Monte Carlo but not bust for Harry Hunt

After 65 days of waiting, rising young British star Harry Hunt finally gets to taste competitive rally action again following his triple title-winning 2010 season. And what a start to the new year… on the world-famous Monte Carlo Rally.

The 22-year-old faces the 100-year-old rally in his month-old Citroen DS3 R3. Next week will be Hunt’s second attempt at the world’s oldest and most famous rally, which is once again the opening round of the Eurosport-backed Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Having claimed the FIA Rookie Trophy in the Junior World Rally Championship, the Fiesta SportTrophy International and the IRC 2WD Cup last year, Harry swaps his Ford for more powerful machinery in 2011 in the shape of Citroen’s brand-new DS3 R3: a turbocharged, 1.6-litre two-wheel drive rally car that puts out more than 200 horsepower.

On the menu is a mixed programme of 15 wide-ranging international events that will allow Harry to bid for honours in both the World Rally Championship and Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Some things stay the same though: namely Harry’s distinctive bright green colour scheme, meticulously applied by hand to the Englishman’s rather special Christmas present. You’d expect nothing less from Citroen: a company that has won the manufacturers’ World Rally Championship six times in the last eight years and the drivers’ championship for the last seven years running.

“The new Citroen DS3 R3 is an absolutely stunning piece of kit, and it certainly lives up to everything that I was hoping for,” said Harry, who tested his car for two days prior to the start of the Monte Carlo Rally. “It’s a massive step up in power for me: nearly 50bhp more than the R2 Fiesta I was driving last year, and because it is turbocharged the overall characteristics are quite different too. There’s a lot for me to get used to, so for this first event with the new car I’m aiming for nothing more than a solid finish. Most drivers agree that Monte Carlo is one of the toughest events of the year, where you need a healthy dose of luck on your side as well, so to get to the end would be a great way to start the season.”

Harry will have a new co-driver to get used to as well: with his regular navigator Seb Marshall recovering from a broken pelvis, Gareth Roberts will be reading the pace notes to Harry for the first time on the opening round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

The Monte Carlo Rally is one of those legendary events that everybody has heard of, like the Le Mans 24 Hours or Indianapolis 500. The rally starts from the southern French city of Valence on Wednesday 19 January and makes its way to Monte Carlo over three days, via some classic stages in the breathtaking mountains of the Drome and Ardeche regions. The highlight of the event takes place late on Friday and in the early hours of Saturday morning, when the cars leave the glittering Principality of Monaco for the classic Col de Turini stages, watched by an enthusiastic crowd of spectators despite the unsociable hour and subzero temperatures. If everything goes according to plan, Harry will cross the finish ramp in Monte Carlo at about 2am on Saturday 22 January.

The biggest challenge of the Monte Carlo Rally lies in trying to guess the road and weather conditions, which are as predictable as the roulette wheel in Monaco’s famous Casino. Snow and ice is a common feature – but it is rarely consistent throughout the entirety of a stage. If there’s snow on the top of a mountain, but dry asphalt at the bottom, which tyres do you use? Studded tyres will mean that you are quick on the snowy parts but have no grip on the dry bits. Slick tyres will be the right choice for dry asphalt, but you might crash if it’s icy. Solving these problems, and evaluating the potential risks, is the key to successfully completing the Monte Carlo Rally. And what if it starts snowing halfway through?

Luckily, Harry has the experience of competing on the event last year, when he won his class and finished 34th overall on his debut. “It was an awesome experience: we had full snow and ice and it was like being in a motorised bobsleigh at times!” said Harry. “But we got through it OK and had great fun. Hopefully we can use that experience to our advantage this year.”

Harry is also able to rely on the experience of his I-Cars team on the event, the Welsh outfit that has run his car since he started rallying in 2009.

People at home can keep up with Harry’s exploits through his regularly-updated Twitter feed (http://www.twitter.com/HarryHunt), his Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/harryhuntmotorsport), and live television programmes from Eurosport, which will cover all 13 stages with 12 shown live, a total of more than 14 hours of broadcasts. For more information on the Monte Carlo Rally visit www.rally-irc.com.