1953 Dutch GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Zandvoort
* Location – Netherlands
* Corners – 9
* Laps – 90
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 2:30.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 1:46.500 (Alberto Ascari)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 1:43.725 (Peter Whitehead)
* Pit Lane Length – 20 seconds
* Fuel Consumption – Low
* Tyre Wear – Medium

## Qualifying 1

Moss re-claims 1st position with a brilliant lap-time to break the 1:43 barrier! Maglioli makes it a 1-2 for Maserati as it currently stands, with Gerard and Pietsch down in 3rd and 4th respectively.

Bayol is currently ahead of Salvadori as we move into Q2, with the top non-Ferrari or Maserati runner as Collins, who is currently 12th from Hawthorn in 13th for HWM and Connaught respectively.

Sadly failing to qualify are Fangio for Cooper, Behra for Gordini and most surprisingly the Veritas of Barber, who is said to be somewhat under the weather and thus unable to participate in the session.

**Qualifying 1 Results**

* 1st – Stirling Moss [M] – 1:42.992 (9)
* 2nd – Umberto Maglioli [M] – 1:43.225 (9)
* 3rd – Bob Gerard [F] – 1:43.525 (11)
* 4th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 1:43.858 (17)
* 5th – Elie Bayol [M] – 1:44.192 (4)
* 6th – Roy Salvadori [F] – 1:44.525 (5)
* 7th – Toulo de Graffenried [M] – 1:44.704 (9)
* 8th – Alberto Ascari [M] – 1:44.823 (6)
* 9th – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 1:44.866 (5)
* 10th – Chico Landi [M] – 1:44.888 (5)
* 11th – Peter Whitehead [F] – 1:45.266 (6)
* 12th – Peter Collins [H] – 1:45.457 (5)
* 13th – Mike Hawthorn [CN] – 1:45.561 (4)
* 14th – Albert Scherrer [H] – 1:45.612 (6)
* 15th – Sergio Mantovani [H] – 1:46.243 (3)
* 16th – Jimmy Stewart [CN] – 1:47.952 (5)
* 17th – Hermann Lang [H] – 1:48.104 (2)
* 18th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 1:48.738 (6)
* 19th – Prince Bira [CN] – 1:48.822 (3)
* 20th – Carlos Menditeguy [H] – 1:48.982 (2)
* 21st – Hans Stuck [CP] – 1:53.354 (4)
* 22nd – Maurice Trintignant [G] – 1:56.193 (3)
* 23rd – Erwin Bauer [CP] – 1:56.471 (2)
* 24th – Charles de Tornaco [G] – 1:58.905 (6)
* 25th – Louis Chiron [CP] – 1:59.002 (1)
* 26th – Louis Rosier [G] – 1:59.028 (4)
* 27th – Felice Bonetto [ B ] – 2:01.504 (1)
* 28th – Luigi Musso [ B ] – 2:03.376 (2)
* 29th – Alan Brown [CN] – 2:05.527 (3)
* 30th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [CP] – 2:06.488 (1)
* 31st – Luigi Villoresi [O] – 2:11.363 (1)
* 32nd – Hans Hermann [V] – 2:15.577 (1)
* 33rd – John Barber [V] – No Time Set (0)
* 34th – Jean Behra [G] – No Time Set (0)
* 35th – Juan Manuel Fangio [CP] – No Time Set (0)

## Qualifying 2

And so Bayol tops the time sheets from Pietsch, Whitehead and Salvadori. Moss and Scherrer both improve towards the end and get inside the top 10 in 8th and 9th respectively, pushing de Graffenried down to 10th spot - that's a great performance for Scherrer in particular as the top non-Ferrari and Maserati driver.

Also worthy of a mention is Hathworn in a credible 14th for Connaught, whilst Chiron failing to show up seals his fate in that he will not qualify for the race and thus 31 cars will line up on the grid.

