As the years go by, snow and ice become less common at the Monte-Carlo Rally. In 2024, the legendary Alpine event will take place on a dry and almost immaculate road. A 92nd edition that will feel like spring, with temperatures that will make you take off your mittens and hat!
For this first weekend of WRC competition, Météo-France announces perfect weather, perhaps too much for a Monte-Carl’: bright sunshine throughout the four days of racing, and temperatures worthy of April at around 15°C in the followingnoon. This is almost 10°C warmer than the season averages recorded in Gap (Hautes-Alpes), where the service park is located.
Forecast weather in Gap (January 25 to 28, 2024)
Caution is advised on this Monte-Carlo Rally!
With such weather, we might say that this Monte-Carlo Rally will be much simpler for all the crews entered… but think once more! On the contrary, these conditions that we may consider “ideal” are not really so, and pilots and co-pilots will have to be extra careful.
“The fact of competing in stages which should be quite dry does not simplify everything, on the contraryexplains Vincent Landais, co-driver of Sébastien Ogier. Between sunrise and sunset, there can be big temperature variations. Frost may appear following the passage of our openers. We tried to put a plan in place that would allow them to pass as late as possible. I consider it to be the most difficult test for a co-driver due to its specificity, its route, the timing and, because it is the first of the year. »
Wednesday evening, during the press briefing organized in front of the public who came in large numbers, the drivers recognized the challenge that too mild weather might bring to the Monte-Carlo. “In the mountains, at 1600 meters, it curdles,” emphasized Adrien Fourmaux, “and at night, it freezes. We will all arrive on slick tires on sections exposed to the sun with enormous grip and the next corner, it will be completely icy because it’s an ubac (In the Alps, the least sunny side of a valley, Editor’s note .) and you will have to be stationary! »
Despite the high temperatures, some areas that are not exposed to the sun may remain icy. Before the start of the 92nd edition this Thursday evening, only the Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes – La Bâtie-Neuve special (SS3 and SS6) is still icy on the heights… but as Arnaud Dunand, Yohan’s co-driver, explains Rossel, “from time to time the freezing point can be surprising”and ice might reappear overnight without the temperature dropping below 0°C!
Hoping also that the spectators present on site will not play the smartest thing by dirtying the road with ice, snow or water, as might unfortunately have happened to Thierry Neuville in 2023. The Belgian had not gone far then of the disaster from the first special stage of the rally…
READ ALSO > Route, timetables, entrants… The complete guide to the 2024 Monte-Carlo Rally