The 1931 Monaco Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at the

Circuit de Monaco Circuit de Monaco is a street circuit laid out on the city streets of Monte Carlo and La Condamine around the harbour of the Principality of Monaco. It is commonly, and even officially, referred to as "Monte Carlo" because it is largely inside ...

on 19 April 1931. With 16

Bugatti Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French manufacturer of high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the Italian-born industrial designer Ettore Bugatti. The cars w ...

s in a field of 23 cars, the event was close to being a single-make race. Among the 16 were four factory-team Type 51s driven by the Monegasque

Louis Chiron Louis Alexandre Chiron (3 August 1899 – 22 June 1979) was a Monégasque racing driver who competed in rallies, sports car races, and Grands Prix. Among the greatest drivers between the two World Wars, his career embraced over thirty years, ...

, the Italian

Achille Varzi Achille Varzi (8 August 1904 – 1 July 1948) was an Italian Grand Prix driver. Career Born in Galliate, province of Novara (Piedmont), Achille Varzi was the son of a textile manufacturer. As a young man, he was a successful motorcycle ra ...

and the French

Albert Divo Albert Divo (24 January 1895, in Paris – 19 September 1966, in Morsang-sur-Orge, Essonne, France) was a Grand Prix motor racing driver. He was born in Paris, France. In 1922, Divo competed in the International Tourist Trophy endurance race on ...

and Guy Bouriat. The real challenge came from the

Maserati 8C The Maserati 8C was a Grand Prix race car built by Maserati between 1931 and 1933. The 8C was being designed by Alfieri Maserati in the early 1930s; however, he died before its completion. The chassis was that of the Tipo 26M, and it was init ...

2500's driven by

René Dreyfus René Dreyfus (6 May 1905 – 16 August 1993) was a French driver who raced automobiles for 14 years in the 1920s and 1930s, the Golden Era of Grand Prix motor racing. Early life Dreyfus was born and raised in Nice to a Jewish family. He show ...

, the Italian

Luigi Fagioli Luigi Cristiano Fagioli (; 9 June 1898 – 20 June 1952), nicknamed "the Abruzzi robber", was an Italian motor racing driver. Having won his last race at 53 years old, Fagioli holds the record for the oldest Formula One driver to win a race, and ...

and Clemente Bondietti.

Rudolf Caracciola Otto Wilhelm Rudolf CaracciolaBolsinger and Becker (2002), p. 63 (30 January 1901 – 28 September 1959) was a racing driver from Remagen, Germany. He won the European Drivers' Championship, the pre-1950 equivalent of the modern Formula One Wor ...

with his huge Mercedes SSKL (Super Sport Short Light-Weight) was uncompetitive as his larger car performed poorly around the tight Monaco track. The race was between the blue cars from Molsheim and the red ones from Modena. When the start flag dropped it was Rene Dreyfus in his red Maserati who led into St. Devote, only to be passed by 'Williams' on the hill to the Casino, but his lead was short-lived as the Brit was sidelined by a broken valve spring, and his race was over. Achille Varzi and Caracciola started closing on Dreyfus and Varzi managed to overtake the Frenchman on the 7th lap. Caracciola struggled with a slipping clutch that gave in on lap 53. Starting slowly, Louis Chiron eventually displayed his talents; gaining back ground with a new lap record time. He caught up with all his opponents and left them behind. Chiron, a native of Monaco, finished the race some 5 minutes ahead of Luigi Fagioli.

Jean Bugatti Jean Bugatti (15 January 1909 – 11 August 1939) was an automotive designer and test engineer for Bugatti. He was the son of Bugatti's founder Ettore Bugatti. Biography Born Gianoberto Maria Carlo Bugatti in Cologne, he was the eldest son o ...

could not control his joy and jumped over the parapet of the bleachers and fell into Louis Chiron's arms. For the Monegasque, this Monaco Grand Prix victory really confirmed his reputation.

Entries

Starting grid

Note: grid slots were determined by drawing lots (

Birkin Birkin is a village and civil parish in the south-west of the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. It is north of the River Aire, near Beal, North Yorkshire. The closest town is Knottingley, in West Yorkshire, to the south-west. The ...

and Ivanowski had provisionally been due to start on the first and seventh row, respectively).

Classification

After the start of the 1931 Monaco Grand Prix

Louis Chiron winning the 1931 Monaco Grand Prix

Race

References

External links

{{Monaco Grand Prix

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

Monaco Grand Prix

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...