1000 Km di Monza, April 26-27-28 1984 Trofeo “Filippo Caracciolo”
One of the protagonists of the second race of the Endurance World Championship at Monza was the wind. A strong wind at over 90 km / h hit the Autodromo Nazionale causing two trees to fall between the Roggia chicane and the first corner of Lesmo ending the race on lap 138. At the time of the interruption, I was at the parabolica corner and when I no longer saw the cars pass and I saw the red flag exposed, for a moment I thought about the worst. Luckily nobody got hurt.
For the 1985 season, restrictions on the amount of fuel usable in a 1000 km race, were tightened. The limit for the C1 groups was raised to 510 litres compared to 600 of the previous year. In addition to this, 4 complete refuelling were made mandatory during the race, to fill the tank with a mandatory capacity of 100 litres. With the refuelling device set by regulation to deliver no more than 50 litres per minute, the stop needed for each refuelling was at least 2 minutes. The other refuelling were free and each team could manage them according to need or strategy. For the C2 group, there were 330 litres available. Of course, the controversy regarding the alleged irregularities of the refuelling systems was not long in coming. The attribution of the scores was also changed and for 1985, the points were attributed to the teams and no longer to the brands. In particular, the Monza race was awarded only the score for the drivers' classification. Eventually, the trees that fell due to the wind spared, to the few present, the final laps of the race with the cars slowed down to avoid running out of fuel.
Lancia LC2/85
The practices were dominated by the Lancia LC2-85 masterfully driven by the Patrese-Nannini and Wollek-Baldi-Cesario crews. Riccardo Patrese with the car number 4 scored the pole position with an incredible time of 1'31'00 while Bob Wollek was second, just over 2 seconds behind, with the car number 5. At the start the two Lancia started very fast and settled in command. On lap 46 while in second place, Baldi was rammed by Surer's Porsche 962C which attempted to overtake and the Lancia was trapped in the sand of parabolica corner. Patrese and Nannini finished third with the regret that, if the race had not been interrupted, they would certainly have fought for the victory with the official Porsche 956-83 # 009 of Derek Bell and Hans-Joachim Stuck who came second.
Porsche 956C Rothmans Racing
During the free practice on Friday afternoon, due to a failure in the electronic injection system, the works Porsche 962C of Derek Bell and Hans-Joachim Stuck, with the German behind the wheel, caught fire after the first chicane, being completely destroyed and forcing the crew to fall back on the spare car, the 956-83 # 009 with which they got the sixth time in practice and the second place in the race. Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass, with the works 962C chassis # 002, both in practice and in the race placed in fourth place.
Porsche 956C chassis # 110 Kremer Racing
Monza 1000 km, 1985. Porsche 956C chassis # 110 Kremer Racing - Marc Surer / Manfred Winkelhock
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The victory went to the Kremer Racing' Porsche 962C driven by the Swiss Marc Surer and the German Manfred Winkelhock, despite a pit stop for a check after the accident with Baldi at the Parabolica corner. At the time of the interruption, the Porsche 962C was in lead but would still have had to stop for a "long" refuelling and if the trees had not fallen it probably wouldn't have won.
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Porsche 956B chassis # 115 Kremer Racing
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Bruno Giacomelli ran the 1000 Km of Monza for Kremer Racing on a Porsche 956B, chassis # 115, in crew with the South Africans Sarel van der Merwe and George Fouché. The crew was ninth in the practices and ended the race in eighth place, 12 laps apart because they lost a lot of time in the pits due to a failure of the wastegate valve that it was replaced.
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Monza 1000 km, 1985. Porsche 956B chassis # 115 Kremer Racing - Bruno Giacomelli / Sarel van der Merwe / George Fouché.
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Cheetah G604 chassis #1 Aston Martin Chuck Graemiger Team
The Cheetah G604 chassis # 1 driven by Gianfranco Brancatelli and Bernard de Dryver. The Chuck Graemiger team entered in group C1 this car, equipped with a 5.3 litre V8 Aston Martin tuned by Tickford and with a carbon fibre and kevlar chassis. The car qualified in eighteenth place but on the third lap of the race it was already stopped due to electrical problems.
Ecosse C285 chassis #02 Ford Cosworth DFV Ecurie Ecosse
Second in the C2 group Ray Mallock and Mike Wilds with the very valid Ecurie Ecosse' Ecosse C285 chassis # 02 powered by the Ford Cosworth DFV 3.3-litre. The car was derived from the previous year's C284 with a new chassis, improved aerodynamics and the beautiful livery of the sponsor Bovis. For this team it was the first race of the 1985 World Championship, not having participated in the first race at the Mugello circuit. In practices the crew, which was also composed of David Leslie who however did not take part in the race, qualified in 17th place and reached the finish line in tenth position 14 laps from the winners.
