1953 Spa 24 Hours

thumb|250px|Layout of the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (1947-1956) The 1953 24 Heures de Spa Francorchamps took place on 25 and 26 July 1953, at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium). It was also the fourth round of the FIA World Sports Car Championship. This was the first time the event had taken place since Luigi Chinetti and Jean Lucas won in 1949. The race was not run again until 1964. http://www.racingsportscars.com/race/Spa-1953-07-26.html Spa 24 Hours 1953 - Racing Sports Cars Report Entry thumb|The race was won by a Ferrari 375 MM, similar to that pictured A grand total 43 racing cars were registered for this event, of which 40 arrived for practise and qualifying. From Italy, the two work teams of Scuderia Ferrari and S. P. A. Alfa Romeo. The Scuderia from Maranello arrived with three cars, all 375 MM's. In the cockpits sat the driver pairings, Giuseppe Farina / Mike Hawthorn, Luigi Villoresi / Alberto Ascari and Umberto Maglioli with Piero Carini. Alfa Romeo brought two cars to Belgium, which went into different classes at the start. Juan Manuel Fangio and Consalvo Sanesi piloted an Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM in the sports car category. Max Thirion, together with Mario Damonte were entered in an Alfa Romeo 1900 in the touring car class.:de:24-Stunden-Rennen von Spa-Francorchamps 1953 The host country was represented by the Ecurie Francorchamps, which entered a Jaguar C-Type and a Ferrari 212 Export. Qualifying The Ferrari 375 MM of Mike Hawthorn took pole position, averaging a speed of 113.871 mph around the 8.77 mile circuit. However, following an accident in practise, the Fiat 1100 of “Thillios” and Johnny Claes was withdrawn, leaving 39 cars to start. Race The day of the race would be warm and dry, but that would mean very little as the team prepared for the start at 4pm. As the field took off, it wouldn't be long before the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps would prove to be a greater threat, even to the best teams and drivers in the race.http://www.conceptcarz.com/view/f1/teamsBySeason,aspx?driverTeamArticleID=191&driverID=62 March 2022 A number of privateers entries would fall out of contention early into the race, but then, the factory efforts and the bigger privateers began to run into trouble. Roger Laurent and Jacques Swaters would retire their C-Type with a blown engine. Fangio and Sanesi would be out following an accident in their Alfa Romeo 6C. The Ferrari pairing of Maglioli and Carini would be amongst the casualties with value troubles. It did not get any easier for the top drivers as even Ascari and Villoresi would retire with clutch failure. http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Spa-1953-07-26.html Spa 24 Hours 1953 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars Although two of the three works Ferraris had retired during the race, Scuderia victory was never seriously threatened. After Fangio/Sanesi accident after only 22 laps, the Ferrari was without any close competition. Farina and Hawthorn would remain in the lead throughout the whole race, even when the rain came late on in the race. At the finish, Farina and Hawthorn had an 18 lap advantage over the Jaguar C-Type of the Scottish Ecurie Ecosse. In the end, the Ferrari margin of victory amounted to about an advantage of close to 90 minutes over James Scott Douglas and Guy Gale. A Belgian-entered Jaguar C-Type of Herman Roosdorp and Toni Ulmen was a further eleven laps down and finished third. In the touring car class, the Portuguese driver Viegas Vellagao and his Belgian co-driver, Vladimir Narichkine were victorious in their Mercedes-Benz 220. However, although they were fifth overall, they were 68 laps behind the winning Ferrari. The winning partnership, won in a time of 24hr 02:07.085mins., averaging a speed of 94.910 mph. They covered a distance of 2,281.182 miles. http://www.teamdan.com/archive/wsc/1953/53spa24.html Reference at www.teamdan.com 2014-06-06 2015-09-24 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924121130/http://www.teamdan.com/archive/wsc/1953/53spa24.html deadhttp://wsrp.ic.cz/wsc1953.html World Sports