Among the 221 crews who set off from Valence on Sunday morning, between 8.00 and 11.40, for the first part of the Common Leg, there were nothing but enthusiasts, 15% of them women, most of them co-drivers. So here’s Part 1 of a gallery of portraits that will continue until the end of this 26^th Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique…

Ladies’ honour: there is only one all-female crew in this 2024 edition. Barbara Hemmerle, from Liechtenchtein, and Isabelle Godin, in a 1975 Alfa Romeo GTV bearing number 100. They are the ideal crew to mark the the 70thanniversary of Madeleine Pochon and Lise Renaud’s winning the Ladies Cup at Rallye Monte-Carlo in 1954.

They are a couple in town and in the car: Lydia and Olivier Campana, still faithful to Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique, are driving a 1979 VW Golf GTi carrying number 50. Needless to say, their sights are slightly higher than the Best Monegasques Cup!

Last but not least, one of the great veterans of this 26^th edition should also be honoured: American John Buffum was for a long time the best driver in the history of US rallying, until the repeated exploits of the late stuntman Ken Block. At nearly 80 years of age, in a beautiful 1980 Ford Escort RS2000, John is back on Rallye Monte-Carlo, six decades after finishing 19th… in 1969!