# Col de Turini
D2566 / D70 · Alpes-Maritimes. France (Europe).
Source: https://lotustrails.com/trails/col-de-turini/

- Length: 31 km (19 miles)
- High point: 1,607 m (5,272 ft)
- Driving time: 1 hour
- Season: Year-round (snow possible December to March)
- Toll: Free
- Coordinates: 43.977, 7.392
- Character: Hairpins, Rally stage, Technical

The Turini is the stage that made the Monte Carlo Rally's reputation, run at night over the summit with crowds lining the snowbanks. On a dry spring morning it is a 31 km strip of tight, technical tarmac from Sospel over a 1,607 m col to La Bollène-Vésubie, less than an hour from the coast at Nice or Menton.

## The drive
The climb from Sospel through Moulinet starts in a rocky gorge, then stacks hairpins up through pine forest to the cluster of hotels at the summit. The descent to La Bollène-Vésubie is the classic rally direction: steeper, tighter, with stone walls on the outside of each bend.

There is a third road off the summit, the D2566 south to Peïra-Cava and Lucéram, which is quieter and more open. Combining all three makes a loop you can drive in a morning and be back on the Riviera for lunch.

## In your Lotus
Few roads are more obviously built to the scale of a Lotus. The corners are short, the straights are shorter, and a light car with quick steering covers the ground faster and with far less drama than anything large and powerful. Second gear does most of the work, which makes it a good road for hearing a Toyota 2ZZ come onto its high cam.

## Watch out for
- Gravel and pine needles collect on the inside of the hairpins, especially after rain.
- The summit holds ice in the shade well into spring.
- The road is closed for the rally in late January and for local hill climbs on some weekends.