Monaco aan de Maas

Last updated
Monaco aan de Maas
Time2005–2014
Location Rotterdam, Netherlands
Also known asBavaria City Racing
TypeMotorsport demonstration event
Theme Motorsport

Monaco aan de Maas (Monaco at the Maas) was a Formula One demonstration and a parade of international racecars and racing drivers, held on the streets of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In 2006 the event was renamed to Bavaria City Racing, also sometimes referred to as Bavaria City Racing Festival. [1]

Contents

First edition – Monaco aan de Maas 2005

On 7 August 2005, the first edition of Monaco aan de Maas saw top Dutch racing drivers from classes as Formula One, Le Mans and the Paris-Dakar rally, such as Formula One drivers Christijan Albers and Robert Doornbos, who comes from Rotterdam. The Dutch Chinese driver Ho-Pin Tung had to retire after a few minutes due to problems on his car.

In the centre of Rotterdam, the track found its way along the Mariniersweg, the Blaak, the Coolsingel and the Hofplein. Though it was not possible to have a real race, it was a great opportunity to show the cars to the public.

Access to the event was mainly free. Only for the stands at the Coolsingel, and entrance to the paddock and the VIP-village, a fee was required.

The first edition was a big success. While the founders of the event, Robert Heilbron and Herman Vaanholt, expected 300,000 visitors, half a million race fans found their way to this unique event.

Second edition – Bavaria City Racing 2006

In 2006 500.000 visitors again found their way to the event on 20 August. For the second edition, the event has gotten a name change because of a new sponsor; the evenement is now called Bavaria City Racing. The track has also been changed: the Willemsbrug across the river Maas is now also added to the course. The piers of the bridge at the Noordereiland-side will be the start/finish. Via the Verlengde Willemsbrug, the Blaak and Coolsingel, the 2 kilometer long track will lead to Hofplein and back.

The event was once more mainly free to access. The stands this year are found at the Verlengde Willemsbrug. On the Willemsbrug and a small part before city hall on the Coolsingel, will be VIP stands.

Formula One driver Christijan Albers returned this year, and showed off his Midland Formula One car with his teammate Tiago Monteiro. Williams F1 also attended the event with their driver Nico Rosberg. A1 Grand Prix was there with former Formula One drivers Jos Verstappen in the A1GP Team The Netherlands car and Jan Lammers in the black multi-flagged A1GP World Cup of Motorsports car. Besides Formula One and A1 Grand Prix, there were also shows from Formula Three, Formula Renault, a parade of Historic Grand Prix race cars and demos from the Nuna 3 and Formula Zero. Dutch Formula 1 reporter Olav Mol and pitreporter Jack Plooij provided commentary for the public.

The pre-show once again featured the Drive for Kids, with Christijan Albers, Ho-Pin Tung and Nicky Pastorelli. In this parade the seats next to the drivers were sold, all proceeds went to KidsRights.

Dutch Formula One driver Robert Doornbos did not attend this year's event.

Third edition – Bavaria City Racing 2007

On 19 August 2007, the third edition of the event took place, attracting more than 500,000 people. For the first time since its organization, the weather stayed clear and without rain. The track remained the same as in 2006, but because of changing city plans the next event will have a different parcours.

The ING Renault F1 Team participated and brought their drivers Nelson Piquet Jr. and Heikki Kovalainen, while Minardi Team USA driver Robert Doornbos drove the old Lola ChampCar-chassis with 2007 Minardi Team USA livery. The charity ride Drive for Kids also returned in 2007, once more with all proceeds for KidsRights.

New in 2007 was the RaceSalon, an interactive exhibition which was organised on the two days preceding Bavaria City Racing. This exhibition took place in Rotterdam Ahoy on 17 and 18 August.

Related Research Articles

Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following of fans. In 2001, to save the team from folding, Minardi sold it to Australian businessman Paul Stoddart, who ran the team for five years before selling it on to Red Bull GmbH in 2005 who renamed it Scuderia Toro Rosso. Initially called "M" then a number, from 2001, all of Minardi chassis were called "PS", the PS being the initials of team owner, Paul Stoddart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Klien</span> Austrian racing driver (born 1983)

Christian Klien is an Austrian racing driver currently competing in GT World Challenge Europe for JP Motorsport. He previously competed in Formula One, scoring 14 points in during his career in the sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midland F1 Racing</span> Former Russian Formula One constructor

Midland F1 Racing was a Formula One constructor and racing team which competed in the 2006 Formula One season with drivers Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro. The team was created by the renaming of Jordan Grand Prix after its purchase by Canadian businessman, and owner of the Midland Group, Alex Shnaider. The team was licensed as the first Russian Formula One team, although it continued to be based in the United Kingdom, at Jordan's Silverstone factory. Towards the end of the 2006 season, the team was sold to Spyker Cars N.V.; the team raced in its last three Grands Prix under the official name Spyker MF1 Racing. In 2007, the team competed as Spyker F1, and in 2008 was sold to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and was renamed Force India F1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 Formula One World Championship</span> 59th season of FIA Formula One motor racing