**Qualifying 2 Results**

* 1st – Elie Bayol [M] – 1:42.788 (17)
* 2nd – Paul Pietsch [F] – 1:42.800 (18)
* 3rd – Peter Whitehead [F] – 1:42.869 (18)
* 4th – Roy Salvadori [F] – 1:42.895 (12)
* 5th – Alberto Ascari [M] – 1:42.956 (20)
* 6th – Bob Gerard [F] – 1:42.988 (25)
* 7th – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 1:43.006 (13)
* 8th – Stirling Moss [M] – 1:43.175 (18)
* 9th – Albert Scherrer [H] – 1:43.223 (18)
* 10th – Toulo de Graffenried [M] – 1:43.320 (11)
* 11th – Umberto Maglioli [M] – 1:43.353 (16)
* 12th – Carlos Menditeguy [H] – 1:43.361 (15)
* 13th – Chico Landi [M] – 1:43.428 (30)
* 14th – Mike Hawthorn [CN] – 1:43.433 (4)
* 15th – Hermann Lang [H] – 1:43.698 (19)
* 16th – Peter Collins [H] – 1:43.947 (19)
* 17th – Luigi Musso [ B ] – 1:44.218 (13)
* 18th – Prince Bira [CN] – 1:44.343 (9)
* 19th – Sergio Mantovani [H] – 1:44.504 (6)
* 20th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [CP] – 1:44.941 (3)
* 21st – Louis Rosier [G] – 1:44.998 (8)
* 22nd – Hans Stuck [CP] – 1:45.138 (7)
* 23rd – Maurice Trintignant [G] – 1:45.243 (11)
* 24th – Jimmy Stewart [CN] – 1:45.284 (6)
* 25th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 1:45.712 (8)
* 26th – Erwin Bauer [CP] – 1:46.468 (6)
* 27th – Felice Bonetto [ B ] – 1:48.007 (5)
* 28th – Charles de Tornaco [G] – 1:50.785 (13)
* 29th – Alan Brown [CN] – 1:57.331 (5)
* 30th – Hans Hermann [V] – 2:03.187 (1)
* 31st – Luigi Villoresi [O] – 2:03.421 (1)
* 32nd – Louis Chiron [CP] – No Time Set (0)

## Overall Qualifying Results

Pole goes to Bayol, making it the 1st non-Ferrari pole since he did the same for Gordini last season. The Ferrari's of Pietsch, Whitehead and Salvadori follow him up, whilst Ascari does well to get ahead of Gerard for 5th on the grid.

Surprisingly Moss sets his best time in Q1, failing to deliver on his promises in Q2, but at least he sits ahead of Farina on the grid. Also emulating Moss in this aspect is Maglioli who qualifies in 10th after being unable to improve on his Q2 time either. Scherrer is 9th for HWM in a qualifying display that gives hope for another point scoring position for the little outfit.

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - Ascari has a lightening quick start to the race, as he hurtles into the lead, reaching the 1st corner up the inside of his team-mate Bayol, and as Moss manages to follow Ascari up the inside to claim 3rd position it is behind that trouble is brewing.

Salvadori gets a good start initially, but at Tarzanbocht he gets it all wrong, he has a tank-slapper moment and causes both Pietsch and Whitehead to brake suddenly…thereby giving ground away to the aforementioned trio.

An incredible start to the race for Menditeguy though, who dives through the traffic, avoids the Ferrari difficulties and moves into 4th position ahead of Gerard in 5th, Pietsch in 6th, Farina in 7th, de Graffenried in 8th and Lang in 9th - the HWM driver following his team-mate Menditeguy's speedy example! Rounding out the top 10 is Whitehead's recovering Ferrari, from Collins, Landi, Hawthorn and Salvadori, who must be feeling somewhat chagrined after that 1st corner incident!

*Lap 2* - Ascari makes a horrendous error coming around the high-speed Gerlachbocht corner, as he holds up both Bayol and Moss, forcing both to take evasive action and allowing none other than Carlos Menditeguy for HWM to move into the lead of the race!!!

Following him through is Gerard, who loses his 2nd position to de Graffenried at Panoramabocht. That puts Ascari in 4th, Bayol in 5th, from Pietsch in 6th for Ferrari, Moss in 7th, Farina 8th, Lang 9th and Hawthorn in a remarkable 10th for Connaught…Whitehead's hideous start to the race continues as he drops into 13th behind Collins and Salvadori.

Also on this lap Scherrer is into 14th position, from Landi, Mantovani, Maglioli in a dreadful 17th at the moment. Stuck is 18th after a great lap, from Bira 19th and Musso 20th. Bonetto moves into 24th place, whilst Bauer nearly spins at Rob Slotemakerbocht and drops into 25th and Stewart passes Trintignant for 26th as this race really kicks off!

