), Col de Chamauche (1037m) and Col de La Croix (722m). In second place, surprise, a Mazda RX7 bearing number 77, that of Latvians Karlis Mikelsons and Normunds Vuguls, who had chosen to respect a high average, whereas the Belgians this year chose low averages, hence their race number.
A total of 203 crews took the start this morning in Valencia, 171 in the high-average class and 32 in the low-average category. Winners of three regularity stages already, one each day, including RS4 on Saturday, Spaniards Alvaro Ochagavias Temino and Manuel Macho Gomez (Porsche 911 turbo) were a little less effective in this new version, which was less slippery than Saturday. They had to be content with 7th place, tied with a former winner of Rallye Monte-Carlo, Bruno Saby, in his 1971 Ford Capri 2300 S.
Saby was delighted with this stage, which reminded him of ‘the great days of Monte Carlo’, he confided at the stop point. Alas, a few kilometres further on, on the road section to the midday break, scheduled in Buis les Baronnies, the Capri’s clutch cable broke, causing a lengthy mechanical session. But as a rally driver worthy of the name doesn’t give up in a Monte-Carlo, the Capri set off again. And Saby started the afternoon in 8th place overall…
The first part of the Common Stage of the 27th Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique got underway on Monday morning at 8.40am with a long regularity stage (SR9, 34.9km) between Barbières and Gigors-et-Lozeron, in the Drôme department, via Col des Limouches and Col de Tourniol (1145m). And once again, as in RS4 on Saturday and RS6 on Sunday, Spaniards Alvaro Ochagavias Temino and Manuel Macho Gomez (Porsche 911 turbo 2.4l) ruled the roost.
The crew of the blue Porsche carrying race number 5 did slightly better (only 60 penalty points) than Italians Carlo and Enrico Merenda, in their tiny Autobianchi A112 Abarth (80 points). And better too than Belgians Michel Decremer and Jennifer Hugo, still leading the overall standings in their 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia TI. They tied for 3rd in this stage with their compatriots Maxime Castelein and Filip Deplancke (Sunbeam Tiger).
This RS9 was contested on a generally dry road, but the fog, which was very thick over Col des Limouches, from km 20 to 30, made things a little complicated, with visibility in some sections at just 20 or 50 metres, and still a little bit of snow on the road. The fog and snow did not prevent some fine performances, such as Germany’s Jörg Pohlemann and Marc Stoll (5th) in their Porsche 924, after winning RS7 on Sunday afternoon around Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid. And also a fine joint 8th place for the rally’s youngest crew, Jules Picoreau and Camille Béal, in their 1971 Alfa Romeo GTV.
In the overall standings, just as the longest day of the rally had begun, the Decremer-Hugo tandem was still ahead of the BMW 323i of Luis Climent Asensio, a former Spanish rally champion, and Carles Jimenez Valls. And the provisional podium was completed by the best Greeks of the rally at the halfway stage, in the shape of Aris Georgosopoulos and Ioulios Iatridis (Fiat 128 Rally). To be continued.
A superb day of rallying in Ardèche and Haute-Loire ended with a double surprise: the win in RS8 (Saint-Pierre-sur-Doux – Lalouvesc, 14.1km) went to an Opel Kadett GTE, driven by Régis Brezun and Elisa-Noémie Laurent, tied with the Ford Escort RS2000 of James Blakemore and John Buffum, the legendary multiple US rally champion, who is now a co-driver at the very respectable age of 81.
It was a fitting tribute to the longevity of Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique, now in its 27th edition, and to the young Jules Picoreau-Camille Béal crew, who were in fine form on Sunday afternoon, taking 4th place in RS8, in their Alfa Romeo GTV, after their 2nd place in RS7. In the overall standings, Michel Decremer, the two-time Belgian winner (2017, 2024), well-assisted by team-mate Jennifer Hugo, continue to lead the way at the end of a perfectly controlled day.
While we’re on the subject of the ladies, a word about the best female crew on this 27th Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique, after 8 (out of 17) regularity stages: it’s made up of Carole Grimm, a Swiss, and Ingrid Peeters, a Belgian, in a superb Lancia Fulvia HF 1.6. They are 116th on Sunday evening, putting them in mid-table at the halfway stage, ahead of half a dozen other all-female crews. With a lead of around fifteen places over Frenchwomen Marie Douaré and Danièle Denuzière (133rd), in another red Lancia Fulvia.
With the Common Leg due to start on Monday morning, only 12 retirements have been recorded in the two very intense days of the Classification Stage, added to four on the Concentration Route. There will therefore be 203 cars and crews at the start in Valence on Monday morning, heading for RS9…
It’s already the fourth stage win for a Porsche in the 27th Monte-Carlo Historic Rally, in seven stages contested in the Classification Stage since Saturday morning, but the first one for a 924 model that negotiated perfectly RS7 between Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid and Vanosc (28.8 km). The start of this stage was broadcast live on the YouTube channel of Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM), the event’s organisers, in the Haute-Loire village where hundreds of fans had come to spend their Sunday afternoon!
