1953 British GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Silverstone
* Location – UK
* Corners – 8
* Laps – 90
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 2:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 1:44.000 (Giuseppe Farina)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 1:38.790 (Yves-Girard Cabantous)
* Pit Lane Length – 30 seconds
* Fuel Consumption – Low
* Tyre Wear – Medium

## Qualifying 1

Ferrari close out a 1-2-3 with Gerard in front, ahead of Pietsch and Whitehead as the home fans have quite a lot to celebrate thus far. Up next are three Maseratis with Landi 4th, Ascari 5th and Maglioli 6th, as the pole expert needs to up his game in the 2nd session.

Scherrer sits 7th for HWM, ahead of another couple of Maserati's in the shape of de Graffenried and Moss…but next up is a real surprise with the Cooper pairing of Bauer and Gonzalez in 10th and 11th positions.

Another no-show for Bayol's Maserati and most of the usual suspects, though no BMW here either as the team are rumoured to be really struggling financially as it stands.

**Qualifying 1 Results**

* 1st – Bob Gerard [F] – 2:02.152 (8)
* 2nd – Paul Pietsch [F] – 2:02.417 (10)
* 3rd – Peter Whitehead [F] – 2:03.645 (7)
* 4th – Chico Landi [M] – 2:04.057 (5)
* 5th – Alberto Ascari [M] – 2:04.097 (5)
* 6th – Umberto Maglioli [M] – 2:04.108 (5)
* 7th – Albert Scherrer [H] – 2:04.157 (5)
* 8th – Toulo de Graffenried [M] – 2:04.265 (7)
* 9th – Stirling Moss [M] – 2:04.567 (4)
* 10th – Erwin Bauer [CP] – 2:04.747 (5)
* 11th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [CP] – 2:04.945 (5)
* 12th – Peter Collins [H] – 2:05.605 (7)
* 13th – Hans Hermann [V] – 2:05.685 (5)
* 14th – Roy Salvadori [F] – 2:05.797 (7)
* 15th – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 2:06.751 (6)
* 16th – Luigi Villoresi [O] – 2:07.010 (10)
* 17th – Sergio Mantovani [H] – 2:07.087 (9)
* 18th – Hermann Lang [H] – 2:07.599 (7)
* 19th – Fred Wacker [O] – 2:09.588 (9)
* 20th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 2:13.838 (4)
* 21st – Maurice Trintignant [G] – 2:14.338 (5)
* 22nd – Louis Rosier [G] – 2:15.033 (1)
* 23rd – Hans Stuck [CP] – 2:23.813 (1)
* 24th – Mike Hawthorn [CN] – 2:27.388 (1)
* 25th – Elie Bayol [M] – No Time Set (0)
* 26th – Carlos Menditeguy [H] – No Time Set (0)
* 27th – Prince Bira [CN] – No Time Set (0)
* 28th – Luigi Musso [ B ] – No Time Set (0)
* 29th – Jean Behra [G] – No Time Set (0)
* 30th – Felice Bonetto [ B ] – No Time Set (0)
* 31st – Louis Chiron [CP] – No Time Set (0)
* 32nd – Alan Brown [CN] – No Time Set (0)
* 33rd – Juan Manuel Fangio [CP] – No Time Set (0)

## Qualifying 2

A poor session for Maserati, with only Maglioli and Farina really providing a meaningful showing as they qualify in 6th and 9th respectively. HWM will be pleased that Scherrer gets into 5th position behind the Ferrari foursome led by Whitehead, from Salvadori and Gerard. This will please the British fans as they have a 1-2-4 here!

Another team that will be delighted are Cooper who have improved to 7th and 8th positions, with Bauer ahead of Stuck. Connaught managed to sneak Claes into the top 10 as well, ahead of the two O.S.C.A pairing.

