Thanks to the best start possible, on pole position, Guillermo Fierro-Eleta, in his Maserati 250 F which raced at Monaco F1 Grand Prix from 1955 to 1959, paid a vibrant tribute to Maria Teresa de Filippis, a former driver of this exceptional car and the first female driver ever entered in the World Championship. The duel that all fans expected against Max Smith Hilliard’s lightweight Lotus 16 never happened because the British driver missed his start, so that the 60-year-old Spanish entrepreneur could escape safely and lead the whole race. Behind Fierro-Eleta and Smith Hilliard, the podium was completed by Alex Birkenstock in his Ferrari Dino 246. The first three drivers received beautiful trophies from the hands of Michel Ferry, the vice-president of Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM). Martin Halusa took 4th place with his all-white Maserati 250 F that was once driven by illustrious Jean Behra.

The win in Race A for pre-war cars should have been taken by British driver Patrick Blakeney-Edwards, whose Frazer Nash from 1935 started in pole and lead for more than half of the race. However, a major technical problem forced him to retire and to park safely his superb single-seater. So that the sky blue Talbot-Lago driven by Switzerland’s Christian Traber took the lead and won the race, ahead of two other legendary cars, Austrian Niklas Halusa’s venerable Bugatti 35 B and Scottish driver Ewen Sergison’s Maserati 6 CM. On the podium, the trophies were handed to the happy drivers by Christian Tornatore, the General Commissioner of Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM).

In his Lotus 21 powered by a Climax engine, built in 1961 and raced by Jim Clark, Mark Shaw honoured is statute as the obvious favorite for Race D when he took a perfect start, on pole position, and was followed by Frenchman Philippe Bonny in a Brabham BT2 which started its racing career in Formula 2. In another Lotus Climax, Nick Taylor was too slow to start and then had to chase Bonny that he passed at Sainte-Devote in the beginning of Lap 3. Bonny was then passed as well by Switzerland’s Philipp Buhofer and Australia’s Stephan Jobstl, ensuring a total monopoly on this race for the mythical brand founded by Colin Chapman. On the podium, trophies were handed to the first three drivers by His excellency the State minister Pierre Dartout.

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.

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.

Stuart Hall’s superb McLaren M19, built in 1971 and carrying the famous Yardley livery, managed to take pole position for Race E, in the last morning qualifying session, ahead of Michael Lyons’s blue Surtees TS 9 and David Shaw’s special March 721 Eifelland. The same three drivers as Friday at the end of free practice, but in a different order, since Hall managed to go four seconds quicker: 1:34.087 instead of 1:38.711 on Friday, which allowed him to save a three tenths margin on Lyons. Next to Shaw, Sunday on the 2nd row of the grid for Race E, there will be a Brabham BT 37 driven by Jamie Constable and just behind them Alex Caffi, the former F1 driver, in a Ferrari 312 which was not ready for free practice on Friday.

Maserati again finished ahead of the English cars, in the qualifying session for Race C, reserved to front-engine sport cars having raced between 1952 and 1957. Spaniard Guillermo Fierro-Eleta clocked a best lap in 2 minutes 3 seconds and 2/1000, in his powerful 300 S, managing to improve by two full seconds. The second best time was also achieved by a 300 S, driven by Dutchman David Hart, ahead of Niklas Halusa’s Jaguar Type D with its shark wing. He will have the honour and privilege to start the race, on Sunday, next to a very fast young woman : Germany’s Katarina Kyvalova, in her Cooper-Jaguar T33, went faster than 12 male drivers…

Mark Shaw, in his Lotus 21 powered by a Climax engine, built in 1961 and raced by the fascinating Jim Clark, remains the favorite for Race D that he will start on pole, thanks to a time of 1 minute 53 seconds and 121/1000, only one tenth better than his best lap on Friday during free practice.

However, the rivals have improved a lot and Nick Taylor is less than 2 seconds behind Shaw, in another Lotus, a model 18 dating back to 1960. On the second row, on Sunday, Frenchman Philippe Bonny will start in a Brabham BT2 with a Ford engine, alongside yet another Lotus Climax, a model 24 from 1962, driven by Switzerland’s Philipp Buhofer.

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.