CURBS had the opportunity to ride along in the cockpit of our Alfa Sud 1.5 ti at the AvD Histo Monte 2024. Here we share our impressions of this year's edition of a winter rally for historic rally cars, whose legendary predecessor, the Rallye Monte Carlo, is considered „the mother of all rallies.“.
Granted, this wasn't our first AvD Histo Monte, it wasn't even our first with the Alfasud 1.5 ti. We knew what we were doing and what awaited us. But just as the Rallye Monte Carlo has always been considered „the mother of all rallies,“ you don't just casually drive the AvD Histo Monte to the identical finish area. That's over 4,000 kilometers in five days, including the drive to the starting point in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The driving challenge is the GLP (Gleichmäßigkeits-Prüfung - regularity test) with relatively high average speeds and over mostly quite long distances, between 8 and 23 kilometers. And when there's snow and ice – it's great fun, but it involves some risk. The appeal of the AvD Histo Monte is clearly that it's a winter rally, combined with GLP on a fantastic route through fantastic landscapes. And we also enjoy getting together with many long-time fellow competitors every time.
We once again decided on the „81 Alfasud 1.5 ti belonging to the driver, Holger Seeberger. This car already performed well in our 2022 event, where we finished eleventh overall. The Alfasud's advantages lie in its low weight, combined with a 95 hp engine and front-wheel drive. On winding, twisty roads, such as those on the AvD Histo Monte 2024, the little Alfa is very agile – very different from a “humpback Volvo„ that we've also driven here – and the front-wheel drive automatically straightens the steering. This time, however, the priority in our preparations was the reinstallation of the engine and gearbox, both of which had been removed because the speedometer drive had failed during the last stage of the AvD Histo Monte 2022 on the legendary “Col de Turini." We had a new speedometer drive manufactured using a 3D printer. We used the reinstallation as an opportunity to overhaul the engine bay and the front suspension, and we also installed new timing belts, ensuring nothing would go out of adjustment.
A brief detour around the speedometer drive: During our outing with the Volvo PV 544 Sport in 2016, we were surprised by the originally terrible „tripmaster“ in the Volvo, which turned the rally into an estimation task, and which we replaced with a „Brantz.“ Without a good „tripmaster“ and „average speed calculator,“ it just won't work! We also installed a „Brantz“ in the Alfasud in 2022; it also worked largely well. However, the speedometer drive still required redundancy at a rear wheel – in the form of a wheel sensor – as the design in 2022 had still proven unsatisfactory. The Alfasud speedometer drive sits in the differential in a plastic gear and meshes with another differential gear. Problem: When the steering wheel is turned to the right, the dust cover with the rack moves over from the steering gear. The speedometer cable is routed behind the dust cover. When steering, the dust cover pulls the speedometer cable along with it, thus pulling the inner workings out of the speedometer cable. We then solved the problem in rally style during the lunch break on the first day of the rally as follows: We used a hammer and chisel to widen the opening in the splash guard towards the rear, so that the speedometer cable could be routed further back, away from the steering gear. This allowed the dust cover to slide past the speedometer cable. Plenty of WD40 contributed to the solution. Small causes, big effects.
Our Diary of the AVD Histo Monte 2024 – Monday, February 5th
With a fresh TÜV inspection, we completed the final test drive of the Alfasud over about 400 kilometers, and everything seemed to be working so far. The car was then fitted with the necessary wheels
loaded with snow chains and tools.
Tuesday, February 6th at the AVD Histo Monte 2024
At 7:00 AM, we set off for Rothenburg ob der Tauber, the starting point of the AvD Histo Monte 2024, now fully boarded with passenger Nicky Bronsch. We arrived at 11:15 AM, and everything worked. At 11:30 AM, we completed the document check and applied the necessary rally stickers. The technical inspection at TÜV at 12:30 PM went without any issues. At 5:30 PM, we started the „Prologue,“ 92.7 kilometers around Rothenburg in the dark. In GLP 3, the speedometer drive failed again in a hairpin turn – we switched to the GPS sensor and finished the GLP by feel and timing at prominent points. We had calculated these in advance. The overall standings counted, and there were already initial breakdowns and lost participants. Additionally, the navigation on the Prolog to and from Rothenburg, with numerous turn-offs, was not without its challenges. Especially in the final meters in the old town, there was confusion for one or another. The Skoda factory team won the Prolog. We finished the Prolog in 12th place.