**Qualifying 2 Results**

* 1st – Peter Whitehead [F] – 1:37.938 (12)
* 2nd – Roy Salvadori [F] – 1:38.376 (10)
* 3rd – Paul Pietsch [F] – 1:38.553 (15)
* 4th – Bob Gerard [F] – 1:38.931 (8)
* 5th – Albert Scherrer [H] – 1:40.537 (9)
* 6th – Umberto Maglioli [M] – 1:40.547 (6)
* 7th – Erwin Bauer [CP] – 1:41.163 (7)
* 8th – Hans Stuck [CP] – 1:42.588 (4)
* 9th – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 1:44.578 (6)
* 10th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 1:47.520 (7)
* 11th – Fred Wacker [O] – 1:48.960 (5)
* 12th – Luigi Villoresi [O] – 1:49.283 (5)
* 13th – Toulo de Graffenried [M] – 2:03.606 (6)
* 14th – Sergio Mantovani [H] – 2:03.786 (10)
* 15th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [CP] – 2:04.012 (3)
* 16th – Hermann Lang [H] – 2:04.194 (5)
* 17th – Alberto Ascari [M] – 2:04.397 (4)
* 18th – Hans Hermann [V] – 2:04.831 (3)
* 19th – Stirling Moss [M] – 2:05.204 (4)
* 20th – Peter Collins [H] – 2:05.275 (3)
* 21st – Mike Hathworn [CN] – 2:20.338 (1)
* 22nd – Chico Landi [M] – No Time Set (0)
* 23rd – Maurice Trintignant [G] – No Time Set (0)
* 24th – Louis Rosier [G] – No Time Set (0)

## Overall Qualifying Results

The smallest grid of the season sees Ferrari lock out the front row with an all-British 1-2 to keep the home fans happy. Scherrer is flying the flag for HWM, with Mantovani being in 14th position as the next best driver from that team.

There are surprises near the back of the grid, as Moss and Ascari are both right at the back for Maserati, with Collins as the last HWM too in 20th position. It seems that O.S.C.A and Cooper are both more consistent here than either Maserati or HWM, which could lead to some surprises in the race.

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - AND WE ARE GO IN THE UK!!! Whitehead gets away at the start, but behind him chaos ensues as both Pietsch and Gerard get away very slowly, the latter stalling the car initially! Salvadori snakes through, but loses 2nd place to the quick-starting Lang who makes up an incredible 14 positions off the start, with some impeccable timing and a brilliant line around the outside.

Lang is followed through by Collins, who manages to move into 4th position, Bauer does well to take 5th ahead of Pietsch in 6th, Ascari up to 7th, Scherrer down to 8th, Wacker up to 9th and Maglioil down to 10th place.

Further back there are more issues, as Claes avoids Gerard but slams into the side of Mantovani, both are collected by Gonzaléz as all 3 sail off into the hay bales at the edge of Copse with their races already over.

*Lap 2* - Bauer is the man on the move up-front, as he executes a brilliant manoeuvre on Collins at the Maggotts-Becketts complex, and then gets the drag on Salvadori down to Stowe to take 3rd up the inside behind Whitehead and Lang. Pietsch, Scherrer and Ascari all follow through as the race is so close that anyone off the racing line is dropping right down the pack!

Stuck is scything through the field, as he takes Gerard - who seems to be more occupied getting past Maglioli. Moss and Hermann are both on the move too, with the top 10 now Whitehead-Lang-Bauer-Pietsch-Scherrer-Ascari-Salvadori-Stuck-Collins-Hermann. Moss is next up, from Wacker, Gerard, Maglioli, Villoresi, Farina and de Graffenried with Hawthorn way off the pace in 18th and last at the moment.

*Lap 3* - Lang is right on the back of Whitehead, he gets his nose ahead and they are neck and neck as they cross the line! Bauer makes a small error, and loses places to Pietsch, the hard-charging Hermann (who makes up about 6 places this lap!!!), Scherrer and Ascari. Collins passes Salvadori and Stuck on this lap, and Gerard at last makes his way past Wacker in what has been a horrendous start to the race for the Ferrari driver and championship leader.

