The first Monte Carlo Rally was held in 1911. In two years, the event will celebrate it's centenary. Its 77th edition takes place next week, from Wednesday 21 to Saturday 24 January. A survey recently showed that the "Monte", as experts say, is that the rally, by far, "speaks more to the general public." For the first time in 2009, Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg tackles this "monument" of road races with a clear objective: to join the fight for victory!
"Winning in Monte Carlo is the dream of all the professionals of rally, but it will not be easy. Remember that we are a private opposed to three teams of factory Peugeot Sport, Abarth and Skoda, said Marc Van Dalen, team manager. We will try out hardest, but our resources are limited. On the other hand, our motivation has no limits. The Monte Carlo Rally is a unique challenge because of its length, its geographical spread, mountainous regions it passes through and the period of the year in which it takes place, which maximizes the uncertainty of road conditions. This year, organisers of the Automobile Club de Monaco revived the tradition with the return of the famous "Night of Turini" which uses a shortened version. With more than 362 timed kilometres, the Monte Carlo Rally is the longest IRC round ever in Europe. With a start and a finish in Monaco, but two nights of rest in Valence, just 100km south of Lyon, the total length of the event exceeds 1400km, which is also unusual. "It will be one of our strengths," continues Van Dalen.
Throughout our victorious campaign in 2008, the Peugeot 207 S2000 has shown a perfect reliability. The engineers and mechanics Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg are fluent in the operation, and the two 207s prepared for "Nico" and Freddy are totally new. "The Special 77th Rallye Monte-Carlo are outlined in the Alps, Vercors, Ardèche , Haute-Loire and the hinterland of Nice. This means if the tests facing the 65 teams entered are varied, especially in the midst of a winter that seems to superbly ignore the "global warming". As is always the case in Monaco, the choice of tires will be important. "The range available to us by our partner BFGoodrich, is perfect", continues the sporting director of Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg. "In Monaco, the tire is never ideal. It is necessarily a compromise between the various road conditions encountered between returns to the service park. This is where the intelligence of the race driver takes on particular importance. Last season proved that, with Freddy Loix and Nicolas Vouilloz, the Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg is particularly well equipped in this respect."
Source:
http://www.rallye-info.com