The gallery of portraits of participants in the 26th Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique continues with a number of outstanding characters…
Like a plane without wings…
For Olivier Perriaud, professional life has always rhymed with blue skies. Since he started flying at the age of 17, he has clocked up no fewer than 15,000 flying hours at the controls of a wide variety of aircrafts. He is an operational pilot for Dassault Aviation, but he is spending this week on the winding stages of Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique to indulge in his second passion. It was a meeting with the living memory of Monte-Carlo Rally, the famous Yves Jouanny, owner of La Remise, that led to him signing for this 26th edition. His red Golf GTI may not be a fighter jet, but it’s more than enough to send Olivier and his co-driver Nathalie Briquet to the 7th heaven.
Alfa Romeo is everywhere…
There were 18 Alfa Romeos at the start of this 26th edition, that’s almost 8% of the field. One of them is a 1979 Alfetta GTV, number 40, registered in Monaco, bearing the colours of the ACM and the Flaujac Foundation. It is driven by Stefano Caminiti, navigated by his son Pasquale, and it is provisionally ranked 80th (out of 217 classified crews). Another car, a 1971 GTV 2000, is perfectly managed by the youngest crew in this rally, Jules Picoreau and Camille Béal (both 23). It was 3rd overall on Tuesday morning, when all crews left Valence for Monaco. Aiming at what would be an historic podium finish for the two juniors.
Pat Lambert, 25 out of 26
Pat Lambert has only missed one edition of the Historic Monte Carlo Rally, but not really: she was assisting a friend rather than being a driver or co-driver. So she insists that she has “lived them all”, on ACM’s social networks, and she has nothing but great memories. One of them was when “Mr Noël, in Saint-Agrève”, repaired her car after a sudden suspension failure. This kind of Monte-Carlo Santa Claus, a real enthusiast, did all the necessary welding and enabled the car to make it back to the finish without a hitch. This year, Pat, who is also the official speaker for the International Rowing Federation, is competing in a little Fiat Moretti 850S, number 220, with Didier Lodewyckx at the wheel. And she’s making the most of every moment on the road or in a village.