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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.
It was the last session of the day and German Marco Werner, in a 40-year-old Lotus 87, finished at the top of the timesheets in the free practice session of the G Series, dubbed “Ayrton Senna” and reserved to F1s produced between 1981 and 1985, at the beginning of the era of turbo engines. Triple winner of Le Mans 24 Hours, Werner was almost two seconds faster than gentleman driver Christophe d’Ansembourg, at the wheel of a 1981 Williams FW07C, driven that year by reigning World Champion Alan Jones (2nd in Monaco). Werner’s great rival, Britain’s Michael Lyons, had to settle for 6th position, in his 1983 Lotus 92. Qualifying will start Saturday morning at 8:15 a.m. with the B Series opening another beautiful day on the Monaco Circuit.
Free practice for the F Series, at the end of the afternoon, allowed the British drivers to shine with a thousand lights: seven drivers of his Gracious Majesty in the Top 7, followed by Monaco’s Fred Lajoux, at the wheel of his black and gold Arrows, the one and only non-Brit in the Top 10.
Michael Lyons, in a blue Hesketh 308 carrying the colors of Penthouse magazine, was the fastest, in 1:31.265, while completing only 11 laps, ahead of the Tyrrell (ex-Alboreto) of Michael Cantillon, followed by Miles Griffiths, in a yellow 1977 Fittipaldi, and David Shaw in a 1979 Williams FW06, the year before Alan Jones won the world title. As for Nicolas Matile, the Monegasque florist, he took a very honorable 13th place on Friday the 13th of this 13th edition…
Very elegant in an immaculate white overall, Esteban Gutierrez, former F1 driver with Sauber and Haas between 2013 and 2016 (60 GPs contested, 6 points scored), returned with great pleasure to the streets of the Principality in a BRM belonging to the legend of Mexican motorsport: a 1970 BRM P153 that won the same year at the Belgian GP with Pedro Rodriguez at the wheel.
“This car is part of history so I’m very proud to drive it. But it’s not easy, the engine is very powerful and it slides a lot, especially in the S of the Piscine“, says Esteban. “The trickiest part is the exit from the tunnel, because you arrive very quickly and you have to brake hard while dropping the gear ratios. It’s very + mechanical +“, adds the Mexican driver, now converted to endurance, in WEC, after having considered for a time getting into Formula E. “I like driving these old cars, I had already done it at Goodwood“, Esteban adds. And it shows.
Emmanuele Pirro, Marco Werner, multiple winners of Le Mans 24 Hours with Audi, Roberto Moreno, a former Benetton F1 driver, but also Mrs Claudia Hurtgen, Jean-Denis Delétraz and Toni Seiler, Roald Goethe and Michael Lyons, three times victorious the year last, in beautiful single-seaters: Embassy-Hills, Shadows, McLarens, a Ferrari and above all a whole lot of Lotus F1 cars.
The E Series of the 13th GP de Monaco Historique was eagerly awaited and it did not disappoint, with incredible lap times for cars produced in the 70s, around a minute and a half per lap. Also note the presence of a 1975 Ensign driven by Guillaume Roman for the great debut of the Ayari Classic team in historic races. It has just been founded in Montélimar by former driver Soheil Ayari who will be back on track in June, at the French Historic GP, at the wheel of a Ligier JS21.
HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco launched the 13th edition of Grand Prix de Monaco Historique on Friday morning by spending a long time in the paddock where more than 180 exceptional cars and their experienced drivers were waiting to finally be able to enter the mythical track which will be reserved for them all weekend.
Welcomed by Michel Ferry, Vice-President of the Automobile Club of Monaco (ACM) in charge of Sport, and by Gery Mestre, President of the Classic Cars Commission, Prince Albert had a long talk with Monegasque driver Frédéric Lajoux entered as in 2018, in the F Series, driving a superb black and gold Arrows, dating from 1978. Also with the aim of paying tribute to young Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert, tragically deceased at Spa-Francorchamps in August 2019 .
