1952 Belgian GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Spa-Franchorchamps
* Location – Belgium
* Corners – 13
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 5:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 4:22.100 (Juan Manuel Fangio)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 4:28.700 (Bob Gerrard)
* Pit Lane Length – 40 seconds
* Fuel Consumption – High
* Tyre Wear – High

## Qualifying 1

Pietsch swoops at the last moment to deny the Gordini's a dream start and take provisional pole into a Q2 session that looks to be drying out already. Whitehead moved up to 4th in the final moments but it's still not where pundits expected the Ferrari's to be at this stage of the season.

Good showings from Peters, Rol and Hawthorn see them all in the Top 10, which is somewhat of a surprise given the machinery they are working with. But what is far less of a surprise are those who have not made it through to Q2 (presuming at least 20 of those who did set a lap do likewise in that 2nd qualifying session), which are Moss, Rosier, Manzon. Though it is a little surprising to see Collins and Brown lose out already.

**Qualifying 1 Results**

* 1st – Paul Pietsch [F] – 4:42.955 (4)
* 2nd – Jean Behra [G] – 4:43.300 (2)
* 3rd – Elie Bayol [G] – 4:43.620 (3)
* 4th – Peter Whitehead [F] – 4:44.118 (4)
* 5th – Rudi Fischer [G] – 4:44.840 (4)
* 6th – Josef Peters [V] – 4:45.883 (4)
* 7th – Franco Rol [M] – 4:46.340 (2)
* 8th – Bob Gerrard [F] – 4:47.237 (4)
* 9th – Toulo de Graffenried [G] – 4:47.540 (2)
* 10th – Mike Hawthorn [CN] – 4:48.630 (3)
* 11th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [F] – 4:50.505 (2)
* 12th – Alberto Ascari [CP] – 4:52.400 (4)
* 13th – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 4:52.500 (2)
* 14th – David Murray [H] – 4:52.700 (2)
* 15th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 4:52.858 (3)
* 16th – Rudolf Krause [AF] – 4:55.560 (3)
* 17th – Piero Taruffi [FN] – 4:55.980 (4)
* 18th – Hans Klenk [M] – 4:56.925 (1)
* 19th – Hans Stuck [M] – 4:58.736 (1)
* 20th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [A] – 5:07.652 (2)
* 21st – Dennis Poore [CP] – 5:08.049 (2)
* 22nd – Chico Landi – 5:08.180 (2)
* 23rd – Peter Collins [M] – No Time Set (0)
* 24th – Alan Brown [H] – No Time Set (0)
* 25th – Robet Manzon [G] – No Time Set (0)
* 26th – Louis Rosier [CI] – No Time Set (0)
* 27th – Stirling Moss [AB] – No Time Set (0)

## Qualifying 2

Collins stages a late charge for a place on the grid, but it is to no avail as his lack of running in Q1 makes him a good 7-8 seconds slower than the back-markers. But what a shock those backmarkers are!!! Cabantous of Ferrari lines up in 20th position, with none other than 1950 champion Pietsch, also of Ferrari, in 19th place! Expect a big comeback from those two!!!

Up front a Gordini lines up on Pole, with Bayol taking the accolade in some style, from Whitehead in 2nd and Gerrard in 3rd (flying the flag for the beleaguered Ferarri outfit). Taruffi puts in a good performance in Q2 as well.

**Qualifying 2 Results**

* 1st – Elie Bayol [G] – 4:20.440 (4)
* 2nd – Peter Whitehead [F] – 4:20.538 (4)
* 3rd – Bob Gerrard [F] – 4:21.079 (4)
* 4th – Piero Taruffi [FN] – 4:21.442 (4)
* 5th – Rudi Fischer [G] – 4:21.480 (5)
* 6th – Josef Peters [V] – 4:22.434 (4)
* 7th – Franco Rol [M] – 4:22.739 (4)
* 8th – Jean Behra [G] – 4:22.940 (4)
* 9th – Toulo de Graffenried [G] – 4:24.100 (4)
* 10th – Mike Hawthorn [CN] – 4:27.770 (4)
* 11th – Alberto Ascari [CP] – 4:29.420 (4)
* 12th – David Murray [H] – 4:29.546 (2)
* 13th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [A] – 4:30.327 (2)
* 14th – Chico Landi – 4:31.540 (3)
* 15th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 4:31.870 (4)
* 16th – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 4:33.720 (2)
* 17th – Rudolf Krause [AF] – 4:34.319 (2)
* 18th – Hans Stuck [M] – 4:35.880 (2)
* 19th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 4:42.120 (1)
* 20th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [F] – 4:43.860 (2)
* 21st – Peter Collins [M] – 4:51.020 (1)
* 22nd – Hans Klenk [M] – No Time Set (0)
* 23rd – Dennis Poore [CP] – No Time Set (0)

## Overall Qualifying Results

Pole Position goes to Bayol of Gordini who must be over the moon with that, as he gets the best of Whitehead and Gerrard…the late Ferrari charge just not quite coming soon enough as Pole changed hands several times in that last session.