*Lap 3* - Surprisingly Menditeguy extends his lead on this lap, with Bayol losing 5th to Pietsch…really setting the pace on this lap is Salvadori who gets up to 7th ahead of Farina in 8th, whilst Moss drops back to 11th after a small incident which lets Hawthorn and Lang through.

Landi outstrips Whitehead and Scherrer, as the latter loses his position to Maglioli. Gonzalez claims 21st from Claes as the midfield continues to be very competitive indeed.

*Lap 4* - Gerard re-passes de Graffenried at Marlboro, with Pietsch's comeback almost complete with a great switchback on Ascari at Hugenholtzbocht. Salvadori passes Bayol on this lap, with the latter failing to get on the power soon enough to prevent the relentless Lang moving through for HWM.

Mantovani takes both Scherrer and Maglioli, as the Maserati driver continues to have difficulties in sticking with the pace. Claes re-passes Gonzalez for 21st position, whilst Trintignant gets the better of Bauer and Stewart on this lap too.

*Lap 5* - Ascari is beginning to struggle on track, losing places to both Salvadori, Lang and Moss on this lap; the latter of which sets the fastest lap of the race so far as he demonstrates his potential here. Landi is up to 10th place, ahead of Collins, Hawthorn and Farina - with Maglioli back into 11th, ahead of Mantovani in 12th, Scherrer in 13th and Whitehead in a lowly 14th as he really has difficulties with getting through traffic.

*Lap 6* - De Graffenried is the latest driver to misjudge the trickiness of Rob Slotemakerbocht as he loses positions to Pietsch, Salvadori and Lang to drop back down to 6th place. Bayol passes Ascari as the Maserati's begin to squabble amongst themselves for the lower points paying positions.

Maglioli seems to have finally switched on, with a brilliant double overtake at Bos Uit on Hawthorn and Farina, but this is overshadowed by Whitehead slip-streaming past him to take 12th, whilst Scheerer also passes the former pairing too to claim 14th place.

*Lap 7* - Lang is surprisingly quick, with HWM impressing today as 2 of their cars are in the points right now in 1st and 4th position. Whitehead is starting to become a real threat today as he takes no fewer than 5 drivers in 1 lap as he claims 7th position. Landi passes Ascari here, and is neck and neck with Bayol as he crosses the start/finish line! Ascari drops behind Maglioli too, with the Italian fading fast after his brilliant start.

Claes manages to pass Musso to claim a top 20 position, and Hermann moves past Brown for 29th on this lap also.

*Lap 8* - Gerard is gaining on Menditeguy, but is still not quite on a par with him as yet in an incredibly defiant display from the Argentinian. De Graffenried takes Salvadori for 5th here, whilst Maglioli takes Collins' 11th place away with a well crafted manoeuvre into Tarzanbocht.

Ascari drops even further back, with Hawthorn and Scherrer taking advantage on this lap. Also losing positions is Stuck, as he is passed by Farina and Mantovani - the Maserati driver really needs to pull his finger out though to catch up to some of his quicker team-mates now.

Up to 19th is Musso, from Bira and Claes as the fringes of the top 20 is once more a place where battles are frequent and exciting!

*Lap 9* - At long last Gerard gets the better of Menditeguy, as the HWM driver can no longer manage to keep ahead of the Ferrari's, as Pietsch also moves past the Argentinian to claim 2nd place. Moss takes 6th from Whitehead, but this is short-lived as Salvadori takes Landi, Bayol and the other two as well. Maglioli follows him through to cross the line at the same time as Whitehead…

…and further back at long last Ascari sets a strong lap time to move past Hawthorn and Scherrer and into 13th place. Claes passes Bira to re-take 20th, whilst Gonzalez gets the better of Rosier, Stewart moves past Bauer and Brown re-passes Hermann too.

*Lap 10* - Menditeguy is not done yet! He moves past Pietsch with a daring slice up the inside of Sheivlak…Maglioli is really on the comeback trail as it stands, taking Whitehead, Moss and Salvadori in the space of 3 corners from Hugenholtzbocht onwards!