While His Serene Highness wandered around the paddock, the first three series, A1, A2 and B, allowed the ACM stewards, already well trained by the Monaco E-Prix 15 days ago, to get on the job. They were very efficient, as always, in Sainte-Dévote and La Rascasse following small shocks against the safety barriers or minor incidents with limited damage, and there was no need to wave red flags.
The first quality lap times fell to A1 series drivers, notably the venerable ERAs of Nicholas Topliss (Class 1) and Mark Gillies (Class 2), pre-war cars (voiturettes) managing to beat a pack of Bugattis, Maseratis and other Alfa Romeos.
In the B series, under the expert eyes of Clive Chapman, son of Colin Chapman and boss of the Lotus Classic Cars team, a car from the English brand that was the fastest: the Lotus 21 of 1961, with a Climax engine, entered for Mark Shaw, a regular customer of the event, who beat Joseph Colasacco’s Ferrari and Christopher Drake’s Cooper-Ford.
All eight series were on the menu of this opening day of the 13th GP de Monaco Historique, including a huge number of Lotus cars to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the passing of Colin Chapman . Most of them in English green livery, the famous “Racing Green” often seen in the 60s, or in black and gold livery, as was the case in the 70s. To the delight of nostalgics!!!
An artist whose work we were able to admire last year at the Collection de Voitures de S.A.S. le Prince of Monaco, of which paintings, driver statues, figurines, art cars and also a magnificent sculpture interpretation of Ayrton Senna’s Lotus 97T.
Together with his colleague from Geneva, Fernando Grande, Yvon Amiel has designed and produced 8 Trophy’s, each an effigy of the 8 drivers who’s names headline a series of races. From Louis Chiron and Aytron Senna to Juan Manuel Fangio, Vittorio Marzotto, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda and Gilles Villeneuve.
A very nice reward for the winning drivers of each race, who will all go home with a unique and original work of art.
In addition to winning the H.S.H. the Prince of Monaco’s Cup, the winners of each race will each leave with a unique and original work of art… just like the Historic Monaco Grand Prix!
*Antoine le pilote, hero for kids aged 5 till 105. 15 albums to date, published by Gilletta.
Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-EQ) won the 5th Monaco E-Prix on Saturday, starting from 4th place on the grid and perfectly managing the incidents of an intense and thrilling race from start to finish, to beat under the flag Mitch Evans (Jaguar ), who started from pole position, and Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah), which allows him to jump in the lead of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
The Belgian now holds 81 points, ahead of Vergne (75), Evans (72) and Frijns (71), after 6 rounds out of 16 scheduled this Season 8. This is Vandoorne’s third victory in Formula E, after Berlin in 2020 and Rome in 2021. Above all, it is the first victory for an electric Mercedes in Monaco, in the last season for the German brand in Formula E. And it allows Mercedes to retain the lead of the constructors’ championship with 120 points, ahead of DS Techeetah (105) and Jaguar (94). The situation is therefore in the process of settling in this Season 8.
At the start, Evans started ahead of Wehrlein, Vergne, Vandoorne, Di Grassi, Lotterer, De Vries and Frijns. Da Costa, last year’s winner, was the first to switch to Attack Mode to take 9th place, behind de Vries. In the lead, the waltz of passages to Attack Mode allowed Wehrlein, who had started alongside Evans on the front row, to take control and stay in the lead for a while. Halfway through the race, the German in a Porsche led the way, ahead of Vergne, Vandoorne and Evans.
When Wehrlein slowed down and stalled at the exit of the tunnel, the Marshalls of Automobile Club of Monaco (ACM), whose expert unit was founded 50 years ago by President Michel Boeri, swiftly pushed the Porsche towards the chicane, where he parked it for good. At that time, for maximum safety, the “Full Course Yellow”, triggered immediately by the race direction, forced all his rivals to drive at a maximum speed of 50 km/h. Too bad for JEV and Di Grassi, who had just chosen to use the Attack Mode and couldn’t take advantage of it, which served Vandoorne and Evans well.
