Makinen wants Monte back in the WRC

1st February 2010

By Richard Rodgers

Tommi Makinen has called for the Monte Carlo Rally to be reinstated as a world championship event from next season.

Multiple world champion Makinen, who won the event four times, attended the 78th running of the rally last month to oversee his eponymous team’s French driver Bryan Bouffier in a Subaru Impreza.

The event has counted as the opening round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge for the last two seasons, each time under a one-year agreement.
Makinen said: “This rally should be a world championship round of course. It is one of the legends and one of the most important rallies in the world. It was always the first rally after a long break. Everyone is looking to see what is going on and where we are with the new cars. It’s the number one rally.”

Of the IRC, Makinen was highly praiseworthy. He said: “It’s the first IRC rally I have seen but there seems to be lots of drivers who can win.”