The 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 59th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 56th FIA Formula One World Championship, contested over a then-record 19 Grands Prix. It commenced on 6 March 2005 and ended 16 October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicolas Kiesa</span> Danish racing driver (born 1978)

Nicolas Kiesa is a Danish racing driver of Italian descent. He participated in five Formula One Grands Prix in the 2003 season, scoring no championship points, but finishing every race.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christijan Albers</span> Dutch racing driver (born 1979)

Christijan Albers is a Dutch former professional racing driver. After success in the DTM he drove in Formula One from 2005 until the 2007 British Grand Prix, shortly after which he was dropped by the Spyker F1 team. In 2008, he returned to the DTM series as a driver for the Audi Futurecom TME team. Albers acted as Team Principal and CEO of the Caterham F1 Team from July to September 2014 after it was acquired by new team owners. His estimated net-worth is $50 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Friesacher</span> Austrian racing driver (born 1980)

Patrick Friesacher is an Austrian racing driver. He is the longest-serving Red Bull driver, and also drove for the Minardi Formula One team during the first half of the 2005 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 Australian Grand Prix</span> Motor car race

The 2005 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on 6 March 2005. It was the first round of the 2005 Formula One season. The 58-lap race was won by Renault driver Giancarlo Fisichella after he started from pole position. Rubens Barrichello finished second for the Ferrari team and Fisichella's team-mate Fernando Alonso came in third.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 Monaco Grand Prix</span> Motor car race

The 2005 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 22 May 2005 at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was the sixth race of the 2005 Formula One World Championship, and the 63rd running of the Monaco Grand Prix.

A1 Team Netherlands was the Dutch team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.

<i>Formula One 05</i> 2005 video game

Formula One 05 is a racing video game developed by Studio Liverpool and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for PlayStation 2. It is a sequel to the 2004 video game Formula One 04 and was based on the 2005 Formula One World Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Doornbos</span> Dutch racing driver (born 1981

Robert Michael Doornbos is a Dutch former racing driver who also competed with a Monégasque licence. He has been test and third driver for the Jordan and Red Bull Racing Formula One teams, as well as driving for Minardi and Red Bull Racing in 2005 and 2006. Doornbos then drove for Minardi Team USA in the 2007 and final season of the Champ Car World Series. He competed in the Superleague Formula racing series in 2008, and drove for the Netherlands team in A1 Grand Prix's 2008–2009 season. In 2009, Doornbos competed in the IndyCar Series. He began the season with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, but switched to HVM Racing after the race in Kentucky Speedway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 Hungarian Grand Prix</span> Motor car race

The 2005 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One race, held on 31 July 2005 in the Hungaroring circuit at 14:00 CEST (UTC+2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 Chinese Grand Prix</span> Grand Prix race

The 2005 Chinese Grand Prix was the nineteenth and final Formula One motor race of the 2005 Formula One season which took place on 16 October 2005 at the Shanghai International Circuit. This was the second Chinese Grand Prix to be held since the event's 2004 inception.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HVM Racing</span> Auto racing team

HVM Racing was an auto racing team owned by Keith Wiggins that competed in the IndyCar Series. It competed in the Champ Car World Series in 2007 as Minardi Team USA when it was co-owned by Paul Stoddart. It has a long history of changes of ownership, including a previous incarnation as CTE-HVM Racing, co-owned by actor/comedian Cedric the Entertainer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Chinese Grand Prix</span> Motor car race

The 2006 Chinese Grand Prix was the sixteenth race of the 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship. It was held on 1 October 2006 at Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai. The race was won by Michael Schumacher, driving a Ferrari, and would turn out to be the 91st and last victory of his Formula One career. It was also his last podium finish until the 2012 European Grand Prix, during his comeback to the sport, and the last win for a German driver until Sebastian Vettel won the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.

The 2009–10 A1 Grand Prix season would have been the fifth and last season of the A1 Grand Prix series. However, due to the series' financial insolvency, none of the originally scheduled races actually took place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minardi PS05</span> Formula One racing car

The Minardi PS05 is a Formula One racing car used by Minardi F1 Team during the 2005 season. It failed to be much of an improvement over its predecessor, as the team finished last in the standings for the third consecutive season. The car was launched on 15 April 2005 at Mugello in Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rotterdam Centrum</span> Place in Netherlands

Rotterdam Centrum is a borough of Rotterdam. It was established on March 3, 2010. The center has 33,983 inhabitants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Formula One drivers from the Netherlands</span> List of Formula One drivers from the Netherlands

There have been seventeen Formula One racing drivers from the Netherlands who have taken part in Grand Prix races since 1952. Max Verstappen is the most successful Dutch driver to date, as the only one to have won a Formula One World Championship, to have won a race, or to have taken a pole position.

References

  1. "Monaco aan de Maas: het stratencircuit van Rotterdam lijkt terug". www.vvdrotterdam.nl. Retrieved 2024-05-02.