2008 Historic Grand Prix of Monaco

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

2008 Historic Grand Prix of Monaco

The 2008 Historic Grand Prix of Monaco took place on 10–11 May at the Circuit de Monaco, a 3.340 km street circuit. This was the sixth edition of the event, which features historic racing cars from Grand Prix, Voiturettes, Formula One, Formula Two and Sports cars.

Key notes and moments
- Race B: The Maserati 250F, once driven by Stirling Moss, was entered but did not start. The race saw a competition for second place finish between Barrie Baxter and Tony Smith after Joaquín Folch-Rusiñol retired.
- Race C: Stirling Moss competed in a Frazer Nash, marking his seventh and final competitive appearance at Monaco Historic. Moss later wrote about how the circuit had changed since his early visits and his frustration with laxer track limits. For fifth place, Michael Willms’s Ferrari 340 America and Simon Diffey’s Cooper T21 were very closely matched, with their best laps separated by only 0.028 seconds.
- Race D (Formula Junior anniversary): 2008 marked the 50th anniversary of Formula Junior. Monaco’s Race D celebrated the first Formula Junior race at Monaco in 1959, won by Michael May. Tony Goodwin, a notable entrant, qualified on pole and finished second; he had also competed in the 1964 Monaco Formula Three Race. Jean Guittard made his first Historic Grand Prix appearance in this race, later racing under the alias “Mister John of B.”
- Race F: A Ferrari 312, once raced by Chris Amon in the 1968 Formula One season, was entered for this event after being restored for competition. Frank Sytner qualified fourth and remained near the front for most of the race before retiring on the penultimate lap. Hamish Sommerville finished fifth but retired after seven laps.
- Race G: Bobby Verdon-Roe made his debut at Monaco Historic in a McLaren M26. He crashed in the tunnel during practice, ending his weekend along with David Clark, who could not avoid the debris. Verdon-Roe would go on to dominate the 2010 Monaco Historic event from pole position.
- Final race: Mauro Pane led into the first corner, with pole-sitter Paul Edwards pressing hard. Edwards passed Pane after a tricky moment for Pane, who then hit the barrier but continued to finish in second place.

Overall, the event celebrated decades of historic racing and showcased a wide range of classic cars, with notable appearances by Moss and other racing veterans.