It took only one move, in the Beau Rivage uphill straight to the Casino, at the very beginning of Lap 1, for Michael Lyons, in his blue Surtees TS9, to surprise Stuart Hall who had started in pole in his white McLaren M19 carrying the famous Yardley livery. And it definitely was the move of the morning because Lyons then managed to win the race, after resisting fiercely to all of Hall’s attacks, especially at la Rascasse.

The battle was everywhere in this Race E, as David Shaw, in his special March 721 Eifelland once driven by Rolf Stommelen, battled during 12 laps with Jamie Constable’s Brabham BT 37. At the very end, in the last lap, the two cars collided at the Piscine but Constable still managed to reach the finish line and to climb on the podium, while Shaw lost his 4th place to Roald Goethe in his orange McLaren.

The Cups, offered by HRH Prince Albert of Monaco to the winner, and by the ACM to Hall and Constable, were handed by Géry Mestre, the chairman of the Historic Cars Commission at Automobile Club de Monaco.

Driving two different Maseratis, a 250 F in Race B, then a 300 S in Race C, Guillermo Fierro-Eleta won two races on Sunday at Grand Prix Historique de Monaco, but the second win was slightly more difficult to take, because of a handful of very quick English cars. In this race reserved to front-engine sport cars having raced between 1952 and 1957, Fierro-Eleta first benefited from an excess of optimism by David Hart, who had started in pole aboard another Maserati 300 S and lead the first two laps… until he arrived a bit too fast at la Rascasse and hit the wall, damaging his front left suspension in the process and choosing to get back to the pits right away.

Behind the 60-year-old entrepreneur, the podium was completed by two Jaguars, Niklas Halusa’s Type D, with its shark wing, and Belgian Nicolas Bert’s Type C. Last but not least, the one and only female driver in that race, Germany’s Katarina Kyvalova, started in 4th position and finished an excellent 5th, at the wheel of her Cooper-Jaguar T33. The Trophies were handed, on the podium, by Christophe Allgeyer, the Vice-Commissioner General of Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM).

Race F, for F1s that raced between 1973 à 1976, held its promises and turned to an amazing duel between Jean Alesi, in a Ferrari 312 B3 once driven by Niki Lauda, and Marco Werner, in a two-year younger Lotus 77, who started on pole position but not as well as Alesi who took the lead at the first turn, Sainte Dévote, and lead during the 15 following laps (out of 18), until he was pushed in the wall by his German rival, a treble winner at Le Mans 24 Hours but never a Grand Prix driver. This happened at the Anthony-Noghès turn, heading for the pits straight. As Alesi was changing gear, his beautiful red car was pushed in the wall by the black Lotus, whose driver had tried everything he could to pass him, but in vain. « I am disappointed, because I could do nothing to avoid hitting the wall. I am disappointed, because we were having a great race, but I will be back next year», Alesi promised on his way back to the paddock, as he was applauded by all drivers and spectators.

In the meantime, Werner was penalised and dropped to 3rd place, so that he refused to climb on the podium. After this major incident, Michael Lyons ended up as the winner, ahead of young Frenchman Julien Andlauer in a March 761 carrying Arturo Merzario’s name. The Cups were handed by ACM’s Race Director, Jacques Rossi.

Three races, three wins ! Michael Lyons achieved a memorable hat-trick on Sunday at Grand Prix Historique de Monaco. The 30-year-old Anglo-Irish driver won Races E, F and G in the space of a few hours, abord three very different single-seaters : a venerable Surtees TS9 in Race E, thanks to a better start than his main rival, a McLaren M26, once driven by James Hunt, following the race incident between Jean Alesi and Marco Werner (then penalized) in Race F. Last but not least, he won Race G in a blue Hesketh 308 E dating back to 1977, after Jordan Grogor, the poleman, had to retire after hitting the wall with his golden Arrows… under the heavy pressure of Lyons. The hero of the day finished this last race with a 12-second gap on Mike Cantillon and the podium was completed by Matteo Ferrer-Aza, in a Ligier JS11/15.

A number of race incidents happened during the last race of the week-end, including French veteran Alain Ferté damaging the front left of his Arrows at the Piscine and young Frenchman Evens Stievenart losing the 2^nd place when his blue Tyrrell 010 hit the wall at the Anthony-Noghès turn, the same as Jean Alesi.

