Serie B – Pre-1961 Grand Prix and Formula 2 Cars
There were Prix cars raced during Formula 1's 2.5-liter era, complemented by Formula 2 cars of the same era. This presented Duncan Dayton, the most successful Monaco Historic Grand Prix participant with 10 victories, with a new challenge.

The mid-engine Cooper T51 Climax leads the front-engine Lotus 16. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)

Last time, he dominated with his front-engine Lotus 16, but with the addition of the mid-engine Coopers such as Roger Wills' T51, victory would certainly not be straightforward. Not surprisingly, these two lined up side-by-side on the front row of the first race of the weekend.

Wills made no mistake and lead the pack up the hill to the casino square on the opening lap. Dayton was right on his tail throughout the race and almost grabbed the lead going into “Rascasse” with a move that was reminiscent of Mike Hakkinen's pass on Michael Schumacher during the 2000 Belgian Grand Prix. Wills kept a cool head and dove back down the inside to regain the lead.

A few hundreds meters later, Dayton spun out of the race, settling the race in favor of an elated Wills. He was followed at a considerable distance by Gary Pearson and Barrie Baxter in P25 and P48 type BRMs, respectively.

Serie C – Pre-1953 Sports and Sports Prototype Cars
When the sport's governing body announced that the 1952 World Championship would be run for Formula 2 cars, the Automobile Club de Monaco decided to run that year's Grand Prix for sports cars. Celebrating this unique edition has become a set fixture during the Historic Grand Prix with the only sports-car race of the weekend.

A Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica dices through the turns ahead of a Jaguar C-type. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)

The colorful grid this year consisted of such past winners as Carlos Monteverde with his Jaguar C-Type and John Ure in Peter Mann's Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica Mk2. New to the grid was Najeeb Khan in his recently acquired Ferrari 225 S, which was originally raced to fourth in 1952 behind three other Ferraris.

Also worth a mention is Alan Patterson, who brought the Allard J2X he bought new in 1952. At the impressive age of 82, he still managed to wrestle the big Cadillac-powered machine through the Principality's tight streets.

One man stood head and shoulders above the rest, though: Alex Buncombe driving the Jaguar Heritage Racing C-Type. In qualifying, he set a time that left even the most experienced in awe, and during the race he was never challenged. Previous winners Ure and Monteverde finished a distant second and third.

Serie D – Pre-1966 Rear-Engine Grand Prix Cars
Now exclusively the domain of the 1.5-liter Formula 1 racers, Serie D was dominated by the various Lotus models. Among them was the Type 18 liveried in Rob Walker's colors, which was driven to back-to-back Monaco victories by Stirling Moss, and was until very recently part of the Donnington Grand Prix Collection.

The Ferrari 1512 F1 proved to be just as splendid to hear as it was to see. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)

Our eye and ear were particularly caught by Lawrence Auriana's Ferrari 1512 F1, which featured the Italian manufacturer's first flat-12 engine. The restoration was literally completed on the eve of the event, which sadly meant that the car was not at all sorted. As a result, it completed only a handful of laps. We understand that the flat 12's original designer Mauro Forghieri is involved in the project, so the lovely Ferrari 1512 should come on full sung in the near future.

Fastest of all in this group was Andy Middlehurst in the Classic Team Lotus run Type 25. Member of the British House of Lords, Paul Drayson was second fastest in a Climax-engine Lotus 24, while Sid Hoole was third in the ex-Rob Walker Cooper T66. During the race, these two were involved in a very close battle and eventually finished in reverse order just under 10 seconds behind the victorious Middlehurst.