Formula 1

Alonso starts Legends Triple Crown bid with Monaco win

by Matt Beer
2 min read

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Fernando Alonso made a dominant start to his bid for the Legends Trophy’s ROKiT Triple Crown by winning the Monaco opener, before a bruising run to third in a reversed-grid race won by Andy Priaulx.

After taking a commanding pole position for race one, 2006/07 real-world Monaco Grand Prix winner Alonso was briefly headed at the start when fourth-place qualifier Helio Castroneves cut across the pit exit at Sainte Devote and took the lead.

Alonso swiftly resolved that injustice by helping Castroneves into the barriers on the approach to Mirabeau, and then stormed away to win his fifth consecutive Legends Trophy race.

Fellow Monaco GP winner Montoya – who triumphed there in Formula 1 in 2003 – got ahead of Jan Magnussen for second with a dive-bomb move into the chicane on lap three. The pair banged wheels a few times before Juan Pablo Montoya set off in a vain chase of Alonso. Magnussen held third to the finish.

While the top three all had Monaco F1 experience, the street circuit was also a slightly familiar venue for 2003 World Rally champion Petter Solberg in fourth. Not only a former Monaco resident, he also competed on the WRC stage that used part of the Monaco F1 layout in the late 2000s.

Solberg secured fourth in race one by passing Castroneves, and then looked a likely winner of race two as he pressured leader Priaulx only to appear to disconnect and retire.

Andy Priaulx Legends Trophy Monaco

Priaulx had taken to the pit exit at Sainte Devote to sneak past fellow touring car heroes Steve Soper and Jason Plato and grab the lead on lap one, before massive accidents erupted behind them.

Alonso was among those who came off worst and was briefly upside down.

A tangle between Plato and Soper at the chicane helped Priaulx escape and he dominated the race once Solberg had disappeared.

Montoya picked his way through to a clear second place, but all eyes were soon on Alonso as he grappled up the order in a damaged car.

He started the final lap on Castroneves’ tail for third, before having his second collision with the Indianapolis 500 legend of the evening at the chicane and taking the place.

Castroneves got going again to take fourth ahead of Michel Jourdain Jr and Tonio Liuzzi.

Plato and Soper ended up seventh and 10th, sandwiching David Brabham and Magnussen – with Magnussen having briefly been on top of Alonso during the first corner mayhem.

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