Nobody could have predicted it, but it happened on Sunday morning in RS5 of the 26^th Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique: a venerable 1972 Citroën SM clocked up at zero, having perfectly respected the average speed between Lyas and Pourchères (19.8 km) for the first 100% Ardèche stage of this 2024 edition.

The authors of this genuine feat? Antoine Raymond and Gilles Olivier, who are experienced enough to perfectly exploit the famous Maserati V6 engine (2.7 litres, 170 bhp) of this beautiful old-timer. Also on the RS5 podium were a Greek team in a 1978 Ford Fiesta XR2, and two French teams in German cars, tied for 3^rd place: David Arragon and Elodie Soubigou (BMW 320), Xavier Bernard and Werner Blanc (Porsche 924). As for the overall leader after this surprising RS5, it was still the Belgian duo Decremer-Hugo in their Opel Ascona.

Just before the start of this RS5, a particularly festive time check was organised by Privas town hall, early in the morning.  It was a welcome worthy of the Ardèche’s reputation for conviviality, with a huge number of fans out in the sunshine to greet and applaud the 220 or so crews still in the running. And off to La Remise d’Antraigues-sur-Volane, after RS6…