1946 Turin Grand Prix

GP Turin 1 September 1946 III Gran Premio del Valentino -I Gran Premio di Torino Italy Valentino ParkTurin, Italy 2.789 4.489 60 167.724 269.926 Street circuit CircuitoParcoValentino1946.svg Giuseppe Farina Alfa Romeo Italy 2:18.6 Jean-Pierre Wimille Alfa Romeo 2:22.1 France Achille Varzi Alfa Romeo Italy Jean-Pierre Wimille Alfa Romeo France Raymond Sommer Maserati France Light rain from lap 30, turning to heavy rain before the finish The 1946 Turin Grand Prix (formally known as the III Gran Premio del Valentino) was a Grand Prix motor race held on 1 September 1946 on a temporary street circuit at Valentino Park in Turin, Italy. It was the first time the event had been held since the end of the Second World War and is also popularly considered to be the first ever Formula One Grand Prix, as the race regulations anticipated the official introduction of the new International Grand Prix Formula on 1 January 1947, which was to be renamed Formula A and later Formula 1. The race was attended by 120,000–200,000 spectators.Farinelli Aldo 3 September 1946 I vincitori dei milioni e della corsa https://archive.org/details/lastampa_1946-09-03/page/n1/mode/2up?view=theater La Nuova Stampa Italian 206 3 2 January 2024October 1946 Turin G.P. https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/issues/october-1946/ Motor Sport 22 10 8 2026-01-14 2026-08-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20260114185641/https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/issues/october-1946/ live Background The 1946 Turin Grand Prix was the first Grand Prix to be held in Italy in the post-war era. Given the recentness of the Second World War, the vast majority of the cars on the grid were pre-war voiturette-class racing cars. With the absence of the German manufacturers that dominated the pre-war Grand Prix circuit, the field was instead dominated by the rivalry between fellow Italian manufacturers Alfa Romeo and Maserati. The Grand Prix was also the motor racing debut of Turin-based Cisitalia, who, despite not qualifying for the race itself, would go on to win the accompanying Coppa Brezzi at the same venue the following Tuesday, with founder Piero Dusio behind the wheel.Henry Maurice 4 September 1946 Les Debuts Victorieux De Cisitalia https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t51002999/f1.item 2 January 2024 L'Équipe 1–2 French 2 January 2024 https://web.archive.org/web/20240102223721/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t51002999/f1.item live Technical regulations The race was run to the 1947 Grand Prix Formula technical regulations, which allowed for either 1500cc supercharged engines or 4500cc naturally-aspirated engines.Farinelli Aldo 1 September 1946 Motori e milioni al Circuito del Valentino Cars and Millions at the Valentino Circuit https://archive.org/details/lastampa_1946-09-01/page/n1/mode/2up?view=theater 1 January 2024 La Nuova Stampa 3 Italian The regulations, while not in force, had been proposed by the Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI) as late as March 1946Henry Maurice 2 March 1946 La Formule De Course 1938-1939 Reste Applicable French L'Équipe https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t5100156g/f2.item.zoom 2 January 2024 2 January 2024 https://web.archive.org/web/20240102201332/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t5100156g/f2.item.zoom live and was approved by the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR) on 24 June 1946, in the same meeting that officially changed their name to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).Henry Maurice 26 June 1946 Le vicomte de Rohan réélu président de l'AIACR French L'Équipe https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t51002397/f2.item.zoom 2 January 2024 2 January 2024 https://web.archive.org/web/20240102201330/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t51002397/f2.item.zoom live These