BLANCPAIN MONZA 2012>>
THE ROOTS OF RACING
Years of racing computer game simulations around Monza and watching untold races on TV from the circuit gave me a false impression of what Monza would be like. It’s a Formula 1 Grand Prix venue so naturally it should be epic and imposing, but there is so much more to it than that. Like Interlagos, the reality is completely different from the expectation – and similarly, even better in the flesh. It’s the natural venue for racing.
The Autodromo Nazionale Monza is a grand old lady of a track, which is appropriate as it’s is situated in the middle of a park, the large back garden of the local royal palace. But instead of retiring in her dotage, Monza proudly displays the evidence of her youth for all to see. Not for here the emasculation and destruction seen at other tracks, such as Hockenheim. All three circuit variants are still there (the original loop, the banking and the full GP track), nestling under the trees. You can still see signs of the past dotted about, slowly being covered by grass or eaten by moss. Its rather incongruous really. A temple of racing in the middle of so much nature.
Its 90 years of near-constant usage give it a potentially complex history, but in fact it’s pretty simple, as is the layout. Like the old (proper) Hockenheim, it’s really three straights and three chicanes. Does that throwaway description do it justice? Of course not. Every corner name has historical resonance. You can visualise the old GP cars four-wheel drifting round Curva Grande or hammering around the banking. You can even hear them if you try.
The track has a lived-in feel to it: in parts it’s deliciously run-down and the rough edges are clear to see. It’s all a little bit over-grown. Nothing is hidden. It has no state-of-the-art pit complex, glass-and-steel modern architecture or newly-laid access roads.
The media accreditation centre is next to a school outside the park. Access around the track is more limited by how far you’re prepared to walk rather than the square footage of chain-link fence and locked gates. The surprisingly narrow track cuts through the trees and parkland, which comes right up to the perimeter of the circuit.
Nothing about this makes it a second-class track. It just means Monza quietly goes on doing what Monza does best. It’s got a beating heart powered by petrol. It’s all about the racing. When you first see the banking twisting into the distance it takes your breath away.
When you come across it again, cutting through the forest, it’s like a vertical wall of concrete. But I’m getting carried away: we’ll return to the banking later on.
A series with the aspirations of the Blancpain Endurance Series suits Monza down to the ground. Their presence here echoes the famous old Monza 1000km races of years gone by.
Talking of which, Blancpain would be sharing the track with three other series on the weekend. Primarily it was the British F3 single-seaters – but a damp track and aero-heavy cars hasn’t made for spectacular viewing, no matter how much work the drivers were obviously putting in behind the wheel to fight the greasy track conditions.
There’s also the Lamborghini Super Trofeo. Lamborghini have an enormous presence at the track: it’s like they’re delivering car after car direct from the production line to Monza – which isn’t unreasonable, as the factory is only an hour or so away at Aventador speeds.
And plenty of Aventadors and Gallardos there are. In many colours. They are all very nice. I would happily take one home, given the chance.
But most importantly, though frustratingly poorly subscribed, is the Blancpain Revival Series. This format was tried a couple of years back as GT90 and somehow failed – the concept has been revived in this Revival, but still a paltry six cars turned up – and one of those was driven by SRO boss Stéphane Ratel!
However. There were three Vipers. One old school GTS-R Viper makes things great. Three means pretty much everything is forgiven, even if only four cars ended up finishing the race. More entrants are promised for Silverstone: I dearly hope that more cars are brought out of collector storage hell and put where they should be.
Back to Blancpain. It’s funny how new cars can make the old models look obsolete overnight, if the marque get the design right. Both Rod and I talking about the lone Ferrari 430 that’s out in Blancpain, running in the the Gentlemen’s Trophy. The car that made the 360 look old-hat has in turn been superseded.
There are squadrons of 458 Italias charging round Monza, jumping the kerbs like suspension parts were going out of fashion – 16 in all will be taking part. Prancing Horse specialists AF Corse have rolled into town with a full quartet of Ferraris, as if they hadn’t already won enough silverware.
Kessel Racing have matched that, fielding their own four-car team. Of course, there’s been a big scrum around the Kessel 458 numbered 46 for the weekend.
If a big group of people were spotted hanging round in the paddock, you could be sure it was fans or the media trying to get a glimpse of their hero, MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi. He’s driving with childhood friend Alessio Salucci. Rossi, Ferrari. Monza. It’s surely the Holy Trinity?
Whilst the Ferraris are testing out just how much kerb they can take, the McLarens have been similarly aggressive out here, alternately attacking the kerbs and firebombing anyone chasing them. Someone really has been at the fuel mixture.