Germany’s Jörg Pohlemann and Marc Stoll, in their number 924 produced in 1976, outclassed another old-timer, the Alfa Romeo GTV (from 1971) of young Jules Picoreau and Camille Béal, two childhood friends from Valence, the rally’s HQ, who made up the youngest crew in this 2025 edition (see specific article this Sunday on the official acm.mc website). It was on a dry road but in a totally wintery setting, just like in the heyday of the Monte-Carlo in Haute-Loire, but in WRC version.
Women, children, teenagers and grandparents all turned out at Saint-Bonnet, and in the meadows all around, to see Jules and Camille finish joint 2nd with five other crews: the Porsche 911 turbo of Spaniards Alvaro Ochagavias Temino and Manuel Macho Gomez, the Peugeot 104 ZS of Jean-Pierre Verneuil and Philippe Mareschal, the Opel Kadett GTE of Raymond Durand and Patrick Monassier, the Renault 5 Alpine of Patrice and Benjamin Lamotte, and the Autobianchi A112 Abarth of Carlo and Enrico Merenda. It really was a family Sunday in the Haute-Loire, on the road and all around.
Once again, the Belgian tandem of Michel Decremer-Jennifer Hugo (Alfa Romeo Giulia TI) managed the situation perfectly, taking 8th place in this RS7 and consolidating their position as overall leader. An increasingly pertinent leader, ahead of the Spaniards in a BMW, the Lithuanians in a Jaguar, the Greeks in a Fiat 128 Rally and the Italians in an Austin Mini Cooper S. But there was still one last special stage, RS8, to be contested before returning to Valence to round off this spectacular Classification Leg.
The Spaniards Alvaro Ochagavias Temino and Manuel Macho Gomez (Porsche 911 turbo 2.4l), who had already won RS4 at the end of Saturday, did it again late on Sunday morning, winning the RS6 between Burzet and Saint-Martial, via Lachamp-Raphaël. It was another classic Monte-Carlo stage which they negotiated perfectly, slightly better than the steady and consistent overall leaders, Belgium’s Michel Decremer and Jennifer Hugo (Alfa Romeo Giulia TI).
Just like the previous stage, RS6 was contested on a generally dry road, in a dream landscape, with lots of snow on the slopes, in front of many fans who had made the trip to admire the rolling museum of the 27th Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The Spaniards finished ahead of the Decremer-Hugo tandem, tied with the Lancia Fulvia Coupé of Italians Fabrizio Rossi and Marco Frascaroli, who had won the previous stage and launched a fine comeback in the overall standings.
Just behind, a former winner, co-driver Sébastien Chol, perfectly navigated Ludovic de Luca, the driver of the small Peugeot 104 ZS bearing number 15, to 4th place in this RS6, tied with the BMW 323i of Luis Climent Asensio, the former Spanish rally champion, and Carles Jimenez Valls. As a direct consequence of this stage, the overall standings have shifted again behind the Belgian tandem Decremer-Hugo. The Spanish BMW is now in second place, just ahead of the Austin Mini Cooper driven by Italians Giorgio Schön and Francesco Giammarino, who won RS1 on Saturday morning.
After these two morning stages, a welcome break was organised in Saint-Agrève, on the Market Square, and as of each and every year, the town council had pulled out all the stops. More than 200 crews were able to enjoy local produce in a friendly atmosphere, in front of many nostalgic fans who didn’t want to miss the 27th Rallye Monte Carlo Historique for anything in the world. The next target was another long-standing ritual stopping-off point for the Monte Carlo: Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, in Haute-Loire, to continue following in the footsteps of the greatest rally drivers of all time.
Heading to the Ardèche this Sunday morning from Valence, for the 2nd part of the Classification Leg. The first regularity stage, between Saint-Julien-du-Gua and the Col des Quatre Vios (SR5, 16.8km), started in cold conditions. As on the previous day, the temperature was below 0°C but the sky was of an immaculate blue and there was plenty of snow around, in the landscape. The result was very different from Saturday stages: a 1982 VW Scirocco GTI won this RS5, that of Ilya Kashin and Boris Kostyrko, tied with the BMW 2002 TI of Laurent and David Combier, on one hand, and the Lancia Fulvia Coupé of Fabrizio Rossi and Marco Frascaroli, on the other. The only crew in the Top 8 on this stage to have chosen to compete in the low average category.
These three crews were awarded just 50 penalty points on this stage. And the battle was fierce, on a very twisty route, as five other cars only took 60 penalty points over 16 km: two other BMWs, including that of young Isère chef Louis Chabran, two Porsches, a 911 and a 924, as well as a Lancia Fulvia in the hands of a Danish duo, Simonsen-Kristensen. And that was just the warm-up for the big event of the morning, the passage through the formidable Burzet stage on the way to Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, where the ACM had prepared a live stream on its YouTube account from 3pm.
In the overall classification, nothing changed at the top, with the Belgian duo of Michel Decremer and Jennifer Hugo, in their 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia TI, still leading after limiting damage in this stage (9th). But behind them, in the chasing pack, the small Austin Mini Cooper S of Italians Giorgio Schön and Francesco Giammarino (2nd) passed the Jaguar of Lithuanians Karolis Raysis and Ovidijus Meilunas (3rd), now followed very closely by the BMW 323i of Luis Climent Asensio, a former Spanish rally champion, and Carles Jimenez Valls (4th). And still in the Top 5, the Fiat 128 Rally of Greek drivers Aris Georgosopoulos and Ioulios Iatridis.
