The WRC Monte-Carlo Rally

Un peu d'histoire...

The jewel of the Championship, the Monte-Carlo Rally is the oldest event on the calendar.

Its first edition in 1911 was designed to promote Monaco as a tourist destination. The teams started from several European cities before meeting in the Principality.

The event took place in January, to show that the Principality's climate at that time of the year was exceptionally mild.  Two men are today considered to be the creator of the rally:  Gabriel Vialon and Antony Noghes.  Société des Bains de Mer funded the operation, which saw just 23 competitors take part that first year.

The following year, that figured quadrupled and the Monte-Carlo Rally was well and truly on the map!

Since the first winner in 1911, French driver Henry Rougier, this top-class sporting event has provided decades of thrills and spills.
The “Sebs”: Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier dominated the Monte-Carlo Rally, with Loeb racking up eight wins and Ogier a total of nine, including the 2023 race!

Monaco’s own Daniel Eléna was Sébastien Loeb’s faithful co-pilot for his seven wins in the “Monte”, between 2003 and 2013.

The WRC, a sustainability pioneer...

The 2022 Monte-Carlo Rally was the first chance to see the new “Rally1” rechargable hybrids in all their glory. All ICE cars are a thing of the past.

The arrival of hybrid technology in the World Rally Championship brings with it a power boost of 100 kW, while the cars’ all-electric range is estimated at 20 km.

The FIA has also chosen the company P1 Racing Fuels to supply a 100% sustainable fuel, which uses no fossil materials but is entirely made from synthetic and bio-sourced ingredients.

It represents a pioneering move from the WRC, which is the first FIA world championship to introduce the new technology.

Mind the Gap…

In 2022 and 2023, the Monte-Carlo Rally took up residence in the Principality for the winter.

This year, the queen of the Rally races is moving to higher latitudes - and altitudes. Owing to major on-going work, there is insufficient space in Monaco for the assistance park and various race infrastructures. So the Organising Committee at the Automobile Club de Monaco has opted to return to the Hautes-Alpes département, and specifically the town of Gap, which was the host town from 2014 to 2021.

With 14 mountain passes to navigate along 17 special stages across five French départements, the route of this inaugural stage of the FIA 2024 WRC has gone up in the world - quite literally - hoping for an even more snowbound route than in previous years.

But the official start, finish, and trophy ceremony will remain in Monaco, taking place on the Place du Casino as is now traditional.

The legend lives on...

To finish the event in style, the final special stage will be the legendary: La Bollène-Vésubie / Col de Turini, which will also be a Power Stage.

This special stage has been driven in the dark, in the snow, and ice. Triumph and failure, joy and despair, the drivers have seen it all. And the legend was born. For many years, the Col de Turini was the culmination of the Monte-Carlo Rally.

A duel at the top?...

At the end of the 2023 Monte-Carlo Rally, Sébastien Loeb - who had missed the race - texted the winner Sébastien Ogier to congratulate him, and to challenge him to a rermatch on the winding roads of the Riviera.
Loeb will be hoping to equal his rival’s number of wins in the rally by claiming his 9th victory in 2024!

For more information about the event, click HERE.