Flashor Takes Monza by Six Hundredths
Flashor opened the Maserati 250F Championship with a victory of uncommon narrowness at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Florian Masse falling short by 0.063 seconds after 34 laps. Adam Celárek completed a closely contested podium, only 0.051 seconds behind the Frenchman.
A fast circuit, a close contest
Autodromo Nazionale Monza, its long straights and sweeping corners set among the Royal Park, gave the Maserati 250F 6 cylinder field precisely the sort of arena in which no advantage could be regarded as secure. The opening Championship race of six developed not into a procession but into a continually changing argument at the head of the field.
Flashor ultimately won it, and did so with the fastest lap, a 1:45.876. Yet the bare result gives too little sense of the afternoon. Eighteen changes of lead were recorded across the 34 laps, while the leading contenders repeatedly exchanged places in the high-speed rhythm from Curva Grande through the Lesmo bends and back towards Parabolica.
Celárek and Flashor exchange the advantage
The early struggle was principally between Flashor and Celárek. The Czech driver moved ahead by the end of lap three after Flashor lost the lead on a lap which also included an incident at Curva Parabolica. Flashor reclaimed the advantage on the following lap, but the matter was far from settled.
For much of the race the pair remained close, and their order continued to alter. Celárek was again ahead before half-distance, only for Flashor to regain the place; the same pattern recurred later as neither driver was able to establish a comfortable command. FMG was never far from the dispute either, taking the lead on several occasions and ensuring that the front of the race was a three-way affair well into its middle stages.
There was a larger measure of disturbance behind them. Andreas Roggel, having slipped as low as tenth after lap 17, worked his way back through the field to reach the flag fifth. It was a useful recovery in a race whose leading group left little room for a driver to regain lost ground.
Masse joins the reckoning
From lap 20 the complexion altered once more. Masse joined Flashor, FMG and Celárek in a four-car group which remained covered by less than five seconds for the remaining 15 laps. The Frenchman was increasingly prominent in the final phase, staying in immediate reach of Flashor while Celárek and FMG continued their own contest for the remaining podium place.
The contest therefore arrived at its conclusion with four Maseratis still closely connected, but with Masse and Flashor carrying the principal burden. Flashor had led often, been headed often, and had to retain sufficient order through the final run to deny a challenger who remained close until the chequered flag. Masse was second after completing the full 34 laps, a mere 0.063 seconds behind.
Celárek, whose duel with Flashor had given the early race its character, came home third. His margin to Masse was only 0.051 seconds. FMG finished fourth, less than five seconds covered the leading quartet during their sustained late-race contest, and Roggel completed the leading five.
An opener without a settled order
The result supplies Flashor with the first victory of the Championship and an early place at its head, but it offers little warrant for certainty about the races to come. Masse's final challenge was decisive evidence of his pace, Celárek had repeatedly demonstrated an ability to take command, and FMG was a persistent factor in the exchanges for the lead.
For Flashor, the important achievement was not merely speed - though his fastest lap confirmed it - but the preservation of the lead when the race had become most crowded and most exacting. At a circuit which rewarded momentum and punished the smallest loss of it, six hundredths of a second separated victory from defeat.
The opening round has thus given the Maserati 250F Championship a victor, but not yet a hierarchy. At Autodromo Nazionale Monza, the first judgement was postponed almost to the final inch of road.