MONTE CARLO RALLY

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28490, 21 January 1958, Page 16

MONTE CARLO RALLY

350 Cars In This Week’s Event (N.Z Press Association—Copyright! (Rec. 7 p.m.) MONTE CARLO, January 18. Nearly 350 cars, driven by men and women from 23 countries, will set off from eight starting points next Tuesday and Wednesday in the twenty-seventh Monte Carlo rally. In the world’s toughest automobile road test, driving day and night, and snatching sleep when they can, the rally teams face hazards of snow, ice, fog, and increasing weariness on the journey of nearly 2000 miles towards Monte Carlo, which they are due to reach on Friday. The top Australian driver, Laurie Whitehead, of Melbourne, is driving a Porsche in the rally. He will start from Rome.

Early weather reports suggest that the going may be as difficult as it usually is on this gruelling midwinter journey. But even if heavy snow makes the mountain passes barely negotiable, and ice coats the roads, the cars must keep up a set maximum average speed of nearly 40 m.p.h. if they are not to lose points.

On each of the routes, starting from Athens, Oslo, Rome, The Hague, Glasgow, Munich, and Paris, there are more than a dozen points at which drivers must arrive on time or lose points. So as to ensure that they do not make their task easier by speeding on favourable sections, there are secret checks to see that they do not exceed the maximum permitted speed.