# 1955 New Zealand Grand Prix

The 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 | Prince Bira | Maserati 250F / Maserati 2497cc 6cyl | 100 | 2hr 40min 12sec |
| 2 | | Peter Whitehead | Ferrari 500/625 / Ferrari 2968cc 4cyl | 100 | + 33.0 s |
| 3 | 4 | Tony Gaze | Ferrari 500/625 / Ferrari 2968cc 4cyl | 100 | + 1.26.0 s |
| 4 | | Jack Brabham | Cooper T23 / Bristol 1971cc 6cyl | 98 | + 2 Laps |
| 5 | 3 | Reg Hunt | Maserati A6GCM / Maserati 2497cc 6cyl | 97 | + 3 Laps |
| 6 | | Syd Jensen | Cooper Mk. VII / Norton 498cc 1cyl | 91 | + 9 Laps |
| 7 | 12 | Fred Zambucka | Maserati 8CM / Maserati 2992cc 8cyl s/c | 89 | + 11 Laps |
| 8 | | George Palmer | Jackson-Mercury / Mercury 4118cc V8 | 88 | + 12 Laps |
| 9 | 18 | Ross Jensen | Triumph TR2 / Triumph 1991cc 4cyl | 86 | + 14 Laps |
| 10 | | Dick Cobden | Ferrari 125 / Ferrari 1995cc V12 s/c | 86 | + 14 Laps |
| 11 | | Arnold Stafford | Cooper Mk. VII / Norton 498cc 1cyl | 85 | + 15 Laps |
| 12 | | Phil Neill | Austin-Healey 100 / Austin 2660cc 4cyl | 83 | + 17 Laps |
| 13 | | Peter McInally | Austin-Healey 100 / Austin 2660cc 4cyl | 80 | + 20 Laps |
| 14 | | Des McDonagh | Thomas-Mercury / Mercury 4100cc V8 | 75 | + 25 Laps |
| 15 | | John Horton | HWM F1 / Alta 1960cc 4cyl s/c | 55 | + 45 Laps |
| Ret | | Ron Frost | Cooper Mk. VIII / Norton 498cc 1cyl | 89 | Gearbox |
| Ret | | Lex Davison | HWM F2 / Jaguar 3442cc 6cyl | 88 | Transmission |
| Ret | | Ron Roycroft | Alfa Romeo Tipo B / Alfa Romeo 2905cc 8cyl s/c | 58 | Valve |
| Ret | | John McMillan | Alfa Romeo Tipo B / Alfa Romeo 2905cc 8cyl s/c | 33 | Retired |
| Ret | | Bill Lee | Cooper Mk. VI / Norton 498cc 1cyl | 30 | Retired |
| Ret | | Les McLaren | Austin-Healey 100 / Austin 2660cc 4cyl | 30 | Retired |
| Ret | | Bill Culver | DeSoto Special / DeSoto 3368cc 6cyl | 19 | Engine |
| Ret | 26 | Reg McCutcheon | Normac Special / Chevrolet 3870cc 6cyl | 17 | Frost Plug |
| Ret | | Stan Coffey | Cooper T20 / Bristol 1971cc 6cyl | 16 | Oil Pressure |
| Ret | | Gordon Brown | GBS / Ford 1172cc 4cyl | 9 | Engine |
| DNS | | George Smith | GCS / Chrysler 5600cc V8 | | Did Not Start |
| DNS | | Wally Bern | Triumph TR2 / Triumph 1991cc 4cyl | | Did Not Start |
| DNS | | Tony Shelly | Morgan +4 / Standard 2088cc 4cyl | | Did Not Start |
| DNS | | Johnny Mansel | Mansel Special / Mercury 3950cc V8 | | Did Not Start |
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