Montoya's gamble pays off in Monte Carlo

Monaco - Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya clinched only the second win of his career here on Sunday when he stormed to victory in the Monaco Grand Prix and ended the Williams team's 20-year wait for another triumph in the glitzy principality.

Montoya's win also meant that world champion Michael Schumacher was denied a chance to equal the record of six wins on the famous street circuit as the German could only manage third place in his Ferrari.

Championship leader Kimi Raikkonen, in a McLaren, was second, less than a second behind, to maintain his lead in the title race over Schumacher, while pole-sitter Ralf Schumacher, whose Williams was dogged by understeer in the middle part of the race, ended in fourth place.

The Renaults of Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli, the McLaren of David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello in the second Ferrari completed the points-scoring places.

Montoya, whose only other previous Formula One win came at Monza in September 2001, had started the race third on the grid, made a risky leap into second place at the start and then inherited the lead from Ralf Schumacher thanks to a combination of a flying lap and a quicker first pit stop on the 23rd lap.

Ralf, whose afternoon had started promisingly as he held the lead at the crucial first bend, suffered a torrid time when he was relegated to fourth spot after the first round of pit stops and, with his car dogged by understeer, he never recovered.

He even slipped down to eighth spot at one stage after locking his brakes and narrowly avoiding a barrier on the 54th lap.

As he struggled, teammate Montoya and Raikkonen battled for the lead and with overtaking impossible on the twisting, tight circuit, it came down to the second round of pit stops.

The Finn clocked the fastest ever lap of 1:14.545 in an effort to build an advantage over Montoya, who had stopped for the second time on the 49th lap, but the Colombian had banked a bigger enough advantage to keep him ahead in the two-car race to the finish.

At the start of the 78-lap race on a sun-drenched track, Raikkonen, starting in second, had been passed by Montoya while Michael Schumacher, trying to equal Ayrton Senna's record of six wins here, remained fifth.

The race proved a disappointing experience for both Jaguar drivers as Antonio Pizzonia and Mark Webber were both forced into retirement by the 15th lap.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen had been a casualty on the first lap when his Sauber clipped a barrier, crashed and led to the summoning of the safety car.

The two Minardis of Mark Webber and Jos Verstappen also retired.

Britain's Jenson Button didn't start after crashing heavily in his BAR-Honda on Saturday and the team's misery was complete when Jacques Villeneuve retired from the race. - Sapa-AFP