LEGENDS OF THE COL

Some of rallying's all-time greats have produced their most memorable drives on the epically challenging Col de Turini. We follow in their wheel-tracks in one of our favourite mid-engined machines: the intoxicating Porsche 718 Spyder RS

- ADAM TOWLER

IF WALLS COULD TALK, WHAT WOULD THIS particular stone wall say, I wonder. About knee-high, it's punctuated by short gaps along its length, each exposing a cold, unyielding face at 90 degrees to the road; carnage when you drop the corner of your Impreza 555 into one on Dirt Rally 2.0, potentially career-defining if you misjudge one doing the real thing, life-threatening if you then flip over the edge.

The road I'm on is, in part, lined with them, but they're just one hazard on this particular stretch of asphalt that has a notoriety in motorsport almost unrivalled. That's down not only to the peculiar combination of hazards, but where it is, and what mastery of it usually leads to.

I'm talking about the Col de Turini, historically the defining stage on the final night of the Monte Carlo Rally: a twisting, turning ascent and descent of a mountain that's nestled close to the border with Italy, an hour and twenty minutes north of Nice. Victory here has often meant glory in one of the oldest and arguably most famous motorsport events of all.

Over the years the route has varied, but the essential elements are much the same. From the south, the D2566 runs from the village of Moulinet, situated to the north of the town of Sospel, and heads up to the col. Once there, it branches off on the M70 to Bollène-Vésubie, and the traditional stage finish. However, independently of the M70, at the summit the D2566 continues back down the mountain in a southerly direction towards the town of Lucéram, and it's this leg, and various combinations of all three of these roads to the col, that have made up stages on the rally across the years - and indeed on national rallies, too.