The rally was initially created to attract the European jet set to Monte-Carlo.
Each vehicle taking part would set off with a team from the city in which they had entered the race. The route linking the city with Monte-Carlo, which followed a precise itinerary and was subject to certain constraints, constituted the challenge.
At that time, crossing Europe in the middle of winter was a feat in itself. In addition, to win the competitors had to stick to an average schedule set by the organisers.
From the different departure cities in all four corners of Europe, the vehicles then converged on a single location in order to rally in Monaco. It was this feature that established the Rallye Monte-Carlo’s reputation until the mid-1990s.
Today, the race crosses the South of France, through the Alpes-Maritimes, Ardèche, Drôme, Hautes-Alpes, Isère and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence departments before reaching Monaco.
Since 1998, the Automobile Club de Monaco has organised a challenge especially for vintage cars: the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. It follows the routes, and more importantly the spirit, of the gentleman driver’s rally during the 1950s–1970s, and adds the so-called “concentration leg” that is popular with those who are nostalgic for the era.
Over the years, this GT challenge, the opening leg of the FIA World Rally Championship, has become an unmissable event on the international motorsports calendar.
Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) won the 2024 edition of the Monte Carlo Rally ahead of Sébastien Ogier, the record holder of the Monaco event. The eight-time world rally champion indeed surpasses Sébastien Loeb, who had claimed his eighth Monte Carlo Rally victory at the age of 47 with his co-driver Isabelle Galmiche (his other victories were achieved with the Monegasque national Daniel Elena).
German Walter Röhrl, Finn Tommi Mäkinen (each with 4 victories), Frenchman Didier Auriol, and Spaniard Carlos Sainz (each with 3 victories) have also inscribed their names in this historically rich record.
This rally is what made me want to become a driver (…) A victory as celebrated as one in Monte-Carlo is absolutely priceless!
Sébastien Ogier