The following incident involved the other Porsche of Andre Lotterer, pushed about the safety barrier at Sainte Dévote by the out of control Nissan of Oliver Rowland, under the eyes of a delighted Robin Frijns (Envision). Enough to cause the appearance of the Safety Car when Vandoorne had just activated his Fan Boost. There were only about ten minutes left when the race started again, with Vandoorne ahead of Evans, Vergne and di Grassi, followed by Frijns, Da Costa and Mortara. The race director then added four minutes, to take into account the neutralization by the Safety Car, and Evans used his last Attack Mode to go past Vergne and swoop down on Vandoorne, who resisted until the end to the New Zealander in a Jaguar.
So this was the composition of the final podium, ahead of Frijns, Da Costa and di Grassi, 6th, who saved the honor of Venturi, at home, while teammate Edoardo Mortara, once again cursed in the Principality, had finished the race in slow motion before parking for good. As for the day’s comeback, it was achieved by Seb Buemi (Nissan), winner of the first two editions (2015, 2017) and 9th under the checkered flag, although he started on the 22nd (and last) place on the grid.
“Monaco is one of the most special races you can win as a driver”, reacted Vandoorne, delighted, getting out of his electric Mercedes. He had already won in the Principality, in 2015, during the feature GP2 race (the old name of F2). “The luck finally turned in our favour, but I had an incredible feeling in the car, it was perfect, so a big thanks to the whole team,” the Belgian winner added.
Beaten but overall happy with his day, Vergne summed up the situation well: “It was a good race for us, but we were unlucky with the Attack Mode, we clearly wasted it with the Full Course Yellow. I would have liked to fight for the win today but I will be satisfied with these good points. We have to keep working and I am looking forward to continuing this season”. It will be in Berlin, May 14 and 15, for the 7th and 8th rounds of this wonderful Season 8.
The qualifying session for the 5th Monaco E-Prix that took place late Saturday morning, has been as exciting as expected, with most of the best drivers qualifying in the Top 8. This was as competitive as the final rounds at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
In Group A, Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes EQ), Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche), Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Techeetah) and Lucas di Grassi (Venturi) passed the test with flying colours. Meanwhile Seb Buemi (Nissan), who hit the tunnel exit chicane, and Edoardo Mortara (Venturi), the local hero, were eliminated.
A few minutes later in Group B, Mitch Evans (Jaguar), Nyck de Vries (Mercedes-EQ), Andre Lotterer (Porsche) and Robin Frijns (Envision) earned their place in the Top 8, but there was some damage. Antonio Félix Da Costa (DS Techeetah) and Jake Dennis (Andretti), who hit the barrier at Sainte Dévote, were eliminated, as was Oliver Rowland (Mahindra). Enough to ensure sensational quarter-finals between most of the candidates for the world title, even though we are only in the 6th round of this fierce Season 8.
Vandoorne first beat Frijns, the only driver with Lotterer to have qualified for all phases of duels since the start of the season, then Wehrlein beat Lotterer after an internal fight between both Porsche drivers. The biggest clash of these quarter-finals pitted JEV, the one and only double Formula E champion, against de Vries, the reigning World Champion. The championship leader narrowly won, with his sights set on a semi-final against Evans, who beat di Grassi, another former Formula E champion.
The relative surprise came from the semi-finals, because Wehrlein, the winner in Mexico for Porsche, beat Vandoorne in his Mercedes, then Evans, author of a sumptuous double blow in Rome (2 wins), beat Vergne, who will therefore start on the second row at 3pm. He is aiming for the podium at the minimum, if the circumstances of the race turn in his favour.
All was left to play in the grand finale, over a single lap of 3.3 km, with fully charged batteries, and the fans were not disappointed by this top-of-the-range aperitif: pole was snatched by Evans, the New Zealander from Jaguar, with the added bonus of a new track record in Formula E (1:29.839) and the first driver to complete the lap in less than 1:30 in a fully electric single-seater.
This is the first pole position for the Kiwi driver since Santiago de Chile, in January 2020, and as you may all know, pole position is always a good thing in Monaco: since the very first edition in 2015, the winner of each and every Monaco E-Prix has started from pole position. The show will start at 3pm!
