As a bit of a lark, a buddy and I are going to fly from Seattle to France in January for the 70th Monte Carlo Rally. We're newcomers to spectating and have never been to a WRC event, but I had some United frequent flyer miles burning a hole in my pocket, we're always looking to get the hell out of Seattle in January, and I figured I might as well use the FF miles while they're still good!

It's a longshot, but I figured that with the varied set of characters found here, I might as well ask if anybody has experience with the spectator experience at Monte Carlo. I have been to Nice during the summertime, rented a car and drived up the Var, and I have actually been to Digne, so I am a bit familiar with the territory. I'm just curious to know if there is a certain plan of attack employed by veterans. I can say that, due to limited seating for award tickets, we are arriving in Paris on Tuesday the 15th and have to fly out on Monday the 21st at noon. The Rally runs on Friday--Sunday,the 18th-20th, although recce should be happening on 16th-17th if I have it right. Since we are pretty much obliged to arrive early, we should be able to check things out in advance.

Anyhow, we are kicking around a number of options...rent a car at DeGaulle and drive south, or take a TGV to Aix or Nice and rent a car there. I may also call a little 2-star hotel I stayed at in Digne to see if they have a room. I just don't have any sense of how berserk things get during the Rallye. We are prepared to sleep in the car if that is necessary, but any sage advice that will help us experience the Rallye in greater comfort would be appreciated!

Thanks in Advance!

It's sad that you're in Seattle and you have to head to Europe to see a world rally. Some friends of my family used to put on the Toyota Olympus Rally in that area. When it was still running, it was the only US leg of the World Rally. Was a lot of fun, too bad we don't see enough rally racing here in the US any more.

Favorite t-shirt from the event: "Real cars, real roads, real fast."

I've been generally aware of rally for more than 20 years, had some great videos from the Group B era, but I never took pains to go watch in person. Yes, I even missed some opportunities to attend the Olympus Rally when it was here.

Well, we've finally gotten off our duff a bit. My friend and I volunteered as road marshals at this year's SCCA Wild West ProRally in Olympia and, with factory-supported teams from Subaru and Hyundai, it probably came close to the caliber of of past Olympus events. My friend got some great video (from our control point at a great hairpin) and it inspired us to: make sure we marshal at 2002 west cost events like Wild West, Tillamook, and Prescott; travel to 1-2 WRC events for the "real deal" and; maybe even find a cast-off GTI or Subaru RX that we could campaign in SCCA Group 2/5.

Anyhow, off we go to Monte Carlo. Rest assured we will bring long underwear and wooly hats. FWIW, with a resurgence in rally popularity in the U.S., it looks like one U.S. event may get added to WRC; the bets are on Cherokee Trails in Tennessee. WRC, though, is just not suited to the litigious U.S. environment. Take this outake from Automobile Mag on the WRC (in Portugal):

"At this year's event, Ford Escort driver Juha Kankkunen came off a timed run for an inspection. Surveying the car the mechanics found, lodged in the Escort's rear wing, a spectator's finger."

Can you spell Johnnie Cochran? The WRC Victim's Network?

Well, even with the lawyers, I hope that SCCA will manage to keep a decent schedule going in the U.S., and, now that we've figured out how much fun it is, we'll keep going. Yup, "Real Cars, Real Roads, Real Fast!" SCCA ProRally's new slogan. For anybody who hasn't checked it out --- highly recommended. Volunteer, even. You'll get some of the best views.

Heh, good to know that Kankkunen is still doing his stuff. I haven't follwed Rally in a while. He still driving Lancias?

Tip 1:

Park early, park away, walk in.

Tip 2:

Don't stand on the outside of bends, no matter how tempting.

Tip 3:

Take a sleeping bag, lots of snack food, and lots of Dextrose.

Tip 4:

Get as far south as you can possibly get before the rally starts, as it only gets interesting around halfway (when things loosen up).

Tip 5:

No poofters!

Seriously, you cannot fail to have fun on the Monte. You have to choose your role in advance: Pseudo "Chase Group" (you will soon fall in with these guys) but for this you need Continental (ie. RH) driving experience, and lots of detail maps, plus a lot of bottle to chase them. Or:"Normal Spectator". Required equipment: Toothbrush, Credit card, Bottle.

PS Be aware that it is getting seriously cold at the moment, and wet to boot

Juha Kankkunen was driving for Subaru in 99 and 2000, and for Ford before that. Not sure what he's been up to this year

I am so jelous!

I have always been into rally, and I really wish they had a WRC event here in the states. It was watching rally videos that ultimately led to me test driving, and subsequently purchasing my current car, a 2001 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS.

OMG this car is fun on the dirt!

I take my car off road whenever I get a chance, I just can't seen to get enough of it. One of the best times thrashing in my car was on this dirt road that was parallel to a freeway... I'm not sure how fast I was going down that dirt road, but I was actually passing people on the freeway... It was pretty insane. I was very glad I'd invested in a skid plate on that one, cause It had some nice dents in it afterwards.

Mmmm... DMS shocks... I think that's going to be my next upgrade...

As a side note to my last post...

My driving habbits, IE running over everything at high speed, are partially what led me to purchasing my empeg. I wanted all my music on tap, and I wanted it to *never* skip, no matter what I was doing.

Train tracks at 100mph? The car might not like it much, but the empeg won't skip!

Schofiel: No poofters!

Too late, man. We already booked the tickets.

schofiel: Tips 1... 2... 3....:

More seriously, I think we've got the "don't stand on the outside of corners" thing covered! We're also treating this something like a camping trip from a snack food and equipment standpoint (wooly socks, raingear, big umbrellas), and I reserved something from Avis that should work as an ersatz camper (a Class H "Renault Megane Scenic or similar" with optional snowchains) if we get stuck on a room. We'll pick that up in Aix and drop it in Nice.

schofiel: Tip 4: Get as far south as you can possibly get before the rally starts, as it only gets interesting around halfway (when things loosen up).

Being new at this, I think we'll be pretty forgiving about whether we see everything. In 2002, the rally doesn't go to Gap. There's service in Digne on Friday, with stages running in the area to the northwest, then in Monte Carlo Saturday/Sunday, with those days running north of Monte Carlo around Sospel. I requested a couple of rooms in Digne for Wednesday/Thursday night -- we'll have Thursday for our own recce --, and I'm staring at the map trying to decide what to aim for on Friday/Saturday night (we'll need to catch the train late Sunday afternoon in Nice, so don't expect we'll be staying for the champagne).

So, when you say "get as far south" ASAP, I'm guessing you mean bail out of Gap/Digne and head back closer to MC? I'm thinking that MC itself will be a complete zoo and that rooms would be very pricey. I'm looking at the Logis de France guide and I see that there are a ton of small (cheaper!) hotels between MC and Sospel/Col de Turini. I may look at someplace midway between the two. Wherever we stay, I expect we'll be getting up at 4/5 AM to move out. Thoughts??