The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo is a rallying event organized each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. From its inception in 1911 by Prince Albert I, the rally was intended to demonstrate improvements and innovations in automobiles, and promote Monaco as a tourist resort on the Mediterranean shore. Before the format changed in 1997, the event was a “concentration rally” in which competitors would set off from various starting points around Europe and drive to Monaco, where the rally would continue to a set of special stages. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast France.
Toni Gardemeister is a Finnish professional rally driver in the World Rally Championship. After previously competing for SEAT's, Mitsubishi's, Škoda's and Ford's factory teams, as well as for privateer teams, he joined the Suzuki World Rally Team for the 2008 season.
Markku Allan Alén is a Finnish former rally and race car driver. He drove for Fiat, Lancia, Subaru and Toyota in the World Rally Championship, and held the record for most stage wins (801) in the series, until Sébastien Loeb overtook it at the 2011 Rally Catalunya. Alén's phrase "now maximum attack" became well-known.
The 1975 World Rally Championship was the third season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). 10 events were included on the schedule, including the return to the series of the famous Monte Carlo and Swedish rallies after a one season absence of those events. Both North American events were removed from the schedule however. Other returning entries to the schedule included the Acropolis Rally in Greece, which would become a staple of the WRC circuit to this day, and the Rallye du Maroc.
Daniel "Dani" Sordo Castillo is a Spanish rally driver. He competes in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. He achieved his first WRC victory at the 2013 Rallye Deutschland.
François Delecour is a French rally driver.
The 1973 Monte Carlo Rally, run in late January and hosted in the principality of Monaco, was the first rally on the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's (FIA) new World Rally Championship (WRC) inaugural season, making it the first ever WRC event to be held.
The 1973 Swedish Rally was the second round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-February around Karlstad, Sweden, the rally was the only snow and ice rally of the WRC calendar, a distinction it would keep as it remained a fixture of the WRC through the years. Only in 2007 would it finally be joined on the schedule by a second snow rally in Norway.
The 1973 Safari Rally was the fourth round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-April in central Kenya, the Safari was a markedly different rally from the other dates on the WRC schedule. About 5,300 km (3,300 mi) of gravel roads comprised the course, though there were not distinct special stages as in other rallies, but instead the course was uncontrolled. The rally was considered very punishing, and thus many of the successful teams were specifically focused on it, leading to a different set of front-runners than led most other rallies. The rally was won by a local driver, Shekhar Mehta.
The 1973 Rally of Morocco was the fifth round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-May between Morocco's two major cities, Rabat and Casablanca, the Rallye du Maroc was a very long stage rally covering more than 1200 km on both hard and soft surface roads.
The 1973 Acropolis Rally was the sixth round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in late-May on the punishing hot gravel roads of central Greece, the Acropolis is a long-standing event on the WRC calendar.
The 1973 Polish Rally was the seventh round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-July in southern Poland, this marked to only year in which Poland was part of the WRC calendar until 36 years later in 2009. This edition was also notable for the fact that of the 62 teams which began the rally, only three completed it, a record that stands today.
The 1973 1000 Lakes Rally was the 23rd running of the 1000 Lakes Rally, and the eighth round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season.
The 1973 Austrian Rally was the ninth round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-September around Baden, Austria, the rally was entirely on gravel surface special stages. 1973 would be the only year to see the WRC hold an event in Austria, despite the strong presence of Austrian drivers in the series through the present.
The 1973 Sanremo Rally was the tenth round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-October around Sanremo, Italy, the rally was a mixed surface rally, with some stages on tarmac and others on gravel. Sanremo would become a staple of the WRC calendar for many years until the Italian portion of the WRC was moved to the gravel stages of Sardinia in 2004.
The 1973 Press-on-Regardless Rally was the eleventh round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run at the outset of November in Michigan in the United States, the rally was run entirely on gravel.
The 1973 RAC Rally was the twelfth round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-November in the County of Yorkshire in England, the rally was run primarily on gravel, with some sections of tarmac as well. The rally carried the name of its title sponsor, a popular British newspaper, The Daily Mirror.
The 1974 Rally of Portugal was the first round of the 1974 World Rally Championship season after the oil crisis forced the cancellation of the Monte Carlo and Swedish rallies.
Alessandro "Alex" Fiorio is an Italian rally driver. He debuted in the World Rally Championship in 1986. Driving the dominant Lancia Delta Integrale for the Lancia "B-team" Jolly Club, he finished third in the drivers' world championship in 1988 and second in 1989. His father Cesare Fiorio was a former racer, the head of Lancia's factory WRC team and sporting director for Scuderia Ferrari.
The 2012 Rally de Portugal was the fourth round of the 2012 World Rally Championship season and was based in Faro, Portugal. It started with a street stage in Lisbon on 29 March and concluded on 1 April after twenty-two special stages, totalling 434 competitive kilometres.
Portugal 
Jean-Luc Thérier 
