DataGrange Motorsport

Felice Nazarro and FIAT Sprint Away to Victory at Dieppe in 1907.

NAZARRO WINS THE GRAND PRIX RACE

Record-Breaking Pace of 70 1/2 Miles an Hour Made by the Italian Car.

Christie Lasts One Lap

Elliott F. Shepard One of Nine Competitors to Finish-Disappointing Accident to Duray.

DIEPPE, July 2 – With a magnificent display of coolness, nerve, and endurance, (Felice) Nazarro, the Italian champion, driving his Fiat car, captured the automobile Grand Prix race to-day at an average speed of about 70 1/2 miles an hour, breaking the world’s record for motor road racing contests, Duray’s record of 60 miles an hour in the Ardennes circuit las year having hitherto been the best. The pace was killing from the start, leaving a score of cars hopelessly beaten before the second round was ended.

The entire story as follows:

Luigi Musso's Ferrari Dino ends up destroyed and laying limp in a wheatfield after a disastrous encounter at Muizone.

1958 RACE 6
Reims-Gueux, France

6 July, Forty-Fourth Grand Prix de l’Automobil Club de France

P1 Grid: M. Hawthorn, GBR, Scuderia Ferrari Dino 246 2.4 liter DOHC twin bank six. Englebert (second, career).

Hawthorn wins the start and leads wire-to-wire for the victory.

Briton Mike Hawthorn and his now formula dominant Ferrari Dino 246 easily drives away to victory at Reims, yet the meeting again brings tragedy to Grand Prix racing when Italian driving sensation Luigi Musso, the defending race champion and chasing Hawthorn from P2, breaks loose at Muizone on Lap 10. Musso’s Ferrari veers out of control and turns over before somersaulting several times into an adjacent field. The beloved Italian driving champion expires a mere hour later from massive injuries.

1. Hawthorn, Scuderia Ferrari (third, career).
2. S. Moss, GBR, Vanwall, -24.6 sec.
3. W. von Trips, WGER, Scuderia Ferrari.

Constructor Victor: Scuderia Ferrari (twenty-sixth).
Engine Victor: Ferrari (twenty-sixth).

Championship
Hawthorn-GBR 23, Moss-GBR 23, Musso-ITA 12 (d).

Scuderia Ferrari 45, Vandervell Products Ltd 27, Epperly 20.

Adytum on High

Pat O'Connor's Car Catches Air Before Turning Over ...

1958 RACE 4
Indianapolis, Indiana

30 May, Forty-Second Indianapolis International Motor Sweepstakes

P1 Grid: R. Rathmann, USA, Watson Offenhauser 4.5 liter inline four. Firestone (maiden, career).

Major shunt in Turn 3 on Lap 1 (P. O’Connor killed).
J. Bryan (Epperly) wins the restart.
E. Sachs (Kuzma) takes the lead on Lap 3 with a pass.
A. Bettenhausen (Epperly) takes the lead on Lap 4 with a pass.
G. Amick (Epperly) takes the lead on Lap 28 with a pass.
Bryan takes the lead on Lap 46 with a pass.
J. Boyd (Kurtis Kraft) takes the lead at Lap 110 during pit cycle.
Bryan takes the lead at Lap 128 with a pass and drives on to victory.

Tragedy strikes early in the 1958 meeting on Lap 1 as the lead pack enters Turn 3. Ed Elisian dives low and hot in a breathless break for the lead, yet his car breaks loose near the apron and spins into Dick Rathmann. Pat O’Connor rushes into the lead cars, caroms off into Jimmy Reece, and then soars airborne before turning over. O’Connor’s car  explodes into flames upon contact with the track, instantly killing the driver, and then the scene devolves into a thirteen-car fiasco filled consumed with tire smoke and torn sheet metal. The race continues under a pall as Jimmy Bryan proves out to hold the superior drive in the late stages to take checkers. The recriminations begin afterwards as USAC promplty banishes Elisian for exercising poor judgment on Lap 1. Elisian wins his case on appeal, yet suffers the estrangement from his driving colleagues, and USAC swiftly institutes radical changes mandating helmet standards and welded roll cages … a much belated yet momentous step forward in motor racing. The meeting also marks the first appearance of Texas driver Antony J. Foyt.

1. Bryan, USA, Epperly Offfenhauser 4.5 liter inline four. Firestone (maiden, career).
2. Amick, USA, Epperly, -27.6 sec.
3. Boyd, USA, Kurtis Kraft.

Constructor Victor: Epperly (second).
Engine Victor: Offenhauser (ninth).