regulations would remain unchanged throughout the inaugural season of the Formula One World Championship in 1950. It was widely regarded by contemporary sources that the race would be a test of the new regulations. All the cars that qualified for the race met the 1500cc supercharged specification except for Eugène Chaboud's Delahaye, which ran a 3500cc naturally-aspirated engine in the 4500cc class. Lotteria della Solidarietà Nazionale A unique aspect of this event was its association with the Lotteria della Solidarietà Nazionale (National Solidarity Lottery). A large number of tickets were sold to the public across Italy. From these, twenty winning tickets were drawn and paired with the twenty fastest drivers in practice. The ticket holder paired with the winning driver earned a jackpot of 25 million Lira. The second and third-place pairings won 5 million and 3.85 million Lira respectively, and all twenty drawn ticket holders were guaranteed a consolation prize of 250,000 Lira.Salerno Luca 1946 Turin Grand Prix https://theracingchronicles.altervista.org/Torino/1946_en.php The Racing Chronicles Qualifying Qualifying took place over the course of the two practice sessions on 30–31 August 1946. Because of the event's association with the Lotteria della Solidarietà Nazionale, only the top twenty qualifiers formed the starting grid. Qualifying classification PosNoDriverTeamCarTime18ITA Giuseppe FarinaAlfa CorseAlfa Romeo 1582:18.6252FRA Jean-Pierre WimilleAlfa CorseAlfa Romeo 1582:19.0354ITA Carlo Felice TrossiAlfa CorseAlfa Romeo 1582:20.6446ITA Achille VarziAlfa CorseAlfa Romeo 1582:20.8522ITA Consalvo SanesiAlfa CorseAlfa Romeo 1582:22.4648ITA Tazio NuvolariScuderia MilanoMaserati 4CL2:24.6756MCO Louis ChironEcurie AutosportMaserati 4CL2:28.2816ITA Giorgio PelassaScuderia MilanoMaserati 4CL2:28.8924FRA Raymond SommerScuderia MilanoMaserati 4CL2:29.61058ITA Franco CorteseScuderia MilanoMaserati 4CL2:30.61128ITA Arialdo RuggieriScuderia MilanoMaserati 4CL2:30.81240SWI Enrico PlatéScuderia MilanoMaserati 4CL2:31.41342GBR Reg ParnellPrivate entryERA C2:31.81444ITA Guido BarbieriPrivate entryMaserati 4CL2:33.21550GBR Peter WhiteheadPrivate entryERA E2:34.21636FRA Henri LouveauScuderia MilanoMaserati 4CL2:35.0174ITA Discoride LanzaEcurie TricoloreMaserati 4CM2:36.61864ITA Emilio RomanoPrivate entryMaserati 4CL2:36.61918GBR Leslie BrookePrivate entryERA B2:38.22010FRA Eugène ChaboudEcurie FranceDelahaye 135S2:39.2DNQ2FRA "Raph"Ecurie Naphtra CourseMaserati 6CM2:39.4DNQ68SWI Ciro Basadonna†Ecurie AutosportMaserati 4CL2:44.2DNQ34ITA Piero DusioCompagnia Industriale Sportiva ItaliaCisitalia D462:45.4DNQ6USA 1912 Harry SchellEcurie Lucy O'Reilly SchellMaserati 6CM2:46.8DNQ26ITA Piero TaruffiCompagnia Industriale Sportiva ItaliaCisitalia D462:48.6DNQ12FRA Georges GrignardEcurie FranceDelahaye 1352:49.2DNQ62ITA Luigi "Gigi" PlatéPrivate entryTalbot-Darracq 7003:00.2DNA14ITA Secondo CorsiPrivate entryMaserati -DNA20SWI Toulo de GraffenriedEcurie AutosportMaserati 4CL -DNA30GBR Roger WormserPrivate entryMaserati 6CM -DNA32SWI Ciro BasadonnaEcurie AutosportMaserati 4CL -DNA60ITA Gianni CattinaPrivate entryMaserati -DNA66ITA Giacomo PalmieriPrivate entryMaserati 4CL -DNA70HOL Eric VerkadeEcurie AutosportMaserati 4CL -Sources:Farinelli Aldo 31 August 1946 Fra i primi venti biglietti estratti https://archive.org/details/lastampa_1946-08-31/page/n1/mode/2up?view=theater 2 January 2024 La Nuova Stampa 2 ItalianHenry Maurice 31 August 1946 Le Grand Prix De Turin https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t51002965/f1.item.zoom 2 January 2024 L'Équipe 1–2 French 14 April 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20250414092748/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t51002965/f1.item.zoom live http://archive.org/details/f-1-r-torino-1946 F 1 R Torino 1946 Notes † – Alternative Driver, car originally entered by Louis Chiron Race Almost instantly after the start of the race, polesitter