Round 6 - Monaco (Monte Carlo)



 Monaco (Monte Carlo)
Race Distance: 78 laps
1999/2000 Pole Position: Jan Svehlik (1:11.896)
1999/2000 Race Winner: Jan Svehlik (1h39:56.314)


Qualifying

9 cars took to the track in qualifying for this event, Svehlik taking a convincing pole over half a second ahead of Diener. The rest of the Ace field who took to the track lined up 4th to 6th, Bodlien ahead of Crawford and Suerig. Mike Hogg spent the session on the sidelines, his gearbox jammed and the spare car the sole preserve of Svehlik.

Of the Pro drivers, Parkhouse was easily the most impressive, a fantastic third overall on the grid and well over 2 seconds clear of Volders in the Lotus, lining up 7th. Leroy and Spratt complete the grid, the Powerecoil-2000 team of championship leader Wilson strangely absent from their pit garage whilst concentrating on their car`s setup.

PosNo.DriverTeamCl.TimeDiff.LapsPts
1. # 1 Jan Svehlik Bolgani Ace 1:11.741 +00.000 10 20 
2. # 4 Steffen Diener Power Tech Ace 1:12.321 +00.580 12 16 
3. #11 Ian Parkhouse Phoenix Pro 1:12.754 +01.013 11 14 
4. # 3 Thomas Bodlien Power Tech Ace 1:12.929 +01.188 7 12 
5. # 9 Darren Crawford Corgi Ace 1:13.155 +01.414 7 10 
6. #15 Benjamin Suerig Amiga Racing Ace 1:13.700 +01.959 12 8 
7. #26 Gerard Volders Lotus Pro 1:14.799 +03.058 10 6 
8. # 7 Olivier Leroy CyberSpeed Pro 1:14.983 +03.242 12 5 
9. #25 Jim Spratt Lotus Pro 1:16.093 +04.352 11 4 

Race

In the warm climate of the South of France region, the competitors in the IAF1GPC were shaking loose the cobwebs which had accumulated over the winter break and were once again ready for action.

At the green, Svehlik took his customary lead from Diener, Crawford and Bodlien while an unfortunate Wilson was nudged down an escape road to last place. Crawford blasted past Diener for second on lap 2 while Bodlien took advantage to also pass his team-mate. However a spin later in the lap dropped Crawford to sixth.

Further back, Ian Parkhouse tapped a wall and half spun to a stop in the middle of the track - the oncoming Mike Hogg was able to nip through but Leroy was less fortunate, mounthing the wing of the Phoenix and removing it`s nosecone. Both limped back to the pits for repairs, mechanics swarming all over Leroy`s right rear suspension mountings.

Between laps 23 and 26, Svehlik, Bodlien and Diener all pitted for the first time, coming back out in the same order with Svehlik 54 seconds ahead of the PowerTech pair. By lap 42 Diener had passed and pulled out a ten second lead over his team-mate in second but an over ambitious lapping move on Parkhouse saw him remove the whole left front wheel and suspension assembly and coast serenely to a halt by the harbour.

With everyone now so spread out, the only thing resembling a battle was between Leroy and Gerard Volders for 7th place but even that came to a sudden end on lap 45 when Leroy bumped the Lotus into the wall at Loews hairpin. Despite a stop for repairs, a bent steering arm meant Volders was out for good.

On lap 54 Svehlik pitted again, his huge lead meaning they had time to replace the steering wheel which had been showing some wrong information. The PowerTech team held their breath as the monitors showed the hapless Bodlien careering backwards out of the tunnel after a puncture had occurred. The car lost both front and rear wings before coming to a halt and amazingly he managed to limp back to the pits for repairs before continuing. Although another pitstop was necessary 2 laps later due To some unseen suspension damage, he did make it to the end to take third place just a few seconds ahead of Crawford. "One more lap and I doub`t I could have kept him behind me." Commented TB. Benjamin Suerig and the Amiga Racing squad were delighted with 2rd place after a steady run albeit 3 minutes behind Svehlik. The only other Ace finisher was Hogg who finished 3 laps down after completing the last 20 laps with his gearbox jammed in fourth.

