1952 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1952 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 22 June 1952 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It was race 3 of 8 in the 1952 World Championship of Drivers, in which each Grand Prix was run to Formula Two rules rather than the Formula One regulations normally used.

1952 Belgian Grand Prix
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Race details
Date 22 June 1952
Official name XIV Grote Prijs Van Belgie
Location Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Belgium
Course Grand Prix Circuit
Course length 14.12 km (8.774 miles)
Distance 36 laps, 508.320 km (315.864 miles)
Weather Rain
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 4:37.0
Fastest lap
Driver Italy Alberto Ascari Ferrari
Time 4:54.0
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Ferrari
Third Gordini
Lap leaders

Report

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Maserati's new A6GCM was still not ready, and, to compound this, their lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio had suffered back injuries at the non-championship Monza Grand Prix. This meant that Ferrari were once again favoured for success in the race, with their driver lineup consisting of Alberto Ascari (in place of André Simon), Nino Farina and Piero Taruffi. There were also two privateer Ferrari entries: local driver Charles de Tornaco of Ecurie Francorchamps, and Louis Rosier. The Gordini team expanded their lineup to include Belgian driver Johnny Claes, alongside Behra, Manzon and Bira. American Robert O'Brien also drove a Simca-Gordini for this race. HWM also recruited a pair of Belgian drivers — Paul Frère and Roger Laurent — who raced alongside regular drivers Peter Collins and Lance Macklin. Stirling Moss switched from HWM to ERA for this race. A handful of other privateer entrants also took part, including future World Champion Mike Hawthorn, who made his debut in a Cooper-Bristol.

Ascari headed an all-Ferrari front row, with teammates Farina and Taruffi in second and third, respectively. The Gordinis of Manzon and Behra made up row two, while the third row consisted of Hawthorn, Ken Wharton (in a Frazer-Nash), and Frère, who was the highest qualifier of the five Belgian drivers on the grid.

Taruffi started badly in the rain, dropping to ninth by the end of the first lap, while Behra overhauled the two leading Ferraris to take the lead of the race. Moss also started well, before his car broke down halfway through the first lap. Behra's lead was short-lived, as both Ascari and Farina overtook him on the second lap, subsequently holding first and second for the remainder of the race. Behra dropped to fourth when the recovering Taruffi passed him on lap 13. On the following lap Taruffi spun at Malmédy and Behra hit him, causing both to retire. Manzon overtook Hawthorn to assume what was now third place. Despite suffering from fuel leakage problems, Hawthorn was able to maintain fourth place until the end of the race. His fellow debutant Paul Frère also finished in the points, in fifth.[1]

Ascari's win (with fastest lap), and Taruffi's retirement, meant that the two now shared the lead of the Championship, on nine points each. Indianapolis 500 winner Troy Ruttman was in third, while Farina's second-place finish raised him to fourth in the standings, three points adrift of the joint Championship leaders.

Entries

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No Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre
2   Nino Farina Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 P
4   Alberto Ascari Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 P
6   Piero Taruffi Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 P
8   Mike Hawthorn Leslie D. Hawthorn Cooper-Bristol Cooper T20 Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
10   Alan Brown Ecurie Richmond Cooper-Bristol Cooper T20 Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
12   Eric Brandon Cooper-Bristol Cooper T20 Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
14   Robert Manzon Equipe Gordini Gordini Gordini T16 Gordini 20 2.0 L6 E
16   Jean Behra Gordini Gordini T16 Gordini 20 2.0 L6 E
18   Johnny Claes Gordini Gordini T16 Gordini 20 2.0 L6 E
20   Prince Bira Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Gordini 1500 1.5 L4 E
22   Louis Rosier Ecurie Rosier Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 D
24   Lance Macklin HW Motors HWM-Alta HWM 52 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
26   Peter Collins HWM-Alta HWM 52 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
28   Paul Frère HWM-Alta HWM 52 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
30   Roger Laurent HWM-Alta HWM 52 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
32   Stirling Moss English Racing Automobiles Ltd. ERA-Bristol ERA G Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
34   Charles de Tornaco Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 E
36   Ken Wharton Scuderia Franera Frazer Nash-Bristol Frazer Nash FN48 Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
38   Arthur Legat Arthur Legat Veritas Veritas Meteor Veritas 2.0 L6 E
40   Robin Montgomerie-Charrington Robin Montgomerie-Charrington Aston Butterworth Aston NB41 Aston Butterworth F4 2.0 L6 D
42   Tony Gaze Tony Gaze HWM-Alta HWM 51 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
44   Robert O'Brien Robert O'Brien Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Gordini 1500 1.5 L4 E
Sources:[2][3]