Farina experienced an irreparable transmission failure, while Whitehead managed to get into the lead before problems with his supercharger led to him dropping down the order. This left the Alfas to break away from the pack. Maserati's challenge was not aided by team leader Nuvolari, who, seeming to be suffering from suspension problems from the start, lost one of his rear wheels on lap 10. Thankfully, he managed to bring the car to a stop without further incident, though the wheel itself ended up in the Po. The race, typical for the time, was one of high attrition; half of the field had retired by the mid-point when the rain began. In the end, the front-runners consisted of Wimille in first and Varzi in second, but still in hot pursuit. It seemed as though Wimille would be able to keep the lead until the end of the race, until lap 50 when the Alfa Romeo team held out a pit board for Wimille reading "1. Varzi; 2. Wimille", dictating the desired finishing order. Wimille then allowed Varzi past to give him the victory.Henry Maurice 2 September 1946 Wimille Avait Course Gagnée A Turin https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t5100297j/f2.item.zoom 2 January 2024 L'Équipe 1–2 French 23 December 2024 https://web.archive.org/web/20241223155853/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t5100297j/f2.item.zoom live Henry Maurice 4 September 1946 Jean-Pierre Wimille espère qu'une prochaine fois Alfa-Romeo lui permettra de jouer le premier rôle https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t51002999/f2.item.zoom 2 January 2024 L'Équipe 2 French 2 January 2024 https://web.archive.org/web/20240102191531/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t51002999/f2.item.zoom live Sommer crossed the line two laps down to take third, and the crowd was very impressed with Chaboud's drive, having started last and finishing fourth, albeit five laps down to the leaders. While Maserati would go on to win the majority of Grands Prix in 1946, the dominance of Alfa Romeo under the new formula regulations would prove itself consistent as the team would go on to dominate the following years, ultimately resulting in their car winning the first two seasons of the Formula One Championship in an equally dominant fashion.thumb|Second place finisher Jean-Pierre Wimille in front of winner Achille Varzi Race classification PosNoDriverTeamCarLapsTime/RetiredGrid 1 46 ITA Achille Varzi Alfa Corse Alfa Romeo 158 60 2:35:45.84 2 52 FRA Jean-Pierre Wimille Alfa Corse Alfa Romeo 158 60 +0.82 3 22 FRA Raymond Sommer Scuderia Milano Maserati 4CL 58 +2 Laps9 4 10 FRA Eugène Chaboud Ecurie France Delahaye 135S 55 +5 Laps20 5 26 SWI Enrico Platé Scuderia Milano Maserati 4CL 55 +5 Laps12 6 54 ITA Carlo Felice Trossi Alfa Corse Alfa Romeo 158 51 +9 Laps3 7 56 MCO Louis Chiron Ecurie Autosport Maserati 4CL 50 +10 Laps7 8 18 GBR Leslie Brooke Private entry ERA B 50 +10 Laps19 9 4 ITA Discoride Lanza Ecurie Naphtra Course Maserati 4CM 48 +12 Laps17 Ret 44 CHE Christian Kautz† Private entry Maserati 4CL 32 Engine14 Ret 50 GBR Peter Whitehead Private entry ERA E 30 Gearbox15 Ret 36 FRA Henri Louveau Scuderia Milano Maserati 4CL 25 Collision16 Ret 40 ITA Franco Cortese Scuderia Milano Maserati 4CL 16 Magneto10 Ret 28 ITA Arialdo Ruggieri Scuderia Milano Maserati 4CL 11 Supercharger11 Ret 48 ITA Tazio Nuvolari Scuderia Milano Maserati 4CL 9 Lost wheel6 Ret 16 ITA Giorgio Pelassa Scuderia Milano Maserati 4CL 8 Lost wheel8 Ret 24 ITA Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Corse Alfa Romeo 158 6 Ignition5 Ret 64 ITA Emilio Romano Private entry Maserati 4CL 2 Ignition18 Ret 42 GBR Reg Parnell Private entry ERA C 1 Gearbox13 Ret 8 ITA Giuseppe Farina Alfa Corse Alfa Romeo 158 0 Differential 1Sources: Notes † – Alternative Driver, car originally entered by Guido Barbieri References Turin Grand Prix 1946 1937 Turin Circuit none Turin Grand Prix Turin Grand Prix Category:Grand Prix race reports