*Lap 4* - Lang has another go at Whitehead, but goes wide at Abbey and loses 2nd to Pietsch over the line. Bauer makes up for his previous error, as he moves past Ascari and is then given the gift of both Hermann and Scherrer out-braking against one another down to Stowe and losing places as a result.

Stuck also capitalises on this, after he passed both Collins and Salvadori earlier in the lap. Gerard continues to slowly make his way back through the field, with a pass on Moss whilst near the back Farina uses his straight-line speed advantage to move past Villoresi's O.S.C.A on the run down to Club.

*Lap 5* - A calmer lap, as though battles rage throughout the field the only passes are done by Salvadori, on both Collins and Scherrer, with Gerard following his team-mate through on the former of the two as well.

*Lap 6* - Whitehead makes a mistake!!! The home favourite almost spins at Woodcote, and only just avoids going off…Pietsch moves into the lead, with Bauer's pass on Lang at Copse meaning he is now 2nd with Whitehead back in 4th position now.

Stuck has a similar issue, as the rain at that corner seems to be making the braking there particularly treacherous, with Hermann, Salvadori and Scherrer profiting from the incident.

Farina takes Maglioli and Wacker this lap, with de Graffenried at long last passing Villoresi to ensure he is not worst of the rest!

*Lap 7* - And now Pietsch makes the same mistake! Not as badly as Whitehead did, but it's enough to leave Bauer in the lead for Cooper from Lang's HWM and then Pietsch and Whitehead for Ferrari!

Salvadori takes Hermann's Veritas for 6th position, whilst a mistake for Scherrer drops him behind Stuck and Gerard - who's progress must be somewhat ominous for those in the lead! De Graffenried takes Maglioli here too, as the Maserati's dice between each other at the back.

*Lap 8* - BAUER SPINS!!! The poisoned chalice that is the lead approaching Woodcote claims its latest victim, as the Cooper driver drops behind Lang, Pietsch and Whitehead to 4th. Salvadori takes Ascari for 5th place on this lap too, as we now have 3 of the 4 Ferrari's in the points and Gerard in 9th as it stands/

*Lap 9* - Salvadori defends strongly from Ascari into Becketts, but this leaves both vulnerable to the slipstream from Hermann, who moves his Veritas into a points paying position!

*Lap 10* - Salvadori re-takes Hermann, as the Veritas drivers joy is short-lived. De Graffenried becomes the latest Maserati to demote Wacker, who still has Maglioli in his wake, with Villoresi hanging on admirably in the other O.S.C.A…which is more than can be said for the lacklustre Hawthorn.

*Lap 11* - Lang's lead is over nearly as quickly as it began, as Pietsch takes his fellow German at Club. Hermann and Ascari both lose positions to Stuck, as the Cooper continues to demonstrate its ability to stick with the big boys in the race!

De Graffenried comes out ahead in the battle of the Maserati's, as he passes Farina, who in turn gets ahead of Moss as the scrap for 12th place intensifies - which is not what the Maserati leadership would have hoped for.

*Lap 12* - Bauer passes Whitehead, as the Ferrari's are really finding it hard to keep their dominance alive at this race. Ascari takes Hermann, and Moss takes Farina on this lap too.

*Lap 13* - Finally O.S.C.A hopeful Wacker drops behind the last of the Maserati's, as he succumbs to the Maserati of Maglioli to leave the two O.S.C.A drivers running at the back of the field.

*Lap 14* - Salvadori passes Whitehead for 4th in an all-Ferrari, all-British battle. Gerard takes Hermann's Veritas for 8th place, with the championship leader moving ever-closer to the points lap by lap. Moss re-passes de Graffenried here, whilst Wacker refuses to lie down for O.S.C.A and slides back up the inside of Maglioli at Chapel!

