1948 French Grand Prix

GP French Circuit-Reims-Gueux-1926.png 18 July 1948 XXXV Grand Prix de l'ACF France Reims Reims-Gueux 4.831 7.774 64 309.155 497.536 Jean-Pierre Wimille Alfa Romeo France 2:35.2 Jean-Pierre Wimille Alfa Romeo 2:41.2 France Jean-Pierre Wimille Alfa Romeo France Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo Italy Alberto Ascari Alfa Romeo Italy The 1948 French Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race, held at Reims on 18 July 1948. The race was won by Jean-Pierre Wimille, driving an Alfa Romeo 158. Report Official practice was held in very wet conditions. In spite of this Jean-Pierre Wimille was able to set a time of 2:35.2, not far from the record set in 1939 in dry conditions, nearly 10 seconds faster than Alberto Ascari and nearly 20 seconds faster than the fastest non-Alfa Romeo, Philippe Étancelin's Talbot-Lago. As expected, the three Alfa Romeos lead at the start from the Talbot-Lagos. However, Luigi Villoresi's Maserati, which started from near the back of the grid, quickly moved up into third place ahead of Consalvo Sanesi in the third of the Alfas. Villoresi was starting to challenge Ascari for second place when forced to pit for what would be the first of many mechanical issues. This allowed Alfa Romeo to take an easy 1-2-3 win, two laps ahead of the best Talbot-Lago. Although Wimille and Ascari would swap for the lead a few times, mostly as a result of pitstops, they finished in the order decided by team manager Giovanni Guidotti which required Ascari to slow and allow Sanesi to pass him just before the finish. Classification Pos Driver Car Laps Time/Retired GridHodges David The French Grand Prix 1967 135–138 1 France Jean-Pierre Wimille Alfa Romeo 158 64 3:01:07.5 1 2 Italy Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo 158 64 + 24.5 3 3 Italy Alberto Ascari Alfa Romeo 158 64 + 25.0 2 4 Italy Franco Comotti Talbot-Lago T26C 62 + 2 laps 6 5 France "Georges Raph" Talbot-Lago T26C 62 + 2 laps 8 6 France Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago T26C 60 + 4 laps 10 7 Italy Luigi VilloresiItaly Tazio Nuvolari Maserati 4CLT/48 59 + 5 laps 16 8 France Eugène Chaboud Delahaye 135S 59 + 5 laps 9 9 Monaco Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago T26SS 56 + 15 laps 5 10 France Charles Pozzi Talbot-Lago T26SS 45 + 19 laps 13 Ret Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Simca-Gordini T11 41 Engine 11 Ret Italy Nello Pagani Maserati 4CL 37 Oil leak 19 Ret France Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago 150C 31 Fuel Tank 7 Ret France Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago T26C 22 Engine 4 Ret Italy Soave Besana Ferrari 166SC 19 Engine 14 Ret Switzerland Emmanuel de Graffenried Maserati 4CL 11 Oil leak 15 Ret UK John Heath Alta GP 7 Clutch 18 Ret France Pierre Veyron Simca Gordini T11 5 Engine 17 Ret France Raymond Sommer Maserati 4CM 2 Oil pressure 12 DNP France Eugène Martin CTA-Arsenal Not present DNP Thailand B. Bira ERA B-Type Not present References External links 1948 Grands Prix results StatsF1 French Grand Prix 1948 1948 Swiss Grand Prix 1948 Italian Grand Prix 1947 French Grand Prix 1949 French Grand Prix French Grand Prix Category:French Grand Prix Category:1948 in French motorsport