Bayol passes Landi to re-claim 10th position, though he must feel disappointed not to be nearer the sharp end at this stage. Further back Hermann re-passes Brown as these two continue to battle against each other for 29th position.

*Lap 11* - The attention on this lap is focused on the battle for 8th place, as Moss battles bravely, but ultimately unsuccessfully to remain ahead of Bayol and Whitehead. Ascari takes Collins too, whilst Musso passes Stuck and Trintignant gets the better of Rosier as well.

*Lap 12* - De Graffenried moves past Lang for 4th position, while the big mover on this lap is Moss who goes up to 6th from 10th, with Bayol and Whitehead passing Salvadori here too.

Farina moves into a whole different gear on this lap, moving into 12th ahead of Collins, Ascari and Hawthorn. Trintignant takes Bonetto on this lap, as does Bauer with Stewart; the Cooper driver beginning to recover from the doldrums of the last few laps he has experienced.

*Lap 13* - Maglioli moves past Moss, but is helpless to defend against the advances of Whitehead. Landi passes Salvadori on this lap too, as the Ferrari driver is not quite living up to his initial billing as it stands. Scherrer takes Ascari and Hawthorn, Gonzalez moves past Bira and Rosier takes both Trintignant and Bonetto within the space of one lap.

*Lap 14* - Salvadori moves into 9th position, from Landi, Moss and Farina…Hawthorn passes Ascari too as those nearer the back begin to get a little more spaced out.

*Lap 15* - Menditeguy once again succumbs to the advances of the more powerful Ferrari, as he loses 2nd to Pietsch. Maglioli takes 6th from Whitehead with a bold move up the inside at Sheivlak, whilst Moss takes Landi and Ascari easily moves through on Hawthorn too.

*Lap 16* - Maglioli passes Lang for 5th as the HWM dream begins to disintegrate. Though Collins seems not to have given up yet, as he goes from 13th to 10th in the space of 1 lap, passing Moss, Landi and Farina on the way. Trintignant claims 23rd from Rosier on this lap also.

*Lap 17* - Whitehead is putting his poor start behind him, as he passes Lang and Maglioli to move into the points. Moss and Landi inch past Collins and Farina, with the latter losing a place to Scherrer as well as this little gaggle of cars begins to lose touch with Bayol and Salvadori up ahead.

*Lap 18* - We see the 1st stops of the race on this lap, with Bayol, Salvadori, Moss and Gonzalez all coming in to the pits. Meanwhile up front Pietsch gets out of shape at Panoramabocht and loses positions to de Graffenried and Menditeguy as a result. Collins passes Landi (as well as inheriting 3 spots from those stopping for fuel) to move into 8th place.

Ascari takes Farina, with Bayol out of the pits behind Musso, then comes Stuck, Salvadori, Claes and Moss with some work to be done by the latter pair of stoppers to catch the Frenchman. Gonzalez meanwhile emerges behind everyone besides the back trio of slow cars.

*Lap 19* - Ascari is having something of a renaissance as he passes both Landi and Scherrer to take 9th place. Farina also takes the aforementioned pair to take 10th with Mantovani in close attention behind.

As Bayol hones in on Musso, Salvadori passes Stuck and Moss takes Claes to dispatch their first obstacles.

*Lap 20* - Several more drivers come into the pits on this lap, including Maglioli, Farina and Musso (much to Bayol's relief). Maglioli comes out behind Moss, with Claes separating him and Farina and showing the advantage of new tyres on a circuit like this! Further back Musso comes out behind Bauer's Cooper in 25th position.

*Lap 21* - Up front the only thing of note is de Graffenried moving to within 1 second of Gerard, whilst Bayol takes Hawthorn for 12th place. Moss passes Stuck for 15th on this lap as well, Trintignant motors past Bira to rise into the top 20 and Musso takes all those in front of him up to Rosier, with Bauer also taking Bonetto here too.

*Lap 22* - Menditeguy, Pietsch and Lang all come into the pits, with the latter's pit-crew somewhat absent-minded here and dropping a huge chunk of time as a result! That promotes Whitehead into 3rd, Mantovani into an incredible 4th as the Italian quietly makes his way up through the field without putting a foot wrong! Collins is now 5th as HWM yet again have 2 drivers in the points, with Ascari 6th, Landi 7th, Scherrer 8th, Bayol back into 9th with Menditeguy out inside the top 10 with Pietsch still 1 place behind him!!!

