COULD YOU WIN THE MONTE?

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30952, 7 January 1966, Page 7

COULD YOU WIN THE MONTE?

BY

SIMON MARSH

PART II

f ’OULD you drive in the j J Monte Carlo Rally—and] reach Monaco intact? Doubt-! less you’re a competent driver. able to cope with most ordinary hazards on the road. But this is not enough for the Monte . . . not by a long chalk! In fact, rally experts estimate that only one driver in 1000 possesses the very special qualities needed to cope with the physical, mental, and mechanical pressures that three days and three nights] cooped up in a car jolting | 2600 miles across Europe can exert. The Monte is a vicious i strain on the nerves. Old friends have come to blows.. Others have travelled home by train rather than face the! return drive in the same com-j pany. In one recent Monte, a two-, man crew, both drivers of re-j pute, had an angry clash soon ] after the start. One climbed] into the back seat and re-1 fused to take any further interest in the event, leaving; his colleague to drive and navigate single-handed for; the next 52J hours . . . The essential part of thej Monte Carlo formula is the ! “tiring out” process both of men and machines. Although the event is not a race in the accepted sense, it has all the characteristics of one —against the clock. And time is an inexorable opponent

who never blows up, crashes.! or misjudges a corner. If Father Time can be de-; feated, your team will rank as' a finisher. But unless the car! has kept in perfect time, it will do no good in the tests! on which the final result usu-j ally depends. Indeed, you would have to be a performer of exceptional skill and judgment to match the finest drivers in European and American rallying—after having less than 10 hours’ sleep in the last three days. NAVIGATION Usually the successful rally team is not too democratic. There is a skipper and a second mate who normally doubles as navigator. “Navigation is equally as important as driving, in so far as more teams have failed through faulty map-reading and timing than through faulty driving,” says one 'Monte veteran. If a car is efficient and in really sound condition, it should get there—providing !the crew show it the way. . In “works” cars, the navigator’s side of the dashboard is often more impressive than ithe driver's. There are batjteries of stopwatches, a tripspeedometer, racks containing ] pencils, set-squares and divid-

!ers, a moveable lamp, maps ' that unfold on rollers —and | often a duplicate horn button i for the navigator to sound in : danger when the driver is I fully occupied with the con- ; trols. : The navigator does more (than simply guide the car from the starting point to Monte Carlo. Average and minimum speeds must be checked constantly, and the times between check points estimated to the last second. As eight different rally streams converge near Lake Geneva for the final thrust south, tiredness will be taking its toll. Over special stages between closely spaced controls, they have to average 35 or more over snaking icecrusted roads. It is during this dramatic 800-mile stretch, usually covered flat out against the clock that the driver’s resistance is at its lowest ebb. MASCOTS Rallyists are staunch individuals. The cars are often littered with lucky mascots and good luck charms. A hat or scarf will be worn because it “brings good luck.” Last year, one hardened ; rally driver developed an al- ■ most pathological fear of los-

ing his ignition key and carried two spares—one screwed firmly to the dashboard, the other on a string around his neck. . . .

: Ice is a perpetual headache —but fog is regarded by many drivers as the worst hazard of all. Stirling Moss remembers his last Monte: “We had fairly bad fog in patches, and it completely changed the driving equation —in much the same way that rain will when it falls during a Grand Prix event.

What makes a potential Monte winner? Strangely, though speed is so important if a driver is to maintain his almost inhuman schedules, smoothness and gentleness are the true hallmarks of a master.

This means gentle acceleration, gentle braking, and gentle use of the wheel. “Slippery Monte-type conditions really show up the flaws in one’s technique,” says one expert.

In every aspect of the rally, works teams have the advantage over the private entrant. An unsponsored driver will need at least £5OO plus a spe-cially-prepared car to have a chance. (To be Concluded)