*Lap 15* - Pietsch pits from the lead, emerging behind all of the other drivers (bar Hawthorn of course). Salvadori gets the better of Bauer, and takes Lang on the same lap to assume the lead of the race and ensure a Ferrari still sits in 1st position. Lang is still 2nd, whilst Bauer loses out to Whitehead for 3rd place. Moss passes Collins on this lap as well.

*Lap 16* - Gerard pits on this lap too, as he comes out way behind the pack - although at least he now has space to try and gain the time back. Stuck takes 4th place from Bauer at Copse on this lap, whilst Maglioli re-takes Wacker's O.S.C.A and Pietsch begins his run through the field with a pass on Villoresi, but the traffic in front could well compromise his strategy.

*Lap 17* - Lang passes Salvadori for the lead, as the HWM driver continues his great run of overtaking moves. Whitehead pits on this lap as 3 Ferrari's now sit near the back of the field. Collins takes Moss for 8th position, whilst Wacker YET AGAIN puts a move on Maglioli as the O.S.C.A driver defies the odds and the budgets to keep ahead of his adversary.

Pietsch moves past both of the aforementioned pair, as he looks to get the most out of his new tyres to ensure he is ahead of those about to pit…

*Lap 18* - …and in they come!!! A great stop for Salvadori sees him jump Lang in the pits, whilst Stuck has a horrendous stop and Hermann struggles too. Bauer, Scherrer, Collins and de Graffenried all come in on this lap as well.

That leaves Ascari in the lead, though yet to pit, from Moss in 2nd, Farina in 3rd and Pietsch now back into 4th position. Wacker and Maglioli are up next (which means an O.S.C.A is in the points!!!)lo, ahead of the recovering Whitehead, Villoresi, Gerard and Salvadori - that extra lap on worn tyres really cost the latter. Bauer is up next, ahead of Lang, Scherrer, Collins, de Graffenried and Hermann for Veritas with Stuck now down at the back.

*Lap 19* - Pietsch forces his way back in to the lead, as Ascari pits to drop to last of the main pack (not including Hawthorn, of course), with Wacker also pitting and coming out behind Ascari. Villoresi loses positions to Gerard, Salvadori and Bauer as his worn tyres are starting to cry enough!

Whitehead takes Maglioli on this lap to move into 4th position now ahead of Gerard who is in 5th place; his recovery now pretty much complete.

*Lap 20* - Moss and Farina both pit, as does Villoresi, with Moss out in front of Ascari, Farina out just behind and Villoresi nearly 10 seconds behind Wacker. Maglioli's tyres are shot, and he fails to defend adequately from Lang, Salvadori and Bauer…the latter also passes Gerard too as Cooper are still showing themselves to be an match for the prancing horse too, with another fastest lap for the German.

That puts Pietsch into the lead, from Whitehead and the aforementioned group led by Bauer.

*Lap 21* - Bauer is pulling away from Gerard in 3rd, whilst Stuck sets a stunning lap-time to overhaul Hermann's Veritas. Farina gets ahead of both Moss and Ascari with overtaking moves at Copse and Chapel respectively.

Hawthorn makes a big error at Club, which damages his bodywork and will slow him down until he comes in to pit.

*Lap 22* - Bauer is on fire! Thankfully not literally, but metaphorically, as he steams up the inside of Whitehead to claim 2nd position for Cooper…the Ferrari fans are dumbfounded at the defiance of the tiny 'garagistes!'

*Lap 23* - Collins passes both Scherrer and Maglioli, with the latter really struggling on his incredibly worn out tyres. Hermann takes Stuck on this lap too, with a gaggle of Maserati's gaining ground behind.

*Lap 24* - Maglioli sets another below par lap-time, losing places to Scherrer, Stuck (who is on the up at the moment) and de Graffenried on an otherwise relatively pedestrian lap.

*Lap 25* - Bauer is making in-roads on Pietsch's lead, with some big risks on many of the corners. Salvadori takes Gerard for 4th position, whilst de Graffenried makes a mistake at Chapel to drop behind Hermann's Veritas, who has also overhauled Maglioli on this lap. Farina and Moss also pass their ailing team-mate too.

Wacker makes a mistake at Stowe, and damages his radiator slightly, which will slow him down a little for the next few laps.

*Lap 26* - Bauer is now 6.5 seconds behind the leader, whilst de Graffenried's more worn tyres are starting to cause him issues as he loses positions to both Farina and Moss. The latest person to pass Maglioli is Ascari, as the only people behind him now are the O.S.C.A pair and Hawthorn.

*Lap 27* - Not much action on this lap, with Bauer maintaining station around 6-7 seconds behind Pietsch. Hermann and Stuck cross the line side by side, with the Veritas driver edging ahead into the next corner…

*Lap 28* - …and Hermann's Veritas proceeds to move easily ahead, with passes on both Scherrer and Collins for a net 7th position. Ascari takes de Graffenried on this lap too.

*Lap 29* - Stuck also moves past Scherrer and Collins, as the two HWM's are really struggling to keep on the pace. Farina follows Stuck through on the pair of HWM's too.

*Lap 30* - Maglioli finally pits, and Wacker comes in to fix his issue as well. This allows Villoresi to move past the pair of them. Scherrer passes both Collins and Farina, as the HWM driver at last shows some resilience to his tyre issues.

*Lap 31* - Pietsch pits on this lap, to pass the lead to Bauer and emerge in an impressive 6th position! Meanwhile Lang takes Gerard for what is now 4th place, behind the other two Ferrari drivers.

*Lap 32* - Gerard pits on this lap, emerging in 13th position, whilst Scherrer has an awful lap as he loses places to Farina, Collins and Moss.

*Lap 33* - Scherrer re-takes both Collins and Moss, as his risky approach to the corners is paying dividends at times! Gerard begins to make his way back towards the points with a pass on Ascari for 12th.

*Lap 34* - Whitehead comes into the pits on this lap, to relieve the pressure on Bauer up front…he comes out behind Stuck in 7th position.

*Lap 35* - Whitehead quickly takes advantage of his new tyres to pass Stuck and Scherrer, wiith the latter also passing the Cooper driver on this lap too. Gerard does likewise with passes on the Maserati duo of Farina and Moss and the HWM pairing of Scherrer and Collins.

*Lap 36* - Several drivers pit on this lap, including the leaders Bauer, Salvadori and Lang - though Salvadori's mechanics barely seemed ready for him! Stuck and Hermann come in to the pits too, along with Scherrer and Collins as well.

This means that Pietsch leads the race again, from Whitehead, Gerard and Bauer. Moss is next, as he passes Farina on this lap, then come Lang, Ascari and Salvadori. Collins gets the better of Scherrer, Hermann and Stuck in the pits too.

*Lap 37* - Salvadori is quickly back into his stride, as he makes a pass on Ascari at the tight Becketts corner.

*Lap 38* - Ascari, de Graffenried and Wacker all come into the pits on this lap, the former two emerge ahead of only Maglioli, Wacker and of course Hawthorn. Stuck and Lang move past both Moss and Farina, with the Cooper driver now in the points as a result.

*Lap 39* - No overtakes on this lap, though Bauer is now just 0.3 seconds adrift of Gerard in the battle for 3rd place.

*Lap 40* - Moss, Farina and Villoresi all pit on this lap, and the former two come out behind Scherrer but ahead of Ascari. Villoresi is out just ahead of Wacker too, as the O.S.C.A drivers switch places.

Bauer is putting some big pressure on Gerard, now just 0.2 seconds down on him with both gaining heavily on Whitehead in 2nd place. Pietsch looks comfortable at the front, as long as the rain continues like this…

*Lap 41* - Bauer at long last forces past Gerard for 3rd place, though the gap to Whitehead has now increased to a good 3 seconds.

