Final leg to Monaco
- Kaare Krane
- 7. feb.
- 3 min lesing
Oppdatert: 13. feb.
Our final leg to Monaco from Valence is a long one, some 437 km before starting off on the last to tests up in hills above Monte-Carlo.
We left Valence with spirits high and looking forward to a) finish the rally and b) meeting our bellowed ones! The day consisted of 3 tests and a lot of transportation between those tests. All on narrowing & winding roads.
SR 14 was the first test. Again, rather demanding, fast and challenging. At this point of time, we decided to drive with the ambition to get through it without any issues and somewhat reduced speed. However, as the clock is ticking something happens to my brain – the need for speed! We came in as no 44 in class; ok result.
SR 15 offered snow & ice, and opportunity to advance – we ended up as no 31. Good! By now, 2 of the Norwegian teams unfortunately had left the rally due to tech issues.
SR 16 was supposed to be on dry roads – but again, the weather changes quickly and we got patches of snow & ice – good fun! Result no 46 – not too good, but still acceptable as we did not want to push our luck. Unfortunately, another Norwegian left the rally following a crash.
The last transportation leg to Monaco went through Digne-Les-Bains, St. André-Les-Alpes and La Turbie before checking-in at Monte-Carlo. What a great feeling to roll on to the ramp, being interviewed and see our dear partners! A great moment!
We then had a few hours to refresh/recharge before moving on. We were not too exhausted, but from experience, we knew that the night stages would request attention and caution as the cars as well as the crews begin to the feel exhaustion and the rally taking its toll.
So, getting into the car and preparing for start, we got notified that due to a landslide, the route had changed. SR 17 remained unchanged, but SR 18 had been modified. Well, the navigator really had a stressful 30 min to absorb the info, redraft the route, and make new timing calculation. The parc fermé looked like a kindergarten with people running around to verify the info and seek advice from experienced navigators.
Terje stayed in the car making his reviews, calculations, and timing points. Even stressed he sorted it all out and was ready at start. Amazing!
To get to the start of SR 17 we had some 75 km on the hilly and winding roads again, this time in total darkness. A real warm-up for what’s to come!
SR 17 took us over Col de Turini with patches of snow & ice. Despite the intention of playing safe, we had good run up the hills, overtook 2 cars and felt we really on top of it before descending on the other side of the hill. It got extremely slippery on a mixture of slush & ice, so reduced speed came naturally as we passed other crews digging their cars out of the snow!
Result – no 21
SR 18 offered dry roads, and by now everyone understood that this was not the time to challenge and exaggerate. A huge collection of hairpins resulted in reduced speed; however, I think we made pretty good time and ended up as no 21 in class (final result) – and 93 overall.
Getting back to Monte-Carlo went well and passing over the finish line was a moment of relief and joy - we’ll treasure that one! Our partners and service team were all there and offered a warm welcome – fantastic!
What remained was the gala dinner on Saturday – a fine moment to close the event before returning home.
As the fairytale has come to an end, I want to thank all of you supporting us and making us come through, our sponsors (Kvam Auto & Bråthen Bil), the service team (Frode & Harald) always baking-up and ready to respond to any request and our partners letting us live our dream!
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