Monte Carlo is to the World Rally Championship what the Monaco Grand Prix is to Formula One. Aside from being held in the same tiny European principality, it's probably the most iconic, most well-known rally stage in the world. They couldn't cancel it. They wouldn't. They have. Sort of.

Headlines around the motorsport world have been shouting that the Monte Carlo stage will be absent from the 2009 WRC calendar for only the third time since the series' inception. But that's only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Starting in two years' time, every stage on the race calendar will alternate years, in a bid to include as many locations as possible in the series each year without overcrowding the calendar and putting additional stress on the teams. (And the motoring press, for that matter, thank you very much.) Whereas this year saw no less than 16 rally stages in the WRC, next year will be reduced to 15, and the 2009 and 2010 calendars will be burdened by only 12 rounds each. Yet over the course of the '09 and '10, 24 countries will have hosted WRC stages. So in point of fact, while the Monte Carlo stage is cancelled for the 2009 schedule, it returns in 2010 and will apparently alternate every year thereafter.

Follow the jump to view the full calendars for the 2009 and 2010 seasons of the FIA World Rally Championship.

[Source: Autosport]

Continue reading Monte Carlo rally cancelled for 2009, and that's not all...

Monte Carlo rally cancelled for 2009, and that's not all... originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Who needs Ferrari? That's the rhetorical question asked by Girard-Perregaux, the noted Swiss watchmaker. For years GP made watches under license from Maranello, but since Ferrari moved their timepiece contract over to Panerai, Girard-Perregaux hasn't missed a beat.

Unveiled together with several other timepieces at the recently concluded watch and jewelry show in Basel, Switzerland, the Girard-Perregaux Monte Carlo Fly-back chronograph pays homage to one of the most famous runnings of the most famous rallies in motor racing history. In 1970, Björn Waldegaard drove and Lars Helmer navigated their #6 Porsche 911 S through a notoriously tricky course spotted with icy patches but no snow to claim victory at the legendary stage of the Monte Carlo Rally.

Their names are engraved on the case back along with a reproduction of the car's registration plate. The words "Monte-Carlo 1970" appear in bold red letters on the black face that displays the unique chronograph and tachymeter movement, a fly-back complication that doesn't lose a second in re-setting the mechanism on the fly. It's all held in a steel case fastened with a black alligator strap and limited to an edition of 250.

[Source: TimeZone via Luxist]

Girard-Perregaux remembers Monte Carlo 1970 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 24 Apr 2007 17:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There's smug satisfaction and then there's smug satisfaction. And the folks over at Citroen Sport are enjoying some serious smug satisfaction after taking a brilliant 1-2 finish in the Monte Carlo Rally. Taking first AND second is enough to make any team happy, but to compound that, this was the first race for Citroen's factory rally team since returning to the World Rally Championship, and the first race for their shiny new baby, the Citroen C4 WRC.

First place was taken by three-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb and his co-pilot Daniel Elena. To make the victory even sweeter, Loeb was fresh back at the wheel after recovering from a broken arm. Claiming the checkered flag at Monte Carlo set a new record for Loeb as his 29th career rally win. This was also the fourth time Loeb won in Monte Carlo, tying the record shared by rally legends Sandro Munari, Walter Rohrl and Tommi Makinen.

The second Citroen factory team driven by Dani Sordo took second place behind Loeb and ahead of Marcos Gronholm's Ford Focus. Not a bad day for Citroen and for Loeb, who are off to a great start to claim another championship.

[Source: Citroen]

Loeb pilots new Citroen C4 WRC to victory in Monte Carlo originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 25 Jan 2007 08:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reports are surfacing that suggest that Lancia is considering reviving the Monte Carlo nameplate for a new model. The original Monte Carlo was a small mid-engined sports car from the 1970s, designed and built by Pininfarina. Because Chevy already had dibs on the name in the US (and does still), the American version was sold as the Scorpion, and was marred by modifications that were required for certification on American roads. Lancia raced the Monte Carlo in Group 5 and was the basis for the legendary Type 037 Group B racer.

Lancia's parent company Fiat has been in the process of rejuvenating its many brands, and with Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Ferrari all returning to their respective heydays, Lancia's next. But with only a handful of quirky models in its line-up, Lancia is in need of a halo car to boost its sales and image. A small, affordable mid-engined sports car could be just what the doctor ordered. But without a cost-effective platform in the Fiat Group on which it could be based, its production could be a tough sell to the bean-counters.

[Source: Autocar via Winding Road]

Will Lancia make a new Monte Carlo? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 01 Jan 2007 17:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.