Marathon de la Route

The Marathon de la Route was a series of road rallies held in Europe between 1931 and 1971, including Liège–Rome–Liège and Liège–Sofia–Liège rallies held on public roads and closed-circuit races held at the Nürburgring from 1965 until 1971. It was reserved for so-called touring cars. Many renowned drivers participated such as Olivier Gendebien, Willy Mairesse, Lucien Bianchi, and Jacky Ickx.

History

Liège–Rome–Liège

The race took place on an open road, an average distance of 3,500 km non-stop (sometimes more than 5,000 km as in 1959): departing Wednesday at 11 pm from Spa, and returning to the same place on Sunday around 4 pm. A Golden Cup was also sometimes awarded to three-year class winners such as Bill Bengry. The rally of August 1939 was the last major rally event before World War II. Belgium's Ginet Trasenster of Bugatti and France's Jean Trévoux in a Hotchkiss tied for first place, denying the German works teams shortly before their countries were overrun. This was one of five Liège wins for Trasenster.

The Liège continued as uncompromisingly an open road event run to an impossible time schedule, and remained Europe's toughest rally until it had moved to Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.

Liège–Sofia–Liège

From 1961 to 1964, the course was modified to Liège-Sofia-Liège. This reflected the desire of the organizer — the Royal Motor Union of Liège to diversify the route and to find traffic-free roads.

Despite the change in venue, the race still kept its reputation as a challenge of driver endurance and mechanical reliability. The 1961 race required 90 hours of driving with a 4 hour rest at Sofia. Only 8 cars finished out of 85 total entrants. Lucien Bianchi and Georges Harris won this event, driving a Citroën DS 19.

Nürburgring

By the mid 1960s, some countries refuses to have rallyes cross their territory. Thus, from 1965 to 1971, the race was held on the full layout of the Nürburgring, combining both loops. The duration of the race was 82 hours, and reached 96 hours in its last edition.

Afterwards

A revival was planned for 2011 but was cancelled.

Winners

Record holder of number of victories: Ginet Trasenster, 5

Liège–Rome–Liège (1931-1939)

*Multiple teams finished without penalties or with equal points and were declared co-winners

Liège-Rome-Liège (1950-1960)

Liège–Sofia–Liège

Nürburgring

See also

• Liège-Brescia-Liège