Monte Carlo Rally 1988

Video;
Produced by Videovision Broadcast, 52 minutes. (Duke Marketing, PO Box 46, Douglas, Isle of Man. £19.95:)

It is a very welcome sign of the times that the story-in-pictures of a rally can land on a reviewer’s desk within two months of the event itself. This Brian Kreisky film makes a good effort to capture the atmosphere of the 1988 Monte, too, with servicing action, driver interviews and some Alpine scenery thrown in.

What a pity it is, then, that you have to turn down the volume if you want to stay awake. The commentary is not only ponderous and unimaginative, but cringingly repetitious.

Our host’s pronunciation of foreign names was even dodgier than the frequently interviewed Yves Loubet’s grasp of the English language, but at least the latter was given the chance to try to add something interesting!

The highlight of the show was provided by Alain Oreille in a Renault 11 Turbo, who thoughtfully misjudged the right-hand bend at which the camera was located and plunged five yards down a steep hillside until a clump of trees broke his fall. We never saw how he got out of that, but get out he did – to finish fourth.
GT