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Month: August 2020

Felipe Massa announces split from Venturi Racing

by: Stephanie Horsman
18/08/2020

Brazilian driver Felipe Massa has revealed that he will no longer be racing for Monegasque E-Grand Prix team Venturi Racing, in a move that surprised many.
The Formula E driver made the announcement just minutes after the final race of the season in Berlin. The official word was sent out by Venturi before the winner of the race, Mercedes’ Stoffel Vandoorne, even had a chance to mount the podium to accept his win.
39-year-old Massa leaves the team a full year before the end of his three-year contract, finishing 16th in his last race and 22nd overall for the season.
“Leaving a team is never an easy decision to make,” Massa told motorsport.com. “We’ve made some good memories together and it’s given me the opportunity to learn something completely different from what I’m used to, so first of all I want to thank [Venturi president] Gildo [Pastor] and [team principal] Susie [Wolff] for their faith in me.
“It’s been an honour to be part of the only motorsport team from the Principality and representing them on the podium at the Monaco E-Prix was a definite highlight for me. The past two seasons have been a big learning curve for us all and unfortunately, for various reasons, we haven’t quite achieved what we hoped.”
“Despite that, it’s been a lot of fun and I wish the team nothing but the very best of luck for the future. I look forward to announcing my future plans in due course.”
 
Photo by Venturi Racing
 

Two more re-openings at Princess Antoinette Parc

by: Stephanie Horsman
18/08/2020

Princess Antoinette Parc has re-opened both the multi-sport compound as well as the mini-golf course just in time for the last days of summer holidays.

The park has officially been open since 10th June, however some sections remained closed.

Now, the council has reopened the multi-sport grounds and the mini-golf course to the public, with a few health conscious twists in light of the epidemic and accompanying safety regulations.

The multi-sport grounds are free to use for the public. They are being cleaned daily using a high-pressure jet for extra precautions.

The 18 hole mini-golf course now allows players to play only with a 15 minute delay between groups. The clubs and balls are disinfected after each use and masks are compulsory. The number of players per “set” is limited to six.

The course is open from 10am to 7pm, Tuesdays to Sundays and the cost of play is €5, which must be paid in cash as cards are not accepted.

The playground equipment is disinfected daily, which has been accessible since earlier this summer, though parents are asked to use hydroalcoholic gel on children’s hands before and after use for an additional layer of protection.

The play park is suitable for children up to nine years of age.

Unfortunately, the birthday room is still closed until further notice. 

 
Photo by Mairie de Monaco
 
 
 

ASM gears up for first Ligue 1 match of season

by: Stephanie Horsman
18/08/2020

After a 2-0 pre-season win against AZ Alkmaar on Saturday, AS Monaco are getting ready for their first official Ligue 1 match of the season against Reims this coming weekend.

AS Monaco are going head to head against Reims this Sunday at home at Louis II Stadium for the much-anticipated return to regular season football action after the abrupt end to last year’s games due to the coronavirus epidemic.

The team, under new head coach Niko Kovak, has been playing a 4-3-3 line up that they are finding more and more success with, giving hope that this will be an amazing year for the Red and Whites.

Their recent success in their last pre-season game against AZ Alkmaar has given the team a shot of confidence both in their abilities as a team and for their new coach. Aleksandr Golovin and Wissam Ben Yedder scored in the 20th minute and 74th respectively and the team were effective in defending, keeping their opponents at bay.

Reims was in 6th place when last season came to a halt, and Monaco was in 9th, giving the Red and Whites reason to keep focused and show them what they are made of after this long pause.

The match kicks off on 23nd August at 1pm.  For tickets and more info, visit the team’s official website at www.asmonaco.com

 
 

Photo by AS Monaco

 
 

Ugandan breaks world record in Monaco

by: Stephanie Horsman
17/08/2020

Ugandan runner Joshua Cheptegei has smashed the 5000-metre world record by nearly two seconds at the Diamond League Games in Monaco.

The Diamond League Games on Friday produced a new world record when Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei beat a 16-year-old record set by Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele back in 2004 in the Netherlands.

