Shepherd's long road to Monza victory
From 24th on the grid, Mac Shepherd brought the Eagle T1G through 68 fierce laps at Autodromo Nazionale Monza to win THR's annual Anniversary Special Event. Duderei made it an Eagle one-two, while pitman and the Lotus 49 completed a podium fashioned in a race of changing leaders and close, sustained contests.
An Anniversary race worthy of the occasion
THR marks its founding day each year with an Anniversary Special Event, and the 68 Laps at Monza was conducted in precisely that independent spirit: a special occasion rather than a championship round, with no points table awaiting the survivors. Twenty-two starters assembled for a 393.9 km contest at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, and they brought a properly varied Grand Prix field with Eagle T1Gs, Lotus 49s, Ferrari 312s, Honda RA300s and McLaren M5As all represented.
It was a fitting place for a long-distance confrontation. Monza opened in 1922, while the road course employed here was revised in 1955 to 5.75 kilometres, its altered straights and the newly created Parabolica giving the circuit its particular post-war character. In the Royal Park, the long straights, broad sweep of Curva Grande, Lesmo, Vialone and the accelerating Parabolica demand both speed and resolution. Over 68 laps, at a winning average of 236.0 km/h, the old road circuit gave the field ample room to form, fracture and reform its rivalries.
A winner from the depths
Mac Shepherd's victory was the central achievement of the evening. Starting 24th, he had already climbed to ninth by the end of the opening lap, an advance which transformed the complexion of his race before the leaders had settled into their rhythm. After two laps he was still listed ninth, but there was no suggestion that the Eagle T1G had finished its advance.
The lead itself changed hands four times in five laps. Nat Stevenson headed Duderei at the conclusion of lap 13, only for Duderei to move ahead on lap 14. Shepherd took command on lap 15, Duderei reclaimed it immediately on lap 16, and then, by the end of lap 17, Shepherd was once again in front. This final change proved decisive. Shepherd completed all 68 laps and carried the Eagle home to a celebrated win, adding the fastest lap of the race, 1:27.095, to a performance of remarkable scope.
There was admirable restraint amid the pace. Shepherd was credited with only one recorded incident, as was Duderei, and the pair occupied the first two places at the finish. Duderei's Eagle T1G remained the nearest challenger throughout the decisive phase, while pitman stayed deeply involved in the leading argument in the Lotus 49 before securing third place. Shepherd's rise from 24th to first was the defining journey of this Anniversary event, and the first recorded Special Event victory of its kind for him in the archive.
The battle behind the winner
If Shepherd's ascent supplied the grand narrative, the struggle for the remaining podium place gave the late race its edge. Pitman and Nat Stevenson ran within two seconds of one another for as many as 12 consecutive laps, and their order altered at the ends of laps 45, 62 and 63. At their closest, only 0.097 seconds divided them. Pitman prevailed for third in the Lotus, Stevenson taking fourth in another Eagle, both on the full distance.
The Eagle was especially well served in the final classification. Nik Likar finished fifth, followed by Andi Stangl in sixth, ensuring that four Eagle T1Gs occupied places in the first six. Joni Lindholm led the next Lotus 49 home in seventh, with margar17 eighth. Technoluddite, in an Eagle, was ninth after 67 laps, and Simo Dalby placed the leading Ferrari 312 in tenth, also one lap down.
A particularly durable closing group embraced Stangl, Lindholm and margar17. From lap 58 through to the end, those three remained covered by less than five seconds, Stangl ultimately heading the pair. It was the sort of compact contest that Monza's long, fast laps can preserve for mile after mile, even as the classification becomes increasingly settled.
Battles throughout a changing field
The middle order had been no less animated. Early in the race, several close groups existed at once between laps 3 and 13, and the pack involving Stefan Roess, margar17, Vesa Tolonen, Dalby and Stavros Koudounas evolved repeatedly. Roess and Dalby exchanged their relative positions at the ends of laps 13, 18, 19 and 23, at one point separated by only 0.136 seconds. Their contest was one thread in a field that remained lively well beyond the leading quartet.
Tolonen's Lotus 49 and klopstick's Ferrari 312 were another closely matched pair. Their order changed on laps 8, 11, 39 and 45, with the smallest margin between them a mere 0.013 seconds. Tolonen finished 11th and klopstick 13th, with Koudounas's Lotus between them in 12th. Willian took 14th in a Ferrari, while Valentin Knechtel brought the Honda RA300 to 15th after 65 laps. Natan Veksler's McLaren M5A completed 64 laps for 16th.
Further back, Dalby had earlier contested close running with Phil Noobson, their order shifting at the ends of laps 4, 11, 27, 30 and 31. Noobson and Franglais also traded places in the opening portion of the race. Dalby endured to tenth, whereas Franglais was classified 18th after 43 laps and Noobson 20th after 31. Greg Marrow's Ferrari was 17th after 48 laps, Stefan Roess 19th after 34, Rusty Shackleford's McLaren 21st after 14, and AJaeger's Lotus 22nd after three laps.
At the flag, the result had both symmetry and surprise: an Eagle T1G one-two, a Lotus 49 on the final podium step, and Mac Shepherd standing above them all after beginning from the far reaches of the grid. In the long tradition of THR's founding-day gathering, Autodromo Nazionale Monza had supplied a special event with a winner's drive equal to its historic setting.