1931 Monaco Grand Prix

Monte Carlo

The 1931 Monaco Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at the Circuit de Monaco on 19 April 1931.

With 16 Bugattis 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, the Italian Achille Varzi and the French Albert Divo and Guy Bouriat. The real challenge came from the Maserati 8C 2500's driven by René Dreyfus, the Italian Luigi Fagioli and Clemente Bondietti. Rudolf Caracciola 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 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.

Louis Chiron's victory at Monaco would be the last for a Monegasque for 93 years until Charles Leclerc won the 81st edition of the event.

Classification

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	1	2	3	4	5	6	Ret	7	8	9	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNS	DNS	DNA	DNA	DNA
22	MCO **Louis Chiron**	**Bugatti T51**	100	3:39:09.2	11
52	ITA **Luigi Fagioli**	**Maserati 26M**	100	+3:55.4	14
26	ITA **Achille Varzi**	**Bugatti T51**	100	+4:04.0	10
20	FRA **Guy Bouriat**	**Bugatti T51**	98	+2 laps	20
46	ITA **Goffredo Zehender**	**Alfa Romeo 6C-1750 GS**	97	+3 laps	13
38	FRA **André Boillot**	**Peugeot 174S**	96	+4 laps	8
50	FRA **René Dreyfus**	**Maserati 26M**	91	Magneto	1
48	ITA **Clemente Biondetti**	**Maserati 26M**	91	+9 laps	9
12	GBR **Clifton Penn-Hughes**	**Bugatti T35**	89	+11 laps	15
30	POL **Stanislas Czaykowski**	**Bugatti T35B**	85	+15 laps	21
24	FRA **Albert Divo**	**Bugatti T51**	66	Engine	6
10	GBR **Earl Howe**	**Bugatti T51**	62	Oil pipe/engine	17
56	CHE **Hans Stuber**	**Bugatti T35C**	59	Drive shaft	2
16	DEU **Bernhard Ackerl**	**Bugatti T37A**	55	Transmission	3
8	DEU **Rudolf Caracciola**	**Mercedes-Benz SSKL**	53	Clutch/engine	5
18	CHL **Juan Zanelli**	**Bugatti T35B**	47	Piston	19
4	DEU **Hermann zu Leiningen**	**Bugatti T35C**	31	Gearbox	22
6	DEU **Heinrich-Joachim von Morgen**	**Bugatti T35B**	28	Transmission	12
2	DEU **Ernst-Günther Burggaller**	**Bugatti T35B**	26	Engine	18
32	FRA **Marcel Lehoux**	**Bugatti T35B**	15	Transmission	7
54	CHE **Carlo Pedrazzini**	**Maserati 26B**	13	Ignition	23
28	FRA **Philippe Étancelin**	**Bugatti T35C**	6	Piston	16
34	GBR **William Grover-Williams**	**Bugatti T35C**	5	Valve	4
14	GBR **Henry Birkin**	**Maserati 26M**
36	RUS **Boris Ivanowski**	**Mercedes-Benz SSK**
40	ITA **Luigi Arcangeli**	**Alfa Romeo 6C-1750**
42	ITA **Baconin Borzacchini**	**Alfa Romeo 6C-1750**
44	ITA **Tazio Nuvolari**	**Alfa Romeo 8C-2300**
Sources: