The 1966 edition of the Rally of Monte-Carlo must have been the most turbulent ever. And it wasn’t the rally itself that caused the turbulence. The 1966 Rally of Monte-Carlo ended in uproar over the disqualification of 4 cars that were expected to fill the first four places. 3 Mini-Coopers (imo Mäkinen, Rauno Aaltonen and Paddy Hopkirk) and a Ford Cortina (Roger Clark) were disqualified for faulty headlights. The disqualification elevated Pauli Toivonen (Citroen DS) into first place overall. 3 Porsche factory teams competed in the Group 3 , even though chances for an overall victory were practically zero.
Robert Buchet and Jo Schlesser took off in their factory Porsche 911 in Monte-Carlo. The 2 other teams ( Rolf Wütherich / Günter Klass and Hans-Joachim Walter / Werner Lier) started in Bad Homburg in Germany. After arrival in Monaco, all competing teams participated in 2 main stages, each having 6 special stages. One of these stages even had to be cancelled because of heavy snowfall.
The Porsche teams posted impressive results. Klass / Wütherich even recorded the fastest time in the 1st special stage. Schlesser / Buchet won the 5th stage. At the end of the 1st main stage, the duo Klass / Würtherich placed 32nd of the 83 teams that finished that stage. The 60 best placed cars started in the 2nd main stage, that took the teams in the mountains, that had turned white after fresh snow fall.
Porsche won 3 out of 6 of the special stages. Günter Klass / Rolf Wütherich put 2 of them on their name, the french duo Buchet / Schlesser the other one. And then the commotion started when the news came that the 4 cars finishing first were disqualified. In the rumours surrounding the qualification ,it went practically unnoticed that Porsche took a quadruple victory in Group 3, led by works drivers Klass / Würtherich.
Final standings 1966 Rally Monte-Carlo Group 3
1st in class – #131 Günter Klass / Rolf Würtherich – 16th overall
2nd in class – #57 Robert Buchet / Jo Schlesser – 18th overall
3rd in class – #139 Hans-Joachim Walter / Werner Lier – 19th overall
4th in class – #50 Henri Perrier / Pierre du Pasquier – 26th overall
We recommend reading the book ‘Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo : Porsche 1952 – 1967’ by Patrick Dasse and Maurice Louche to find out more about Porsche’s exploits at the Rally of Monte-Carlo.
Pictures courtesy unknown and Porsche AG.