Maglioli passes Stuck on this lap for what has become 15th given Lang's difficulties in the pit-lane. Farina takes Claes here too, as Lang emerges behind Bonetto and Gonzalez passes de Tornaco also.

*Lap 23* - Many drivers pit on this lap, indeed the entire top 8 (Gerard, de Graffenried, Whitehead, Mantovani, Collins, Ascari, Landi and Scherrer) and Bonetto as well. Losing time in the pits are Collins, Ascari and Landi, whilst gaining valuable seconds are Whitehead, Gerard and Scherrer - both de Graffenried and Mantovani could have hoped for slightly better from their respective pit-crews.

All of that sees Gerard come out into the lead, from Bayol, Menditeguy and Pietsch. Whitehead emerges in 5th from Hawthorn, Salvadori, de Graffenried and Moss. Maglioli is now 10th, from Stuck 11th, Farina 12th, Claes 13th, Mantovani now in 14th, Trintignant 15th, Musso continuing on the comeback trail in 16th, Scherrer 17th, Bira 18th, Rosier 19th, Bauer 20th and Lang back in 21st place. The others pitting on this lap come out in 22nd for Collins, 23rd for Ascari and 25th for Landi. Bonetto comes out in 28th also.

*Lap 24* - Hathworn struggles with the pace and loses positions to Salvadori, Moss, who passes de Graffenried here, and Maglioli who also moves past this Swiss too. Farina takes Stuck here too, and Musso moves past Trintignant for 15th as well.

Claes gets the better of Stewart, whilst de Tornaco loses out to Bonetto and Hermann makes a big error at Bos Uit to spin out and gift 29th to Brown…looks like the German must pit to repair the damage there.

*Lap 25* - Stuck pits on this lap, dropping behind a whole plethora of cars. Meanwhile Ascari sets the fastest lap of the race with a 1:44.1, Scherrer takes Trintignant, Collins overhauls Lang and Bauer, who also swap positions on this lap. Hermann also comes in to repair his damage too.

*Lap 26* - De Graffenried passes both Maglioli and Moss as he endeavours to rectify the position accorded to him by less than stellar pit-stop. Farina also passes Maglioli, and Hawthorn too this lap. Mantovani passes Claes here, Scherrer takes Musso, Lang moves past Collins, who in turn gets the better of Rosier also. Gonzalez also moves past Stuck on this lap too.

*Lap 27* - Farina and Maglioli pass Moss, as the Maserati's continue to squabble amongst themselves, with Bayol their only representative in the points as it stands. Musso completes a double overtake at Panoramabocht as he gets through on both Claes and Scherrer. Collins takes Lang, and Ascari moves through on Rosier and Bauer with real ease!

*Lap 28* - Whitehead is the man on the move, with an accomplished pass on both Pietsch and Menditeguy through Sheivlak and Marlboro. Moss also completes a double pass on Farina and Maglioli, after losing these self same positions just last lap!

Gonzalez passes Stewart too, as the Cooper driver endeavours to comeback from his earlier issues in the race…

*Lap 29* - De Graffenried passes Salvadori, as these 2 still attempt to force their way into a points paying position. Maglioli moves past Moss and Farina, as this trio produce an incredible battle that is keeping the Dutch crowd riveted! Lang passes Collins, whilst Bira goes wide at Hugenholtzbocht and drops behind the pair of them. Landi passes Ascari too on this lap, as the Maserati battle-fronts remain drawn and competitive as ever!

*Lap 30* - Hawthorn, Trintignant, Bauer, de Tornaco, Hermann and Villoresi all come into the pits on this lap too. Whitehead passes Bayol for 2nd here to make a Ferrari 1-2, with Salvadori also moving up as he gets past de Graffenried for 6th place. Scherrer takes Claes too, with Stuck getting revenge on Gonzalez - however briefly that may be!

*Lap 31* - De Graffenried passes Salvadori, whilst Musso passes Mantovani and Landi takes advantage of Bira's older, more worn tyres. Ascari overtakes the aforementioned pair, with Hawthorn using his new tyres to the fullest to easily outstrip Rosier.

