Rally Monte Carlo 1951 - Jean Trévoux for the fourth time
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Summary
At the 1951 Monte Carlo Rally, the Grand Prix circuit is used for the first time and a regularity test is completed. The rally is once again won by Jean Trévoux in a Delahaye.
Estimated reading time: 3min
Preview (beginning of the article)
For the first time, a regularity test is organized on the city circuit known from the Grand Prix: La Course dans la cité. Fifty cars are registered. Unsurprisingly, the 111 penalty-free teams fought a fierce battle for the free starting positions in the traditional acceleration and braking test. Jean Trévoux comes out on top and takes the decisive lead to his fourth overall victory. Chiron slammed on the brakes in his Delahaye and soon realized that his rivals were also stepping on the gas on the circuit. Pierre Levegh - involved in the 1955 Le Mans disaster but not the cause of the terrible accident - was only marginally left behind by the old champion. Jean Trévoux did not interfere - he had his eye on the overall victory and secured his fourth win after 1934, 1939 and 1949 with four regular laps - this time with co-driver Roger Crovetto and a Delahaye 175 S ahead of de Monte Real/Palma (Ford) , Vard/Young (Jaguar), Gautruche/Giriez (Citroën). Louis Chiron and co-driver N. Mahé finished fifth. The rally itself produced little snow. The usual incidents on the climbs, on the steep downhill stretches of the Alpes Maritimes. And so we have time to take a closer look at some rally drivers from the early fifties. Adventurers with no motorsport experience, no experience of driving on snow and ice, often with poorly prepared cars and barely able to fit snow chains. For them, only one thing counts: being there. At home with a beer, wine or schnapps, nobody knows what happened in the snowstorm anyway. Gentlemen riders can of course afford to have a mechanic on board - the third man! Changing wheels, fitting chains and fixing bent mudguards are his tasks. And the condition of these gentlemen? Some of them swallow pills and powders to chase away fatigue. Others leave the steering wheel to experienced drivers until shortly before the finish line, only to present themselves gallantly and freshly to the ladies at the finish. And the female rally drivers? It is striking that there are always women's teams in the top ten overall. Madame Doré in 1930, Lucy Schell in 1933, 1935 and 1936, Rouault/Largeot in 1933 and 1938, Simon/Largeot in 1939 and, of course, those women who narrowly missed out on overall victory in 1925, 1926 and 1928. They deserve our posthumous admiration: Madame Mertens, Madame Marika and Madame Versigny.
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