Quote Originally Posted by doubled1978 View Post
I know it’s been similar for some years, but I find only 4 stages on Saturday so disappointing....I know it’s because of the night stages on Thursday, but this is Monte Carlo, they do whatever they like and the FIA lets them...��
It's not only because of the night stages, it's also because the crews have a long liaison to Monaco in the evening and it takes time, that's why you have only half a day for special stages. 2017-2018 they went back for a second run of Bayons-Breziers and came back to Gap for service before the liaison. It's also worth remembering that for 2019 the maximum overall length of a rally was decreased from 400 to 350 km. In addition to taking off that fifth Saturday stage, it took off all long stages.

In 2016 they did Sisteron on the way to Monaco, without a service in between. I kind of liked that approach better. Then if you go back to 2014, they only had 15 stages from Thursday to Saturday evening.

Anyway, point being that Monte has never had a high number of stages in the modern era. I like that they're doing things differently, but it comes with a price (the drivers don't like the long liaisons and the spectators don't like the long break that it creates).