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Month: May 2021

Roca team's wild night in Le Mans

by: Stephanie Horsman
21/05/2021

It was an eventful evening in Le Mans as Roca Team Coach Zvezdan Mitrovic was sent off before the end of the first quarter with two technical fouls in a row, giving the opponents a whopping five free throws in a row for his sins, but even this couldn’t stop AS Monaco from coming out on top.

AS Monaco Basketball took on the first of three away games in five days in Le Mans on Thursday night. They were without Mathias Lessort, who is still out with an ankle injury, but despite that, and the early loss of the head coach to temper tantrums, they still were able to seal the deal, winning 86 to 71.

The first quarter was a corker for the Roca boys. They were trailing miserably, and coach lost it not once, but twice, getting him sent off unceremoniously, giving the team from Le Mans five free throws.

But once settled in, Monaco came out swinging and clawed their way back up thanks in part to a tighter defence, two stolen balls and some pretty spectacular work by the team. By halftime, the score was an almost even 49 to 52.

After returning from the locker room, Captain Dee Bost, who was on fire, led the way and within minutes, ASM had the lead. This slipped away momentarily at the 30 minute mark but was quickly reversed and it was fairly smooth sailing from there.

“To concede 52 points at halftime, I don’t think that has happened to us this season, said Assistant Coach Mikro Ocokoljic. “We weren’t as aggressive as usual. We made a lot of mistakes and Le Mans put in a lot of away shots. The good thing is that we were able to come back. Of course, we had the advantage of having more rotations tonight and we managed to put the pressure on them. In the second half, Le Mans scored only 19 points, the face of the meeting was not the same.”

Monaco made 35 shots out of 69, going 12 for 30 in three-point range. They had 27 rebounds, recovered seven stray balls, had 15 assists and an equal number of steals.

Dee Bost was undisputed king of the night with 24 point to his credit, Marcos Knight was no slouch with 18 and Brenden Frazier and Rob Gray both racked up 11 each.

Monaco are still safely in the top of the Jeep Elite standings, but they will go up against Limoges on Saturday night who will no doubt be determined to win after losing to second seeded Limoges Thursday.

 
 
Monaco Life with AS Monaco Basketball press release, photo by AS Monaco Basketball 
 
 

Monaco well positioned as crowds descend

by: Cassandra Tanti
20/05/2021

Monaco is in a strong health position going into the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, with the lowest circulation rate in months and 41% of the population now vaccinated.
Thousands of visitors are set to descend on the Principality for the Formula One Grand Prix, which culminates in the main race on Sunday 23rd May.
While strict entry rules have been put in place by the government, including mandatory PCR tests for anyone coming from outside of the Principality, tension is still understandably high among residents.
But after a number of worrying months at the start of the year, Monaco has managed to bring the circulation of Covid-19 in the Principality well under control, with the latest figures showing an incidence rate of just 36.51. In the month of March, that figure reached as high as 226.
Health authorities are still testing a significant number of people each week. In the seven days to 16th May, 3,509 residents and non-residents took a PCR or antigen test. Of those, only 1.08% returned a positive result.
The low circulation figure positions Monaco well ahead of its biggest weekend of the year since the pandemic began. So does the vaccination rate. As of 18th May, 15,688 people in Monaco had been inoculated with their first shot, equivalent to 40.91% of the population. Of those, 82.71% had also received their second shot.
The positive impact can be seen in the hospital figures, which on Wednesday evening showed that only three people remained hospitalised with Covid-19 in the Princess Grace Hospital Centre – just one of whom is a resident of the Principality.
Only time will tell if the government’s strict rules surrounding the staging of the Monaco Grand Prix will keep the Principality on its positive downward trajectory.
 
 
Photo by Cassandra Tanti for Monaco Life
 
 
 
 

Teams pulling out the stops for Monaco GP

by: Stephanie Horsman
20/05/2021

Several Formula One teams including Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari have created special helmets for this year’s Monaco Grand Prix, and one team, McLaren, has even revealed a whole new look for their cars as well.

To celebrate the legendary Monaco Grand Prix, a whole host of drivers have unveiled specially-designed helmets for the event.

Charles Leclerc is celebrating racing on his home turf with a special tribute helmet to the only Monegasque to have won the Monaco Grand Prix, Louis Chiron, who did so back in 1931 racing for Bugatti.

The design has a blue base with some red and white accents, and Chiron’s signature emblazoned on the top, along with the words “Monaco Grand Prix Winner 1931”.

“The first and so far only Monegasque to win the Monaco GP. Bringing a part of Louis Chiron back on track,” Charles Leclerc wrote on his twitter post.

Photo by Scuderia Ferrari Press Office

William’s Racing is celebrating their 750th Formula One race and, in honour of that, Nicholas Latifi and George Russell will both be wearing helmets to that effect. They are both adhering to their usual blue and white palette, but Latifi has opted to add wreaths signifying each Constructors’ Championship the team has won, whilst Russell includes photos of cars from the team’s past.


 
The biggest make-over comes from McLaren, who not only have changed up their helmets but their cars as well, sporting a retro look using fuel sponsor Gulf Oil’s blue and orange colour scheme. This one-off change represents a return to the Monaco Grand Prix after that cancelled year, as well as marking the renewed partnership between McLaren and Gulf in 2020, which had first been established in the 1960’s. 


Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo will both be sporting helmets using the theme, and even their masks are Gulf orange. The cars are white and feature orange striping up the middle and along the wings with blue touches. Norris’s helmet is light blue with orange striping and has some seriously vintage flair with goggles and a leather strap painted on. Ricciardo went for a papaya coloured base and throwback black numbers on a white circular backdrop.

Top photo by Scuderia Ferrari Press Office

 

 
 

Princess weeps during rhino conservation work in SA

by: Cassandra Tanti
20/05/2021

Princess Charlene’s efforts to support rhino conservation work in South Africa have been revealed through a series of moving photographs by wildlife photographer Christian Sperka.

The photographs have been released publicly on social media and show a visibly upset Princess of Monaco watching on as conservationists remove the horn of a rhinoceros in order to protect it from poachers. Princess Charlene is also captured soothing the animal after it has had its horn removed.

Photograph by Christian Sperka

Shockingly, one rhino is killed for its horn every 22 hours in South Africa. Dehorning is considered the only real way to protect them.

At the start of the 20th Century, 500,000 rhinos roamed the world. By 1970, the worldwide population fell to 70,000. Today, the number of surviving rhinos in the world amounts to only 27,431.

Four of five rhino species are now threatened with extinction, and three of those are critically endangered, meaning they could go extinct in our lifetime.

The reason: poaching figures have hit record highs to meet the demand for horn on the black market.

Photograph by Christian Sperka

Christian Sperka is a wildlife photographer based in South Africa, who has spent the last decade travelling the world photographing animals in wild game reserves.

He is a resident photographer at Thanda Safari, Kwazulu Natal, and has been involved in various conservation projects since 2002, including Panthera, a global organisation focused on the preservation of all wildcat species.

Photograph by Christian Sperka

People can support the International Rhino Foundation, whose mission is to ensure the survival of rhinos through strategic partnerships, targeted protection, and scientifically sound interventions, by donating to: https://rhinos.org/donate/

The GP and art: ‘Masters of Monaco’

by: Stephanie Horsman
20/05/2021

Alan Walsh is exhibiting a new collection of works at his Monaco gallery featuring 16 Formula One greats, just in time for this weekend’s big event, the Monaco Grand Prix.
British-born Alan Walsh describes his work as “art to brighten the world.” Take one look and there is no doubt this is true. Walsh’s unique style features subjects that make one feel more than think, and the feeling is resolutely on the cheerful side.
His latest offering, called ‘Masters of Monaco’ is a series inspired by the biggest sporting event on Monaco’s calendar, the Formula One Grand Prix, which will be held this year on 23rd May. The wall installation features 16 of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time, namely those who have won the GP two times or more.
Each piece was hand-drawn in black ink, except for Niki Lauda, who was given a red cap in tribute to the former Ferrari Pilot and Mercedes boss who passed away a few years ago.

Artist Alan Walsh

In addition to the smaller pen and ink drawings, Walsh has created and will be creating, in his signature style, large, boldly-coloured paintings of select drivers that are truly awe-inspiring. In the collection will be Senna, Hamilton, Schumacher, Prost, Lauda and many more, all distinctive by the fact that no facial details are present, a style he adopted as a teenager.
“I went on work experience as a 14-year-old lad to a big advertising agency in the UK,” explains the artist. “I was asked to story board some ideas for a TV commercial, when the creative director came back an hour later, I was still drawing the face of the first person. He told me not to bother with the facial details as it was just a concept and to just add hair or show expression through body language. That was it, I’ve never drawn a face since.”
In the run up to the big race, Walsh will “live paint” a different pilot each day, including Monaco’s native son, Charles Leclerc, who is a frequent visitor to the gallery.
To see the unique works in person, visit the Walsh Gallery Monaco on Rue Grimaldi, or go online to www.walshgallerymonaco.com
 
 
 
 
 

AS Monaco fall to the mighty PSG

by: Stephanie Horsman
20/05/2021

AS Monaco have been defeated in the final of the Coupe de France after a nil to two loss against Paris Saint-Germain. 
“We can be proud to have reached this final.”
The words of Coach Niko Kovac ring true, but it was still not the hoped-for outcome for the Red and Whites as they fought against a tough Paris Saint-Germain team on Wednesday night in the Coupe de France finals.
PSG has won the Coupe six of the last seven years and have a record-breaking total of 13 titles over the years.
Paris had control of the game from the start, monopolising the ball and not giving Monaco any real chances to score. A mistake on the part of Monaco’s defense allowed former Monaco player Kylian Mbappé to gain possession of the ball where he passed it deftly to Mauro Icardi who went on to score in the 19th.
This opening goal did shake things up a bit and Monaco went on the attack. They had a few tries, notably two by Kevin Volland in the 25th and 39th minutes, but no conversions were made, and they went into the locker room with a nil to one deficit.
After the half, Monaco had far more possession of the ball and there were two good attempts, first by Gelson Martinsin in the 69th, followed a few minutes later by Aurélien Tchouameni.
In the end, though, it was Mbappé and PSG who had the final word. Mbappé made a low shot that slipped past Radoslaw Majecki and sealed the deal for Paris, giving them the win and the title.
“It was an important moment for us, for the club,” said Coach Novak after the game. “We have the right to be disappointed tonight and to be disappointed tomorrow but starting Friday we will have to think about the next game. We can still end this season in a fantastic way.”
Now, as Coach Novak said, the Red and Whites must put this behind them and look to the future. For the last game of the Ligue 1 season, they go on the road again to Lens, where they will be fighting for their spot to play in the Champions League.
 
 
Monaco Life with AS Monaco press release, photo by AS Monaco