56 cars have made the weekend, with a truly international line-up of teams, drivers and cars. From the original preview, Aston Martin and Jaguar have both delayed their entries, but hope to be on board for the next round at Silverstone. That still means nine marques are presented here.
It’s an obscene number of cars for any race. At Monza, it means that the pits are absolutely over-run – teams have been advised to never pit both cars together.
I’ve never been in such a hectic pit-lane – it’s not on the level of the Nürburgring 24 Hours (there have been no fights yet as far as I’m aware), but it’s still going to take some delicate negotiating come the race.
The driver line-ups are studded with stars: of the 150-odd taking part there will be plenty of names familiar to fans of international GT and sportscar racing – and even more if you follow national series. There are plenty of newcomers taking part, who are very quickly going to find out how tough things are at this level.
Like previous GT3-only events I’ve seen, when those cars are the headline act you get a much better chance to take in just how fast they are – especially around a track like this. Of course, we all loved GT1 cars: big, brash, noisy brutes. But GT3 lap times are hardly on a different level – noise restrictions are probably the biggest limiting factor for them immediately assuming GT1-levels of awe, but even that will come – in the World Championship at least.
These cars are no slouches. I cannot stress how fast they look as they head down the main straight to the first chicane. Braking points are taken from the marker boards as there’s no gradient to speak of and the apex effectively blind. They are screaming past on the approach.
Rod’s already mentioned how big the Nissan GT-R GT3 looks in comparison to the more svelte Eurocars. The car is still very early in its development cycle, so it’s not troubling the front of the pack yet but it’s getting faster at each outing.
In a similar size context, the Mercedes SLS look like oil tankers when they’re going through Monza’s chicanes! You’re braking for the next corner whilst the back-end is still exiting the previous one. Well, not quite, but you get the idea. And in the right circumstances, even the Merc drivers are willing to do a bit of two-wheel kerb-hopping.
Track-time has been very much stacked towards either end of the schedule: three hours of practice and pre-qualifying in succession on Friday, a single hour of qualifying on Saturday and then the three-hour race on Sunday afternoon. This has meant there’s been no hanging about: come the green lights, everyone pours out onto the track (and off it on the exits of corners like Ascari).
During Friday it was all about old rivals Porsche and Ferrari, appropriately for a track with this history.
Heading things first time round was the #71 Kessel Racing Ferrari, then in the second session the #64 Black Bull Swiss Racing car set the top time.
Things weren’t going so well for the pair of WRT Audi R8 LMS at first. The tight and twisty Nogaro track in World GT1 had suited the R8′s excellent grip and traction, but the high-speed nature of Monza wasn’t gelling with the Endurance-spec variant of the car: the highest-placed car in Free Practice was #2 in 22nd; in Pre-Qualifying both cars were mired well down in the midfield.
There was then a big wait on Saturday until the afternoon’s hour-long, three-part Qualifying session where each driver would be out to set a time. That’s 56 cars battling for track position in a 15 minute session. Would there be trouble? Yes.
In Q1, #71 was again top – horse? Things were beginning to get a bit more variety behind though, as both the BMW Z4s and Audi R8s began to show their speed.
There was plenty of trouble around the track as cars struggled to get track position – and it was particular bad for Bert Longin in the Marc VDS BMW Z4. He dropped two wheels off the track at the second chicane, Variante Della Roggia, and speared headfirst into the barrier. If they do manage to repair the car, they’ll be starting at the back.
The WRT engineers managed to turn things round overnight, and a tuned set-up moved both Audis up the time sheets with laps in the top 13.
Mercedes SLS runners KRK Racing headed up Q2 with #13 setting an almost identical time to Q1, though the session was interrupted with more spins and delays whilst cars were recovered. WRT stayed around the same places as Q1, finishing up with 10th and 12th fastest laps. The McLaren teams seem to have overcome initial reliability problems – maybe by way of the fuel mixture the photographers are so thankful for! – but are still a little way off the pace. But when they look this good, who cares?!
Q3: the #71 crew found almost a second, giving them pole time when their three session laps were aggregated.
The #1 WRT Audi starts 7th, though the #2 car will start back in 37th after an off in Q3: the car’s rear-left rim and suspension was damaged in an off at the second chicane. The only positive was that the position off-track that the marshal’s dragged it to couldn’t have been a more idyllic place to take images of the car.
Back in the pit lane, WRT and plenty of other teams will be burning the midnight oil to get prepared for the main race: that starts at 2.15pm CET (1.15pm GMT, 8.15am EST) and you can follow the race via live timing here. The run down to the first chicane is going to be brutal!
Jonathan Moore
