The Full Monte!

Many thanks to Brian Hugh for this article, which gives you an excellent feeling for the very different world of classic historic rallying.

On a crisp, bright winter's morning in February over 180 crews and classic rally cars set out from various points in Europe at the start of the Classic Monte Carlo Rally - run as it was in the 1950's and 1960's, writes Joan Williamson.

Joan and her husband plus colleague Brian Hugh were chosen as one of 12 crews of experienced officials who follow the rally for its duration acting as time-keepers/marshals/scrutineers and general "fixers" of bent and broken cars.

"Our first control" writes Joan, "was at the Whitbread Hop Farm at Paddock Wood in Kent". There the 110 cars who had started from Brooklands earlier that morning, checked in and then drove to Dover for the Channel crossing and the first led of the event in France. "Everything went smoothly, but it was rather a dash to make the 2.15 boat!"

Once across the Channel, the cars made towards Beze in Central France, whilst family Williamson headed south on the Autoroute and the night halt at Troyes. On arrival at the Novotel we were given a friendly welcome by the manager and his staff and a decent dinner before snatching some sleep. Once up early the next morning the real work began. First a long and picturesque drive to St. Germain de Joux at the foot of the Jura Mountains. Here in a café with the startlingly original name of "Bar des Amis" we set up our first control, with a secret check hidden up the road to catch out unwary crews and manned by the third member of the team. There was a longish wait before the first car was due and so Madame insisted on cooking us a proper French lunch complete with jugs of local wine. "Luckily, the driver of our vehicle is teetotal" writes Joan "but the remaining crew could just about remember which day it was by the time the first car arrived at 2.30pm". Then it was all systems go for the next three hours whilst 140 crews checked in, got their times and had their cards stamped. A number of the locals came out to watch and were much amused by the frantic comings and goings of some of the cars - the local roads were not quite "as map".

Typical cars on the rally were a Sunbeam Alpine, Triumph TR2, MGA, Volvo Amazons, Jaguar XK120 and Mark VII Saloons, Healey 3000's, several Mercedes 220's and Cooper S's and two or three beautiful Aston Martin DB4's. There was also a Riley 1.5 driven in spirited fashion by Lord Steel of Aikwood which unfortunately broke its gearbox at Annecy.

All the entrants are enthusiasts and had to fettle their own cars. Except for two teams of official "sweeper" cars, who followed the rally picking up the odd broken vehicle, there was no mechanical help available. A nicer bunch of people you couldn't wish to meet - several were RAC Pall Mall Clubhouse members and another chap confessed to us over breakfast that he was a member of the Athenaeum! Most run their own businesses and therefore can afford to take the time off to compete in such an event.

Monday evening found us in Annecy and the reception for crews and officials hosted by the local "Hotel de Ville". Food and drink was available a-plenty and bed came (quite late) for a 5.30am start the next day at our checkpoint in La Muraz near Geneva. Opening time was 7.00am so the owners of the café sportingly provided coffee and croissants before a line of cars formed to get checked in. Few were late here and so as this control packed up before lunch, we proceeded into the mountains to the ski-slopes at Mont Saxonnex, a small ski resort in the French Alps. Here the sun shone so brightly and there was so little snow that we were forced to move the table and chairs out of the bar to the front of the hotel where we quickly began to acquire a sun-tan and wish for the sun block. Drivers arrived from all directions (roads not as map again!) and we were kept busy signing in all the crews. Most were calm - a few flapping - but all in good humour.

Once the sun went down it quickly got dark and cold and it was a relief to get on the Autoroute back to Annecy and into the hotel for supper and bed. There followed another 6.00am start which took us to Pont de Coise (near Albertville) and "Chez Sabine et Fabienne" who turned out to be a "formidable" mother and daughter combination running a transport café. But then, we guessed that one needs to be pretty "formidable" if most of your customers are French lorry drivers! All wanted to know details of the rally and it was sometimes hard to understand the gutteral and very colloquial French. The café was noisy, smoky (all those Gitanes!) and dogs wandered everywhere including a very small Pekinese who narrowly managed to avoid being trampled underfoot by the visiting crews. We could sit in the café and watch the cars coming down the mountain by a tortuous route to the control. Fit co-drivers scored here as they had to tear into the bar from the lower car park - the top park being full of juggernauts - to get their times.

