1949 British Grand Prix

April 2017 April 2017 GP British 1949 05 14 yes 1949 RAC British Grand Prix United Kingdom Silverstone CircuitSilverstone, England Permanent racing facility 3.000 4.828 Silverstone Circuit 1949 to 1951.png 100 300.0 482.8 120,000British Grand Prix Belfast Telegraph 14 May 1949 9 July 2020 https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002318/19490514/140/0004 British Newspaper Archive subscription Luigi Villoresi Maserati Italy 2:09.8 B. Bira Maserati 2:10.4 Thailand Emmanuel de Graffenried Maserati Switzerland Bob Gerard ERA United Kingdom Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot France The 1949 British Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race which was held at Silverstone on 14 May 1949. The race was won by Emmanuel de Graffenried driving a Maserati 4CLT.http://www.statsf1.com/en/1949-hc/grand-prix-51.aspx II British Grand Prix • STATS F1http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/archive/f1/nc/1949/49gb.html 1949 British Grand Prix Background right|thumb|The layout used from 1950 to 1951 was the same as in 1949 except for bypassing the Club chicane The 1949 Grand Prix was held just seven months after the 1948 event on a substantially modified layout. For 1949 the layout used perimeter roads only, no longer running down the runways. The layout was much the same as that used until 1973 with the exception of a tight chicane at what became Club corner in order to ensure cars were tested at both high and low speeds.Nye Doug The British Grand Prix 1977 B.T. Batsford Ltd London 0713432837 35–38 Also new for 1949 was the RAC being granted Grande Epreuve status for their race, officially adopting the title of British Grand Prix. Entries Although a large entry was attracted, in spite of the increased importance placed on the event the entry did not include any true factory entries. No Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine 1 Thailand B. Bira Private Maserati Maserati 4CLT/48 Maserati L4s 2 Switzerland Emmanuel de Graffenried Private Maserati Maserati 4CLT/48 Maserati L4s 3 UK Tony Rolt Private Alfa Romeo Alfa–Aitken Alfa Romeo L8 4 UK Raymond MaysUK Ken Richardson T. Vandervell Thinwall Special Ferrari Thinwall Special Ferrari 125 Ferrari V12s 5 UK Bob Ansell Private Maserati Maserati 4CM Maserati L4s 6 UK Geoff AnsellUK Brian Shawe-Taylor Private ERA ERA B ERA L6s 7 UK Bob Gerard Bob Gerard Racing ERA ERA B ERA L6s 8 UK David HampshireUK Billy Cotton Private ERA ERA B ERA L6s 9 UK David Murray Private Maserati Maserati 4CL Maserati L4s 10 UK Reg Parnell Scuderia Ambrosiana Maserati Maserati 4CLT/48 Maserati L4s 11 UK Fred Ashmore Scuderia Ambrosiana Maserati Maserati 4CLT/48 Maserati L4s 12 Italy Luigi Villoresi Scuderia Ambrosiana Maserati Maserati 4CLT/48 Maserati L4s 15 Monaco Louis Chiron SFACS Ecurie France Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot L6 16 France Louis Rosier Private Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot L6 17 France Yves Giraud-Cabantous Private Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot L6 18 UK George Abecassis Private Alta Alta GP Alta L4s 19 Belgium Johnny Claes Ecurie Belge Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot L6 20 UK George Nixon Private ERA ERA A ERA L6s 21 UK Peter WhiteheadUK Dudley Folland Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 125 Ferrari V12s 22 UK Duncan HamiltonUK Philip Fotheringham-Parker Private Maserati Maserati 6CM Maserati L6s 23 UK Cuth Harrison ? ERA ? ? 24 France Philippe Étancelin Private Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot L6 25 UK Roy Salvadori Private Maserati Maserati 4CL Maserati L4s 26 UK Anthony Baring Private Maserati Maserati 4CM Maserati L4 27 UK John Bolster P.H. Bell ERA ERA B ERA L6s 28 UK Peter Walker P.N. Whitehead ERA ERA B ERA L6s Practice and qualifying Practice began on the Thursday before the race, although not all competitors arrived, some having travelled from the 1949 Roussillon Grand Prix in Perignan. Peter Walker set the fastest time on Thursday in 2 minutes 13.2. Luigi Villoresi was still tired, having arrived directly from Perignon, but was able to set second fastest time in 2 minutes 14.4, followed by Tony Rolt (2 minutes 15.8) and Cuth Harrison (2 minutes 16.4). Times improved the following day as more of the international drivers had arrived. Villoresi would improve on his Thursday time to be fastest of all in 2 minutes 9.8, followed by Bira, who had also arrived from Perignan, in 2 minutes 10.2. The next fastest times set on Friday were by Emmanuel de Graffenried (2 minutes 13.6) and Bob Gerard (2 minutes 14.4). The starting grid was arranged in rows of five, then four, then five, and so on. Classification Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 12 Italy Luigi Villoresi Maserati 2:09.8 – 2 1 Thailand B. Bira Maserati 2:10.2 + 0.4 3 28 UK Peter Walker ERA 2:13.2 + 3.4 4 2 Switzerland Emmanuel de Graffenried Maserati 2:13.6 + 3.8 5 7 UK Bob Gerard ERA 2:14.4 + 4.6 6 10 UK Reg Parnell Maserati 2:14.8 + 5.0 7 3 UK Tony Rolt Alfa–Aitken 2:15.8 + 6.0 8 24 France Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:15.8 + 6.0 9 23 UK Cuth Harrison ERA 2:16.4 + 6.6 10 