Monte Carlo Historic Rally: Victory for Luis Climent Asensio and Carles Jimenez Valls

The modern Monte Carlo Rally had already made its mark, so what can be said of the 2026 Monte Carlo Historic Rally, which has already entered the annals of legend! After a final night of action last night, Luis Climent Asensio and Carles Jimenez Valls (BMW 323i) completely turned the race around and ultimately won with a 1120-point lead over Ludovic De Luca and Sébastien Chol (Peugeot 104 ZS), penalized by the inferior performance of their car compared to their competitors. Olivier and Lydia Campana completed the final podium in their Volkswagen Golf GTI. The Russians Ilya Kashin and Borys Kostyrko had done the hardest part with their Scirocco coupe, but lost considerable ground in the penultimate stage, the Col du Turini, and relinquished the overall lead. The exact final standings were not known until Saturday at noon. rally, while penalties and any complaints are dealt with by the sporting bodies in charge of the proper conduct of the race.

A record-breaking edition!

As a reminder, this 2026 edition was the first to be held on closed roads. Consequently, a large number of competitors set off earlier in the week from Reims, Barcelona, ​​Turin, and even Bad Homburg in Germany, and the average speeds observed during the event were logically a bit higher than usual. Among the impressive performances of this Monte Carlo Historic Rally, we must acknowledge the twelfth-place finish of Yannick Roche and Julie Amblard: Roche had already competed in Monte Carlo a few days prior with Pablo Sarrazin, while Amblard is the co-driver for Sarah Rumeau. The two are a couple and have spent the last few months working on this project, participating in an unusual Daf 66 Marathon, whose power output doesn't exceed 60 horsepower! A complete change of scenery compared to the Rally2 cockpits they know so well. Bruno Saby, finally, was at the start of the race aboard a Renault 5 Turbo.

The final and definitive standings for the Monte Carlo Historique are now available. here.