*Lap 42* - Stuck passes Scherrer on this lap, with Whitehead moving steadily closer to Pietsch and away from those behind him as it stands.

*Lap 43* - Farina passes Moss on this lap, whilst another inter-team battle takes place on track with Wacker passing Villoresi…also Whitehead takes another 2 seconds out of Pietsch's lead to be just 10 seconds behind now.

*Lap 44* - Moss passes Farina for 11th place, whilst Bauer moves easily away from Gerard and to within a couple of seconds of Whitehead too!

*Lap 45* - Bauer gets the better of Whitehead, with a brilliant slipstream into 2nd position on the run down to Woodcote. These two are now a good 7 seconds ahead of Gerard, who will soon have Salvadori to contend with for 4th position.

Hawthorn pits on this lap, which will have utterly no bearing on his race or position whatsoever!

*Lap 46* - Nothing really of note to report from this lap, other than Bauer continuing to harass the Ferrari's and gain on Pietsch in the process.

*Lap 47* - Pietsch comes into the pits, to move Bauer into the lead of the race yet again. Pietsch comes out in 6th position, ahead of Hermann who has just passed Collins for 7th.

Moss gets the better of Scherrer at Abbey on this lap as well.

*Lap 48* - Gerard comes into the pits now as well, emerging ahead of Hermann in 6th position. Pietsch passes Lang on this lap too, as he moves back into 4th place.

*Lap 49* - Farina passes Scherrer on this lap, as the Maserati's continue to squabble over the minor positions…this wet weather really not suiting their cars for some reason!

*Lap 50* - Nothing really to report, other than Whitehead being within a second of Salvadori and his mechanics being out in the pit-lane to meet him next time around…

*Lap 51* - Whitehead comes into the pits on this lap, and once again Bauer can concentrate on leading the race without incident. The Brit comes out in 5th place, just ahead of title rival Bob Gerard with just over 1 second between them. Further back Collins passes the Veritas of Hermann for 7th place.

*Lap 52* - Pietsch uses his newer tyres to great effect, as he sails past Salvadori with infinitely more grip and traction where it counts.

*Lap 53* - Pietsch is reeling Bauer in, as the Cooper drivers tyres are seriously giving up as it stands! Stuck passes Hermann on this lap as well, with many drivers beginning to second guess the weather and look to switch to dry tyres, despite the fact that it is still raining!

*Lap 54* - Bauer, Salvadori, Lang, Stuck, Hermann and Scherrer all come into the pits on this lap, with Stuck losing the most ground due to the laziness of his mechanics.

A great lap-time for Whitehead here as he moves into 2nd behind Pietsch, but ahead of Gerard, Bauer, Salvadori and Collins. 7th is Moss ahead of Lang, Farina and Ascari who rounds out the top 10 as it stands.

*Lap 55* - Salvadori has switched to dry tyres here, as well as Lang and Scherrer…and all three immediately lose quite a lot of time on this lap! Salvadori drops from 5th to 9th, whilst Lang goes from 8th to 11th and Scherrer loses a position to Stuck as well. Wacker also passes Maglioli on this lap, as the worn tyres on the Maserati make him easy prey to the O.S.C.A driver.

*Lap 56* - Ascari pits on this lap too, but elects to keep wet tyres on. Salvadori loses a place to de Graffenried here, whilst Hermann's Veritas takes both of them! Scherrer loses out to Wacker, Villoresi and Maglioli too, as the dry tyres are on too early are unable to keep with the pace and can barely keep the drivers in question on track.

*Lap 57* - Stuck sets an incredible lap-time on his new set of wet tyres, which are wet…but the rain is starting to abate so is that the best idea? Salvadori loses out to Stuck in this lap, and Wacker's pit-stop drops him behind all other besides Hawthorn.

