9th Grand Prix Historique de Monaco

| 12 May 2014

The romance of racing around the tight Monaco street circuit in Monte Carlo has long been a lure for historic hotshoes. The inaugural Grand Prix Historique de Monaco was held in 1997 and was intended to be a one-off event to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the Grimaldi dynasty. Such was the success of the event, however, that there was a repeat performance in 2000 and it has been held biennially ever since, the latest festival running from 9-11 May 2014. Such is the nature of the circuit that the one guarantee is that it will never be boring.

Eventual winner Katsu Kubota leads the superb grid of 1966-'72 F1 cars into Ste Dévote at the end of the start-finish straight. Behind the japanese driver are a Surtees TS9 and Brabham BT33.

Overlooked by the Fairmont hotel, the tricky Loews hairpin slows the field right down. Here Guy Peeters' Lotus 18/21 leads Marco Cajani's De Tomaso F1 and John Evans' Cooper T56.

Alex Buncombe was unassailable around Monaco in the JD Classics-run Jaguar Heritage Racing Jaguar C-type. Here he is followed by Paul Griffin in the Connaught ALSR.

An inspired ad hoc picnic table in the paddock as Mike Wrigley's crew tuck into lunch putting the distinctive front wing of the March 711 to good use. 

Derek Hood at the wheel of the Jaguar-powered Cooper T33 sports-racer. Hood finished ninth in the mammoth grid and here is leading the Allard J2 of Till Bechtolsheimer with Conrad Ulrich's Maserati 300S in the background. 

The cars may be historically important and more fragile than their modern counterparts, but it doesn't mean the pilots treat them with kid gloves, as Roger Wills shows here, riding the kerb in a March 701 with Max Smith-Hilliard's Surtees TS9B just behind.

We were going to ask you to identify this trio, but that seems a little unfair, so we'll do it for you. At the front is the Matra MS120B of Rob Hall being chased by the March 701 of Andrew Smith and the Brabham BT33 of Duncan Dayton. Dayton finished in second, one spot ahead of Hall.

Tom Price gunning his 1956 Maserati 250F 'offset' en route to 21st place in the pre-'61 F1 and F2 event. In the same race, Frank Stippler took a 250F to second place behind Roger Wills' Cooper T51, while Tony Wood was third in the Tec-Mec 250F.

Lotus cars always fared well in Monaco, in period and now in historic racing, and made up nearly half the pre-'61 grid. Here Peter Studer's 24 leads the Lola MkIV of 'Mister John of B' and John Elliott's Lotus 18.

The pre-'61 race may have boasted some of the most beautiful single-seaters of all time, but it also boasted some Brits that were strictly built for purpose. And this little train is a fine example. Led by Steve Russell's Cooper T23, Ian Nuthall's Alta F2 makes up the meat in the sandwich, while David Wenman's Connaught brings up the rear.

German Touring Car ace Frank Stippler was driving the Maserati 250F 'Piccolo'. While he finished behind Roger Wills' Cooper, Stippler had a fantastic last-lap dice with Tony Wood (in the Tec-Mec Maserati) to take the spoils.

Italian Franco Meiners drove this fascinating 312 B3 to 10th place. This car is the 1972 prototype of the model with which Niki Lauda won the Spanish and Dutch Grands Prix in 1974.