Monte shakedown cancelled.

The organisers of the Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo have confirmed that they have had to cancel the shakedown due to an 'abundance of spectators'.

The shakedown in Mauves was scheduled to run Thursday morning, from 08.00 hours local time to mid-day, however, it was stopped early due to crowd problems.

"Following the decision of the FIA delegate, and due to the abundance of spectators in the lower part of the roads, we have had no option but to cancel the shakedown," read a statement from the organisers on the events official website. "In order to prevent similar cancellations of future events, we recommend that spectators follow scrupulously the advice given either by the security marshalls or by any member of the organisation."

Speaking in the pre-event press conference, when asked if the spectators are more badly behaved on the Monte than on other events, three-time world champion, Sebastien Loeb was non-committal.

"I'm not really sure; there are problems with spectator traffic on lots of other events," he pointed out. "The police have their work cut out to make sure this rally runs according to schedule - and safely."

It is a bad start to the 2007 Rallye Monte Carlo, which has suffered from similar problems in recent years. Indeed, traffic congestion and spectator problems were cited as one of the reasons the route was so dramatically altered for this year's 75th edition.

The action will now get underway with the ceremonial start in Valence at 18.00 hours, before SS1, the 28.52 kilometre-run through St Jean en Royans-Col de Lachau begins at 19.16 hours. SS2 - La Cime du Mas-Col de Gaudissart (17.88 km) - starts at 20.06 hours. All times local.

More to follow as we get it...