Our Ed McDonough spoke with Patrick Tambay at the start of this year’s Monte Carlo Historic Rally, followed his progress in a Citroen DS19 over the various stages, and spoke with him again near the finish. Tambay spoke about the car, the rally and how they fit in with his other racing experiences, most notably racing in Formula One for Ferrari.
I did the “real” Monte Carlo rally in 1973 with Jean Ragnotti in a Renault 12 Gordini. In historic events, I have done the Tour Auto in a Jaguar XK 120 and that’s it. The only historic racing I have done is at Goodwood, and that was good because I won the race with Pescarolo.
I have been doing some testing with this car…five minutes ago! No, I did about 100 kilometers with it on the roads behind Nice going to Grasse and Draguinan to get the hang of it and see how it was on the ice and snow and it was really good. It is a very comfortable car, the Citroen, very gentle on the suspension, very quiet. We have a little problem with the second gear which we haven’t fixed yet. But eight months ago it was in a garage with chickens and eggs and chicks, which are all gone now. It was in a bad state, but the guys who are working on it have worked on the racing Citroens in the old days. They took it apart and completely rebuilt it. It is very complicated with the suspension and hydraulics…this one has the red fluid, which is more complicated than the later model. We won’t really know how good it is until the start tonight because we now have a long trip north for this first section.
This rally takes preparation—mentally, physically, intellectually. Intellectually, you get into the mood yourself…it is a union of passion and people who know and love their cars so it is easy to get into it. Physically, we will see. Tonight will be difficult, I am not really prepared for that. I came from the office yesterday but fortunately the co-driver does most of the real work, the driver is the monkey! I have some experience on ice and snow because I did the Andrus Trophy and racing for 24 Hours at Chamonix. I finished 2nd in the Andrus Trophy once, but it is a while ago and not quite the same as snow and ice on the roads. It is very different from single-seaters, of course, and even in 1973 it was very special, with atmosphere, the reunion of people involved. I also did the Paris-Dakar back then. The atmosphere is terrific, seeing a lot of people along the way with a nostalgic interest and love for the cars. The event that I did in 1973 had 350 cars like this one, but now rallying has changed so much. That rally was all over Europe and was very difficult. One can understand the changes and the logistics of rallying now, where we live in a world now with more and more rules.
Back when I did the 1973 Monte, I was already in single-seaters in Formula Renault in 1972 and did my first rally in the winter of 1973 just for fun, and that was nice, but I did Formula Renault again in 1973 and didn’t go back to rallying until I finished track racing in 1987. Of course there was 1983 when magical things happened and I won at Imola and was on pole at Hockenheim, very, very special times back then. You don’t know where that magic comes from, and you have to take it as it comes, with a lot of deep emotion and deep satisfaction. These were not only sporting results but also personal results. Ferrari was always a good team to drive for, even when they had their doubts, dramas and successes, it was always special and today even more so. Then it was a unique team to drive for. None of the other teams I have driven for had the same kind of atmosphere or ambiance and relationship with the tifosi fans and crowds.
But it is just as nice to be here, with many good rally drivers and Erik Comas from Formula One and Jean Ragnotti who could have been an F1 driver or F3 if he hadn’t chosen another direction. Rallying is different from historic racing, because you have to have a car—and owners can do the driving so they don’t want to give the driving to someone else. But this event is so important, as it is a rolling museum and a demonstration of the souvenirs of the past. Today, we are the memories of the past, memories this week of Dachau and the liberation of the camps. It is important for the younger generation to remember that, and also to know about this kind of heritage. This part of the car industry is an important memory exercise, and involves the people who created these cars when they were young and are now involved when they are older. Some of the mechanics who worked on these cars when they were new are here now, and you see the equipment remaining as original and almost as art. We change…we can’t be restored…but we can have this flashback of memories.
And it also works, so I will find out how this museum of art works on ice!
(After three days, McDonough spoke with Tambay again at Eze, before the final night stages:)
The rally has been fabulous, though we have had a few problems. The carburetion has been giving trouble and there was some freezing of the fuel, and a problem with filters not working, a lot of little things like that. We have to be careful because every time we say it’s fine, something else happens. But everything has been spot-on…perfect. The itinerary, the roads, the weather, the food, the people…all was spot-on. We had ice and snow at Buzet but not too much, and on the second part at St. Jean Royan, which was a nice stage, and some snow today.
The car has been OK except for the fuel management system, which spoiled part of yesterday and has been difficult today. We have no filters in so it’s noisy and I don’t know if it’s going to catch fire! We had studded tires only at Buzet and a little bit of yesterday. It has been great, and the car is really good. The event is tough and there is a lot of driving, but the organization is fantastic. It is a real pleasure for me to do this. They said, with bad weather, at the start there might only be 25 cars at the finish, but look how many cars are here. We had snow on the way up on Friday night, no snow all the way through France, a bit icy in places and the weather has been clear blue skies ever since. I have been feeling good but we now have no barrier between us and the engine so we have fumes, and I am feeling a little intoxication! We almost didn’t make it last night and today we almost didn’t make it. We go to the checkpoints and the car starts so the mechanic has to come and adjust it and do tricks. We will get there!
On the final night of the event, Tambay’s Citroen came slewing up to the start line with just a minute to spare. He slowed down just long enough to shout out the window that they had been enjoying dinner so much that they lost track of the time!
Photo: Peter Collins
