THE ROUTE, DAY-BY-DAY
 
Saturday 10th January
Duxford UK
Sunday 11th January
Noordwijk NL to Night halt - Nancy, France
Monday 12th January
Nancy to Night halt - Aix-les-Bains
Tuesday 13th January
Loop from Aix-les-Bains to Night halt - Aix-les-Bains
Wednesday 14th January
Aix-les-Bains to Night halt - Briançon
Thursday 15th January
Arrive Monte Carlo
Friday 16th January
Gala Prizegiving - Monte-Carlo

Our early years saw starts in cities the length and breadth of the UK from Glasgow, Bristol, Edinburgh and York. For 2004, we are moving the start to Duxford in Cambridgeshire, home of the Imperial War Museum. Not only will this superb venue provide a fitting back drop for the start of the event, but the route south to Dover will give more opportunity for spectators to enjoy the spectacle. Cars will start from Duxford on Saturday afternoon and overnight close to Dover ready to catch an early ferry on Sunday morning.

Those opting for a Continental start will again be able to enjoy the classic Challenge start of Noordwijk on the Dutch coast, traditional home of the Tulip Rally before running south through Belgium and France to the start of the Common Run in the Nancy region. From Nancy, the route heads south-east into both old favourites and new routes in the Vosges and Jura mountains.

These hills along the Swiss border can provide some of the most fickle weather of the whole event - their exposed slopes being particularly vulnerable to drifting snow. By the time you reach the traditional watering hole of Aix-les-Bains you will be glad of a warm bath, good meal and soft bed in this lovely lakeside spa town.

Two nights in the same hotel is always popular and where better place to spend it than in Aix-les-Bains. A days run around the cols of the High Alps will provide a memorable days motoring for all before a tea halt precedes a short night loop for sporting route competitors only.

Heading south from Aix the next day, sees the rally tackle classic sections in the Chartreuse and Vercors Massifs. Then we head east - deeper and higher into the Alps than ever before - to the ancient fortified town of Briançon, close to the Italian border for our final nights rest before the final push to Monte-Carlo.

The final run from Briançon to Monte-Carlo will take in many of the Monte Mountain Climbs - plus a few we haven't used before. But rest assured, every road, every snowy wheel track, will be a rallying classic, culminating with the most testing climb of the lot - the Col de Turini - before that final run down into Monte-Carlo and a glittering evening finish under the stars on the most famous waterfront of all.