1955 New Zealand Grand Prix

October 2015 June 2022 CUST 3rd New Zealand Grand Prix New Zealand New Zealand Ardmore Track Layout.png Ardmore Circuit, Auckland, New Zealand 8 January 1955 Temporary racing facility 2.0 3.2 100 186 300 Sunny Determined by heats Prince Bira Maserati 250F 1:33.0 Thailand Prince Bira Thailand Maserati 250F Peter Whitehead United Kingdom Ferrari 500/625 Tony Gaze Australia Ferrari 500/625The 1955 New Zealand Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Ardmore Circuit on 8 January 1955. It was the third iteration of the New Zealand Grand Prix and was run to Formula Libre regulations. The event was won by Thailand's Prince Bira. Bira won in relatively dominant fashion, lapping all but two drivers – Peter Whitehead and Tony Gaze. The need for pitstops potentially cost the Ferrari pairing of Whitehead and Gaze a shot at victory. They did however complete the podium, on the lead lap. Having both set a time of 1:33.0, Bira and Whitehead had shared the fastest lap of the race. Race report The second iteration of the New Zealand International Grand Prix saw the introduction of heats to determine the starting grid positions for the main race. The modified layout from the previous years race to mitigate the slew of cars spinning at the west end of the circuit was retained for the 1955 event. This would be the last year it would be run as, for 1956, Ardmore would revert to the original layout. It was immediately apparent that speeds had drastically increased from the previous year and Bira, with his formidable Maserati 250F and methanol blend fuel mixture, was the fastest of them all in early practice. The two qualifying heats were held mere hours before the race. The first was won by Peter Whitehead while the second was won by Bira. At the start of the main Grand Prix, Whitehead and Tony Gaze leapt off into an early lead in their Ferraris. However, they were soon vanquished by Bira, who never looked back once he assumed the lead. Both the Ferraris repeatedly made brief calls to the pits during the race, starting from lap 22, while Bira continued to tear around, never needing to venture to the pitlane for the entirety of the race. Whitehead lost 23 seconds in the first stop whilst Gaze lost an entire lap to clear a jammed throttle linkage. Down the pack, local driver Fred Zambucka had trouble negotiating College Corner and spun into the hay bales three times during the course of the race. Australian Stan Coffey exceeded expectations by jostling among the leading pack in the early part of the race before being forced to retire due to oil pressure on lap 16. From that point, the race was rather processional. However, the effect of Ferrari's pitstops were not immediately apparent. Bira was leading comfortably, but with a handful of laps remaining, Bira's brakes began to fade noticeably and was essentially driving on the gears. The effort required to pull the car up wore out the soles of his shoes and as Gaze scythed past to unlap himself, a late-race challenge by Ferrari might have been feasibly possible had Whitehead and Gaze not lost as much time as they did in the pits. As it was, Bira romped home to take victory, with the winning average speed over six miles an hour faster than the previous year's event. Whitehead and Gaze rounded out the top three, being the only cars other than Bira on the lead lap. Classification Pos No. Driver Car Laps Time 1 1 THA Prince Bira Maserati 250F / Maserati 2497cc 6cyl 100 2hr 40min 12sec 2 GBR Peter Whitehead Ferrari 500/625 / Ferrari 2968cc 4cyl 100 + 33.0 s 3 4 AUS Tony Gaze Ferrari 500/625 / Ferrari 2968cc 4cyl 100 + 1.26.0 s 4 AUS Jack Brabham Cooper T23 / Bristol 1971cc 6cyl 98 + 2 Laps 5 3 AUS Reg Hunt Maserati A6GCM / Maserati 2497cc 6cyl 97 + 3 Laps 6 NZL Syd Jensen Cooper Mk. VII / Norton 498cc 1cyl 91 + 9 Laps 7 12 NZL Fred Zambucka Maserati 8CM / Maserati 2992cc 8cyl s/c 89 + 11 Laps 8 NZL George Palmer Jackson-Mercury / Mercury 4118cc V8 88 + 12 Laps 9 18 NZL Ross Jensen Triumph TR2 / Triumph 1991cc 4cyl 86 + 14 Laps 10 AUS Dick Cobden Ferrari 125 / Ferrari 1995cc V12 s/c 86 + 14 Laps 11 NZL Arnold Stafford Cooper Mk. VII / Norton 498cc 1cyl 85 + 15 Laps 12 NZL Phil Neill Austin-Healey 100 / Austin 2660cc 4cyl 83 + 17 Laps 13 NZL Peter McInally Austin-Healey 100 / Austin 2660cc 4cyl 80 + 20 Laps 14 NZL Des McDonagh Thomas-Mercury / Mercury 4100cc V8 75 + 25 Laps 15 NZL John Horton HWM F1 / Alta 1960cc 4cyl s/c 55 + 45 Laps Ret NZL Ron Frost Cooper Mk. VIII / Norton 498cc 1cyl 89 Gearbox Ret AUS Lex Davison HWM F2 / Jaguar 3442cc 6cyl 88 Transmission Ret NZL Ron Roycroft Alfa Romeo Tipo B / Alfa Romeo 2905cc 8cyl s/c 58 Valve Ret NZL John McMillan Alfa Romeo Tipo B / Alfa Romeo 2905cc 8cyl s/c 33 Retired Ret NZL Bill Lee Cooper Mk. VI / Norton 498cc 1cyl 30 Retired Ret NZL Les McLaren Austin-Healey 100 / Austin 2660cc 4cyl 30 Retired Ret NZL Bill Culver DeSoto Special / DeSoto 3368cc 6cyl 19 Engine Ret 26 NZL Reg McCutcheon Normac Special / Chevrolet 3870cc 6cyl 17 Frost Plug Ret AUS Stan Coffey Cooper T20 / Bristol 1971cc 6cyl 16 Oil Pressure Ret NZL Gordon Brown GBS / Ford 1172cc 4cyl 9 Engine DNS NZL George Smith GCS / Chrysler 5600cc V8 Did Not Start DNS NZL Wally Bern Triumph TR2 / Triumph 1991cc 4cyl Did Not Start DNS NZL Tony Shelly Morgan +4 / Standard 2088cc 4cyl Did Not Start DNS NZL Johnny Mansel Mansel Special / Mercury 3950cc V8 Did Not Start Source: http://www.sergent.com.au/motor/1955.html Second New Zealand International Grand Prix 1955 sergent.com.au 2015-10-18 References New Zealand Grand Prix 1954 New Zealand Grand Prix 1955 1956 New Zealand Grand Prix expanded Category:New Zealand Grand Prix Grand Prix Category:January 1955 sports events in Oceania