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Second race of the day and a second American victory in a row. Race A1 “Louis Chiron”, dedicated to pre-war Grand Prix cars and voiturettes, was won by Mark Gillies, the poleman in a 1934 ERA R3A, although he was overtaken at the first corner, Sainte-Dévote, by Nicholas Topliss in another ERA, a 1935 R4A.
The Briton was heading towards an almost sure win when, two laps from the checkered flag, he punctured his left rear tire when touching the Riley Dobbs driven by backmarker Thierry Chanoine. At the top of the Casino hill, he then had to park his car. Gillies was joined on the podium by Switzerland’s Anthony Sinopoli (Maserati 6CM/4CM) and above all by Patrick Blakeney-Edwards (Frazer-Nash): an amazing start allowed the British driver to jump from 12th on the grid to 4th at the first corner. Then 3rd when Topliss retired.
The American did it again on Sunday morning, in Race B “Graham Hill” for single-seaters with 1500cc engines from year 1961 to 1965, starting from pole position.
In his 1964 Ferrari 1512 (ex-Surtees and Bandini), he initially got off to a very good start, running his business masterfully, but he then encountered some fierce resistance from Mark Shaw in a Lotus 21. The Briton only needed one attempt at the start of lap 8 to pass his rival, but the battle did not end there. Pressed by the Ferrari, Shaw delayed his braking too much at Sainte Dévote and his green single-seater crashed into the Tecpro barriers. End of the story. On the podium, Joe Colasacco was joined by Christopher Drake, never worried in his Cooper T71/73, and Andrew Beaumont, who saved Lotus’s honor in his Type 24.
The Formula 1 world champion, Max Verstappen, a Monaco resident, took a short walk in the pits of Grand Prix de Monaco Historique on Saturday afternoon, before the start of qualifying for the G Series, the last of the day . He spent a long time with his compatriot Frits van Eerd, entered in a 1983 Williams FW08C (ex-Keke Rosberg). He seemed perfectly rested from his triumphant weekend in Miami, concluded with his third victory of the season; He will be back in Monaco at the end of the month…
In order to pay tribute to Colin Chapman, the founder of Lotus, 40 years after his passing in 1982, the organizers of Grand Prix de Monaco Historique launched 34 cars of the legendary brand entered in this 13th edition, on Saturday, for a memorable lap of honour, after a photo shoot around Clive Chapman, Colin’s son, and several heirs of the most brilliant engineer in the history of F1.
It was a moment of grace, one more, on this circuit of Monaco where Lotus has so often triumphed: 7 wins in the most glamorous GP on the calendar, between the two initial successes of Stirling Moss (1960, 1961) and the ultimate triumph, achieved by the incomparable Ayrton Senna in 1987, with a Renault engine in his back. “It’s great to see how the Automobile Club of Monaco wishes to honor the memory of my father“, said Clive Chapman Friday in the paddock, in front of the tent sheltering his Lotus Classic Cars team.
There was no surprise and German Marco Werner, in his 1982 Lotus 87, took pole for Race G, in the “Ayrton Senna” series reserved for F1 cars produced between 1981 and 1985, but without turbo engines, too powerful and too complicated to manage on a weekend of historic races. A triple winner of Le Mans 24 Hours, Werner finally beat Briton Michael Lyons by one second, in his 1983 Lotus 92. Third place on the grid goes to David Shaw, in his 1982 Arrows A4 carrying the colors of Ragno Italian ceramics. American driver Ken Tyrrell, a namesake of famous “Uncle Ken” in the 70s, will start in the Top 10, at the wheel of his… Tyrrell 011 victorious in Detroit in 1983, with Michele Alboreto at the wheel.
In the early afternoon, at coffee and siesta time, a whole lot of beautiful cars came out of the paddock to start the afternoon on high bases, led by Frederic Wakeman, in his Cooper Jaguar T38 Mk2 from 1955. The Briton set the fastest time in the C Series “Vittorio Marzotto” and will start on pole position on Sunday, after beating two Maserati 300S driven by Austrian Lukas Halusa and Spaniard Guillermo Fierro-Eleta, winner of two races last year. The leading quartet was completed by Niklas Halusa, Lukas’ brother, in a 1954 Jaguar D-Type.
