European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 1, 1969, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Lif i. The Monte Carlo putting drive son ice by Randy barn to staff writer while the january Sun Shine brightly on Monte Carlo a Princi Pality where All the action is where do you think the rally Drivers Are they re up in the mountains bouncing perfectly Good cars around suicide bends at incredible speeds and zoom ing Over the ice at 40 to 50 , with Gay abandon. The cars expensive an Beautiful at the Start Are now a mass of dents and bruises from careening off one Wall of ice to another. You think these Drivers Are crazy you re right. And the navigators Al though Brilliant they must be to read maps and plot charts at those speeds Are even crazier. Most of them Don t even have the satisfaction if you Mancall it that of bouncing the car from ice Wall to ice Wall. They just sit there cooped up with the Driver chanting the rally Litany of hard right hard left easy left slow to right barn 50 feet to left Flat out now , As the saying goes it takes All kinds. Who else would drive 2,200 Miles to reach Monte Carlo and then once there dash off in mad Pursuit of on another not once but twice the first time 950 Miles Over Mountain roads from Monte Carlo to Vals Les Bains i France Cha Berry in Switzerland and Back to Monaco then a Day later an other 450 Miles from Monaco Over ice packed roads that again Lead Back to you guessed it Monaco. All of this with hardly any sleep except for one res period Between the first and second stages of the French Alp fling. To explain the Complex rules of european rallying is next to impossible. About the Only people who know the rules Are those who write them and the protests concerning the regulations Are legion. 1 he european rally is basically a Road race Over almost impossible Ter rain. In the Case of the Monte Carlo rally it s a Road race on ice. Rallying in the states is fairly tame stuff compared to the european variety Speed limits must be adhered to and any car exceeding them is usually bounced out of the rally if the organizers discover infractions. The stateside rally therefore becomes a navigators rally or a Case of Don t get lost an hit each checkpoint on  navigation not driving is the thing Ergo Hullsville in the european rally there is no Speed limit in the special stages and if you Dyn j go All out you d better go Home. So they go ail out. This year s Monte Carlo rally was on of the toughest driving tests in years. More than 220 cars started out from eight european cities for the run to Monte Carlo and Only 158 made it in. At the end of the first 950-mile Alpine stage Only 56 of the 158 had finished the Speed driving Section a grind Over ice and Snow that took 20 hours to com plete " Only 44 of those to a to Ftp Limtt Good enough to compete the final 450-mile Speed sections an Linof these Only 28 made it to the finish. The cars converged on Monte Carlo from Athens Frankfurt Janaulis Bon London Oslo reims Warsaw and Monte Carlo. The cars based for Monte Carlo took various rib a Abonit for Cebe fore returning to their hone base. Lally Drivers Are to special Breed not to be confused with race Drivers. Few race Drivers of renown would be caught dead in a rally As that s where they think the end will Lead. There Are exceptions such As Vic Elford of England and Lucien Biancho of France but Elford said he s had enough and will concentrate on racing in the future. Biancho escaped death in the London to Sydney rally just before Christmas when his car was knocked out of the Lead by a collision with a non competing Auto just 90 Miles fro the finish. The great ice and Snow Drivers generally come from Finland Sweden and Norway. They have a special style of controlled sliding broadside along thrice then straightening out somehow for the next turn. On the col de turini Mountain pass in France some Drivers hurtle their cars broadside for 50yards, then Hook in a Flash to make the turn and scream Down the , nighttime it s All the same to them. Rally spectators Are a bit mad  other types would be Content sit Ting on Snowbank in 15 degree tempera Tures throughout the night to watch Apack of cars come roaring by but the sport does t Lack fans. More than 5,000 of them were lined along opposite sides of the col de turini Road amusing themselves with snowball fights during the wait Between cars. Cops were the favorite targets. The cars pass at anything from 10-second to five minute intervals and the car going through the fastest with its Tail out the farthest draws the most cheers. They pass through this Section three times once at about 9 p.m., again at 1 a.m., and last time through about 8a.m. By irks Laine a Young finn who Wasa member of the Well known time Mak Inen Paul easter Crew spent an hour on the col de turini apologising for the poor showing of the finns in this year Monte Carlo madness. Not enough Snow he Sald we.  to race., the rally Drivers Are., up n mountains bouncing perfectly Good cars around suicide  zoom Over the ice at 40 to 50 ,.rally half plenty of curves but not the cuddly kind first it John Buffaro who pjaceal2th, gets kiss of encouragement from wife Vicki service car carried special tires for ice or reaches cars Are battered mud streaked by the time they arrive at finish. Part of  on ice was most on Snow and on the first stage restarted racing with each other when we reached the Snow sections. The Driver were so bored of the dry. But they flit tinted each other racing on the Enow. They should t have done that but they just could t help  non nordic Drivers however found the Snow plentiful. Laine finally brightened up and his eyeballs fairly rolled As he described finnish rallies you should come up to Finland you must come to Finland and see our rallies. The Winter rally i marvelous. One thousand Miles of Rac ing on ice and Snow i Tell you it i something up bin indeed been eliminated in racing Brisach other and Only a few of the Esser right finn remained in the Iong a stance destruction the  aft Rig to on ice too. This year s tips by Bjorn drove More of Caiji "48 it Leo meters in their porsche with a Loose wheel because of a mistake in language at a  stopped a have his disc Brake pads replaced and when the Moho Baid "no4�i$5ftmaia�gaard the  Dawn this Jyung ifil0j the Remote and Gibris of the Nighti after the Mechanic finished putting new pads and parts Back a Odegaard shot off Tefor the wheel was ugh Teo the strip Jiaa Cost him tour a touted Stead proceeded Doc in the Wall of Canyon what the Driver had said Sty eral Hundred feet Back was turn right and howl the Driver had heard it As turn right at a House Nice thing was Buffum said the Driver lived to Tell about  did t say whether the Driver tried to kill the navigator but in the world of rallying these Brief hatreds pass que Lely ind the two enemies Are friends again within a week and Are Back on the Road to another Cai their other one you can be sure is reposing in Al Judy shop Anyon Quick Wash cleans up survivors. 12 the stars and stripes the stars and stripes Page 13