Classification

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Qualifying

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Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 4   Alberto Ascari Ferrari 4:37.0
2 2   Nino Farina Ferrari 4:40.0 + 3.0
3 6   Piero Taruffi Ferrari 4:46.0 + 9.0
4 14   Robert Manzon Gordini 4:52.0 + 15.0
5 16   Jean Behra Gordini 4:56.0 + 19.0
6 8   Mike Hawthorn Cooper-Bristol 4:58.0 + 21.0
7 36   Ken Wharton Frazer Nash-Bristol 5:01.0 + 24.0
8 28   Paul Frère HWM-Alta 5:05.0 + 28.0
9 10   Alan Brown Cooper-Bristol 5:07.0 + 30.0
10 32   Stirling Moss ERA-Bristol 5:07.6 + 30.6
11 26   Peter Collins HWM-Alta 5:09.0 + 32.0
12 12   Eric Brandon Cooper-Bristol 5:11.0 + 34.0
13 34   Charles de Tornaco Ferrari 5:14.5 + 37.5
14 24   Lance Macklin HWM-Alta 5:17.1 + 40.1
15 40   Robin Montgomerie-Charrington Aston Butterworth 5:19.3 + 42.3
16 42   Tony Gaze HWM-Alta 5:22.8 + 45.8
17 22   Louis Rosier Ferrari 5:25.7 + 48.7
18 20   Prince Bira Simca-Gordini-Gordini 5:28.4 + 51.4
19 18   Johnny Claes Gordini 5:31.1 + 54.1
20 30   Roger Laurent HWM-Alta 5:37.9 + 60.9
21 38   Arthur Legat Veritas 5:45.0 + 68.0
22 44   Robert O'Brien Simca-Gordini-Gordini 5:51.0 + 74.0

Race

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 4   Alberto Ascari Ferrari 36 3:03:46.3 1 91
2 2   Nino Farina Ferrari 36 +1:55.2 2 6
3 14   Robert Manzon Gordini 36 +4:28.4 4 4
4 8   Mike Hawthorn Cooper-Bristol 35 +1 lap 6 3
5 28   Paul Frère HWM-Alta 34 +2 laps 8 2
6 10   Alan Brown Cooper-Bristol 34 +2 laps 9
7 34   Charles de Tornaco Ferrari 33 +3 laps 13
8 18   Johnny Claes Gordini 33 +3 laps 19
9 12   Eric Brandon Cooper-Bristol 33 +3 laps 12
10 20   Prince Bira Simca-Gordini-Gordini 32 +4 laps 18
11 24   Lance Macklin HWM-Alta 32 +4 laps 14
12 30   Roger Laurent HWM-Alta 32 +4 laps 20
13 38   Arthur Legat Veritas 31 +5 laps 21
14 44   Robert O'Brien Simca-Gordini-Gordini 30 +6 laps 22
15 42   Tony Gaze HWM-Alta 30 +6 laps 16
Ret 40   Robin Montgomerie-Charrington Aston Butterworth 17 Engine 15
Ret 6   Piero Taruffi Ferrari 13 Accident 3
Ret 16   Jean Behra Gordini 13 Accident 5
Ret 36   Ken Wharton Frazer-Nash-Bristol 10 Spun off 7
Ret 22   Louis Rosier Ferrari 6 Transmission 17
Ret 26   Peter Collins HWM-Alta 3 Halfshaft 11
Ret 32   Stirling Moss ERA-Bristol 0 Engine 10
Source:[4]
Notes
  • ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Championship standings after the race

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Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
  1   Piero Taruffi 9
  41 2   Alberto Ascari 9
  1 3   Troy Ruttman 8
  26 4   Nino Farina 6
  2 5   Rudi Fischer 6
Source:[5]
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship.

References

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  1. ^ "Belgian GP, 1952 Race Report". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  2. ^ "1952 Belgian Grand Prix - Race Entries". manipef1.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  3. ^ "1952 Belgian GP - Entry List". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  4. ^ "1952 Belgian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  5. ^ "Belgium 1952 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 1 March 2019.


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1952 French Grand Prix
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1951 Belgian Grand Prix
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1954 German Grand Prix