MONTE CARLO RALLY

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28800, 22 January 1959, Page 16

MONTE CARLO RALLY

Few Contestants Withdraw (N.Z Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 7 pjn.) MONTE CARLO, January 20. Only 35 of the 322 Monte Carlo rally crews are reported to have Withdrawn, and the last 306-mile lap from Chambery, in southern Trance, 11 to be made more difficult to cut down the number of drivers finishing without penalty points., i Each driver will receive a sealed erivelope giving a fixed speed for different sections of the route. Hidden controls will check his progress. Penalty points will be awarded, and not more than 120 drivers are expected ■to reach Monte Carlo them. “ K the slippery winding road down to the finish fails to thin out the field, the prizes to be handed out on Sunday by Prince Rainier will depend on the second part of the rally, the mountain road test. The finishers, weary after nearly three days and nights of almost non-stop driving, have to start on this test only about 10 hours after their arrival. The course of 267 miles is set in the mountains above the town, and has to be covered at night. Local experts who have been over the course say it is not so difficult as last year, and the roads are in fairly good condition. Organisers believe the equipment carried by the cars and their drivers are the cause of the small drop-out of entrants, in spite of the bad weather. The rally had its first serious accidents today when two British cars crashed on the icy French One of the drivers, N. L. Paterson, was detained in hospital with fractured ribs, but the others were only slightly injured. It is understood the Australian crew, Edgar Perkins and Gregory Cusack, driving a Porsche from Lisbon, and the New Zealand hus-band-and-wife team, Mr and Mrs. Gerald McMillan, also in a Porsche, driving from Athens, are still in the rally. Mr McMillan and his wife clocked in and out on time at the Turin check point. They reported no penalties so far.