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18-23 Jan: Monte Carlo Automobile Rally
2010-01-17 19:21
When 18-23 January
Details Automobile Club de Monaco
Until 2008, the Monte Carlo Rally, which pits contestants against not only each other but also some of the most spectacular and challenging conditions in the world, was part of the World Rally Championship series. All that changed last year when the race switched to become part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. According to Rene Isoart, General Commissioner of the Automobile Club de Monaco, the IRC 'provides all the necessary ingredients to allow the Rally to return to the fundamental values of the sport'. So in 2010 for the second year in succession, Monte Carlo will kick off a year of fabulous racing.
Not only is this a major annual sport for the Côte d'Azur; it is also broadcast all over the world. Little could Prince Albert I of Monaco have suspected, when he inaugurated the 1911 race, that nearly a century later the same prestigious event would be watched by spectators in over 70 countries.
Last year's champions
Although the race finishes on the Grand prix track in Monaco, the rally takes place hundreds of kilometres away in and around Valence, and it is the opening stages there that will witness the most significant changes to the regulations this year:
Programme
• Reconnaissance will take place on Saturday 16th and Monday 18th January, allowing contestants to complete the rally in one week.
• Administrative checks will take place on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th January
• The departure ceremony will be celebrated on Tuesday 19th at 5 pm, in the Champ de Mars, in Valence.
• A 9-km selection stage will be run on Tuesday 19th, between Lente, Col de l'Echarasson and Col de Gaudissart, to determine the starting order for the rally.
• The roads of Ardeche will once more be in the spotlight, on Wednesday 20th January, with Burzet - Lachamp Raphael and St-Pierreville - Antraigues run twice (with stops to change tyres in Vals les Bains) and on Thursday 21st January in the northern part of the department with the Labatie d'Andaure - St-Pierre sur Doux and Lamastre - Alboussiere stages. Last but by no means least, the department of Haute-Loire will also be visited, for the famous Saint-Bonnet - Saint-Bonnet stage, which will be run twice by the teams, with a stop in-between in the Service Park in Valence.
TV coverage
Live coverage on Eurosport, Eurosport 2 and Eurosport Asia-Pacific
Will Andrews