The Gentleman Driver's Diary: Grand Prix de Monaco Historique 2016

I've been waiting for the weekend that just ended with great emotion: it doesn't happen very often to attend a car show like the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique, this year in its 10th edition in Monte Carlo, and to celebrate the launch of The Outlierman driving gloves in the exclusive boutique of the Automobile Club de Monaco.

Monaco is imprinted on the imagination of all car enthusiasts as long ago as April 14th 1929, when the first edition of the Grand Prix was held. We are talking about the most challenging circuit in the world, a track that hosted the greatest drivers of all time: Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, just to name some of the most successful ones.

I've been waiting for the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique with trepidation, in a growth of emotions that exploded when I understood that the GP Historique would have represented for The Outlierman the beginning of a significant partnership with the Automobile Club de Monaco - owner of the event - which has chosen our driving gloves to renew its offer of accessories for customers of its prestigious boutique in the center of Monaco.

Back to the GP...
Gentlemen, start your engines… and what an engine! This is what so many gentlemen drivers, collectors, nostalgic fans, spectators and ardent supporters of mechanics arrived from all over the world were waiting for. For two and a half days, masterpieces of mechanics with legendary names such as Bugatti, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Lotus have moved and shaken the Principality during a GP organized in 8 races, to evoke 50 years of motor racing. From pre-war F1 cars to the racing cars of the late 70's, here they are speeding on the circuit, today like yesterday... Authentic charm on four wheels!

During the whole weekend I've had the pleasure to appreciate the practice and the races from a lovely terrace in a privileged location: right in front of my eyes, the straight line of the start and the first major turn, where cars arrive at high speed and then hit the brakes before climbing toward the Casino.

A favorable climate encouraged the spectacularity of the event and the skill of the gentlemen on the circuit, which for the occasion took off their tie and braces in order to wear driving suit, helmet and driving gloves to give their best in a show of rare value, accompanied by roars of the past.

Whoever lives and breathes this passion can understand what I felt on Saturday morning when I was woken up not by an ordinary alarm clock, but a symphony of sports exhaust systems of the C category: front-engine sports cars built from 1952 to 1955, including Jaguar C-Type and Aston Martin DB3S (my two favorite of all time).

On Sunday the atmosphere in the paddock in front of Monaco's harbor was delicious, with all the cars lined up, ordered by race session, and their gentlemen drivers and mechanics making the final improvements before the start. There was also time for some pictures and greeting... a true day of celebration as well as competition.

Time flies, better to say it runs and the 2016 edition - in its 10th anniversary - is already history. The future, however, is all about wait: we have to wait until 2018 to relive this magical return to the past in the Principality of engines.

Oh I forgot, do you want to know who won? Well, passion of course. It always wins!