*Lap 32* - Salvadori re-takes de Graffenried with a good switchback manoeuvre and Trintignant takes Stewart on this lap as well.

*Lap 33* - A quiet lap that only sees Rosier come into the pits, and loses positions to Stuck, Gonzalez, Trintignant, Stewart and Bonetto as a result.

*Lap 34* - The race has settled into a rhythm, with only Bonetto making a move on Stewart worth reporting.

*Lap 35* - Landi passes Ascari, and Bira finally pits to change his worn tyres, losing positions to several drivers and finally emerging in 27th place.

*Lap 36* - Bayol, Salvadori, Moss and Gonzalez all stop on this lap, moving Menditeguy into 3rd from Pietsch in 4th, Maglioli up to 5th, de Graffenried in 6th and Farina in 7th position. Bayol comes out in 8th, from Musso 9th, Mantovani 10th and Scherrer 11th. 12th position is now Salvadori from Moss in 13th.

Lang passes Claes, whilst Gonzalez comes out in 27th behind the recently pitted Bira.

*Lap 37* - Menditeguy's sturdy defence against Pietsch finally wilts as he lets him through to take 3rd place. Salvadori passes Scherrer for 11th on this lap also.

*Lap 38* - Collins passes Claes on this lap too, whilst Stewart out-brakes himself at Rob Slotemakerbocht losing positions to Rosier, Bauer and Bira in the process.

*Lap 39* - Nothing to report on this lap…

*Lap 40* - Maglioli pits on this lap, relinquishing 5th place to de Graffenried. Bayol passes Farina for 6th too, as the erstwhile pole-sitter puts himself in genuine contention here. Stewart pits on this lap too, and cedes 26th to Gonzalez, whilst Trintignant passes Stuck as well.

*Lap 41* - Menditeguy passes Pietsch!!! The Argentinian moves into 3rd with a brilliant move at Tarzanbocht to move into a podium position, and defy the odds all in 1 corner! Moss takes Scherrer too, and Bira gets the better of Bauer on this lap as well.

*Lap 42* - Bayol moves into a points paying position with a great move on his team-mate de Graffenried, with Salvadori passing Mantovani here too. Claes makes a mistake at Bos Uit and lets both Landi and Ascari through as a result, Rosier passes Bonetto too a little further back.

*Lap 43* - Menditeguy loses his hard-fought 3rd place to Pietsch again, as the German uses his greater speed advantage to good effect on the run up to Rob Slotemakerbocht. Salvadori passes Musso here too, as the BMW driver is made to give up his incredible 8th position. Moss takes Mantovani too, as he moves into the top 10 again.

*Lap 44* - Pietsch and Farina both pit on this lap; allowing Menditeguy back into 3rd place, Bayol into 4th, de Graffenried into the points in 5th and Salvadori in 6th ahead of Pietsch in 7th. Moss moves past Musso too, as his rampage through the field continues.

Hawthorn passes Claes, whilst Hermann completes his chase of Brown after his accident earlier on to move past him at Gerlachbocht.

*Lap 45* - Whitehead and Menditeguy both pit, with the latter losing a fair amount of time in the pits to potentially ruin his points chances. Lang also comes into the pits, and yet again has a horrendous time in there, much to the German's consternation.

Bayol is now into 2nd as a result, from Whitehead in 3rd and de Graffenried in 4th. Mantovani passes Musso on this lap too.

*Lap 46* - The leader Gerard comes in for a stop, as do de Graffenried, Mantovani, Scherrer, Collins, Landi, Ascari and Bonetto. Gerard comes out JUST in front of Bayol, with all these stops moving Salvadori into 4th place now. Collins, Landi and Ascari all lose time within the pits, whilst Scherrer comes out rather quickly thanks to an impressive display from his mechanics.

Menditeguy emerges in 11th place, with his dreams of points lying in ruins now unfortunately.

*Lap 47* - Whitehead passes Bayol to re-set the Ferrari 1-2, whilst Moss moves into 4th ahead of both Salvadori and Pietsch with the Maserati coming back into the frame now. De Graffenried passes Farina too, as Mantovani gets the better of Hawthorn here as well. And also the 1st man under the 1:44 barrier on this lap…is none other than the HWM of Albert Scherrer!!! Incredible pace for the Swiss here!