He was the obvious favorite for pole in the F Series, but Michael Lyons was beaten on Saturday, at the last minute of qualifying, in his blue Hesketh 308 carrying the colors of Penthouse men’s magazine.
His best time, for most of the session, was eventually beaten by Miles Griffiths, in a yellow 1977 Fittipaldi: 1:30.653 (vs 1:30.820 for Lyons), on his last lap before the checkered flag for this high-flying session. The British drivers shone, as in Friday’s free practice. Behind Griffiths and Lyons, Michael Cantillon, 4th in his Tyrrell 010 ex-Alboreto, will be sandwiched on the grid, on Sunday, between two Williams cars, the FW06 of David Shaw (3rd) and the FW07 of Mark Hazel (5th).
Jamie Constable‘s American Shadow DN8 crashed into Frédéric Lajoux‘s Arrows at the start of the session, at La Rascasse. The Monégasque had to stop there and will start at the back on the grid on Sunday.
And with the same driver twice in a row at the top of the timesheet, Britain’s Stuart Hall , untouchable in two McLarens: first the M19A which looked like a rocket in the D Series “Jackie Stewart“! This all-white 1971 car in Yardley cosmetics livery, completed its best lap in 1:30.096, two seconds faster than its pursuers: the Matra MS120C of Jordan Grogor, the South African based in Dubai , and the BRM P153 of Mexican Esteban Gutierrez, once driven by his legendary compatriot Pedro Rodriguez.
Same story in the E Series, since Hall, in a 1973 McLaren M23, was faster than Roberto Moreno, the former Benetton F1 driver, entered in a 1974 Lola T370. Hall got two seconds close to the best time clocked in 1973 by Denny Hulme in qualifications, the day before a Grand Prix won by Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell) ahead of Emerson Fittipaldi and Ronnie Peterson (Lotus).
Surprise in the A2 Series “Juan Manuel Fangio”: Alex Birkenstock was expected at the wheel of the Ferrari 246, but Claudia Hürtgen replaced him at short notice and set the best time (1:52.421) of these qualifications to ensure a pole start on Sunday. In this series, a Ferrari – Maserati battle was an option, but Tony Wood drove his 1959 Tec-Mec F415 into second place, two tenths behind Mrs Hürtgen, ahead of Joaquin Folch-Rusinol‘s Lotus 16.
This great qualifying day, with 8 series on the menu, was launched by the B Series, called “Graham Hill” and divided into 3 classes. Mark Shaw, driving a Lotus 21, and Joseph Colasacco, who drives Lorenzo Bandini‘s Ferrari 1512, went head to head, flying above their class and the prancing horse single-seater was eventually the fastest car on track in 1:47.631 .
In the A1 Series “Louis Chiron”, we had to wait until the very end of the qualifying session to see Mark Gillies take pole position! The American pushed his 1934 ERA R3A to the limit and managed to edge out his little sister, the 1935 ERA R4A driven by Nicholas Topliss. We were expecting these two single-seaters at the top of the classification; it’s done ! See you on Sunday for the final duel.
The anecdote was told on Friday in the paddock of the GP de Monaco Historique to Jean-Denis Delétraz, who is driving this year in the Principality a superb black Shadow DN3 carrying an American flag. And it was told to him by Jean-Pierre Jarier, who was driving it in 1974 at Monaco, finished 3rd that year, but should have won: “He was in the lead by 15 seconds when the sleeve of his overall caught the circuit breaker in the cockpit and caused the car to stall” , smiles the Swiss driver, already seen in the Principality in an ATS and especially in a Hesketh ex-James Hunt.
He is very fond of this Ford-Cosworth-powered Shadow which he discovered on Friday and he hopes to enter the Top 5 of the E Series on Sunday. To be continued.