Great performances from Taruffi, Peters and Hawthorn see them inside the Top 10 in machinery that many would say should not be capable of achieving results like that. Even more surprising though is the appearance of the two Ferrari's of Pietsch and Cabantous on the back row of the grid, which should make for a very exciting race indeed.

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - Bayol has a horrendous start, as he stalls on the grid and drops right down the field…all that work for Pole looks to be wasted in one small error at the start! Going the opposite way is Pietsch, who moves through the field like a knife through butter as he rises from 19th up to 3rd position with some brilliant overtaking manoeuvres!

And Ferrari assume a 1-2-3 with Whitehead and Gerrard now up to the first 2 positions in what must be a worrying beginning for the other teams involved. Speaking of which Behra is once again flying the flag for Gordini in 4th, with Peters showing well in 5th, from Rol, Taruffi, Hawthorn, the home favourite Claes and Gonzalez in 10th.

*Lap 4* - On lap 2 there is a huge shock as Gerrard gets his braking into La Source completely wrong, which puts the defending world champion out of the race! That means that Pietsch is now into an incredibly impressive 2nd position, ahead of Peters who makes a move on Behra stick, Behra himself and Rol who rounds out the points. Cabantous makes amazing strides forwards, as he emulates Pietsch's move to go into 6th place as it stands!

Claes is now up to 8th place to the delight of the home crowd as he gets the better of Hawthorn, who quickly falls back behind Fischer also. Falling further back is Gonzalez who is now in 14th place.

Murray is mounting a charge of his own through the field at this point as he is now up inside the Top 10, though the crowd's attention has been drawn to a change near the front as Behra reclaims a podium spot for Gordini from Peters of Veritas at Holowell corner.

*Lap 8* - Claes continues to move through the field with the backing of the home support as Fischer becomes his latest conquest on lap 5, but it is the next couple of laps that will stun the expectant fans as calamity hits Ferrari hard!

Whitehead approaches Stavelot corner, but loses a wheel on the way into the corner…bodywork flies up and onto the track in the aftermath of the crash and a couple of laps later it is an errant piece of his car that becomes lodged under one of Paul Pietsch's wheels; the German's car becomes impossible to drive and he sails as a passenger into the hay bales at the side of the track!

All 3 main Ferrari's are out within the space of 6 laps! And profiting from this are Peters of Veritas who leads the race (!) from Behra of Gordini in 2nd, Rol of Maserati in 3rd, the sole suriving Ferrari of Cabantous in 4th and home favourite Claes now in the points in 5th!!!

Murray has done well to haul himself up to 6th place ahead of Fischer, Hawthorn, de Graffenried and Gonzalez who is back in the Top 10 now. What is surprising is how cautious Bayol is being at the moment; the French former Pole-sitter is only 14th position as it stands with little signs of that drastically improving any time soon.

*Lap 12* - Behra attacks Peters going into the Masta Kink and claims the inside line for his own to life Gordini into a winning position! Rol is the only man within touching distance of these two at the front and he is beginning to drop back little by little too.

Farina gets the better of Taruffi for 11th place, as the Italian's duel it out on a track that is getting wetter by the second it seems! Taruffi reclaims the position the very next lap though, and we have the 1st pit-stop of the race too, as Rol pits from a podium position to emerge in 8th place.

This quickly improves as firstly Behra, Cabantous and Murray pit (also pitting are Gonzalez and Farina) and then disaster strikes for Hawthorn, who misses his braking at Blanchimont, puts a wheel wide and pays the price for his mistake as his race ends there.

But that accident leaves Stuck unsighted for the next corner afterwards and he too gets it all wrong, wiping himself out of contention at La Source. And the leaves Peters in the lead still, from Claes in 2nd (to the elation of the Belgian fans), Fischer in 3rd, Rol back up to 4th from de Graffenried, Behra, Taruffi and Ascari. Bayol is now in 9th ahead of the Ferrari of Cabantous.

*Lap 16* - Fischer, de Graffenried and Taruffi all pit on lap 13, which puts Rol in 3rd, Behra in 4th and most surprisingly of all the Cooper of Ascari up to 5th position. How sweet this must be for the former Ferrari driver to be easily ahead of his ex-compatriots at this stage of the race! And Bayol is now into 7th position after all of those stops, could the comeback finally be coming alive?!?

A slow stop from Peters sees him drop to 3rd place, which leaves the one and only Johnny Claes of Belgium at the front of his home Grand Prix! Rol follows in 2nd place, with Cabantous getting the better of Bayol for 7th and Gonzalez up to 9th after a strong move on de Graffenried round Les Combes.

The agony increases for de Graffenried as he is subsequently overtaken by Murray of HWM. At the front Claes finally pits and hands the lead back to Peters who managed to get the better of Rol the lap before; but the Ferrari fans have their heads in their hands now as Cabantous, their last hope, loses control of the car into La Source and ends up narrowly avoiding the stricken Maserati of Stuck as he hurtles into the barriers and out of the race.

