12 Hours of Casablanca

Endurance motor race, 1952 and 1953 The 12 Hours of Casablanca was a sports car endurance race organised on the route of the future Ain-Diab Circuit in Morocco. Only two editions were held in 1952 and 1953, before the race was replaced by the Moroccan Grand Prix in Agadir for the 1954 season.http://jbbassibey.free.fr/ain_diab.htm AIN DIAB jbbassibey.free.fr french 17 October 2019 History The race was held on a road circuit, partially on the main road from Casablanca, that was initially 4.2 kilometers long in 1952. By 1953, the route was changed to 3.26 kilometers. The competition was intended for sports racing cars and for passenger cars as well. The starting grid was of a 'Le Mans start'-type.https://www.racingsportscars.com/track/Ain%20Diab.html Tracks - Ain Diab racingsportscars.com 17 October 2019 1952 thumb|right|Talbot-Lago T26GS In December 1952, the first edition of the 12 Hours of Casablanca race was held.https://www.racingsportscars.com/race/Ain_Diab-1952-05-26-4256.html 12 h Casablanca 1952 racingsportscars.com 17 October 2019 24 entrants had started the race, but only 14 of them finished and were classified.https://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Ain_Diab-1952-05-26-4256.html 12 h Casablanca 1952 - Race Results racingsportscars.com 17 October 2019http://www.classicscars.com/wspr/results/nonchamp/nonchamp1952.html#90 Non Championship Races 1952 classicscars.com 17 October 2019 Pos. Overall Position No. Drivers Car Laps 1st 22 France Charles PozziFrance Lucien Vincent Talbot-Lago T26GS 264 2nd 25 France Jean LucasFrance Jacques Péron Ferrari 225 S berlinettahttp://www.barchetta.cc/english/All.Ferraris/Detail/0164ED.225S.htm 225 S s/n 0164ED barchetta.cc 17 October 2019 263 3rd 16 France Georges de TudertMorocco Robert La Caze Delahaye 135S 250 1953 thumb|right|Ferrari 375 MM spyder The second edition of the endurance race was held in 1953. This time 17 cars finished the race. Casimiro de Oliveira and Alberto Ascari had crashed during practice in their Ferrari 375 MM and had to change teams and cars.http://www.barchetta.cc/english/All.Ferraris/Detail/0366AM.375MM.htm 375 MM s/n 0366AM barchetta.cc 17 October 2019 Luckily for Ascari, he joined Luigi Villoresi in the Ferrari 500 Mondial and arrived second at the finish line in the actual race.https://www.racingsportscars.com/race/Ain_Diab-1953-12-20-4279.html 12 h Casablanca 1953 racingsportscars.com 17 October 2019 The 500 Mondial that won its class, was based on a Ferrari 625 TF berlinetta chassis that was destroyed in a fire, rebodied by Scaglietti and equipped with a 2.0-litre engine.http://www.barchetta.cc/english/All.Ferraris/Detail/0302TF.625TF.htm 625 TF s/n 0302TF barchetta.cc 17 October 2019 Charles Pozzi, who won the first edition with his Talbot-Lago T26GS, failed to arrive for the race.https://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Ain_Diab-1953-12-20-4279.html 12 h Casablanca 1953 - Race Results racingsportscars.com 17 October 2019http://www.classicscars.com/wspr/results/nonchamp/nonchamp1953.html#83 Non Championship Races 1953 classicscars.com 17 October 2019 Pos. Overall Position Pos. Class Position Class No. Drivers Car 1st 1st S+2.0 2 Italy Giuseppe Farina Italy Piero Scotti Ferrari 375 MM spyderhttp://www.barchetta.cc/english/All.Ferraris/Detail/0360AM.375MM.htm 375 MM s/n 0360AM barchetta.cc 17 October 2019 2nd 1st S2.0 20 Italy Luigi VilloresiItaly Alberto Ascari Ferrari 500 Mondial spyder 3rd 2nd S+2.0 6 France Pierre LeveghFrance Philippe Etancelin Talbot-Lago T26GS 4th 3rd S+2.0 8 GBR Roy SalvadoriFrance "Mike Sparken" Aston Martin DB3 coupé 5th 4th S+2.0 7 GBR Graham WhiteheadGBR Peter Whitehead Aston Martin DB36th 2nd S2.0 25 France Jean-Louis ArmengaudFrance Élie Bayol Osca MT4 1100 coupé Class No. Drivers Car DNF reason S+2.0 3 Italy Luigi PiottiItaly Clemente Biondetti Ferrari 250 MM Transmission S+2.0 5 France Georges GrignardVenezuela Lino Fayen Talbot-Lago T26GS Out of fuel S+2.0 9 France Jean BehraFrance André Guelfi Gordini T15S Holed fuel tank S+2.0 10 France John SimoneFrance Armand Roboly Jaguar C-Type Fuel feed Demise Between 1954 and 1956, no motor racing was organized on this dangerous road circuit and the racing was moved to the Agadir area. Ain-Diab was more suited for the bicycle races. In 1957, the race route was refitted and increased to 7.618 kilometers thanks to the Royal Automobile Club of Morocco. The new track was named Ain-Diab Circuit and hosted the first official Moroccan Grand Prix in 1957.https://en.yabiladi.com/articles/details/58683/history-when-morocco-grand-prix.html History: When Morocco had its own Grand Prix yabiladi.com 17 October 2019 References 30em Category:Sports car races Category:Endurance motor racing Category:Sports competitions in Casablanca Category:Motorsport competitions in Morocco