1955 Targa Florio

The 39a Targa Florio took place on 16 October, around the Circuito delle Madonie, Sicily, Italy. It was also the sixth and final round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship as the Carrera Panamericana was cancelled and the Targa was allowed to take the late season slot, as a second Italian round after the Mille Miglia in May. The title lay between Ferrari, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz, with Ferrari leading 19 points from one win to 16 from the other two marques which had two wins each, but no other results. Mercedes had skipped the first two heats and withdrew from Le Mans after the disaster, while leading the race. Jaguar did not show up in Sicily at the unknown 72 km long road track, but Mercedes came three weeks early to practice with seven cars. Finishing 1–2–4, Mercedes secured the championship. thumb|right|230px| Circuito delle Madonie, Piccolo in black Report Entry A grand total of 65 racing cars were registered for this event, of which 64 arrived for practice and qualifying. Scuderia Ferrari entered a pair of Ferrari 750 Monzas for Carroll Shelby and Gino Munaron, and Umberto Maglioli and Sergio Sighinolfi, alongside a 860 Monza for the partnership of Eugenio Castellotti and Robert Manzon. One of their closest championship rivals, Jaguar, did not enter not all, leaving it to just one locally entered Jaguar XK120 to take up to the fight. Meanwhile, Officine Alfieri Maserati sent a total of six works cars across the Strait of Messina to keep their very slim championship hopes alive. Amongst their line-up was Luigi Musso, Giorgio Scarlatti and Franco Bordoni.http://www.wsrp.ic.cz/wsc1955.html#6 World Sports Racing Prototypes - World Championship 1955 2015-04-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20150222005142/http://wsrp.ic.cz/wsc1955.html#6#6 2015-02-22 dead The third marque chasing the title, Daimler-Benz AG entered three of their Mercedes-Benz 300SLRs to tackle the 44.64 mile circuit. They had decided to quit racing at the end of the 1955 season, but one last major attempt was made to wrest the World Sports Car Championship away from Ferrari. The cars were to be driven by Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling, Stirling Moss and Peter Collins, and John Fitch with former Jaguar driver, Desmond Titterington.http://grandprixhistory.org/targaflorio4.htm The History of the Targa Florio - Part 6 8 August 2008 Race The race was held over 13 laps of the 44.64 miles of the Circuito delle Madonie Piccolo, giving a distance of 581.604 miles. Each team of drivers was expected to navigate approximately 10,000 curves during almost 10 hours of driving combined. The Daimler team manager, Alfred Neubauer was planning on each driver being able to run four lap stints.http://www.teamdan.com/archive/wsc/1995/55tt.htmlFebruary 2019 InternetArchiveBot yes http://grandprixhistory.org/targaflorio4.htm The History of the Targa Florio - Part 6 8 August 2008 thumb|Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR similar to the 1955 winner driven by Stirling Moss and Peter Collins The first car, an Alfa Romeo 1900 TI started off at 07:00, with subsequent cars departing every 30 seconds. The first of the main competitors, the Ferrari 750 Monza driven by Luigi Piotti and Franco Cornacchia would leave at 07:24:30. Very quickly, Moss set a blistering pace and broke the track record by two and a half minutes. Although his Mercedes was one of the last to be flagged off, he had passed everyone by the end of lap one.http://grandprixhistory.org/targaflorio4.htm The History