The old record of 12:37.35 was laid to rest with Cheptegei’s amazing race time of 12:35.36

Roughly 5,000 fans were on hand to see the event live and millions more were able to watch from home as the Ugandan crossed the line to set the new record.

Cheptegei is also currently the world champion for the 10,000 metre, which he earned in Doha in 2019, and world record holder for both 5km and 10km road races. The 5km record was set in Monaco in February and was the last race the runner had done before the health crisis stopped all meets.

In an interview with Reuters after the Monaco meet, the champ said: “It took a lot of mind setting to keep being motivated this year because so many people are staying at home, but you have to stay motivated. I pushed myself, I had the right staff with me, the right coach. I’m also usually based in Europe but being based in Uganda with my family was actually great. I will for sure celebrate the world record when I get home.”

All the athletes were raring to go and showed great form, despite the long months of lockdown, making for a great night all-around.

The 5,000 metre women’s race was won by world champion Hellen Obiri and the 1,500 metre men’s saw Timothy Cheruiyot take the top spot. Just behind him was Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen who set a European record time of 3:28.68.

The 200-metre sprint was a family double act with brothers Noah and Josephus Lyles coming in first and second respectively.

Beating a 28-year-old record, Karsten Warholm won the 400 metre hurdles and Kenyan Faith Kipyegon ran the second-fastest ever 1000 metre with a time of 2:29.15.

 
 

Leclerc suffers engine failure at Spanish Grand Prix

by: Stephanie Horsman
17/08/2020

In a disastrous turn of events, Charles Leclerc’s engine simply “switched off” during the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona over the weekend, forcing the Monegasque to retire from the race.
Team Ferrari suffered a major setback as Charles Leclerc’s car, whilst battling for position midway into the race, lost power and was unable to move on the exit of a corner. He was ultimately able to get the car going again and managed to make it to the pits before calling it quits for the day.
The pilot was clearly disappointed but remained optimistic despite the bad day, saying on his Instagram account: “Top 5 was on the cards today. Unfortunately, the car switched off in the last chicane. We’ll investigate where the issue came from. Positive race otherwise but still far from where we want to be. Onto the next race.”
Leclerc told Sky Sports after the race that prior to the engine’s failure and despite the hot conditions, he was feeling quite confident of a solid finish, but fate intervened.
“There were two issues. The first is that the engine switched off, then I tried to switch it on again.
“When I saw it wasn’t going, when I saw it wasn’t starting again, I took off my seatbelt. Then I had to box again for the seatbelt but unfortunately the race was already over before that, when the engine switched off. It is a shame, but we will work to understand what went wrong.”
The race was won by Lewis Hamilton who is virtually unstoppable this season. His lead was a massive 24 seconds and the British pilot dominated from start to finish. Last week’s winner, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, came in at the number two spot and Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, took third.
 
 

Video celebrating life under the Big Top

by: Stephanie Horsman
17/08/2020

As part of the 20th anniversary celebrations for the Grimaldi Forum, a series retrospectives are being made available to the public. The latest, Circus Days, from 2002 is the third in the series giving circus lovers a glimpse at circus art and memorabilia from around the world.
Circus Days, a video from the September 2002 Grimaldi Forum exhibition of the same name, is animated by hundreds of characters, posters, parade floats, costumes and accessories, and even a 12-metre model, bringing the behind-the-scenes history of the circus to life for all ages.
Since circuses hit the scene in the 18th century, they have been places of wonder. Even as adults, many fondly recall the special family outings to the circus, a rite of passage into a secret world of clowns, acrobats and animal tamers.
Artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso, Cocteau, Manet, and Chagall have memorialised the circus in their works, and “circus art” is a hugely popular genre, nearly on par with still-life, portrait and landscape. Photographers have been no less fascinated, and hundreds of photos were collected to decorate the original exhibit.
The video traces the route of the original expo featuring the extraordinary collection gathered by Geev Gourarier, curator of the exhibition. In addition to photos, posters and art, there were original horse drawn carriages, which also doubled as shelter for the artists, and were typically paraded through towns to announce the arrival of the spectacles.
To watch the video, visit grimaldiforum.com or click on the following link: https://tv.grimaldiforum.com/embed-440