AVD Histo Monte 2024 – Wednesday, February 7
At 8:00 AM, we started the now-timed portion of the rally in Rothenburg, with four GLP stages in the morning. Lunch break in Gutach wasn't until 2:30 PM! In the afternoon, another four GLP stages awaited, the last one in darkness over the Kandel, just before Freiburg. We managed to solve the mystery with the speedometer cable as described before. The bellows on the steering gear had been pushed off during an extreme right turn. The cable was secured as much as possible at the rear, and the bellows were treated with WD40. After that, it held. We arrived at the hotel in Freiburg at 7:00 PM.
On the Swabian Jura and in the Black Forest, the course was „showered,“ and it began to drizzle a good hour after the start. Later, there was a wechsel between drizzle and a nasty, fine country rain, accompanied by approaching fog on the Kandel. Ten kilometers before the finish of the 414-kilometer stage, the rain stopped. Jens Herkommer in a Group B Skoda 130 LR was the stage winner here. Our placement was 16th.
AVD Histo Monte 2024 – Thursday, February 8
Starting the fourth stage at 7:30 AM in Freiburg, 295 kilometers through Switzerland to Malbuisson in France. Four regularity stages in the morning, the first on the Schauinsland near Freiburg. Lunch break in Malbuisson at 2:00 PM. In the five regularity stages of the fifth stage in the afternoon from Malbuisson to Aix-les-Bains, 204 kilometers, the individual special stages range from six to 18 kilometers in length. Our results are mixed; sometimes we drive quite well, then again „terribly.“ The Alfasud ran very well, and the speedometer drive was now working permanently thanks to our last intervention. With 18th place in the daily standings, we remained somewhat below our potential.
Switzerland welcomed the participants of the AvD-Histo-Monte with no less than two welcome surprises: Extremely many fans awaited the classic cars both upon entering the country via the otherwise closed Rhine bridge in Rheinfelden and in the tranquil mountain racing town of Saint Ursanne.
AVD Histo Monte 2024 – Friday, February 9, 2024
The fourth day already started with rain when we set off at 7:30 AM. The morning brought us four special stages, which were mostly longer than before that day. After the lunch break, another five special stages awaited us, the last two in darkness. The Alfasud ran flawlessly, and the speedometer also seemed to hold up until the end. We hoped both would remain that way. Unfortunately, the Alfa was a bit too weak on the steep climb in the test at „Verdon.“ Fortunately, we could discard these penalty points as a drop score. Furthermore, the road there was so bad that the poor car took a real beating, and then partly in fog and with very little visibility. Driving the required speed there was already a challenge. With 15th place in the daily standings, we were back to eleventh overall. In the remaining six special stages on Saturday, we wanted to make up the two points that were missing for us to catch up to those in tenth place.
Rain, rain, rain – there were only a few places where it was actually dry on the fourth day, and if so, only on top. It had rarely rained this much during an AvD Histo Monte. And the weather forecast also warned of – snow on the „Col de Turini“ for the last day. Leading the overall classification in the evening were Andreas Zunehmer/Rolf Pellini in a Renault 5 Alpine Turbo, although only three seconds separated the top three overall. For the final Saturday, Audi Tradition brought an Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 to Cannes, which was then driven by none other than Walter Röhrl with great enjoyment. „I didn't even have to think about where which switches were,“ Röhrl commented, „It's a strange feeling after so many years, you get in and immediately know everything again.“
AVD Histo Monte 2024 – Saturday, February 10
We then gave everything we had on the „Col de Turini“ – but unfortunately, so did the team two points ahead of us, Lara-Maria and Thomas Groschek's BMW 325 iX! The „Col de Turini“ was snow-white for the last two kilometers. So, we couldn't achieve our goal of tenth place; we finished eleventh overall, another top-15 result for us at the AvD-Histo-Monte. We really shouldn't be dissatisfied with that, and we have to give the Alfasud a mighty pat on the hood once again – it bravely held up despite sometimes rough treatment.
The Renault 5 Alpine Turbo won the AvD Histo Monte 2024 overall. What significantly contributed to the success? „I'll simply say: No drama,“ announced Andreas Zuhnemer.
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Photos: Holger Seeberger, Nicky Bronsch, Plusrallye Agency