of the Targa Florio - Part 6 8 August 2008 http://www.conceptcarz.com/articles/article.aspx?articleID=4992 1955 Targa Florio: Two Brits Run Wild over the Sicilian Countryside Castellotti's Ferrari split the Mercedes of Moss and Fangio. At the end of the fourth lap Castellotti was in first place and Moss was in a ditch. Moss had crashed but the Mercedes was still in working order if slightly bruised. After help from some spectators Moss was back on the road but now in fourth place. Collins exchanged places with Moss and took up the chase. Fangio passed the leading Ferrari and handed his car to Kling. Mercedes were now in first, third and fourth. The Mercedes of Moss and Collins would certainly have its fair share of obvious moments, scattered all around the car's body. Still, it was going very fast. The area around the headlights were badly damaged, front corners on both sides were stripped away. And the right side panel looked as though they had had a number of encounters with buildings as the two Englishmen pushed the 300SLR hard through the Sicilian countryside.http://grandprixhistory.org/targaflorio4.htm The History of the Targa Florio - Part 6 8 August 2008 http://www.conceptcarz.com/articles/article.aspx?articleID=4992 1955 Targa Florio: Two Brits Run Wild over the Sicilian Countryside On one occasion, Moss pushed at a bit too hard and would go careening off the side of the track. The car avoided heavy damage, and with the help of some local spectators, Moss would rejoin the race, still leading. Trouble struck again when Collins drove straight up a stone wall, his front wheels spinning in the air. Fortunately he was able to put his car in reverse and rejoined the battle. Collins worked his way up to first before returning the car to Moss.http://grandprixhistory.org/targaflorio4.htm The History of the Targa Florio - Part 6 8 August 2008 http://www.conceptcarz.com/articles/article.aspx?articleID=4992 1955 Targa Florio: Two Brits Run Wild over the Sicilian Countryside Moss drove the only way that he knew how and won going away or in the words of Peter Collins "despite Stirling's efforts and my own to write the machine off!" Mercedes won the race and with it the sports car championship only to quit racing for the second time.http://grandprixhistory.org/targaflorio4.htm The History of the Targa Florio - Part 6 8 August 2008 As a result, car number 104 (Daimler-Benz AG), took an impressive victory, winning in a time of 9hrs 43.14 mins., averaging a speed of 59.832 mph. Second place went to Fangio and Kling, for the second race in a row, 4mins and 41 seconds adrift. The podium was complete by the Ferrari 857 S of Castellotti and Manzon, a further 5mins 25 behind. Meanwhile, the third Mercedes of Titterington and Fitch were fourth. Next home was the first of the Maserati's, in hand of Carlos Manzini and Francesco Giardini.http://www.teamdan.com/archive/wsc/1955/55tf.html 1955 Targa Florio 2015-04-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924121153/http://www.teamdan.com/archive/wsc/1955/55tf.html 2015-09-24 dead http://wsrp.ic.cz/wsc1955.html World Sports Racing Prototypes - World Championship 1955 2015-04-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20150222005142/http://wsrp.ic.cz/wsc1955.html#6 2015-02-22 dead Official Classification Class Winners are in Bold text. Pos No ClassDriver Entrant Chassis Laps Reason Out 1st 104 S+2.0 GBR Stirling Moss GBR Peter Collins Daimler Benz AG Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR 9hr 43:14.0, 13 2nd 112 S+2.0 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio West Germany Karl Kling Daimler Benz AG Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR 9hr 47:55.2, 13 3rd 116 S+2.0 Italy Eugenio Castellotti France Robert Manzon Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 857 S 9hr 53:20.4, 13 4th 106 S+2.0 GBR Desmond Titterington USA John Fitch Daimler Benz AG Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR 9hr 54:53.4, 13 5th 76 S2.0 Italy Carlo Manzini Italy Francesco Giardini Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati A6GCS 10hr 41:15.0, 13 6th 82 S2.0 Italy Giuseppe Musso Italy Giuseppe Rossi Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati A6GCS 10hr 48:53.2, 13 7th 64 S1.5Italy Giulio CabiancaItaly Piero Carini Automobili OSCA Osca MT4 1500 10hr 51:37.4, 13 8th 78 S2.0 Italy Giorgio Scarlatti Italy Osvaldo Lippi Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati A6GCS 11hr 03:28.0, 13 9th 92 S2.0 Italy Luigi Bellucci Italy Maria Teresa de Filippis Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati A6GCS/53 11hr 22:53.0, 13 DNF 16 GT Italy Armando Zampiero Italy Luigi Villotti Mercedes-Benz 300 SL 12 DNF 10th 84 S2.0 Italy Gaetano Starrabba Italy Salvatore La Pira Maserati A6GCS 12 11th 6 TS+1.3 Italy Elio Zagato Italy Ovidio Capelli Fiat 8V Zagato 12 12th 72 S2.0 Italy Alberico CacciariItaly Azzurro Manzini Italy Vincenzo Sorrentino Maserati A6GCS 12 13th 4 TS+1.3 Italy Giuseppe de Sarzana Italy Clemente Ravetto Fiat 8V 12 14th 42 S1.1 Italy Domenico Rotolo Italy Luigi di Pasquale Automobili OSCA Osca MT4 1100 12 15th 36 GT Italy Francesco Arezzo Italy Gennaro Alterio Fiat 8V Zagato 71 DNF 30 GT Italy Ottavio Guarducci Italy Mario Lietti Fiat 8V 11 DNF 16th 88 S2.0 Italy Guido Perrella Italy Mario Sannino Alfa Romeo 1900 11 17th 86 S2.0 Italy Enzo Lopez Italy Ferdinando Lopez Maserati A6GCS 11 18th 52 GT France Guy Michel Italy Alfredo Fondi Renault 4CV 11 19th 70 S2.0 Italy Bruno Gavazzoli Italy Gastone Crepaldi Maserati A6GCS 11 20th 20 TS+1.3 Italy Vincenzo Arena Italy Gianfernando Tomaselli Lancia Aurelia 11 DNF 120 S+2.0 Italy Umberto Maglioli Italy Sergio Sighinolfi Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 750 Monza 10 Lost wheel DNF 100 S+2.0 Italy Luigi Piotti Italy Franco Cornacchia Ferrari 750 Monza 9 DNF DNF 12 TS+1.3 Italy Guido Cestelli-Guidi Italy Guerci Alfa Romeo 1900 TI 8 DNF DNF 56 S1.1 West Germany Hans Finke West Germany Fritz Kornekauer Kieft-Climax 1100 8 DNF DNF 22 GT Italy Domenico Tramontana Italy Giuseppe Alotta Lancia Aurelia 7 DNF DNF 74 S2.0 Italy Franco Cortese Italy Antonio Pucci Ferrari 500 Mondial 7 Accident DNF 40 S1.1 Italy Francesco Spinel Italy Armando Soldano Siata 1100 GT 6 DNF DNF 54 S1.1 Italy Bruno Ricciardi Italy Angelo Sbordone Osca MT4 1100 6 DNF DNF 62 S1.5 Italy Giovanni Buoncristiani Italy Piero Altini Ermini-Fiat 6 DNF DNF 102 S+2.0 Italy Mario Ricci Italy Piero Scotti Franco Bordoni Gordini T24S 6 DNF DNF 24 GT Italy Alfonso Vella Italy Pietro Termini Jaguar XK120 5 DNF DNF 48 S1.1 Italy Francesco Mentesana Italy Gaetano Marotta Cisitalia 202 5 DNF DNF 110 S+2.0 USA Carroll Shelby Italy Gino Munaron Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 750 Monza 5 Accident DNF 10 TS+1.3 Italy Baldassare Taormina Italy Pasquale Tacci Alfa Romeo 1900 TI 4 DNF DNF 28 GT Italy Mennato Boffa Italy Giuseppe Ruggero Lancia Aurelia 4 DNF DNF 94 S2.0 Italy Fernando Mancini Switzerland Benoît Musy Tony Parravano Maserati 150S 4 Oil pipe DNF 118 S+2.0 Italy Luigi Musso Italy Luigi Villoresi Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 300S 4 Rear axle DNF 2 TS+1.3 Italy Nicola Musmeci Italy