The 91st Monte Carlo Rally takes place this weekend, kicking off the 2023 World Rally Championship season.
While the event, the stages, and the competitors have all changed over the years, it remains a tough test of any rally crew, mixing fast, narrow asphalt sections with treacherous snow and ice-covered roads. It’s a combination that makes it one of the toughest rallies all year for tyre choice, before the action even starts.
To get you in the mood for this year’s event, we’ve put together a quiz inspired by the Monte Carlo Rally – covering everything from the date of the first event, to last year’s winner. How much do you know about one of the most iconic rallies?
Oh, and don’t read too much into the photographs accompanying each question. We wouldn’t make things that easy for you…
#1. In which year did the first Monte Carlo Rally take place?
#2. Which car won the Monte Carlo Rally in the controversial 1966 event when the BMC Mini team was excluded from the results?
Finns Pauli Toivonen and Ensio Mikander won the event in a Citroën DS21 when most of their close rivals, including the BMC Minis, were dubiously disqualified for a lighting infringement.
#3. Sébastiens Loeb (pictured) and Ogier share the most victories at Monte Carlo, on eight apiece. But who of the following isn’t in the next group, on four?
Auriol is the odd one out here, though his three victories are nothing to be sniffed at!
#4. Which two towns does the famous 31-kilometre Col de Turini connect?
The correct answer is Sospel and La Bollène-Vésubie.
#5. In which car did Colin McRae take his highest-place finish on the Monte, a second?
Despite long being associated with Subaru, McRae’s best Monte result came in a Citroën.
#6. Which famous French driver took this Lancia Aurelia to victory in 1954?
The man at the wheel is Louis Chiron – best known as a Grand Prix racer, his last major event win came in rallying.
#7. Lancia’s first Monte Carlo win came in 1954, as you’ll see above. When was its final Monte win?
Lancia’s last Monte win came in 1992, though the photo above is of Juha Kankkunen in 1987.
#8. One of these Group A homologation specials got a Monte Carlo special edition – which was it?
The Ford Escort Cosworth got a Monte Carlo special edition, celebrating its win there in 1996.
#9. From which town did Paddy Hopkirk and Henry Liddon start their famous winning 1964 event?
Hopkirk and Liddon started from Minsk, then part of the USSR. A long drive to Monaco in a Mini…
#10. Who won last year’s Monte Carlo Rally? (Photo: Red Bull Content Pool)
Showing no signs of slowing down, Sébastien Loeb took 2022’s Monte win, in a Ford Puma Rally1 run by M-Sport.
Results
Well done! You navigated that like Jean Ragnotti navigates a hairpin.
Bad luck, you’ve clipped a stone wall and lost a wheel. It’s a slow run back to service…