It gets yet worse for de Graffenried with Farina the latest opportunist to put a move on him, and after Claes incredibly slow stop had dropped him into 7th position he gets something back with a move on Bayol to go into 6th place as it stands.

*Lap 20* - On lap 18 Behra puts a stunning overtake on Rol to move Gordini into 2nd position behind Peters of Veritas who is making a clean getaway at this point, whilst further back Gonzalez gets the best of Bayol on the long run through Haut de la Cote to claim 7th position.

Fischer passes Ascari's Cooper for 4th as the Gordini's seemingly begin to come to the fore here, but then Murray also passes Bayol as the Frenchman starts to slip back in an able demonstration of being the exception the aforementioned rule. Taruffi also moves past de Graffenried in a lap of mixed fortunes for the French marque.

Claes passes Ascari for 5th on lap 20 with the Belgian back into the points on home soil, and this is a source of clear delight for his supporters!

*Lap 24* - Drama here on lap 23! After a brief lull in proceedings Gonzalez begins to slow down and on the final corner before the pits he makes a real mess of his entry and ends up spun around facing the wrong way. As he tries to find a gear for quite a long time he is passed by most cars and the leader comes round to lap him…Gonzalez gets started at just the wrong time and lurches forward into the oncoming Peters of Veritas! The German has no time to react and in a moment his race is over in heart-breaking fashion, what a disaster for him and Gonzalez, who had finally looked on form here today.

Also unseen in all that carnage Ascari sought safety in the pits and emerged in 10th position behind de Graffenried in 9th, Taruffi in 8th, Bayol in 7th, Farina in 6th, Murray in 5th, home favourite Claes in 4th, Fischer in 3rd, Rol in 2nd and the poisoned chalice that is the lead of the race in Behra's possession for Gordini!

On lap 24 both Behra and Murray pit to promote Rol into the lead from the aforementioned Gordini driver in 2nd, Fischer, Claes and Farina. Murray emerges in 9th position but attention is all on Behra who looks to be struggling on his outlap…

*Lap 28* - Yet more carnage here as Behra's turn in the lead results in him crashing out at La Source with only 3 wheels left on his car! That must have been an error in the pits!!! Rol enters the pits on this lap 25 as the rain begins to slowly decrease in volume, and due to his previous huge lead and the Frenchman's misfortune it is the Italian who continues to lead the race for Maserati! Fischer is now 2nd from Claes 3rd, Farina 4th and Bayol now up to 5th with just 11 drivers remaining.

On lap 26 several drivers take to the pits, including Fischer, Farina, Bayol, Taruffi and Krause as most pit to take on dry tyres after Rol's example last lap. And so Rol now leads Claes in 2nd, Fischer, the comeback king de Graffenried and Ascari who is back in the points for Cooper!

Rol is really on the pace and finally breaks Whitehead's best laptime by a good few seconds as the dry tyres seem to be easily the best option; for which de Graffenried and Landi pit on this lap leaving Belgian Claes the only man with rain tyres still on. Moving up through the field is Taruffi with a remarkable turn of pace here…

…before he pushes too hard and becomes the latest retirement by failing to brake for the Masta Kink. Ascari is up to 4th as a result, ahead of Farina in 5th, Bayol, de Graffenried (who has now set the fastest lap of the race in a phenomenal outlap!), Murray and then both Krause and Landi at the back of course.

*Lap 32* - Rol is really stretching his lead over the others now with fastest lap that is quickly beaten by de Graffenried, and the same happens again on lap 30. Claes finally pits for dry tyres on lap 30, as Farina passes Ascari for 4th position with Bayol managing to force past both of them around the outside of Holowell and Stavelot!

De Graffenried is moving through the field now as he passes Claes at Burnenville and then on the following lap Ascari at the same corner to move into the points on individual merit; the other action is both Krause and Landi gaining hand over fist on Murray who seems to have lost interest in the race at this point!

*Lap 36* - De Graffenried passes Farina for 4th and is now honing in on Bayol for a podium spot! Claes passes Ascari for 6th position, which sees the Belgian on the cusp of the points!!!

Ascari re-passes Claes for 6th as this allows Farina some breathing space in what is turning into a great race for Maserati! Claes has the last laugh though as he takes the Spaniard at La Carriére to finish 6th overall; also Krause takes 8th on this final lap as he overhauls the ailing Murray.

And that leaves Landi in 10th position some way back, with Murray 9th, Krause 8th, Ascari 7th and home-grown talent Claes 6th tantalisingly close to the points! 5th place is Farina for Maserati who does well to take some points here, behind de Graffenried in 4th and Bayol in 3rd. Rol takes a brilliant victory today, with Fischer in 2nd position as the Gordini drivers put in a good performance to almost match that of Ferrari last race.