The second Monte Carlo Rally began


Monday 22nd January 1912

The second Monte Carlo Rally began. It was organized by Anthony Noghes and was the second documented race called rally although the format and characteristics of that first race far from the current rally. The test began with the departure of participants from their hometowns aiming for the city of Monte Carlo , but the winner was not who first arrived, if not, who obtained the highest score on the basis of a series of rather subjective factors: as the state of the vehicle or the comfort level. The rally had 67 participants, who journeyed from Paris (20), Turin (2), Geneva (8), Le Havre (6), Boulogne (1), Amsterdam (4), Berlin (6), Brussels (4), Vienna (13) and Russian (1). Nagel departed from St. Petersburg aboard a Russo-Balt. Nagel’s journey reflects very well how hard and different they were those first issues regarding Monte Carlo today. He left St. Petersburg at 8:00 am on 13 January, along with a mechanic aboard a Russian-Balt automobile, enduring low temperatures and other dangers such as the presence of wolves ,on the 3,267 kilometre route to Monte Carlo. The first part of the journey was conducted behind a tractor that opened the way through the snow. Nagel could not get into second gear until he had travelled nearly 90 kilometres and stopped every few hours to eat and sleep, as well as changing the oil every 500 kilometres. He was the first to arrive in Monaco, on January 21, completing the epic journey at an average of 16.7 km/h, but was relegated to ninth place, for among other things, the poor condition of his vehicle. Frenchman Jules Beutler was elected the winner. There were more protests than at the first edition of the rally and to avoid greater evils it was decided not to hold the competition in 1913 and 1914. Subsequently, the test was halted due to World War I and was not run again until 1924.


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