*Lap 48* - In the battle for 5th, Pietsch takes Salvadori as the Ferrari's start to get competitive with each other. Also Maglioli takes Musso for 7th position as well, whilst Lang gets through on Trintignant and Collins easily passes Stuck. Ascari takes Rosier here too.

*Lap 49* - Salvadori not only passes Pietsch, but goes one better to takes Moss for 4th as well! De Graffenried passes Musso too, as the BMW driver struggles to keep with the pace. Collins takes Trintignant too, as he endeavours to put his horrendous pit-stop behind him.

*Lap 50* - Musso, Claes and Stuck come into the pits; dropping down to 14th, 22nd and 25th respectively with the other positions remaining unchanged as it stands…

*Lap 51* - Pietsch passes Moss on this lap for 5th place, but otherwise things are quite quiet.

*Lap 52* - Landi takes Trintignant, with Ascari following him through. Also Claes gets the better of both Rosier and Bira here too.

*Lap 53* - Pietsch passes Salvadori for 4th position here, whilst Whitehead is right on the back of Gerard now.

*Lap 54* - Whitehead takes Gerard for the lead!!! And Pietsch also moves past Bayol too here into 3rd position as the Frenchman pits, along with Salvadori, Moss and Gonzalez. Maglioli moves into 5th place as a result of these, whilst Bira passes Rosier here too. Villoresi makes a horrendous error at Rob Slotemakerbocht too, and crashes out of the race to end his disaster of a race.

*Lap 55* - Gerard re-takes Whitehead as the Ferrari's battle for supremacy here at Zandvoort! De Graffenried moves past Maglioli for 5th place too, whilst Salvadori gets the better of Scherrer, who takes Menditeguy here too. Ascari also gets the better of Landi in their ongoing battle as well.

*Lap 56* - Nothing to report on this lap, as the same battles continue on track…

*Lap 57* - The only thing of interest in this lap is Musso passing Hawthorn for 13th position.

*Lap 58* - Salvadori passes Farina here for 7th position as the Ferrari driver makes a bid for a point scoring place. Hawthorn takes Musso here as well.

*Lap 59* - Moss passes Farina, and Musso moves past Hawthorn too as the race begins to move into its latter stages…

*Lap 60* - A fair few drivers come in on this lap, including Maglioli, Hawthorn, Trintignant, Bauer, de Tornaco, Hermann and Brown. Maglioli comes out just behind Menditeguy in 11th position while the others are further down…

*Lap 61* - The race has settled into a more even pace now…

*Lap 62* - Trintignant passes Bonetto, and Gonzalez takes Stewart on this lap as well.

*Lap 63* - Maglioli moves into the top 10 as he puts Menditeguy into the shade and out of the top 10.

*Lap 64* - Bayol passes Pietsch for 3rd position, as the Maserati driver breaks up the Ferrari 1-2-3 at the front.

*Lap 65* - Bira pits on this lap, and drops right down the field.

*Lap 66* - Gonzalez passes Bauer, and Rosier pits too, coming out ahead of Bira and the aforementioned pair.

*Lap 67* - Pitting on this lap are Pietsch, Menditeguy and Lang. The former drops to 7th behind Moss, whilst Menditeguy is out in 13th behind Musso. Lang's pit-crew are really struggling today and he comes out a long way down on where he previously was unfortunately.

*Lap 68* - Another lap of pit-stops with Whitehead, Farina, Scherrer and Ascari all coming in for the final time! Rosier passes Bonetto also, while out on track the order is somewhat unclear as cars come in to the pits and come out all at once!

*Lap 69* - Stopping for the final time are Gerard, de Graffenried, Collins, Landi and Bonetto on this lap. Moss also passes Salvadori on this lap…

*Lap 70* - …and all that means that Bayol now leads the race after having started from pole position. Gerard is 2nd, from Whitehead, Moss and Salvadori…Pietsch is just outside the points, and the last of the Ferrari's in 6th. Maglioli is 7th ahead of de Graffenried, Farina and Scherrer in 10th position. Menditeguy is now 11th, from Mantovani in 12th, Hawthorn 13th and Musso in 14th who has just pitted too.

