The 2026 season kicks off as usual with the unpredictable Monte Carlo rally! Far superior IMO to F1. Can you imagine an F1 driver getting underneath his car in the mud to change a wheel or suspension strut? Absolutely not! A shame Kalle Rovenpera and the ultra cool Ott Tanak won’t be competing this season but it would be good to see Elfyn Evans win some more events.
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When was the last time a Monte had a start in Great Britain, I am thinking before the introduction of colour TV but it would be nice to be proved wrong 
It’s not ‘superior ‘ to F 1 , but complementary. The current breed of WRC car is staggeringly quick , but entries are thin and , personally , I don’t like the very tame format of WRC rounds.Compared to the spirit of endurance and adventure which Monte Carlo and RAC (inter alia ) had in the past , it’s all a bit meh , where cars are based at central locations and everyone gets a good night’s kip before doing the same again. Monte only has about 200 miles in total of stage miles - I marshalled RACs with 200+entries and 70 + stages.Last year’s Monte had about 70 cars . I get my best rallying kicks by watching Finnish national rallies on YouTube - insane !
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Good points, well made. I agree, it is a pity that there are only three manufacturers involved at the top level these days and that some of the stages are repeated rather than unique. That said, the weather usually offers unpredictability on the Monte making tyre choice more problematic. As far as the drivers are concerned, I find the genuine sense of camaraderie between them refreshing and the fact that they still get their hands dirty on occasions is still an important element albeit less common nowadays.
It’s also a shame that there is no British event these days. I remember watching Carlos Saint snr in the Celica flying around Dalby Forest in the RAC Lombard, along with the likes of Jimmy McRae and Ari Vatenen amongst many others.
My only claim to fame is that on my very first RAC rally , I was a teenage marshal in Dalby at the corner where Mikkola crashed his Escort, just yards away . Now immortalised as ‘Mikkola’s Bend’.
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Who remembers those Group B days 1982-86 - the noise of that S1 E2 Quattro…■■■!!
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Saw the 1985 start just down the road from where I was living at Wollaton Park then followed another stage which I think might have been Sutton Park where I took this photo
of Tony in his Mini Metro 
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