TURIN
Fifty-two crews have chosen Turin as their starting city, among them the president of the Automobile Club d'Italia, Angelo Sticchi Damiani, who, with the number 1 on the side of his 1975 Lancia 124 Abarth, kicked off the race. In another legendary Italian car, the Swiss Claudio Enz and Cristina Seeberger, winners in 2023, started under the Mole in their faithful 1970 Lancia Fulvia Coupé 1.3 s.
BAD HOMBOURG
But while Turin celebrated the start of the race, there were those who already had hundreds of kilometres behind them. For example, the 16 crews who started at 2pm on Thursday from the German town of Bad Hombourg, near Wiesbaden and Mainz. All had to cover 870 kilometres to reach Valence, passing through Langres, Dole, Bourgoin-Jallieu (on the outskirts of Lyon) and Chabeuil. Some competitors in Porsches, Volkswagens and Opels logically chose to start from Germany, as did the driver of an old 1959 Austin Healey, Norwegian Christian Hallan.
MONACO
Four hours later than in Turin, 86 people turned up for the start in Monaco, in the rain. They had just under 20 hours to cover 430 km, with obligatory stages (Saint-André-les-Alpes, Gap, Die, Crest, Chabeuil) until the O.C. on Friday afternoon, just before 1pm, on the Place du Champ de Mars, in Valence, the prefecture of Drôme. Monaco was not a starting city last year, but the destination of all the concentration courses, including Glasgow and Milan (alternating with Turin), which are not scheduled for this 2025 edition.
Among the notable competitors at the start in Monaco were Henrik Bjerregaard and Jaromir Svec, winners of the RMCH in 2022, in a 1979 Ford Escort RS2000. There was also Sébastien Chardonnet, former WRC3 world champion, in another Ford Escort, and Bruno Saby, winner of the WRC in 1988, in a Lancia Delta HF. Like last year, the champion will again start in a splendid Ford Capri, again with the number 38, in homage to his home region, Isère. Not forgetting star chef Michel Chabran, in a 1979 BMW 323i.
REIMS
In this year's rally, in which 34 makes of car were entered and in which the 219 crews, including seven 100% women, authorised to start represented 25 nationalities, Reims played an important role. In the capital of Champagne and the Champagne-Ardenne region, 65 perfectly prepared cars, also with a start set for 19:00, paraded in turn on the starting ramp. Among them were the title holders, Belgians Michel Decremer and Jennifer Hugo, who swapped their Opel Ascona 400 from last year for a 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia TI.
All these starts were made possible thanks to the involvement of volunteers from the German and Italian Automobile Clubs, the ever dynamic Reims Champagne Véhicules Historiques Sportifs association and all the special envoys of the ACM. From Saturday onwards, there will be hundreds of kilometres to cover, until the final stage on the Col de Turini on Tuesday evening. The objective is always the same: to try to respect the high or low averages calculated and imposed by the ACM, while having fun and without taking too many risks. Once again, given the quality of the course, the suspense will be total, right to the end, and the show will be a success, for thousands of nostalgics!