Images via Bonhams
The 1991 Canadian Grand Prix-winning Benetton B191 driven by Nelson Piquet and Michael Schumacher will head to auction on the 21st of May at Bonhams’ Spa Classic sale.
The Bonhams Spa Classic Sale will be held at the iconic Spa Francorchamps circuit on the 21st of May, 2017. Headlining the auction of stunning race and road machinery will be this Benetton B191, which was driven by Nelson Piquet, Roberto Moreno and Michael Schumacher during the 1991 Formula 1 World Championship.
B191-02 debuted in the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix driven by Brazilian Roberto Moreno. Three-time Formula 1 World Champion Nelson Piquet would take the wheel soon after, and give the B191 its only grand prix victory when he won the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix.
Piquet qualified the car eighth, the dual Williams of Riccardo Patrese and Nigel Mansell occupying the front row ahead of the McLaren of Ayrton Senna, the Ferrari of Alain Prost and Piquet’s teammate Moreno in fifth. Once the red lights went out, however, things got rough at the pointy end.
Gerhard Berger dropped out four laps in with a missfire, Moreno spun a few laps later and Prost was left managing an ailing gearbox. Championship leader Senna would retire nearing the half way point, with Prost following shortly after and Jean Alesi joining him on lap 34 when his motor went bang.
Patrese was having issues of his own, allowing Piquet to get by into second behind Mansell, who led the field by some fifty seconds. Mansell entered the last lap all but assured of the win, waving to the crowd, with Piquet far enough behind that he decided to slow and bring the car home safely. Mansell held first from race start right up to the hairpin on the final lap, when he unexpectedly slowed with apparent electrical issues, letting Piquet by to take the final win of his career – B191-02’s first and only.
Michael Schumacher made his Formula 1 debut in 1991, replacing Bertrand Gachot and driving for Jordan in the Belgian Grand Prix. He stunned the field with a seventh-place qualifying run, just behind Piquet in B191-02. While Schumacher would drop out of the race with clutch failure, Piquet was able to put B191-02 onto the podium with a third. Schumacher was then picked up by Benetton and would take over B191-02 for the Australian and Japanese grands prix.
Following its period career, the car was put on display in a museum. In 2016 it received a complete rebuild and is now restored to immaculate original condition to meet current FIA regulations.
Driven by two Formula 1 greats and with a grand prix victory to its name, this is a race-ready piece of Formula 1 history. It will head to auction on the 21st of May at Bonhams’ Spa Classic sale where it is expected to fetch €750,000 – 950,000.
For the official details see Bonhams’ press release here and for more on their Spa Classic sale, head to their official website.
Images via Bonhams
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