1952 French Grand Prix

The 1952 French Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 6 July 1952 at Rouen-Les-Essarts. It was race 4 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. Unusually this race was run over a duration of 3 hours, rather than a fixed distance.[1]

1952 French Grand Prix
Race details
Date 6 July 1952 (1952-07-06)
Official name XXXIX Grand Prix de l'ACF
Location Rouen-Les-Essarts, Grand-Couronne, France
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.100 km (3.169 mi)
Distance 77 laps, 392.700 km (244.012 mi)
Weather Rain
Pole position
Driver
Ferrari
Time 2:14.8
Fastest lap
Driver Alberto Ascari Ferrari
Time 2:17.3 on lap 28
Podium
First
Ferrari
Second
Ferrari
Third
Ferrari

Report

Having won the previous weekend's Grand Prix de la Marne, Jean Behra, racing for Equipe Gordini, was among the favourites for the first French Grand Prix to be held at Rouen-Les-Essarts. Also driving for Gordini were regulars Robert Manzon and Prince Bira, alongside Maurice Trintignant, who replaced Johnny Claes from the lineup for the previous round. Claes entered the race in a Simca-Gordini under his own 'Ecurie Belge' label, which he had used in the 1950 and 1951 seasons. Ferrari retained their lineup of Ascari, Farina and Taruffi, who had locked out the front row of the grid in Belgium. There were also several privateer Ferrari entries: the Swiss duo of Rudi Fischer and Peter Hirt, representing Ecurie Espadon, the Italian pairing of Franco Comotti and Piero Carini, for Scuderia Marzotto, and Louis Rosier. HWM again ran regular drivers Lance Macklin and Peter Collins, this time alongside Frenchman Yves Giraud-Cabantous. While the factory Maserati team remained absent, their new car, the A6GCM, made its World Championship debut, driven by Philippe Étancelin of Escuderia Bandeirantes. Enrico Platé entered a pair of older Maseratis, the 4CLT/48 model, for Toulo de Graffenried and Harry Schell. Completing the grid were Peter Whitehead, in a privately run Alta, and Mike Hawthorn, who again took part in a Cooper-Bristol.

Ascari took his second consecutive pole position, with his Ferrari teammates Farina and Taruffi again joining him on the front row of the grid. The Gordini team locked out the second row, with Behra and Manzon qualifying in fourth and fifth, respectively. Their teammates Trintignant and Bira started from the third row, alongside Peter Collins in the fastest of the HWMs. The new Maserati A6GCM proved a disappointment, with Philippe Étancelin only managing to qualify on the seventh row of the grid (out of eight).

The Ferraris once again dominated the race, with Alberto Ascari leading Farina from start to finish, thus taking his second consecutive victory in the World Championship. Despite a good start from the Gordinis of Manzon and Behra, that saw them take third and fourth place, respectively, by the end of the first lap, Piero Taruffi managed to regain third place on lap 4 and subsequently held it for the remainder of the race, ensuring that it was an all-Ferrari podium. Manzon finished fourth, a lap behind Taruffi, while his teammate Maurice Trintignant took the final points-scoring position of fifth. HWM driver Peter Collins took sixth, two laps behind Trintignant, ahead of Jean Behra, for whom seventh represented something of a recovery, having been in last place at the end of lap 3. His race had been compromised when he crashed and consequently needed to pit.[2]

Ascari's win, and fastest lap, ensured that he took a five-point lead in the Drivers' Championship, ahead of fellow Ferrari driver Piero Taruffi. Farina's second consecutive second-place finish took him to third in the standings, one point adrift of Taruffi. Indianapolis 500 winner Troy Ruttman was a further four points behind in fourth, one point ahead of Gordini driver Robert Manzon.

Entries
NoDriverEntrantConstructorChassisEngineTyre
2 Robert Manzon Equipe Gordini Gordini Gordini T16 Gordini 20 2.0 L6 E
4 Jean Behra Gordini Gordini T16 Gordini 20 2.0 L6 E
6 Prince Bira Gordini Gordini T16 Gordini 20 2.0 L6 E
8 Alberto Ascari Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 P
10 Nino Farina Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 P
12 Piero Taruffi1 Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 P
14 Louis Rosier Ecurie Rosier Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 D
16 Toulo de Graffenried2 Enrico Platé Maserati-Platé Maserati 4CLT-48 Platé 2.0 L4 P
18 Harry Schell Maserati-Platé Maserati 4CLT-48 Platé 2.0 L4 P
20 Lance Macklin HW Motors HWM-Alta HWM 52 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
22 Peter Collins HWM-Alta HWM 52 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
24 Yves Giraud-Cabantous HWM-Alta HWM 52 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
26 Peter Whitehead Peter Whitehead Alta Alta Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
28 Philippe Étancelin3 Escuderia Bandeirantes Maserati Maserati A6GCM Maserati A6G 2.0 L6 P
30 Chico Landi4 Maserati Maserati A6GCM Maserati A6G 2.0 L6 P
32 Johnny Claes Ecurie Belge Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Gordini 1500 1.5 L4 E
34 Rudi Fischer5 Ecurie Espadon Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 P
36 Ferrari 212 Ferrari 166 2.0 V12
38 Franco Comotti6 Scuderia Marzotto Ferrari Ferrari 166F2-50 Ferrari 166 2.0 V12 P
40 Piero Carini6 Ferrari Ferrari 166F2-50 Ferrari 166 2.0 V12 P
42 Mike Hawthorn6 Archie Bryde Cooper-Bristol Cooper T20 Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
44 Maurice Trintignant Equipe Gordini Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Gordini 1500 1.5 L4 E
Sources: [3][4]
^1 — Piero Taruffi qualified and drove the entire race in the #12 Ferrari. Luigi Villoresi, who was also entered in the same car, was unable to participate due to injury.[5]
^2 — Toulo de Graffenried qualified and drove 26 laps of the race in the #16 Maserati. Harry Schell, whose own vehicle had already retired, took over the car for a further 8 laps before again being forced to retire.[6]
^3 — Philippe Étancelin qualified and drove the entire race in the #28 Maserati. Eitel Cantoni was also entered in the car, but took no part in the Grand Prix after being fired.[5]
^4 — Chico Landi withdrew from the event prior to practice.[5]
^5 — Rudi Fischer qualified and drove 37 laps of the race in the #36 Ferrari. He was initially due to drive the #34 Ferrari 500, but engine problems in practice meant that he instead participated in a 212. Peter Hirt took over the car for the remainder of the race.[6] Rudolf Schoeller, named substitute driver for the car, was not used during the Grand Prix.[7]
^6 — Vittorio Marzotto, Sergio Sighinolfi and Reg Parnell were the designated substitute drivers for cars #38, #40 and #42, respectively. None of the three was used during the Grand Prix.[7]

