2006 Monaco Grand Prix

[Vaigra]

The top 4 now seperated by 2 seconds. 8th to 15th seperated by less than 5 seconds.
I think Webber could have a good race winning package and strategy here, which I wouldn't be complaining about.

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The top three are now onto the back of the train, about 8 cars to lap in close concession. Fisi has taken Coulthard, just past the tunnel. I thought it was Alonso that had locked up then!

[Jack_Bauer]

Well if it's true that Kimi has an extra 2 secs of fuel compared to Alonso that should release him at the next pitstop. My money's on Raikkonen at hte minute.

It's absolute bedlam at the minute! Fisichella's made 2 passing moves at the Chicane in 2 consecutive laps! The leaders are bunched up behind the guys in 9th and 10th, so it's some pretty outstanding pace to have lapped that many cars in so short a space.

[Jack_Bauer]

Originally Posted by Vaigra

The top three are now onto the back of the train, about 8 cars to lap in close concession. Fisi has taken Coulthard, just past the tunnel. I thought it was Alonso that had locked up then!

I thought that was a bit of a dodgy move by Fisi to be honest. He had both fronts fully locked up and was in no way, shape or form in control of his car when he went up the inside. Coulthard had nowhere to go, Fisi's out of control car just bumped him out of the way.

[Vaigra]

I think Coulthard did slow down some too because he thought it was Alonso coming up to lap him. If Fisi had collected DC there, he'd have dragged them both over the run off area and straight across into plenty of other cars. Very dangerous.

Why are there no blue flags being waved for Webber? He's lost so much time held up behind Fisi and Klien! He's lost about 6 seconds!

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Webber out of the race!
I'd be just as pissed as he is!
We've got a safety car now...and Kimi and Alonso have both taken advantage and pitted!

[Jack_Bauer]

Webber engine blow up!

Absolutely gutted for him, he'd driven superbly all weekend.

Safety car out, this could make things interesting!

[Vaigra]

Alonso has kept it 1st place after their pits. Unless Kimi overtakes him on the track, Fernando might just have this all wrapped up.
Absolutely gutted for Webber! Held up by 6 seconds behind Fisi and then straight into an engine blowup!

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Kimi's out!! His engine's on fire too!
Unless JPM can challenege Alonso now, it seems Alonso has this race..grrr!

MS now upto 8th...1 point at least so far

[Jack_Bauer]

Absolute disaster for Kimi, and for the race in general. It's gotta be do or die time for Montoya now, he's the only one with half a chance of stopping Alonso.

[Jack_Bauer]

Ha ha! Brilliant! Kimi didn't even bother going back to the pits to debrief, he just jumped straight into his yacht in the harbour, whipped his overalls off and cracked open a brewski!

[Vaigra]

Drive through for Rubens for speeding in the pitlane!
MS was trying to catch upto Coulthard and now is on the back of Alonso, though I reckon Alonso's just going to back him upinto Fisichella. He doesn't have to let him through.

Alonso has let Fisi and MS through now.
Kimi's got the right idea me thinks

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Trulli out of the race! Coulthard moves upto third now, with Rubens and MS closing upto the back of him in the closing stages.
What was it DC said he'd do if he gets a podium? Jump into the Red Bull pool butt nekked?

Schumi does a 1:15.143! Fastest lap of the race so far and is now 0.4 seconds behind Rubens.

[Jack_Bauer]

I think it was Christian Horner who said he'd jump naked into the harbour if one of his cars made the podium!

Not sure it's something I's really want to see, but it would be great for DC to get back up on the podium again in his home town.

[Vaigra]

Christian Horner...yum...
We'll find it on youtube soon haha!

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Superman on the Podium!!!
If only he had the same overalls as Klien, with the Superman logo on the front

[Jack_Bauer]

Well, that was a very good race that could have been a truly great one but for reliability gremlins for Cosworth and Mercedes-Benz. A potential three way scrap for the victory in the final stint was taken away from us with two retirements in the space of five minutes for Webber first, then Raikkonen. With six cars between leader Alonso and 2nd place Montoya during the safety car period it was effectively an open goal for Alonso. He drove a decent, mistake free race but was clearly not the fastest man out there. The Renault boys did a fantastic job in the pitstops (as per usual) which kept him a hair's breadth ahead of Kimi.

Behind the leaders it was mayhem pretty much from start to finish! There were dozens of close shaves and scrapes, people getting held up and people making outrageous overtaking manouevres. The big story from the midfield will undoubtedly be Michael Schumacher coming from the pitlane to score decent points in fifth and keep himself just about in the hunt for the title. I was a touch disappointed by the way some drivers ducked out of the way of the advancing former champ, it was as though there were blue flags out there half the time. Some very soft overtaking manouevres in the early part of the race. The one man who clearly was NOT willing to give an inch to Schumi was David "Superman" Coulthard who drove a brilliant defensive race all afternoon, and in this race of attrition he gradually edged his way up the field to score a sensational podium for Red Bull Racing.

Elsewhere it was a dreadful day for Toyota and especially Honda. The Japanese teams will really have to knuckle down over the next couple of weeks as it looks as though Williams and maybe even Red Bull are starting to edge ahead of them. All in all though it was a great race which did justice to the fantastic and historical setting of Monte Carlo, just a shame that it was made a little too easy for the reigning champ by the failures of others. Will that boy's look ever run out?!

[carbrochuretom]

I thought that was a pretty good race today. Im going to Monaco for next years hopefully. If I accept the job Ive been offered. WOOOOOOO

[Daz27]

Ive just read on grandprix.com that both Williams car failures are being attributed to exhaust failure. Very curious... Are there any pictures of the Red Bull Barge around? My Mum is dying to see it....

Edit...Just thinking, with an exhaust failure, are they talking header pipes having a hole and allowing a jet of hot exhaust gas to burn wiring etc, because Nico said he had the throttle jam open. And Marks thing just stopped really. Matra, any ideas?

Edit #2 Found this on markwebber.com
FIERY END TO WEBBER’S MONACO GRAND PRIX
29 May 2006 | 1:21am

For immediate release
May 28, 2006


Mark Webber’s Monaco Grand Prix hopes went up in a cloud of smoke when he lost electrics due to an exhaust failure that allowed hot exhaust gas to burn through the car’s wiring loom while he was lying in a strong third place on lap 48 of today’s 78-lap race around the tight and twisty streets of Monte Carlo. The 29-year old WilliamsF1 driver was always in contention with leading pair Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, and was looking a dead cert for a podium finish when his car stopped at St Devote amid billowing smoke and flames.

FIGJAM...

[carbrochuretom]

Try http://www.sportnetwork.net/main/s111/st96969.htm

A few pics there