Claes is in 15th from Lang in 16th, Collins 17th, Ascari 18th (all these last 3 are really having a nightmare in the pits this race!), Landi 19th and Stuck in 20th position.

*Lap 71* - Salvadori passes Moss for 4th position, whilst Maglioli takes Pietsch for 6th as well. Bauer passes Gonzalez on this lap as well.

*Lap 72* - Bayol, Salvadori, Moss, Gonzalez and Stewart all come in to the pits on this lap, with Moss taking Salvadori during the stop too! That puts Gerard back into the lead from Whitehead, Bayol in 3rd, Maglioli in 4th and Pietsch in 5th. De Graffenried is 6th and then come both Moss and Salvadori.

*Lap 73* - Nothing to report here…

*Lap 74* - Ascari passes Collins on this lap, but otherwise nothing much happens.

*Lap 75* - Maglioli pits for the final time, as does Stuck for Cooper. De Graffenried passes Pietsch for 4th position, with Maglioli out in 9th place.

*Lap 76* - Maglioli's new tyres gives him the edge on Farina, with Bauer also passing Rosier too.

*Lap 77* - Not much going on in this lap.

*Lap 78* - Or on this lap either…

*Lap 79* - Lang easily passes Claes on this lap, as the Belgian drops behind the HWM driver, Ascari for Maserati and the HWM of Collins too.

*Lap 80* - Rosier passes Bauer, and Bira follows him through here too.

*Lap 81* - The only action on track is Landi overtaking Claes for 18th position, as the race has very much settled down now.

*Lap 82* - Collins moves past Ascari for 16th here, as up front attention is focused on the ever decreasing gaps between Bayol, de Graffenried, Pietsch, Moss, Salvadori and Maglioli…

*Lap 83* - Ascari returns the favour with a pass at Panoramabocht on Collins, and further back the battle for supremacy within the Cooper team is now led by Stuck, as he pounces on Bauer after the German had just overtaken Prince Bira's Connaught for 22nd position.

*Lap 84* - Stuck also passes Rosier for 21st, in a sterling effort by the German here.

*Lap 85* - The gaps up front have been coming down, but still it is a surprise to see Moss being the 1st to make a move, pushing Pietsch back out of the points thanks to his fresher set of tyres. Further back Ascari takes Lang's 15th position away from him too.

*Lap 86* - Rosier re-passes Stuck as the battle for 21st rages on…up front Maglioli is within striking distance of Salvadori now, with Pietsch and Moss both still in sight too.

*Lap 87* - The race explodes back into life here, as Pietsch slings one up the inside of Moss but can't quite turn in to the corner in time to keep the place…Maglioli does make a move stick on Salvadori though as he resigns the younger Italian to 8th position. In the all-Cooper battler Bauer gets back in front of Stuck, and passes Rosier in the same lap too!

*Lap 88* - Both Maglioli and Salvadori are close to Pietsch now, but not quite close enough to pass yet. Further back Stuck passes Rosier for 22nd position, but is still behind team-mate Bauer.

*Lap 89* - Gonzalez passes Bonetto on this lap, and it will take something incredible to change any of the positions at the front now…

*Lap 90* - And so it proves…mostly. Gerard takes the victory, some 20 seconds ahead of Whitehead. Bayol claims a podium, which is a decent reward for a good weekend for Maserati, whilst de Graffenried and Moss round out the point scorers to ensure Ferrari don't have it all their own way!

Pietsch will not be pleased with 6th position, and Salvadori re-taking Maglioli's 7th will be scant consolation too. Farina finishes 9th ahead of Scherrer's HWM in 10th as the top non-Ferrari or Maserati driver. Menditeguy unfortunately could not keep with his impressive early pace as he comes home 11th, ahead of Mantovani in 12th (the last man on the lead lap). Hawthorn is 13th, from Musso 14th, Ascari 15th (who holds on for a memorable fastest lap!), Lang 16th, Collins 17th, Landi 18th, Claes 19th and Trintignant a solid 20th for Gordini.

A late spin from Bauer hands the Cooper #1 position to Stuck in 21st, with Bauer 22nd, Rosier 23rd, Bira 24th, Gonzalez 25th, Bonetto 26th, Stewart 27th, de Tornaco 28th, Hermann 29th and Brown rounding out the finishers in 30th position.