Classification

Qualifying
PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
1 8 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 2:14.8 –
2 10 Nino Farina Ferrari 2:16.2 + 1.4
3 12 Piero Taruffi Ferrari 2:17.1 + 2.3
4 4 Jean Behra Gordini 2:19.3 + 4.5
5 2 Robert Manzon Gordini 2:20.4 + 5.6
6 30 Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini-Gordini 2:21.6 + 6.8
7 22 Peter Collins HWM-Alta 2:21.9 + 7.1
8 6 Prince Bira Gordini 2:23.0 + 8.2
9 14 Louis Rosier Ferrari 2:27.0 + 12.2
10 24 Yves Giraud-Cabantous HWM-Alta 2:27.5 + 12.7
11 16 Toulo de Graffenried Maserati 2:28.6 + 13.8
12 18 Harry Schell Maserati 2:29.0 + 14.2
13 26 Peter Whitehead Alta 2:29.5 + 14.7
14 20 Lance Macklin HWM-Alta 2:30.9 + 16.1
15 42 Mike Hawthorn Cooper-Bristol 2:32.0 + 17.2
16 28 Philippe Étancelin Maserati 2:33.7 + 18.9
17 36 Rudi Fischer Ferrari 2:34.6 + 19.8
18 38 Franco Comotti Ferrari 2:36.0 + 21.2
19 40 Piero Carini Ferrari 2:37.7 + 22.9
20 32 Johnny Claes Simca-Gordini-Gordini 2:39.6 + 24.8

Race
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 8 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 77 3:02:42.6 1 91
2 10 Nino Farina Ferrari 76 + 1 lap 2 6
3 12 Piero Taruffi Ferrari 75 + 2 laps 3 4
4 2 Robert Manzon Gordini 74 + 3 laps 5 3
5 44 Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini-Gordini 72 + 5 laps 6 2
6 22 Peter Collins HWM-Alta 70 + 7 laps 8
7 4 Jean Behra Gordini 70 + 7 laps 4
8 28 Philippe Étancelin Maserati 70 + 7 laps 18
9 20 Lance Macklin HWM-Alta 70 + 7 laps 14
10 24 Yves Giraud Cabantous HWM-Alta 68 + 9 laps 10
11 36 Rudi Fischer
Peter Hirt		 Ferrari 66 + 11 laps 17
12 38 Franco Comotti Ferrari 63 + 14 laps 16
Ret 6 Prince Bira Gordini 56 Axle 7
Ret 42 Mike Hawthorn Cooper-Bristol 51 Ignition 15
Ret 16 Toulo de Graffenried
Harry Schell		 Maserati 34 Brakes 12
Ret 26 Peter Whitehead Alta 17 Clutch 13
Ret 14 Louis Rosier Ferrari 17 Engine 9
Ret 32 Johnny Claes Simca-Gordini-Gordini 15 Engine 20
Ret 18 Harry Schell Maserati 7 Gearbox 11
Ret 40 Piero Carini Ferrari 2 Engine 19
DNS 34 Rudi Fischer Ferrari 0 Engine
Source: [8]
Notes
  • ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Notes
  • Shared Drives
    • Car #34: Fischer (33 laps) then Hirt (33 laps)
    • Car #16: de Graffenried (20 laps) then Schell (14 laps)
  • Last F1 Grand Prix drive for Philippe Étancelin

Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 1 Alberto Ascari 18
1 2 Piero Taruffi 13
1 3 Nino Farina 12
1 4 Troy Ruttman 8
3 5 Robert Manzon 7
Source: [9]
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship.
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gollark: <@197364095593349120> Well, probably.

References
  1. Hodges, David (1967). The French Grand Prix. pp. 152–155.
  2. "French GP, 1952 Race Report". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  3. "1952 French Grand Prix - Race Entries". manipef1.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  4. "1952 ACF GP - Entry List". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  5. "France 1952 - Result". statsf1.com. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  6. "French Grand Prix 1952 - Results". ESPN F1. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  7. "France 1952 - Race entrants". statsf1.com. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  8. "1952 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  9. "France 1952 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
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