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This stage has written the history of Rallye Monte-Carlo, over the years, on a road nicknamed ‘the road of time’ by the tourist authorities of Alpes de Haute-Provence. And the least we can say is that the favourites took their time, between Sisteron and Thoard (RS14, 32.7 km), via Col de Fontbelle (1304 m), cleared of all the snow that fell in January.
Judge for yourself. The top three in the overall standings finished a long way off the winners, on paper: Belgian leaders Decremer-Hugo in 18th place (100 penalty points), level with third-placed Italians Rossi-Frascaroli, while the runners-up in the provisional classification, Spain’s Climent-Jimenez, finished in joint 51st place (130 points) in this RS14. A stage made easier by the work of the snowploughs of the 04 department, in which the gaps were very close and the ties very numerous.
The day’s bargain, just for prestige’s sake, was made by the crew of the number 67 BMW 2002 TI, Yves and Erwan Ruspeler (60 penalty points), tied with the venerable Citroën SM of Antoine and Philippe Raymond. And as it was a family outing, the podium of this SR14 was completed by the Combiers, Laurent and David (70 points), in another BMW 2002 Ti, tied with Régis Brezun and Elisa-Noémie Laurent, in an Opel Kadett GTE, as well as Gabriel Valentin and Laurent Bertaut, in a Lancia Beta Monte-Carlo. That’s 5 French teams in the top 5 places!
In the overall standings, as we drew ever closer to the grand finale, the night of the Turini, Belgium’s Decremer-Hugo (Alfa Romeo Giulia) were still leading the way, 320 points ahead of Spain’s Climent Asensio-Jimenez Valls (BMW 323i), and 590 ahead of Italy’s Rossi-Frascaroli (Lancia Fulvia). All in all, these three teams are in with a real chance of a podium finish on Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique, including just one in the ‘high-average’ category, the Spanish BMW. Only three stages left…