Championship
S. Moss-GBR 17, L. Musso-ITA 12, Bryan-USA 8, Trintignant-FRA 8, Schell-USA 8.

Scuderia Ferrari 23, Epperly 20, Walker-Cooper 16.

Pat O'Connor: Adytum on High

The Maserati 250F.

1957 Championship

J.M. Fangio-ARG 46, S. Moss-GBR 25, L. Musso-ITA 16.
Fangio earns his fifth and fourth consecutive drivers’ championship.

Putative Constructors’ Championship
Officine Alfieri Maserati 65, Scuderia Ferrari 48, Vanderwell Products Limited 37. Maserati finally breaks through behind Fangio and claims its maiden constructors’ championship.

The Britons rise to the fore in Formula 1 as island drivers make their mark piloting Italian entries and Vanwall under Stirling Moss snares its maiden Grand Prix victory.

Fangio stands atop the tables with his twenty-eighth career P1 grid position and twenty-fourth career Grand Prix victory.

Juan Manuel Fangio Pulls Out All the Stops While Chasing Down the Leading Ferraris at the Nurburgring.

1957 RACE 6
Nurburg, Germany

4 August, Nineteenth Grosser Preis von Deutschland
Nurburgring (Eifel Circuit)

P1 Grid: J.M. Fangio, ARG, Maserati 250F 2.5 liter inline six. Pirelli (twenty-seventh, career).

M. Hawthorn (Ferrari) wins the start.
Fangio assumes the lead on Lap 3 with a pass.
P. Collins assumes the lead on Lap 12 as Fangio pits for service.
Hawthorn assumes the lead on Lap 15 with a pass.
Fangio assumes the lead on Lap 21 (final lap) with a pass of both Collins and Hawthorn, and drives on to victory.

Being clever by half, Fangio starts the race on a light fuel load in order to build a lead on the ever improving Ferraris, yet his pit service at Lap 12 proves out a debacle, costing him a thirty second lead margin and dropping him back to P3. Thus unfolds one of the greatest drives in F1 history as Fangio returns to the circuit and unleashes a marvelous performance in which he establishes fast lap nine laps in succession. As the Ferraris begin the final circuit through the forest, Fangio catches and then boldly chases back Collins for P2 with a courageous sprint towards a narrow bridge that leaves the Briton reaching for the brakes in desperation. Undaunted, the Argentine tracks down leader Hawthorn a few minutes later, dives deep inside a curve, and makes an unfathomable ‘pass in the grass’ for the point and a stunningly breathtaking victory. With his performance, Fangio earns a share of the 1957 drivers’ championship, the fifth in his illustrious career, and posts his legitimate claim as the greatest driver in racing history.

1. Fangio, Maserati (twenty-fourth, career, all-time).
2. Hawthorn, GBR, Ferrari, -3.6 sec.
3. Collins, GBR, Ferrari.

Constructor Officine Alfieri Maseratii (ninth).
Engine Victor: Maserati (ninth).

Championship
Fangio-ARG 34, L. Musso-ITA 16, Hawthorn-GBR 13.

Officine Alfieri Maserati 47, Scuderia Ferrari 44, Vandervell Products, Ltd 17.

Moss' Brake Failure at the Tunnel Exit Also Collects Fellow Britons Peter Collins and Michael Hawthorn.

1957 RACE 2
Principality of Monaco

19 May, Fifteenth Grand Prix de Monaco
Circuit de Monaco

P1 Grid: J.M. Fangio, ARG, Maserati 250F 2.5 liter inline six. Pirelli (twenty-fifth, career).

S. Moss (Vanwall) wins the start.
Fangio assumes the lead on Lap 4 with a pass after a massive shunt at the Tunnel Chicane exit. Fangio drives on to victory.

1957 Monaco unfurls high drama during its early circuits when race leader Stirling Moss (Vanwall) suffers brake failure upon the Tunnel exit on Lap 4. Moss misses the chicane before slamming hard into the harbour barrier, and then in remarkably heady fashion, scrambles from his wrecked vehicle just moments before fellow Briton Peter Collins (Ferrari) exits the tunnel and hurls headlong into the wreckage.  Juan Manuel Fangio next enters the chicane and avoids the shunt with deft steering, yet Britons Tony Brooks (Vanwall) and Michael Hawthorn (Ferrari) come together upon encoutering the carnage. Brooks escapes with serious damage, yet Hawthorn skids across the track surface and joins the other two cars in the debris pile. Fangio’s adroit driving earns him the race victory, yet the surprise proves out as rookie privateer Masten Gregory, who drives his Maserati to a P3 finish in his maiden run, the first American in F1 history to stand on the podium.

