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Alesi and Arnoux, two guest stars for Ferrari…
For his come-back on the Monaco track, the former Scuderia driver was the star of the show and should have won Race F, as in Ferrari, after jumping in the lead from his 2th place on the grid and then leading for 15 laps out of 18. However, a race incident with poleman Marco Werner, who was then penalized, changed the outcome of a magnificent race. But the mission had been accomplished: for three days in a row, Alesi and another former F1 driver back behind the wheel of a Ferrari, René Arnoux, pleased the fans around the track, on TV and social networks. They also chatted in the paddock with current F1 stars such as Charles Leclerc and Nico Hülkenberg.
Maserati and Lotus, shining as usual…
If we look at the long list of mythical brands that wrote the legend of Monaco F1 Grand Prix, two of them were in great shape during this 12th edition : Maserati first, because Guillermo Fierro-Eleta won both Races B and C in superb manner, at the wheel of two prestigious and glamorous models of the Italian firm, the 250F and the 300S; Lotus as well, because the English brand founded by Colin Chapman put four different cars in the Top 4 of Race D, and then when Marco Werner’s Lotus 77, in Race F, challenged Jean Alesi’s Ferrari until both cars collided. Other brands also brought back great memories to the most nostalgic fans, such as Talbot-Lago and Bugatti in Race A, Jaguar in Race C, Surtees, McLaren and Hesketh in Races E, F and G for the most recent F1 cars, built between 1970 and 1980.
Lyons roared three times…
In these three very intense races, at speeds that should be unconceivable for 50-year-old cars, the 30-year-old Anglo-Irish driver with red hair, as humble as he is fast, showed all the facets of his huge talent: a perfect start in Race E, to take the lead from poleman Stuart Hall’s McLaren and never look back, formidable pressure in Race F to push Jordan Grogor (Arrows) at fault, and last but not least, absolute wisdom in Race G, in 3rdposition, waiting patiently for something that was meant to happen between Alesi and Werner. This was done in the matter of hours and aboard three very different single-seaters: a blue Surtees TS9, an orange McLaren M26 once driven by James Hunt and a blue Hesketh 308 E, dating back to 1977, that Lyons had set-up perfectly during a testing session at Anglesey, a short and demanding circuit in the north of Wales.
Perfect tarmac, modern tyres…
Lyons will never become a Formula 1 World Champion, but he could not care less. He is happy racing and winning Historic races in cars that he needs to “preserve”, while “setting them up as well as possible for them to be competitive”, he smiles. It was the case this weekend in Monaco, on brand new asphalt, with excellent Avon or Dunlop Racing tyres (depending on the category entered). With these modern tyres on ancient cars, the lap times were incredible and the races outstanding, as it was often the case during the golden age of F1, at the end of the last century.
See you in May 2022!
This was such an historical Grand Prix de Monaco, on all levels, that many actors and spectators will remember it for long. And the good news is: they will not have to wait too long until the 13th edition takes place, from 13 to 15 May, 2022.
Podiums of the 12th Grand Prix de Monaco Historique:
Race A
Race B
Race C
Race D
Race E
Race F
Race G
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 2nd 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 !
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.
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.