Gebhardt JC842 BMW chassis #01
Monza 1000 km, 1985. Gebhardt JC842 BMW chassis #01 - Frank Jelinski / Walter Lechner / Gunter Gebhardt
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The Gebhardt JC842 chassis # 01 group C2 of the crew Frank Jelinski, Walter Lechner and Gunter Gebhardt, twentieth at the start and thirteenth at the finish, 27 laps behind the winners. The German car was an update from that of the previous year, equipped with an aluminium monocoque and the 2-liter 4-cylinder BMW M12/7 engine, coupled to a Hewland FT200 gearbox.
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Alba AR6 CARMA chassis #006
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The Alba AR6 CARMA led by Carlo Facetti, Martino Finotto and Guido Daccò. The Italian C2 was powered by the 1.8-litre turbo 4-cylinder engineered by Facetti. At Monza the car qualified in thirteenth place on the starting grid. After an excellent race, on lap 62, the detachment of the rear hood forced it to retire. The name of the "CARMA" engine derives from the names of Carlo Facetti (CAR) the builder, and Martino Finotto (MA) the financier.
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Monza 1000 km, 1985. Alba AR6 CARMA chassis #006 - Carlo Facetti / Martino Finotto / Guido Daccò
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Nykjaer C2 BMW
Monza 1000 km, 1985. Nykjaer C2 BMW - Jens Nykiaer / Holger Knudsen
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The Nykjaer C2 was an artisan car built by the Norwegian Jens Nykjaer. The car was equipped with a chassis built by the German company Gepard and was powered by the 3.5-liter BMW M88 6-cylinder engine, the same that equipped the BMW M1, coupled with a Hewland gearbox. The crew composed by Jens Nykiaer himself and Holger Knudsen qualified with the 25th time but did not take part in the race due to the clutch failure.
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Ceekar 83J Ford Cosworth BDX chassis #001 Ark Racing
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Aluminium honeycomb monocoque and 2-litre 4-cylinder Ford Cosworth BDX engine, coupled to a Hewland gearbox for the Ceekar 83J chassis # 001 driven by Chris Ashmore, Max Payne and David Andrews. The car was 27th in practice with the last fastest time and reached the finish line in 16th place, 45 laps behind the winner. The small Derek Mattews' Ark Racing team, was animated by the purest English spirit for racing and in 1985 obtained an excellent result reaching the third place in the World Championship group C2 ranking and competing in eight of the ten races of the Endurance World Championship, retiring only once.
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Monza 1000 km, 1985. Ceekar 83J Ford Cosworth BDX chassis #001 Ark Racing - Chris Ashmore / Max Payne / David Andrews
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Tiga GC284 Ford Cosworth BDT chassis #277 Roy Baker Promotion
Monza 1000 km, 1985. Tiga GC284 Ford Cosworth BDT chassis #277 Roy Baker Promotion - Paul Smith/Roy Baker
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The Tiga GC284 driven by Willy Hoy, Paul Smith and Roy Baker and managed by Team Roy Baker Promotions Ltd. The car with chassis # 277 was equipped with a 1.8-liter 4-cylinder Ford Cosworth BDT engine supercharged with a Garrett turbine. The crew got the 22nd time in practices and in the race was forced to retire due to the gearbox breaking.
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URS C83 BMW chassis #005 Jens Winter Castrol Team
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The Danish Jens Winter and the British David Mercer were the drivers of the URD C83 at Monza. The car built by the German Ernst Ungar and managed by the team of the same Danish driver Jens Winter, was equipped with a 3.5-liter 6-cylinder BMW M88 engine It started from 23rd place on the grid and reached the twelfth, third overall finish in group C2.
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Monza 1000 km, 1985. URD C83 BMW Jens Winter Castrol Team - Jens Winter/David Mercer
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Final standings
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To deepen the topic...
1000 Km di Monza 1965-2008 - Aldo Zana - Giorgio Nada Editore
In this beautiful book signed by the automotive historian Aldo Zana, all the editions of the 1000 Km of Monza are described from 1965 to 2008. For each race, in addition to the detailed report, the starting grid and the final ranking are shown, all accompanied by magnificent archive photographs, very often unpublished. The book is written in Italian. It is a precious and unique book especially for those who, like me, have personally witnessed several of the races described. This book is highly recommended.
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