5th E-RALLY MONTE-CARLO

di Virginia De Masi

MONACO. Cancelled in 2020 due to the devastation caused by Storm Alex, the 100% electric & hydrogen Rallye Monte-Carlo opus is back this year with a challenging course totalling more than 350 kilometres in stage time, divided into 15 Regularity Stages (RS) and nearly 1,000 kilometres of road section. As requested by the Organizing Committee of this 5th edition, the “Grand Départ” will be held in the city of Châteauneuf, in the department of the Loire, the first municipal domain in France to be autonomous in green energy. The competitors will then head towards Valence in the Drôme department for 2 days.

Finally, the E-Rallye Monte-Carlo 2021 will arrive in Monaco for the weekend where the SR will be organized between the departments of the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes. Last but not least, competitors should no longer have any difficulty finding charging points in the Principality with numerous points now available in the many public car parks or in outdoor parking spaces reserved exclusively for electric vehicles…Back to Monaco to close a 5th edition that will be remembered! The Awards Ceremony of this 5th edition of the E-Rally Monte-Carlo was also the occasion to reward the first in each category.

INFORMATION

LEG 1: CHATEAUNEUF / VALENCE – Wednesday 20/10/2021

Start CHATEAUNEUF – Château du Mollard (Loire); RS 1 – Saint-Just / Graix (Loire); RS 2 – Vanosc / Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid (Ardèche / Haute-Loire); RS 3 – Lalouvesc / Labatie-d’Andaure (Ardèche); Arrival VALENCE – Champ de Mars (Drôme)

LEG 2: VALENCE / VALENCE – Thursday 21/10/2021 Morning

Départ VALENCE – Champ de Mars (Drôme), RS 4 – Champis / Lamastre (Ardèche), RS 5 – Le Cheylard / Marcols-les-Eaux (Ardèche),RS 6 – Albon-d’Ardèche / Saint-Barthélemy-le-Meil (Ardèche), Arrival VALENCE – Champ de Mars (Drôme)

LEG 3: VALENCE / VALENCE – Thursday 21/10/2021 Afternoon

Start VALENCE – Champ de Mars (Drôme), RS 7 – Barbières / Combovin (Drôme), Arrival VALENCE – Champ de Mars (Drôme)

LEG 4: VALENCE / MONACO – Friday 22/10/2021

Start VALENCE – Champ de Mars (Drôme), Passage Control at MONTOISON – Parking du Stade (Drôme), RS 8 – Saint-Nazaire-le-Désert / La Motte-Chalancon (Drôme), RS 9 – Montauban-sur-l’Ouvèze / Villebois-les-Pins (Drôme), Passage Control at LARAGNE-MONTÉGLIN – Place des Aires (Hautes-Alpes), RS 10 – Valbelle / Saint-Etienne-les-Orgues (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), RS 11 – La Palud-sur-Verdon / La Palud-sur-Verdon (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), Arrival MONACO

LEG : MONACO / MONACO – Saturday 23/10/2021

Start MONACO, RS 12 – Col de Gratteloup / Vidauban (Var), RS 13 – Grimaud / Gonfaron (Var), Passage Control at LUC-EN-PROVENCE – DN7 (Var), RS 14 – La Motte / Bagnols-en-Forêt (Var), RS 15 – Pont de Pré-Claou / Montauroux (Var), Arrival MONACO.

LANSIAUX & BUHOT, WINNERS ON A VOLSWAGEN ID4!

The French duo wins this 5th edition of the E-Rallye Monte-Carlo. Their victory is an example of consistency. Regularly close to the first places, they did not win any regularity stages during this edition. But that doesn’t matter to their pleasure. Second in the general standings on the eve of the last stage, Frédéric Lansiaux and Nicolas Buhot have managed to show a deep accuracy and continuity on Saturday to take the victory. They thus added their names to the list of winners of the 100% electric and hydrogen powered Rallye Monte-Carlo. They won ahead of the Tesla Model 3 of Frédéric Ozon, the title holder, and Gérald Seiler.  In third place was the eBorn network’s Renault ZOÉ crew, Michel Chabran / Eric Mallen. A very good performance for their first participation in the E-Rallye. As for the Monaco champions the Pastor, Jacques the driver and Serge the co-driver on Kia E-Niro have many participations in the E-Rallye Monte-Carlo. This year again, still under the colors of the Monaco City Hall, the two friends were on the starting line with big ambitions. Winners, they find themselves in second place in the provisional classification at the end of leg 1. A victory in the first stage of the morning brings them a little closer to the grail… until the “blunder” like Jacques calls it! “Without this error on the course, which was entirely our fault, we could clearly be title contenders… Despite everything, we had enormous pleasure throughout the course and for that we would like to thank the ACM, because for the crews to have fun, a lot of people have to work.” Their long experience makes them say: “Electric cars have now reached their maturity, devices as well as tripmasters are reliable!” They don’t lack much to achieve their ambitions. The harsh reality of Monte-Carlo!

About E-Rallye Monte-Carlo  – E-Rally Monte-Carlo is an authentic regularity road race reserved to 100% Electric Vehicles (excluding any use of range extenders) and 100% Hydrogen-powered cars. It is now very appreciated by car manufacturers and race teams who are eager to show, in a real and tough environment, the technological and innovative potential of their vehicles. Its new name comes back to 2016, following previous editions called “Rally Monte-Carlo for Electric Vehicles” (1995 to 1999), then “Rally Monte-Carlo Fuel Cell & Hybrids” (2005, 2006), Rally Monte-Carlo for Alternative Energy Vehicles (2007 to 2011) and Rally Monte-Carlo for New Energies / Rally Monte-Carlo ZENN (2012 to 2015). This 5th edition of E-Rally Monte-Carlo will be a race of the 2020 FIA E-Rally Regularity Cup. By definition, E-Rallys are promoting new automobile technologies designed to limit all sorts of pollution (fine particles, CO2, etc.) They also encourage drivers to adopt an eco-responsible driving style, the priority being the protection of environment and the transition in the transportation sector, thanks to using electricity as an energy source for propelling vehicles. This is exactly what Automobile Club de Monaco has been trying to demonstrate over the past twenty years, pursuing with conviction its visionary role.

Automobile Club de Monaco remains a proposing force in that domain: E-Rally Monte-Carlo, dedicated to new generation vehicles, has always moved forward, year after year, to stay in phase with modernity. Historic partner of the Automobile Club, e-born, the public network of charging stations with 1200 terminals on the counter today in 11 departments of the South-East, goes back into the adventure by making available its terminals located along the roads of the E-Rallye. Charging stations for electric vehicles will also be provided in the parks by EVBox, also partner of the E-Rally Monte-Carlo. Leader in the electric mobility market, EVBox accelerates sustainable mobility by providing smart and scalable charging infrastructure and supervision software to electric vehicles around the world. A subsidiary of ENGIE, EVBox has produced more than 150,000 charging points, currently in operation in more than 70 countries. With home, business, commercial and public charging solutions, EVBox is helping to build a future where everyday transportation is emission-free. The cars entered in the event are new generation vehicles, representing over ten car manufacturers, all of them leaders on the market, be it with electric cars or fuel cell vehicles using hydrogen…