1. Fangio, Maserati (twenty-second, career).
2. C.A.S. Brooks, GBR, Vanwall, -25.2 sec (maiden podiium).
3. M. Gregory, USA, Maserati (maiden podium).

Constructor Officine Alfieri Maseratii (seventh).
Engine Victor: Maserati (seventh).

Championship
Fangio-ARG 17, J. Behra-FRA 6, Brooks-GBR 6.

Officine Alfieri Maserati 28, Scuderia Centro Sud 7, Vandervell Products, Ltd 6.

1956 Championship

J.M. Fangio-ARG 33, S. Moss-GBR 28, P. Collins-GBR 25.
Fangio earns his fourth and third consecutive drivers’ championship.

Putative Constructors’ Championship
Scuderia Ferrari 80.5, Officine Alfieri Maserati 62, Connaught 9. Scuderia Ferrari earns its fifth constructors’ championship.

Highlights …

Fangio receives a controversial ruling in his favor at Buenos Aires after Maserati accuses him of receiving an illegal push to restart after an early spin.
British Racing Motors debuts an entry and Frenchman Jean Behra stands atop the drivers’ table at Monaco.
Briton Peter Collins picks up his first two career victories at Spa and Reims, and heads the tables until Fangio’s late rush for the championship in the final three meetings.

Fangio stands atop the tables with his twenty-fourth career P1 grid position and twentieth career Grand Prix victory.

The 1956 Lancia Ferrari D50.

1955 Championship

J.M. Fangio-ARG 41, S. Moss-GBR 23, E. Castellotti-ITA 12.
Fangio earns his third drivers’ championship, setting him atop the tables as the all-time career leader (Ascari).

Putative Constructors’ Championship
Daimler Benz AG 79, Scuderia Ferrari 34, Officine Alfieri Maserati 22. Daimler Benz earns its maiden constructors’ championship, finally dethroning the mighty Ferrari, yet the June disaster at Le Mans with driver Pierre Levegh prompts the werks to withdraw from international motor sport (eight career F1 victories).

Fangio stands atop the tables with his eighteenth career P1 grid position and seventeenth career Grand Prix victory.

Longtime Italian driving ace Giuseppe ‘Nino’ Farina retires from Grand Prix racing at season end.

The Fabulous Mercedes 196 W Silver Arrow

Two Time Indy 500 Champion William Vukovich Loses His Life in a High Speed Backstretch Shunt During the 1955 Meeting.

1955 RACE 3
Indianapolis, Indiana

30 May, Thirty-Ninth Indianapolis International Motor Sweepstakes
Indianapolis Motor Speedway

P1 Grid: J. Hoyt, USA, Stevens-Offenhauser 4.5 liter inline four. Firestone (maiden).

J. McGrath (Kurtis Kraft) wins the start.
W. Vukovich (Kurtis Kraft) assumes the lead with a pass on Lap 6
J. Bryan (Kuzma) inherits the lead after a major backstretch shunt on Lap 56.
A. Cross (Kurtis Kraft) inherits the lead after the leader suffers mechanicals on Lap 91.
R. Sweikert (Kurtis Kraft) inherits the lead after the leader suffers mechancials on Lap 101. Sweikert resumes the lead after a service cycle at Lap 160 and drives on to victory.

Tragedy strikes Indy for the second time in its history during its annual meeting. Race leader and two-time champion William Vukovich, dashing along the backstretch on Lap 56, rushes headlong into a sudden four-car shunt triggered by Rodger Ward’s overturned car. Vukovich’s car soars airborne over the outer barrier, overturns, and lands upside before catching aflame. The Californian, attempting to snare his third consecutive race victory, dies at the scene, removing the lustre of eventual race victor Robert Sweikert, who takes the lead at halfway and drives on for his maiden victory. Disaster would strike again at Le Mans only thirteen days later.

1. Sweikert, USA, Zink-Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 4.5 liter inline four. Firestone (maiden victory).
2. P. Russo, USA, Chapman-Kurtis Kraft, -1 lap.
3. J. Davies, USA, Bardahl-Kurtis Kraft.

Constructor Victor: Zink-Kurtis Kraft (first).
Engine Victor: Offenhauser (sixth).

Championship
Trintignant-FRA 11.33, Fangio-ARG 10, Sweikert-USA 8.

Scuderia Ferrari 21, Daimler Benz AG 13, Officine Alfieri Maserati 8, Zink-Kurtis Kraft 8.