*Lap 58* - Those on dry tyres are getting quicker, as the track is getting drier…but the wet tyre is still a good 10 seconds or so quicker! Both Collins and de Graffenried pit on this lap, emerging on dry tyres, which are coming to parity with the wet tyres slowly but surely.

The order is now Pietsch-Whitehead-Gerard-Bauer then a big gap back to Moss, Farina, Hermann, Collins and Stuck. Another significant gap exists then back to de Graffenried, Salvadori, Lang and Ascari.

*Lap 59* - Bauer passes Gerard on this lap, as the Cooper continues to mix it with those in red up front. Stuck takes Collins on this lap as well, with Collins the top driver on dry tyres losing about 3-4 seconds to those on wet tyres.

*Lap 60* - Farina, Villoresi and Maglioli all come into the pits this lap, as the former and latter both put on dry tyres to attempt to gauge the right moment to pit…and they seem to have got it spot on, as the rain is gone and a dry line is beginning to show up on the track.

Farina emerges in 9th position, with the top 3 within 6 seconds of each other now and significantly ahead of any of the Maserati drivers at this point.

Bauer sets the fastest lap of the race, taking an incredible chunk out of team-mate Stuck's last attempt!

*Lap 61* - Not much to report here, other than Farina setting the fastest lap as the Maserati finally demonstrates some real pace!

*Lap 62* - Dry tyres are definitely the tyre to be on at the moment, although many of the wet tyres have worn down so much that they are slicks anyway! Moss pits on this lap to put on dry tyres to emerge in 9th position, whilst Farina sets another fastest lap to get right on the back of Collins. Maglioli also takes Wacker on this lap too.

*Lap 63* - Pietsch pits on this lap, to come out in 4th behind Whitehead, Bauer and Gerard. Maglioli takes Villoresi, with the Maserati pace quickly coming back.

*Lap 64* - Gerard pits on this lap for dry tyres, with the wet tyres really losing around 10 seconds per lap now. He comes out in 4th place, a good 20+ seconds behind Pietsch.

Collins moves into 5th place, with Farina chasing hard in 6th position as they both put Hermann and Stuck behind them as they are yet to change tyres.

Ascari passes Lang on this lap too, with both on dry tyres. Wacker also gets the better of Villoresi here too, as the latter is still trying to make his wet tyres function.

*Lap 65* - Moss moves into 7th place, ahead of Hermann and Stuck due to them being on the wrong tyres…and so those still on wets now are Whitehead, Bauer, Hemann, Stuck, Villoresi and Hawthorn.

*Lap 66* - Pietsch takes the lead of the race, with an incredibly easy pass on Whitehead and Bauer as the two of them struggle to keep with the pace on the wrong tyres. Farina passes Collins for 5th position here too.

*Lap 67* - Gerard takes Bauer's podium position away, with the German surely feeling like it's time to come in and change by now! Stuck passes Hermann, but neither can do anything about de Graffenried sailing by on the correct tyre. Salvadori is also beginning to come back into contention with some strong lap-times.

*Lap 68* - Whitehead finally pits for dry tyres here, emerging in 5th place behind Farina's Maserati. Meanwhile Salvadori passes both Stuck and Hermann to move into 9th position.

*Lap 69* - Ascari passes both Stuck and Hermann on this lap, but little else takes place.

*Lap 70* - Pietsch becomes the 1st driver under 1:40, but his time is quickly beaten by Whitehead on fresher tyres. Whitehead also passes Farina on this lap, whilst the pair of them move past Bauer's ailing Cooper. Bauer also loses places to both Collins and Moss on this lap.

Lang is up to 10th after passes on Hermann and Stuck…and Salvadori pitting to come out behind this group too.

*Lap 71* - Moss passes Collins, who seems to have a slight issue coming out of Stowe as he slows right down before picking up the pace again. Hermann passes Stuck, but both are unable to do anything about the advancing Salvadori, who also moves past Lang as well.