In the Pro category, Parkhouse stormed to victory, one and a half minutes ahead of Leroy`s limping Cyberspeed which had started to steer all over the place at the end thanks to it`s suspension damage.

What sums up this race best is the fact that 25 unscheduled pit stops were made for damage repairs!!!

PosNo.DriverTeamCl.TimeDiff.Pts 
1. # 1 Jan Svehlik Bolgani Ace 1h39:42.932 +0:00.000 180+5+3
2. #15 Benjamin Suerig Amiga Racing Ace 1h42:57.745 +3:14.813 170 
3. # 3 Thomas Bodlien Power Tech Ace 1h43:58.128 +4:15.196 165 
4. # 9 Darren Crawford Corgi Ace 1h44:02.779 +4:19.847 160 
5. #11 Ian Parkhouse Phoenix Pro 1h45:04.545 +5:21.613 155 
6. # 7 Olivier Leroy CyberSpeed Pro -1 laps   151 
7. # 2 Mike Hogg Bolgani Ace -3 laps   147 
8. #39 Robert Wilson Powerecoil-2000 Pro 69 laps 89.22% 126 
9. #19 Bert Volders Lancia Pro 56 laps 71.86% 99 
10. #26 Gerard Volders Lotus Pro 45 laps 58.72% 77 
11. # 4 Steffen Diener Power Tech Ace 41 laps 53.64% 69 

Race Statistics

PosCarDriverFastest LapLL/TLPitstopsAvg.
Grip		Tyre Usage
TimeLap #StopsAvg. LengthABCD
1. # 1 Jan Svehlik 1:13.302 73 78/7820:14.73794   78
2. #15 Benjamin Suerig 1:15.038 76  0/7820:15.69094   78
3. # 3 Thomas Bodlien 1:15.153 61  0/7840:31.38894   78
4. # 9 Darren Crawford 1:16.227 73  0/7820:19.47794   78
5. #11 Ian Parkhouse 1:15.368 74  0/7850:33.82894   78
6. # 7 Olivier Leroy 1:16.677 60  0/7740:46.33094   77
7. # 2 Mike Hogg 1:16.434 73  0/7530:45.018928 4819
8. #39 Robert Wilson 1:17.593 53  0/6950:44.13094  1554
9. #19 Bert Volders 1:17.586 46  0/5640:40.04094   56
10. #26 Gerard Volders 1:17.400 40  0/4540:44.19294   45
11. # 4 Steffen Diener 1:16.525 36  0/4110:19.71994   41

Selected Quotes

Jan Svehlik (Bolgani), Race winner: "In three week break I have made some testing at Monaco, so i was good prepared for the dangerous circuit. Just in the first chicane an accident occured and that was end for some CC's. By sequel, the gap to the second driver become bigger. I payed attention. I would not end in the concrete wall. I have made two pit stop, always taked D compound tyres."

Darren Crawford (Corgi), 4th: "Slip, slide, rub, bump, and grind is the best way to describe the race. It's a wonder I didn't break a wing in this very tight passing track. I made it to the end, so I'll say had a good race."

Ian Parkhouse (Phoenix), 5th: "Oh no, not again."

Olivier Leroy (CyberSpeed), 6th: "I had a good start, from the 5th place, and after few laps, I was just behind the leader, D. Coulthard. But the rest of the race was very difficult for me, because I broke my front wing four times. Moreover there was a lot of traffic, and often, I had to pass a group of four or five cars."

Mike Hogg (Bolgani), 7th: "Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggghhhhh!!!! I'll have to say in the report the car had a massive mechanical problem that caused me to be lapped 3 times..... "

Robert Wilson (Powerecoil-2000), 8th: "It was like running a marathon with a broken leg. I wasn't expecting to do anything at Monaco. I didn't. There we have it."

Steffen Diener (Power Tech), 11th: "My race in Monace started pretty good. I took the lead from the beginning. My 2 stop strategy seemed to work well. After my first stop I was still leading. But after half the race I got into trouble overtaking Mika Hakinen. I was held up almost a whole lap and then crashed near the pits."


Last modified: Friday 09 December 2005 - 23:00