The IRC started as a small baby when the FIA decided to wait before switching to Super 2000 regulations a few years ago. With smart decisions and a strong media partner the championship has now grown into a teenager or a young adult, and soon it may be a full-grown beast seriously challenging the WRC in many ways. This year the season opens with the Rallye Monte Carlo – a mythic event full of history and legends.
Rally Monte Carlo has for years been the season opener of the World Rally Championship, but with the WRC stepping down to 12 events per year Monte is now in the IRC calendar for 2009 – and it will for sure be great. In 2009, IRC will have seven manufacturers commited to go for the championship – compared to WRC’s two. Abarth is the old guys in the game running their Punto Super 2000, while Skoda is the latest addition running two Fabia Super 2000 with Juho Hänninen and Jan Kopecky at the wheels. Besides them, also Honda, Citroen, Mitsubishi, Peugeot and Volkswagen are going for the IRC title.
With a number of new drivers, the 77th Monte Carlo Rally should be an open affair. Reigning IRC champion Nicolas Vouilloz is of course one of the favourites – but he will for sure be challenged by Abarth’s Basso, Skoda’s Kopecky, Peugeot’s Freddy Loix, Didier Auriol and Stephane Sarrazin as well as Kris Meeke in the brand new Kronos/Peugeot UK-run Peugeot 207. But maybe the biggest danger to Vouilloz in Monte is his own countryman, upcoming youngster Sebastien Ogier. Ogier has been awarded the Monte Carlo start in a Peugeot 207 Super 2000 in the BFGoodrich Drivers Team but is set to compete in the Citroen Junior Team in the WRC the rest of the season.
No matter what happens, the event will be a huge show to the public. It’s run in three legs during Wednesday to Friday and four stages will also be run in night conditions – like in the good, old times. Everyone having access to Eurosport should be happy, since the event is covered probably better than any previous rally, counting both the WRC, IRC and others. Rally Monte Carlo will get no less than 6h 15min of live television and added to that 2×15 minutes of short highlights from day one and two. More about that (including TV times) in my post regarding Eurosport TV coverage.
More info about the 77th Rally of Monte Carlo (external links)