Alessandro Perrone Alfa Romeo 1900 TI 2 DNF DNF 14 TS+1.3 France Charles de Cortanze Belgium ”Eldé” Peugeot 403 2 DNF DNF 38 S1.1 Italy Ugo Mauthe Italy Rosario Montalbano Siata 1100 GT 2 DNF DNF 44 S1.1 Italy Francesco de Roberto Italy Pietro Fiordelisi Stanguellini Bialbero 2 Accident DNF 58 S1.1 Italy Francesco Siracusa Italy Pasquale Placido Stanguellini Bialbero 2 DNF DNF 32 GT Italy Vittorio Colocci Italy Gioacchino Vari Lancia Aurelia 1 DNF DNF 80 S2.0 GBR Mike Young GBR Geoff Richardson Lotus-Connaught Mark VIII 1 Accident DNF 90 S2.0 Italy Giovanni Bracco Italy Franco Bordini Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 200S 1 Accident DNS 8 TS+1.3 Italy Raffaello Matteucci Italy Alfonso Thiele Alfa Romeo 1900 TI DNS 18 GT Italy Franco Bertani Alfa Romeo Giulietta DNF 26 GT Italy Natale Gotelli Italy Bensi Mercedes-Benz 300 SL DNS 34 GT Italy Ignazio Consiglio Italy Rocco Finoocchiaro Fiat 8V DNS 46 S1.1 Italy Otello Biagiotti Italy Piero Altini Ermini-Fiat DNS 50 S1.1 Italy Mario Piccolo Italy Giuseppe Sapienza Giaur DNS 60 S1.5 West Germany Ernst Lautenschlager West Germany Rudi Scholl Porsche 550 DNS 66 S1.5 West Germany Wolfgang Siedel Osca MT4 DNS 96 S2.0 Italy Azzurro Manzini Maserati A6GCS DNS 98 S+2.0 France Hauret Talbot Sport DNS 108 S+2.0 Italy Luigi Bordonaro Italy Enrico Anselmi Ferrari 750 Monza DNS 114 S+2.0 Italy Melchiorre Scaminaci Italy Antonio di Salvo Ferrari 750 Monza http://wsrp.ic.cz/wsc1955.html World Sports Racing Prototypes - World Championship 1955 2015-04-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20150222005142/http://wsrp.ic.cz/wsc1955.html#6 2015-02-22 dead http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Targa_Florio-1955-10-16.html Targa Florio 1955 - Race Results - Racing Sports Carshttp://www.teamdan.com/archive/wsc/1955/55tf.html 1955 Targa Florio 2015-04-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924121153/http://www.teamdan.com/archive/wsc/1955/55tf.html 2015-09-24 dead http://www.formula2.net/Targa55.htm F2 Register - Index Fastest Lap: Stirling Moss, 43:07.400secs (62.248 mph) http://www.teamdan.com/archive/wsc/1955/55tf.html 1955 Targa Florio 2015-04-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924121153/http://www.teamdan.com/archive/wsc/1955/55tf.html 2015-09-24 dead Class Winners Class Winners Sports +2000 104 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Moss / Collins Sports 2000 76 Maserati A6GCS Manzini / Giardini Sports 1500 64 Osca MT4 1500 Cabianca / Carini Sports 1100 42 Osca MT4 1100 Rotolo / di Pasquale Grand Touring 36 Fiat 8V Zagato Arezzo / Alterio Special Touring +1300 6 Fiat 8V Zagato Zagato / Capelli http://www.racingsportscars.com/race/Targa_Florio-1955-10-16.html Targa Florio 1955 - Racing Sports Cars Standings after the race Pos Championship Points 1 West Germany Mercedes-Benz 24 2 Italy Ferrari 22 (23) 3 UK Jaguar 16 4 Italy Maserati 13 (15) 5 GBR Aston Martin 9 Note: Only the top five positions are included in this set of standings. Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only awarded points for their highest finishing car with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. Only the best 4 results out of the 7 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the above table. References 30em Further reading Ed Heuvink. Targa Florio: 1955-1973. Reinhard Klein. 978-3927458666 R. M. Clarke. Targa Florio: The Porsche and Ferrari Years, 1955-1964. Brooklands Books Ltd. 978-1855204874 1955 World Sportscar Championship RAC Tourist Trophy 1000km Buenos Aires(1956) Targa Florio Category:Targa Florio Targa Florio