COPPA INTEREUROPA STORICA MONZA 6 -8 JUNE 08

LURANI TROPHY

The background
Our leader Duncan (peace & blessings upon his name) succeeded in getting FJHRA a valuable slot on this most prestigious programme on perhaps the most charismatic of all circuits. Having last raced there in 1983 I was expecting a rather chaotic and poorly organised show – wrong! It was really well organised – no queues, all the officials were ultra helpful and welcoming, the facilities were superb and the track – well you have to drive it – then you pinch yourself to remind yourself – you are here and you are racing at Monza – the Monza of legend. Jason Wright had more than a small involvement in the whole show – he could be seen cutting around organising this and that – he was 110% busy all weekend – he even arranged (with Mair) a really memorable FJHRA meal on Saturday evening.

Lurani Trophy Classes A, B and C
First race    A real crowd pleaser -  from pole, Dan Collins in the Classic Team Lotus 18 led narrowly from Brendon Roberts , John Delane and the field, much place swopping until Collins’ 18 disappeared with gear selection trouble – thereafter John Delane (looking incredibly fit well and cheerful) fought off a selection of attackers including Joe Colasacco’s  Stanguellini  which put on a spurt to cruise up to 2nd place (from within the pack) in only 1 lap. A very hard fought and deserved win.
Second Race  -  Run in the rain with the track incredibly greasy – Mark Woodhouse made driving skill pay off for the first half, his car control a joy to watch as he held the lead against superior machinery. As conditions eased, the Stanguellini’s of Colasacco and Stanguellini  seemed able to reel in the other cars with considerable ease especially down the long straights. Inevitably the powerful Stanguellini’s finished 1st and 2nd , while Collins made it to 3rd and Woodhouse a most worthy 4th. 

On aggregate, Colosacco won with a fastest lap 4 seconds quicker than anyone else. Mark Woodhouse won class B from Tony Goodwin’s Gemini  and class C was won by Jeremy Bouckley in Peter Denty’s sublime Cooper T56.

Lurani Trophy Classes D & E
First race   Hey – like all good WW1 Generals, my viewpoint of this is from the rear! But here goes! Pierre Tonetti pipped Denis Welch by 0.001 sec for pole – these two, with Chris Burckhardt and Martin Walford, really set about it – it all hinged on the famous Parabolica, Walford had a moment and dropped back, Welch looked a likely winner but strayed into the gravel at Parabolica with 2 laps remaining – he did well to keep going so the finishing order was Tonetti, Burckhardt and Welch. James Hicks drove a superb race getting well among the later cars to win class D from John Chisholm.

Second Race   Huge drama at the start – allegedly because poleman Tonetti mistook the 5 second board for the 5 minute equivalent  and switched his engine off just as the starter switched the lights on!  The writer – so far back that all he could see was Monza’s entire stock of yellow flags being waved franticly – like any good tank commander looking  a  tactical bound ahead (to the chicane) the cars in front parted and there was Tonetti’s stationary Brabham – rather a long way from the back so I was moving quite briskly – escape to the right was blocked so after due consideration the rather narrow strip of grass on the left seemed like a good idea. You don’t want to hear about me but Tonetti was clearly overcome by the moment, restarting last, he made somewhat erratic progress passing slower cars before a coming together with Pete Morton’s Lightning left both retiring with suspension damage. Up front Welch held sway, Walford retired and Burckhardt lost places with a moment before setting after the leader. So Denis won from Burckhardt, Benedini’s Brabham and James Claridge in his familiar well-driven Lola. In class D, Hicks’ Caravelle  hit trouble – the class being won by Chris Chilcott’s Lotus 20.

On aggregate, Burckhardt won by 0.5 second from Welch – a really great drive from a level headed, extremely talented and thoroughly pleasant young man – a real credit to FJHRA – typically the first to acknowledge and praise the victory was Denis.  In class D, John Chisholm’s Gemini won (presumably it prefers running the right way up – in joke – it refused to run for any length of time in New Zealand/Australia) from James Hicks and  Stephen Gibson’s  Lynx.

For many, the highlight of the meeting was on Saturday after racing when all the Juniors were afforded 2 laps of the old banked circuit – Ye Gods – it is/was so narrow on that banking – in their agricultural mid 50s Indycars they averaged over 170 mph – I salute their courage -  this was followed by a glass or 3 and presentation of mementoes by the most elegant and gracious Contessa Chica  Lurani –daughter of our founder.

In summary, a really top rate meeting with strong grids full of highly competitive cars – a meeting not to be missed and we are all so fortunate and privileged  to tread (albeit more gently ) in the footsteps of the great.

Lt Col “Bob” Birrell