1994 F1RGP2C Italian Grand Prix
The 1994 F1RGP2C Italian Grand Prix was the twelfth round of the 1994 F1RGP2C season. Rory McAllister took an emotional win on Ferrari's home turf.
Race Report
Qualifying
John Zimmer took pole position, snapping Williams' ten-race pole streak, by a margin of 0.080 seconds. Daniel Moreno lined up in third and Rory McAllister qualified fourth. The two Saubers of James Davies and Pablo da Silva qualified eighth and tenth, respectively. Giovanni Roda and Ben Fleet again failed to qualify for Pacific.
Race
Zimmer fell to second off the line as Daniel Moreno swept past the Benetton into the lead with the two Ferraris and Jack Christopherson following closely behind. Both McAllister and Padraig O'Connell brushed past Christopherson and immediately went after Zimmer. Zimmer retook the lead on Lap 6 while Christopherson languished in fifth. Both Larrousses had made it up to eleventh and thirteenth and proceeded to hold up the entire midfield. Kazuhiko Takagi's engine blew up on Lap 4 and Leonhard von Gottorp pulled off with a loose wheel. Moreno continued to fall through the field and was passed by both Ferraris before Lap 10. Poppy Whitechapel was the next retirement when her Yamaha engine exploded on Lap 12. O'Connell pitted on Lap 19 and Zimmer pitted on Lap 20, handing the lead to Rory McAllister. McAllister stayed out for a lap before pitting on Lap 23. The lead that McAllister had built up put him right behind Zimmer and he passed the Benetton two laps later with a good move at the first chicane. The battle for the lead was decided and McAllister would cruise home to a euphoric win on Ferrari's home soil.
Zimmer kept things close for a bit but McAllister was well and truly gone. Surprisingly, there were few retirements in the race; only seven cars retired, all with mechanical trouble. Éadbhard Ó'Caoimhín became the second Jordan to retire on Lap 26. Pablo da Silva failed to finish after a transmission problem on Lap 29. Pieter Kickert finished a disappointing double-DNF for Tyrrell after he picked up a left-front puncture with ten laps to go that knocked him off the track and into the gravel. In the end, McAllister held on to win by six second over Zimmer. O'Connell finished in a confident third , capping a brilliant day for Ferrari. McAllister ran out of fuel before he got back to the pits but O'Connell picked up his teammate and carried the jubilant McAllister back to the pit lane as raucous cheers serenaded them to the podium. Zimmer's failure to hold the lead cost him four points in the championship as Christopherson could only manage fourth. Moreno finished fifth, well ahead of Douglas Mann who picked up the last point for McLaren.
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Formula 1 Rejects Grand Prix 2 Championship 1994 Season |
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Italian Grand Prix | Next race: 1995 Italian Grand Prix |