Racing Prototypes - World Championship 1953 2014-06-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20060207170740/http://wsrp.ic.cz/wsc1953.html 2006-02-07 dead Official Classification Class Winners are in Bold text. Pos No ClassDriver Entrant Chassis Laps Reason Out 1st 8 S Italy Giuseppe Farina GBR Mike Hawthorn Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 375 MM 260 2nd 19 S GBR James Scott Douglas GBR Guy Gale Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar C-Type 242 3rd 18 S Belgium Herman RoosdorpGermany Toni Ulmen Herman Roosdorp Jaguar C-Type 231 DNF 6 S Italy Luigi Villoresi Italy Alberto Ascari Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 375 MM 216 Clutch 4th 32 SFrance Marc GignouxFrance Claude Storez Deutsch et Bonnet D.B. HBR Panhard 211 5th 38 T Portugal Viegas VallagaoBelgium Vladimir Narichkine Mercedes-Benz 220 192 6th 51 T France Marcel LaugaFrance G. Averseng Simca Aronde 191 7th 49 TBelgium Luc MahyBelgium Jean-Pierre de Nauville Peugeot 203 189 8th 44 T Belgium André Pilette Belgium Jacques de Wetter Borgward Hansa 1800 188 9th 57 T Belgium Roger Meunier Belgium Guy Sanders Panhard Dyna 187 10th 34 S France René Philippe FaureFrance Pierre Quetelart Deutsch et Bonnet D.B. HBR Panhard 186 11th 33 S France Reggie BovensFrance Roger Giraud Automobiles Panhard et Levassor Panhard X85 184 12th 48 T Belgium Télesphore George Belgium Fernand George Peugeot 203 184 13th62 S France René Cotton France Fernand Sigrand Panhard Dyna 180 14th 53 T Belgium Pauwels Belgium André Milhoux Fiat 1100 176 15th55TBelgium Robert ReipBelgium Louis Richard Fiat 1100 176 16th 54 T Belgium Gilberte ThirionBelgium Annie Bousquet Fiat 1100 175 17th 43 T Belgium Pierre Slosse Belgium Georges Berger Borgward Hansa 1800 157 18th 52 T Belgium Pierre StasseBelgium Walter DeutschFiat 1100 138 NC 61 T France Raymond Meignen France Jacques Blanchet Panhard Dyna 125 DNF 20 S GBR Tom Meyes GBR Philip Fotheringham-Parker Tom Meyer Aston Martin DB3 Coupé 81 Clutch DNF 15 S Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Italy Consalvo Sanesi SpA Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM 22 Accident DNF 4 S Belgium C. Nias Belgium A. Brancart Talbot Oblin DNF DNF 9 S Italy Umberto Maglioli Italy Piero Carini Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 375 MM Value DNF 17 S Belgium Roger Laurent Belgium Jacques Swaters Ecurie Francorchamps Jaguar C-Type Engine DNF 22 S Belgium Charles de Tornaco Luxembourg Onore Wagner Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari 212 Export Engine DNF24S France Jean Ampoulié France Jacques Gergaud Ford Siam Special Engine DISQ 26 S France Elyane Imbert France Simone des Forest Porsche 356 1500 Super Disqualified DNF 29 S Belgium Paul Frère Germany Walter Hampel Porsche 356 Gearbox DNF 35 S France Georges Guyot France “Reverse” Deutsch et Bonnet D.B. HBR Panhard Accident DNF 36 S France Louis Pons France Jean Rédélé R.N.U. Renault Renault 4CV/1063 Engine DNF 40 T Luxembourg “Radrizzi” Luxembourg “Tissot” Fiat 1900 DNF DNF 41 T Belgium Max Thirion Italy Mario Damonte SpA Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 1900 Electrics DNF 43 T Belgium Boy Laloux Belgium Georges Berger Borgward Hansa 1800 Accident DNF 46 T United Kingdom Barry Leavens United Kingdom Joyce Leavens Jowett Javelin Accident DISQ 50 T Belgium “Eldé” Belgium Claude Collard Peugeot 203 Outside Assistance;Lost Wheel DNF 58 T Belgium Roland du Roy de Blicky Belgium Olivier Gendebien Panhard DynaDNF DNF 59 T Belgium Gert Welter Belgium “Renant” Panhard Dyna Accident DNF 60 T France “de la Bourdonnaye” France “Vandenberg” Panhard Dyna DNF DNS T Belgium “Thillios” Belgium Johnny Claes Fiat 1100 Accident :fr:24 Heures de Spa 1953 Fastest Lap: Giuseppe Farina, 4:44.0secs (111.217 mph) Class Winners Class Winners Sports 8 Ferrari 375 MM Farina / Hawthorn Touring 38 Mercedes-Benz 220 Vallagao / Narichkine Standings after the race Pos Championship Points 1 Italy Ferrari 19 2 GBR Jaguar 18 3 USA Cunningham 12 4 UK Aston Martin 8 5 Italy Alfa Romeo 6 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 1953 World Sportscar Championship 24 Hours of Le Mans 1000km Nürburgring Spa Category:Spa 24 Hours 24 Hours