Our next location was probably the best and one which required real co-ordination and teamwork. We were timing the end of a 40 mile regularity over the mountains and by the time the crews got to us they were either grinning from ear to ear or were totally petrified by some of the fresh air drops which they had just avoided. We were situated behind the wall of the local cemetery - an irony which did not escape some of the more frightened crews. It was pitch black and very cold and the crews did not know exactly where we were hidden. Cars had to stop astride two control boards out on the road in order to get a time - we then appeared like wraiths from behind the graveyard wall which was a bit unnerving for the drivers and frightened one or two of the locals stiff. It was at this point that the American Chevy crew lost all their oil on the road and another crew almost ran us over in the dark in their anxiety to get a time.

On closing here, we took a few minutes to thaw out in the car and then set off to drop our results and get our Psion downloaded at Sisteron - many miles south into the Alpes Maritime. We had only just set off when we were flagged down by another crew who were attempting to help a TR2 which had lost all its lights. It was still driveable so we sandwiched it between us and another marshals car and formed a high speed convoy down into Sisteron. There were several nasty moments when overtaking locals attempted to drive into the gap (?) only to find it filled by a blacked-out TR. But we made it...

Once in Sisteron and the results downloaded, we were recommended a good hostelry by the tourist representative and although it was 10.00pm, Madame and her helpers brought forth excellent fish soup, steak frites and coffee. There was no chance of sleep as our next stop was the garage at Entre-vaux, a medieval town in the heart of Provence, south of Digne. Here we had a chilly wait and snatched some sleep in the car before Monseiur arrived to open up at 5.00am. Then two of us departed up the col to set up another control and watch the sun rise over the snow-capped Alps (a wonderful sight) whilst the third member of the crew manned the garage.

It was near the top of this col - on roads made treacherous by ice - that there were one or two big "offs". One unfortunate Cortina GT crew found themselves 40 feet down a gully on their roof - but luckily managed to scramble clear and make their way to a local farmhouse where they raised the alarm. We were then able by means of two-way radio and mobile phone to send the rescue crew to find them - the local garage promptly turned out with two truck, but not surprisingly, the car was a write-off. After all the excitement died down, we closed our control and made our way back to the garage and some hot coffee.

From Entrevaux, the surviving crews drove up the Col de Turini, but we decided to cut to Monte Carlo, the Hotel Abela and some sleep before the last night leg. As we drove towards the coast, the temperature rose and duffle coats were soon discarded for shirt-sleeves. The drive along the Corniche was glorious, and at last we reached our destination and were able to catch up on some sleep before attending the last officials meeting at l'Escarene, and manning the final two controls.

The meeting was held in the local Pizzeria which had a giant woodburning pizza oven and lots of homemade pizzas thanks to the owner and his wife. They provided a comfortable spot for the control table, plenty of hot coffee and a large bucket of hot ashes to keep warm. "Running this control single handed (the two male members of the team had to organise the start of a regularity) required a reasonably cool head and a refusal to get flustered when all around are panicking" writes Joan. At this point the pressure was really on for crews, and stressed co-drivers were rushing in shouting out times which they hoped they might get. It is the marshals job to put them right (politely!) and give them the correct minute. Two Dutch representatives from FIVA popped their heads round the door to see that all was going well, but otherwise three hours seemed to flash by. At just gone midnight, the remainder of the team arrived and we were able to return to the hotel for a well-earned drink in the bar along with the rest of the crews. The crews really do appreciate the efforts made by the officials to plan and recce the route, marshal it, rescue stragglers and feed the results team with details from the portable Psions which the marshals use to record times.

So, finally, in the early hours of Friday morning, we got to bed and slept soundly until mid-morning. Later that day, everyone donned black tie and ball gowns and made their way to the Prince Rainier Motor Museum where the trophies and prizes - presented by Stirling Moss and his wife - were awarded. Here quite a number of the cars had been put on display including the pretty little Sebring Sprite belonging to two near-neighbours in Bromley. There was an excellent dinner with over 500 people in attendance and we finally staggered to bed in the early hours of Saturday to recover. It was all over - until next year that is!