Ferraris will carry most hopes at Monza

Press, 8 September 1989, Page 31

Ferraris will carry most hopes at Monza

MOTOR SPORT

George Tanner

The Italian Grand Prix, the twelfth round of this year’s world drivers’ championship, will be contested at Monza this week-end. The atmosphere at this historic venue promises to be electric. The onform Nigel Mansell, of Britain, will throw the Ferrari gauntlet before the Marlboro McLaren Honda team in what is the most important race of the season for the fanatical tifosi. Set amid the trees of a Royal park, the Autodromo Nazionale Di Monza is 15km north of Milan. In its present form, the circuit measures 5.8 km. The original circuit featured steep oval bankings, and in 1923, played host to the first grand prix of Europe. During the Second World War, the park was requisitioned by the Italian Army, the Germans and finally the Allies. In 1947, the military departed and the circuit, which had been badly

damaged by tanks, was restored in time for the 1949 Italian Grand Prix. The Monza circuit became notorious for claiming lives, and since the introduction of chicanes, in 1972 and 1976, Peter Gethin’s 1971 winning average in a BRM — 242.615km/h - has remained unchallenged. At Monza, all eyes focus on the Ferrari pit, and the enthusiastic fans have a nasty habit of

swarming onto the track before all the cars have completed the final lap. Last year’s race was fortuitously won by Gerhard Berger, of Austria, driving a Ferrari, but the hard-charging Austrian’s dismal record this season will not encourage the masses to bet their hard-earned lira on a repeat performance by him this year. On the other hand, Mansell’s previous victories this year, in Brazil and Hungary, have endeared him to the Italian populace. A win on Ferraris’ hallowed home soil would ensure the Englishman legendary status. The fact that the Brazilian, Ayrton Senna, is slowly closing the gap on his arch rival, Alain Prost, of France, would under normal circumstances capture the crowd’s attention, but at Monza the vast majority of spectators will be oblivious to everything but the revered scarlet cars with the prancing horse symbol proudly emblazoned on their flanks.