*Lap 72* - Collins problem proves to be more than just a tiny issue, as it seems he is out of fuel to ruin what was a great performance up till then! On this lap several drivers pit, including Bauer, Hermann and Stuck at long last who switch to dry tyres, with Lang, Scherrer and Wacker all coming in for a new set of dry tyres too.

Only Villoresi and Hawthorn remain on wet tyres now, as the top 10 looks like this; Pietsch, Gerard, Whitehead, Farina, Moss, de Graffenried, Ascari (as the Maserati resurgence has kicked in quite impressively!), Bauer, Salvadori and Lang.

*Lap 73* - Ascari pits on this lap, which moves Bauer into 7th and Salvadori into 8th position.

*Lap 74* - De Graffenried comes in to the pits here, which elevates Bauer into 6th place but quite a while outside the points still. Hermann passes Maglioli on this lap too, as the Italian's tyres are once again struggling to cope.

*Lap 75* - Nothing more to report on this lap…

*Lap 76* - Or on this lap either…

*Lap 77* - Scherrer has been pushing hard to catch Maglioli, but pushes too hard here and manages to run wide, causing some damage to his bodywork which will slow him down over the next few laps.

*Lap 78* - De Graffenried is putting pressure on Bauer for 6th, but both are nearly a minute down on Moss as it stands.

*Lap 79* - Scherrer's damage means he can do little to prevent Stuck passing him on this lap.

*Lap 80* - Whitehead is gaining on Gerard for 2nd, but still has 7 seconds to make up to his title rival. Salvadori is also gaining on the Bauer v de Graffenried fight, though all are far off the points still.

Villoresi's race is run here, as he is another one who has not put in enough fuel to cope with the dry conditions.

*Lap 81* - Salvadori passes de Graffenried, and moves on to pass Bauer as well…the German also loses a place to the Swiss too but in reality unless something happens to one of the leading 5 this will be somewhat moot…

Whitehead is just 6 seconds behind Gerard now…

*Lap 82* - …but Gerard pegs the gap at 7 seconds after this lap.

*Lap 83* - A stunning lap from Whitehead drops the gap to just 3 seconds!!!

*Lap 84* - And it remains at 3 seconds for this lap too…

*Lap 85* - Gerard seems to have the measure of Whitehead most laps, as he injects a bit of pace to push the gap back up to 5 seconds.

*Lap 86* - Stuck passes Maglioli for 12th place due to his fresher tyres on this lap, but all eyes are focused up-front as Whitehead sets a stunning lap-time, and Gerard seems unable to respond and thus the gap sits at just 2 seconds!!!

*Lap 87* - An awful race for Hawthorn ends with him running out of fuel, whilst the gap is just 2.3 seconds between Gerard and Whitehead.

*Lap 88* - Whitehead gains steadily up to Gerard on the run up to Copse, with Maggotts and Becketts seeing him close the gap up to less than 1 second…before he pulls out on the run down to Stowe and makes the pass around the outside in stunning fashion!!!

*Lap 89* - Whitehead demolishes any chances Gerard have of responding with an incredible lap time which sees him pull out no less than 4 more seconds on his title rival.

*Lap 90* - As the chequered flag falls Pietsch takes his 1st victory of the season, from Whitehead and Gerard in 2nd and 3rd. Farina and Moss are 4th and 5th in what turned in to a reasonable race for Maserati, with Salvadori in 6th place.

De Graffenried finishes 7th after another difficult day for the Baron, ahead of Bauer in 8th, who will be kicking himself for not putting dry tyres on earlier. Ascari is 9th and Lang finishes 10th, which he will be disappointed with given his brilliant start to the race.

Hermann finishes 11th, Stuck 12th, Maglioli 13th, Scherrer 14th, and the O.S.C.A of Wacker finishes off the finishers in 15th position. Hawthorn, Villoresi, Collins, Claes, Mantovani and Gonzaléz are the non-finishers today.