Is it really a good idea to take the Monte out of the Monte?
The World Rally Championship’s season opener will be hosted in the French town of Gap this year, rather than in the principality itself, returning the town that welcomed the Monte Carlo Rally every season from 2014 to 2021.
While the decision to shift the service park for 2024 was primarily down to the lack of space available in Monaco itself due to ongoing major construction works, the migration North-West could see an improved possibility of snow on the Monte, owing to the higher altitudes and greater distance from the Mediterranean of the Hautes-Alpes region.
But moving the Monte out of Monte Carlo comes at a cost; we won’t see the famous sights of the principality outside of the event’s ceremonial start and finish, and the desire to see more of Monte Carlo on the rally that bears its name was the driver behind bringing the service park back to Port Hercule in 2022.
So, is Gap truly a better place to host the Monte Carlo Rally than Monte Carlo itself? James Bowen takes a deeper look at the and the pros and cons:
Pros: For Monte-like conditions, head away from Monte Carlo
What makes the Monte Carlo Rally the unique driving challenge and spectacle that we all know and love is the total unpredictability of the road conditions. Those conditions are caused by one thing and one thing alone: the weather.
Snow and freezing temperatures are what the event organizers will be praying to the French weather gods for, as those are what create the icy conditions on the mountain passes which are critical for a classic Monte.
I’m no climatologist, but I did pay attention in geography class at school just enough to understand that the higher up into the mountains you go, the colder it gets and the more often it snows. This year’s route has that box ticked, with an average stage altitude which is 78 meters higher than last year’s stages, which were primarily located much closer to Monte Carlo in France’s Alpes-Maritime region.
Granted, 78m isn’t enough to dramatically change the weather, but moving further inland might be. Coastal areas like the Alpes-Maritime experience less snow, but the Hautes-Alpes region in which Gap is situated doesn’t suffer from that issue, as is evidenced by today’s weather; it’s due to drop to -4 degrees celsius at the time of writing, while the temperature won’t drop below freezing in the village of La Bollène-Vésubie – starting point of the most famous stage in the Alpes-Maritime, which ends at the Col de Turini.
Add in a little precipitation, and the conditions in Gap right now are ideal for creating icy stages, meaning the driver’s tire choices will be critical and adding a huge element of strategy to the rally, not to mention creating an even greater test of driver skill.
But the weather isn’t the only reason why having the rally based in Gap is a major positive.
With the service park located so close to Friday and Saturday’s stages, road sections will be much shorter than last year across the event’s two main days. That’s a plus for the drivers, teams and everyone out following the rally.
Gap is also the home of eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier. While home advantage has undoubtedly given him an edge in the event, which he has won a record nine times, it is also a draw for fans, who turn out in their droves to catch a glimpse of the French legend in the service park and out on the local roads.
Fanatical fans create a huge buzz around the Monte when it comes to Gap, and the rally fever is further heightened by the sights of the snowy peaks of the surrounding mountains from all around the town, which are much more inspiring than the concrete and cranes that increasingly dominate the Monaco skyline as the principality seeks to make use of all of its limited space.
Oh, and Gap’s service park is also situated in a rugby club, which is always a positive according to my DirtFish colleague David Evans…
Cons: Gap is simply not Monte Carlo
The above may seem obvious, but it is the essence of the argument against a permanent move to Gap. It can’t do what Monte Carlo does.
Not having the service park located in one of the most exclusive and glamorous places on earth is a major loss. Instead of passing by rows of parked supercars in Casino Square and being able to sip a hot chocolate in the Café de Paris, fans will have considerably less to get excited about as they explore Gap while sipping on their hot chocolate from McDonalds.
You might struggle for a beer and a steak au poivre after eight or nine in the evening in Gap – a far cry from the evening buzz of Monte Carlo, where the party is barely getting started at that hour. That’s handy if you’re a WRC team boss who wants to entertain a potential sponsor at rallying’s most famous event.
Despite closing in 2022, the legendary Stars ’N’ Bars club was where WRC drivers could always be found after the Monte, mixing with F1 drivers and all manner of celebrities including stars from the world of music and film. Places like this, and the endless stories that have been passed down through the years because of them, are part of the history of the Monte Carlo Rally. No-one, as far as I can recollect, ever partied with Prince in Gap.
Taking the service park away from Monaco’s harbor gives fans no real cause to visit during the rally, meaning the atmosphere in the principality will be virtually non-existent for one of its most important events. With the teams also based up in Gap, the victory celebrations in Monte Carlo will be limited as well, with most of the team remaining in service to pack up their kit and continue with debriefs.
In terms of stages and routes, it’s perfectly possible to run the rally out of Monaco if the organizers so desire – and with the potential for a return to remote services in the future, popping back up to Tallard for the day wouldn’t be out of the question.
And if the rally’s base does go back to Monte Carlo in the future, it might give us an increased likelihood of the return of something not seen in the WRC since 2008: A superspecial stage around Monaco’s harbor. Who wouldn’t want to see that?
Conclusion: The best of both worlds?
Although the last time Monte was based in Gap was 2021, that year’s event was significantly altered due to the ongoing Covid pandemic. In truth, this year’s edition will be far more similar to the 2020 event, where the rally began with a ceremonial start in Monaco’s on Thursday, headed to Gap for three days, and then returned to Monte Carlo for a remote service on Sunday morning and ceremonial finish on Sunday afternoon.
That year, we got to see icy roads – still not as much ice as was hoped for but more than has been seen on the event for the past two seasons – and historic scenes as then-Hyundai team boss Andrea Adamo embraced winner Thierry Neuville on the Monaco waterfront after the Belgian narrowly defeated the Toyotas of Elfyn Evans and Sébastien Ogier in the mountains above.
Winter conditions and the glamor of Monte Carlo are both crucial for a “true” Monte. Although this year’s relocation to Gap might only be a temporary move, it may inadvertently give us the best of both worlds, just as the 2020 event came very close to doing.
With just enough snow in the Hautes-Alpes to make tire choices critical, and just enough time in Monte Carlo to absorb its history and prestige, the 2024 Monte could be the perfect compromise.
