1955 World Sportscar Championship

Racing tournament 1955 World Sportscar Championship 1954 1956 The 1955 World Sportscar Championship season was the third season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured a series of six endurance races for sportscars, contested from 23 January to 16 October 1955. The championship was won by Mercedes-Benz, the German manufacturer ending the dominance of Ferrari which had won both of the previous World Sportscar Championship titles. Season summary thumb|Mercedes-Benz won the championship with the 300 SLR thumb|Ferrari placed second with the 750 Monza (pictured) and other models thumb|Jaguar placed third with the D-Type The 1955 World Sports Car Championship was eventually contested over a six race series, even though seven were planned, of which two were cancelled. With legendary races such as the Mille Miglia and the RAC Tourist Trophy now part of an international race calendar, they were accompanied by the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 12 Hours of Sebring. The championship started in January, with a trip to Argentina for the 1955 1000 km Buenos Aires and ended with an event new to the championship, the legendary road race, the 1955 Targa Florio. http://www.racingsportscars.com/championship/World%20Championship.html World Sportscar Championship - Championships - Racing Sports Cars As a result of the Le Mans disaster, both the 1000 km Nürburgring and the Carrera Panamericana were cancelled.Posthumus Cyril World Sports Car Championship 1961 The Nürburgring hosted a 500km race anyway, limited to 1500cc cars. Many Porsche 550 were entered, and even two East German EMW R3/55, with Edgar Barth among the drivers. The Championship was open for manufacturers, with works teams such as Scuderia Ferrari, Officine Alfieri Maserati, Daimler-Benz and Jaguar Cars leading the way, but the majority of the fields were made up of amateur or gentlemen drivers, often up against professional racing drivers with experience in Formula One. Classes were split between closed cars (GT) and open cars (Sports), with further divisions due to engine displacement. The 1955 season was a very bittersweet one for Daimler-Benz, with their Mercedes-Benz 300 SLRs. After missing the opening two, non-European rounds, which allowed Ferrari to gain a 14-point head start on Mercedes, the German team joined the championship. Aided by an English journalist, Denis Jenkinson, Stirling Moss would romp to victory in the Mille Miglia; however, the elation achieved by this English pairing and additional non-championship 1-2 win at the Nürburgring Eifelrennen would be quickly subdued at Le Mans a month later, when Pierre Levegh’s 300 SLR would be launched into the air and into the crowd, killing more than 80 spectators. Daimler-Benz would withdraw from the race, and motor sport altogether at the end of the season.http://www.conceptcarz.com/articles/article.aspx?articleID=4992 1955 Targa Florio: Two Brits Run Wild over the Sicilian Countryside This difficult decision would be made a little easier when Moss, and John Fitch headed a 1-2-3 Mercedes victory at the Dundrod Circuit and the 1955 RAC Tourist Trophy. This race was marred by the deaths of three drivers. The victory put Mercedes back in the hunt for the championship. The last race of the season, the 1955 Targa Florio, would see Moss's car win again ahead of Fangio's, this time aided by Peter Collins, ensuring the manufacturers title (which was not yet awarded in F1) was won by the German marque. Season results Race results Date Rd. Event Circuit / Location Winning drivers Winning team Winning car Results 23/01 1 Argentina 1000km Buenos Aires Autódromo Mun. Avenida Paz Argentina E. S. ValienteArgentina J.-M. Ibanez — Italy Ferrari 375 Plus Results 13/03 2 United States 1912 12 Hours of Sebring Sebring Raceway GBR Mike HawthornUnited States 1912 Phil Walters United States 1912 B. S. Cunningham GBR Jaguar D-Type Results 01/05 3 Italy Mille Miglia Brescia - Rome - Brescia GBR Stirling MossGBR D. Jenkinson West Germany Daimler Benz AG West Germany Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Results 11/0612/06 4 France 24 Hours of Le Mans Circuit des 24h GBR Mike HawthornGBR Ivor Bueb GBR Jaguar Cars Ltd. GBR Jaguar D-Type Results 28/08 5 GER 1000km 500km Nürburgring Jean Behra Officine A. Maserati Italy Maserati 150S non-WC 1500cchttps://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Nurburgring-1955-08-28.html 18/09 5 GBR Tourist Trophy Dundrod Circuit GBR Stirling MossUnited States 1912 John Fitch West Germany Daimler Benz AG West Germany Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Results 16/10 6 Italy Targa Florio Circuito Picc. delle Madonie GBR Stirling MossGBR Peter Collins West Germany Daimler Benz AG West Germany Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Results Dec. 7 MEX 1934 Carrera Panamericana Pan-American Highway in Mexico — — — canc.The 1955 Carrera, scheduled for that December, never happened. One reason was economics: the costs of keeping the roads in condition for racing, of manning the long circuit with organizers and police, and of providing prize money. Also, the original purpose of the race, to prove the highway suitable for family cars, was fulfilled. And the race hindered about a week of commercial traffic. Then there were the deaths. Twenty-seven spectators and participants had died in the five Carreras. The Le Mans disaster in June 1955, when more than 80 were killed, was added proof that the ever-growing speed of competition cars was out-racing the condition of their circuits. - https://museum.revsinstitute.org/news/carrera-panamericana/ Championship standings Pos Manufacturer ARG BUE USA SEB ITA MMI FRA LMS UK TTR ITA TGA Total 1 DEU Mercedes-Benz 18 Ret 18 18 24 2 ITA Ferrari 18 26 34 Ret 6(1) 34 22 1 point dropped 3 GBR Jaguar 18 18 Ret 16 4 ITA Maserati 34 34 43 Ret 52 5(2) 13 2 point dropped 5 GBR Aston Martin Ret 26 43 9 6 DEU Porsche 43 8 8 43 12 6 7 FRA Gordini 52 2 8 GBR Austin-Healey 61 12 Ret 1 Note: Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were awarded points only for their highest finishing car with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. Only the best 4 results out of the 6 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the accompanying table. The cars The following models contributed to the net championship point scores of their respective manufacturers. Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Ferrari 375 Plus, Ferrari 750 Monza, Ferrari 857 S, Ferrari 376 S & Ferrari 735 LM Jaguar D-Type Maserati A6GCS & Maserati 300S Aston Martin DB3S Porsche 550 Spyder Gordini T24S Austin-Healey 100S References Further reading János L. Wimpffen, Time and Two Seats, 1999, pages 170–200 The Automobile Year Book of Sports Car Racing, 1982 External links Championship race results & points table at wspr-racing.com Championship race results, programs and images at www.racingsportscars.com Category:World Sportscar Championship seasons World