8 UK David Hampshire ERA 2:17.2 + 7.4 11 17 France Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:17.4 + 7.6 12 18 UK George Abecassis Alta 2:17.6 + 7.8 13 6 UK Geoff Ansell ERA 2:18.0 + 8.2 14 21 UK Peter Whitehead Ferrari 2:18.4 + 8.6 15 15 Monaco Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:19.2 + 9.4 16 27 UK John Bolster ERA 2:20.0 + 10.2 17 11 UK Fred Ashmore Maserati 2:20.8 + 11.0 18 19 Belgium Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:22.2 + 12.4 19 4 UK Raymond Mays Thinwall Special Ferrari 2:24.6 + 14.8 20 16 France Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:25.2 + 15.4 21 26 UK Anthony Baring Maserati 2:27.0 + 17.2 22 22 UK Duncan Hamilton Maserati 2:29.0 + 19.2 23 25 UK Roy Salvadori Maserati 2:29.2 + 19.4 24 20 UK George Nixon ERA 2:29.8 + 20.0 25 9 UK David Murray Maserati 2:30.4 + 20.6 Race Bira made the best start in his Maserati, leading Villoresi's similar car by a clear two lengths at the first corner, followed closely by two more Maseratis, driven by de Graffenried, and by Reg Parnell taking advantage of starting directly behind the fastest drivers. Fifth was the ERA of Gerard. Villoresi overtook Bira for the lead on the third lap, as the pair pulled away from the rest of the field. On lap 24, Bira regained the lead, and Villoresi began slowing, stopping for fuel at the end of lap 27 and dropping to fourth place behind Parnell moving into second place just slightly ahead of de Graffenried. Behind Villoresi was the Alta of George Abecassis in fifth and another Maserati, that of Fred Ashmore, in sixth. After thirty laps Bira had lapped every car outside of the top four. Not long after this Abecassis lost most of his exhaust pipe but continued on unfazed, while at the same time Villoresi stopped again, this time retiring with a loss of oil pressure. Bira began suffering from brake fade, allowing Parnell to slowly close the gap but after 40 laps they were still around 40 seconds apart, with de Graffenried now around 20 seconds behind Parnell, followed now by Gerard and the Talbot-Lago of Philippe Étancelin. On his 48th lap Bira was unable to slow for the Club chicane, colliding with the straw bales and a barrel, damaging his suspension too much to continue, giving the lead to Parnell. At the halfway point (50 laps), Parnell lead de Graffenried by 23.6 seconds, followed by Gerard in third from Billy Cotton (who had taken over David Hampshire's ERA), and the Talbot-Lagos of Louis Rosier and Étancelin. Parnell did not lead for long, however, as his axle oil plug popped out, losing him the lead. He would stop three more times over the next few laps and eventually retired after 69 laps due to a broken rear axle. So then after 60 laps the order was de Graffenried over three minutes ahead of Gerard, the soon to retire Parnell, Cotton, the two Talbot-Lagos, Ashmore and the Alta of Abecassis back up to seventh after losing a significant amount of time with carburettor trouble. Soon after Rosier took his Talbot-Lago into fourth place ahead of Cotton. For the final 30 laps Gerard began to catch de Graffenried but was still some way back. His progress was helped by de Graffenried making a second stop for fuel on lap 85, but only managed to come within a minute of leading. So then de Graffenried won the race in a time of nearly four hours, 65 seconds ahead of Gerard who was himself a lap clear of third placed Rosier, the only driver to complete the race without stopping for fuel. Classification Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 2 Switzerland Emmanuel de Graffenried Maserati 100 3:52:50.2 4 2 7 UK Bob Gerard ERA 100 + 1:05.2 5 3 16 France Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 99 + 1 Lap 20 4 8 UK David HampshireUK Billy Cotton ERA 99 + 1 Lap 10 5 24 France Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago-Talbot 97 + 3 Laps 8 6 11 UK Fred Ashmore Maserati 97 + 3 Laps 11 7 18 UK George Abecassis Alta 96 + 4 Laps 12 8 21 UK Peter WhiteheadUK Dudley Folland Ferrari 95 + 5 Laps 14 9 6 UK Geoff AnsellUK Brian Shawe-Taylor ERA 94 + 6 Laps 13 10 19 Belgium Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 92 + 8 Laps 18 11 22 UK Philip Fotheringham-ParkerUK Duncan Hamilton Maserati 92 + 8 Laps 22 Ret 4 UK Raymond MaysUK Ken Richardson Thinwall Special Ferrari 82 Accident 19 Ret 10 UK Reg Parnell Maserati 69 Transmission 6 Ret 25 UK Roy Salvadori Maserati 65 Valve 23 Ret 9 UK David Murray Maserati 64 Engine 25 Ret 27 UK John Bolster ERA 53 Accident 16 Ret 28 UK Peter Walker ERA 50 Brakes 3 Ret 1 Thailand B. Bira Maserati 47 Collision 2 Ret 15 Monaco Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago-Talbot 41 Engine 15 Ret 17 France Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 39 Oil leak 11 Ret 26 UK Anthony Baring Maserati 39 Water leak 21 Ret 12 Italy Luigi Villoresi Maserati 36 Engine 1 Ret 23 UK Cuth Harrison ERA 25 Engine 9 Ret 20 UK George Nixon ERA 16 Supercharger 24 Ret 3 UK Tony Rolt Alfa–Aitken 15 Rear axle 7 DNS 5 UK Bob Ansell Maserati Engine References British Grand Prix 1949 1948 British Grand Prix 1949 Belgian Grand Prix 1948 British Grand Prix 1950 British Grand Prix Category:British Grand Prix British Grand Prix British Grand Prix