Monte Carlo Rally controversies The Monte Carlo Rally, the oldest - TopicsExpress



          

Monte Carlo Rally controversies The Monte Carlo Rally, the oldest and most famous rally of them all, has thrown up plenty of controversy over the years. Here are some of the most notable incidents as picked out by Redbull. 2002: When it got tyred and emotional for Loeb The records show that Sebastien Loeb won the Monte Carlo Rally seven times. However, the multiple world champion also crossed the finish line first in 2002 only to be punished when it transpired that his Citroen team had carried out an illegal tyre service. His penalty handed victory to Tommi Makinen, the Finn’s one and only win for Subaru. 1966: Lights not so fantastic for Mini Mini’s nimble Cooper model was the car to have on the Monte in the 1960s. But after a brace of wins, its popularity on the French side of the Channel was beginning to wane. Following a one-two-three finish for the car in 1966, local scrutineers conveniently found that the Mini’s non-dipping headlights infringed the rules and chucked the lot of them out of the results, handing first place to Citroen driver Pauli Toivonen. Cue anarchy in the UK. 1979: A bridge too far for Waldegard Bjorn Waldegard was on course to claim a historic win for Ford on the 1979 Monte, much to the disdain of local fans who wanted Frenchman Bernard Darniche to take victory. Darniche did win but only after Waldegard lost precious time stopping to remove a giant rock mysteriously blocking his path over a bridge on the rally’s final night. 2014: Finish line fail for Ostberg and Ogier Sebastien Ogier and Mads Ostberg were caught out at the end of stage eight. With the stop line placed just metres after a flat, blind corner following the flying finish, both drivers were forced to hurl their cars into the adjacent field to avoid wiping out waiting reporters. “Completely crazy,” a visibly angry Ogier says. “We are just after the finish line.” 1973: Mutiny on the Monte When a midfield runner spun, got stuck and blocked the road for some 144 drivers following behind in 1973, event organisers carried out a mass exclusion as the delayed drivers had all gone over the time limit. The furious crews responded by blocking the route the following day, causing mayhem for those still competing. In attempt to end the unrest, rally chiefs offered free entry to the excluded crews for 1974 only for the event to be scrubbed due to the oil crisis of that year. The offer didn’t stand when the rally returned in 1975, which caused yet more consternation… 2008: Farewell WRC Unhappy at being forced to adopt a uniform event format and not being allowed to run the rally ‘their’ way, organisers the Automobile Club de Monaco ditched the WRC in favour of a three-year agreement to host the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2009. A young Sebastien Ogier (pictured) won that year with former WRC regular Mikko Hirvonen following suit in 2010 when he gave Ford’s Fiesta S2000 a debut victory. Extensive live coverage on Eurosport made up for the absence of Sebastien Loeb, although his Monegasque co-driver Daniel Elena did take part on two occasions, even taking the driving seat. The rally returned to the WRC roster for 2012 amid increasing political pressure. And now it seems set to stay.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 16:00:00 +0000

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