The Cups were handed by Alain Pallanca, Race Director at Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM). We can bet that both Lyons and Alesi will be back next year, for different reasons.

He deserved to drink a cup of Champagne on the podium, he lost it all at the end of a superb race but it was not his fault. He was disappointed but he will be back next year : Jean Alesi was cheered and applauded by drivers in the pits, fans in the grandstands, when he made his way back to the paddock. He had led three quarters of the race in amazing manner, he had resisted all the assaults of a very excited Marco Werner survolté (too optimistic at the end?), and the black Lotus ended up pushing his Ferrari 312 B3 in the wall. A few minutes later, Jean discussed the incident with Toni Seiler, who had just finished the same Race F, and recalled the Monaco GP in 1992, when Ayrton Senna won for the 5th time in the streets of the Principality after resisting until the finish line, and closing all the doors to Nigel Mansell, who could never pass him. Because as Jean Alesi summarizes perfectly, « when there is no space, you cannot pass ! ». Jean will be back for the 13th edition of Grand Prix de Monaco Historique, he promised !

Race F, for F1 cars built between 1973 and 1976, will offer a beautiful first row to the thousands of fans expected on Sunday. Starting on pole, there will be a treble winner at Le Mans 24 Hours, Marco Werner, who clocked a very impressive 1:31.261 on Saturday, in his Lotus 77 entered by Chromecars Racing. On his side, there will be a very focused Jean Alesi, who took part in 201 GPs altogether, in six different teams, but 79 of them in Ferraris. He waited patiently for the track to become less slippery and clocked a very good lap right away. The two « old » drivers managed to go faster than two younger drivers, 30-year-old Michael Lyons in a McLaren M26 that James Hunt drove at the end of his F1 career, and Julian Andlauer, who is more used to driving Porsches, in a March 761 which was once driven by Arturo Merzario. The only bad news of the day came from René Arnoux, who hit the wall in his Ferrari 312 B3 when his gearbox briefly let him down.

South-African Jordan Grogor will start on pole, Sunday, for Race G reserved to F1 cars built between 1977 and 1980. Driving his Arrows A3 sporting the golden livery of German brewer Warsteiner, the 39-year-old, a specialist of Historic races and endurance events in the Middle-East, posted a 1:31.417 which was marginally better (2 tenths of a second) than the time set by Anglo-Irish driver Michael Lyons, a 30-year-old in a Hesketh 308 E dating back to 1977. Two Tyrrells 010 will be on the 2nd row, driven by Britain’s Mike Cantillon and young Frenchman Evens Stievenart. This was the last qualifying session of a perfect day, under the beautiful French Riviera sun.

Not long before the beginning of the qualifying session for Race E, this morning, HRH Prince Albert II of Monaco honoured the paddock of his presence. He was escorted by ACM President Michel Boeri, Vice-President Michel Ferry, Gery Mestre, the Chairman of the Historic Cars Commission, and Christian Tornatore, the General Commissioner.

Before spending a long time chatting with Ferrari drivers René Arnoux and Jean Alesi, a moment before, His Royal Highness encouraged Monégasque driver Frédéric Lajoux who is entered for Race G in an Arrows A1B dating back to 1978.

The qualifying session for pre-war cars ended with British driver Patrick Blakeney-Edwards on pole, at the wheel of a beautifully maintained Frazer Nash built in 1935. His best lap, in 2 min 9 sec 87/1000 was three seconds quicker than the Talbot-Lago driven by Switzerland’s Christian Traber, who was the quickest on Friday during free practice. Sunday, on the second row of the grid for Race A, Austrian driver Niklas Halusa, in a venerable Bugatti 35B, will start with a Maserati 6CM on his side, lead by British driver Ewen Sergison.

Same story as Friday in the qualifying session for Race B, this morning : the powerful Maserati 250 F driven by Guillermo Fierro-Eleta, finished ahead of the very agile Lotus 16 of Max Smith Hilliard, whose gearbox had been changed on Friday, after the free practice session. However, in order to conquer pole position, the Spaniard had to clock his best lap in 1 min 56 sec 127/1000, four seconds quicker than Friday, because his British rival was in great shape and only finished one second back. The second row on Sunday will be 100% Italian, with Martin Halusa’s white Maserati and Alex Birkenstock’s Ferrari Dino 246, powered by a V6 engine.