Thrashing a '52 Jag C-Type round Monaco

Crazy men, Juan Manuel Fangio once said, finish 'in the cemetery'. Had the Argentinian master been around to see Alex Buncombe thrashing Fangio's own old Jaguar C-Type around Monaco's GP circuit, we suspect he might have started chiselling the Brit racer's headstone.

But Buncombe didn't end up in the cemetery, or even the harbour. In fact, he ended up on the top step of the podium at this year's Monaco Historique, courtesy of this insanely committed drive in the priceless 1952 Jaaag.

Like the Goodwood Revival or Le Mans Classic, the Monaco Historique brings together Gentleman Racers and maniacal pro drivers for a series of races around an iconic circuit - in this case, well, you can probably guess.

Run and prepared by JD Classics, this C-Type helped Buncombe to victory in the Series C race for sports cars built between 1952 and 1955. And what you see here is the first couple of laps of his leave-nothing-behind run, as the Jag's 3.4-litre straight six batters the redline, and whoever's responsible for insuring the C-Type presumably cowers behind their clipboard.

Just sit back and enjoy four minutes of proper racing, as Buncombe slithers the C-Type around, inches from the Armco, grabbing armfuls of opposite lock just to keep the thing in a straight line, with no apparent concern for the sheer... pricelessness of his borrowed drive.

Which raises the eternal debate. Racing drivers: brave or just, um, wrong in the head? Either way, what a drive...