I wish for ice and snow, also some sun and shade

Weather can be your friend or foe, it can make things more enjoyable and doable, or it can turn even the most mundane things, such as standing at the side of the road, waiting for (rally) cars to drive by, into living hell. Casual fans will complain, to them even few drops of rain are too much to bear, so I won’t even mention mud, snow, ice, strong icy winds and proper, heavy, relentless rain. They just wouldn’t understand. Of course, Proper Rally Fans usually don’t complain if the weather is nice, especially if a lot depends on it. Nobody likes to be late for a stage because of the weather, or even worse, see a stage cancelled because of the tough weather. If you’re traveling accross the continent to see a stage or two, the last thing you need is weather playing tricks on your already very tight and stretched schedule. But that’s just one side of the story.

Monte Carlo Rally. Phrases like “weather forecast”, “snow predicted”, “black ice”, “gravel crew”, “tyre choice” and “rally roulette” are raining and snowing on us every single year. This event is notorious for its weather and it really is part of the charm, prestige and character of our season opener. If the roads are dry and there is no snow or ice or rain or moist… it’s like taking mud out of Wales Rally GB. Unpredictable weather and road conditions are one of the key elements that give Monte Carlo Rally its unique status – best it and you really have something to brag about, not because you drove your car over start ramp in front of Monaco Casino, but because you endured everything but gravel out there, on the stages. We love Monte when it throws things at drivers and teams. And I am pretty sure spectators love it too – imagine all the stories on just how tricky and difficult it was to get from stage A to stage B because of weather decided to do a D and E at the same time, even though forecast only mentioned F.

So, what kind of weather would you like for this year’s Monte? Spectator friendly or all out attack on drivers? I hope and wish it gets complicated and tricky, but not tricky enough to put normal running of the even at risk. Or prevent WRB’s friend Gabor Vajda to reach his goals as he travels from Hungary to 2015 Monte Carlo Rally.