1958 Moroccan GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Ain Diab
* Location – Morocco
* Corners – 8
* Laps – 53
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 4:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 2:22.500 (Stirling Moss)
* Lap Record (F1R) – N/A (Not raced before)
* Pit Lane Length – 20 seconds\*
* Fuel Consumption – Medium
* Tyre Wear – Medium

Note that this season pit-stops will last longer than in previous seasons; this number represents the time it takes to travel down the pit-lane NOT including the time you will spend stationary.

## Qualifying

It looks like another excellent race in prospect, with Ferrari v Maserati v Cooper and Musso's BRM all in the mix! Gerard leads the way for Maserati as he claims his 24th Pole Position, meaning he has achieved Pole in 41% of the sessions he has competed in…a staggering achievement for the reigning champion, who will be looking to add a 5th title to his name from the best seat in the house!

Behind him come the Ferrari trio of Salvadori, von Trips and Brabham, as the middle one of that trio will be the one to watch - von Trips will need to make up places quickly given that a race win for Gerard would leave him needing to finish 2nd overall to take the title on countback of 2nd placed finishes! That also makes the point for Fastest Lap a really important thing to focus on, as it could determine the fate of the championship!

Next up is Musso's BRM in a creditable 5th position in what will be his last race in the series…ahead of Bonnier's Maserati, Herrmann's Cooper, Gould's Ferrari (in his final race), Behra's Cooper and Piotti's Maserati rounding out the Top 10 in what will be his final race also. The Vanwall team are next up in 11th and 13th for Fairman and Collins respectively, as the latter bows out of the series after this round.

Gibson is sandwiched between the Vanwall's in 12th, but will be looking for more in his final race before his retirement, while Flockhart is 14th for Cooper, Hawthorn 15th for OSCA in his final race in the series, Trintignant 16th for Porsche, Hill 17th for BRM, Moss a solid 18th for Connaught, Gendebien 19th for Porsche and de Beaufort rounding out the Top 20 for Vanwall.

Outside the Top 20 Marsh sits 21st for Connaught in what will be his final race, with Chiron 22nd in his final race, Godia 23rd in his last outing and Emery 24th in his final race in the F1R series. It's worth noting that thanks to Lotus' failure to qualify\* Connaught have now been confirmed in at least 8th position in the championship! Hill for Vanwall and Fangio for OSCA are also present in what looks like an ignominious end to the Argentine's stellar F1R career.

## Grid

A championship decider here - something that Gerard has only had to deal with three times in his career (1952, 1953 and 1954)…and the good news for his opponent von Trips is that he only won of those three (1953). Will history repeat itself here…? It is going to be all out battling between the two of them to try and defeat the other to claim the Championship…though von Trips looks like he will have the support of his team-mates in this race, whereas Bonnier and Piotti are some way down on the leading fight in the Maserati cars…

\*Grid Penalty for joining qualifying late

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* – Gerard gets away without incident at the front, leading for what may be the final time in F1R! The Ferrari trio are in close attendance behind – though on the run down Azenmour Casablanca Road von Trips’ worst fears may be realised, as Bonnier slipstreams past Musso AND Brabham to move up to 4th for Maserati directly behind the German!

Meanwhile Herrmann stalls on the grid and simply cannot get his car going – what an ignominious end to the season for the talented German, who was contesting 3rd place in the Drivers’ Championship – but will now likely drop behind Salvadori in that competition as a result. That means Gould is now 7th from Piotti in 8th as the Maserati gets a better start than Behra in 9th. Fairman rounds out the Top 10 for Vanwall…

…speaking of Vanwall, Collins gets a good start as he hurtles past Gibson into 11th with barely any room between the pair as they almost touch! Flockhart is ploughing a lone furrow in 13th, while Hill gets a fantastic start for BRM to go from 17th to 14th ahead of Hawthorn 15th, Trintignant 16th and Moss 17th.

Rounding out the top 20 are de Beaufort in 18th, Marsh up to 19th and Gendebien down to 20th after a tough start for the Porsche, with Chiron, Emery, Scarlatti (after a strong start by the lone Lotus), Godia, Hill for Vanwall and Fangio rounding out those to make it through Lap 1!

*Lap 2* – Salvadori is keen to show his worth to his Ferrari employers, with a contract renewal talk to come after the race…and what a way to show them, as he slipstreams past Gerard to take the race lead (and the new Fastest Lap!) at the first part of Boulevard Panoramique! Bonnier meanwhile is having to contend with an incredibly eager Brabham behind, but the Swede is coping well thus far…

…although we may have spoken too soon, as the man making excellent progress this lap is Gould, who takes 6th from Musso at Ain Diab Corner, 5th from team-mate Brabham (who moves out of the way) at Boulevard Alexandre and then – much to the relief of von Trips – 4th from Bonnier at the Coast Road Curve!!! The others all remain in the same order.

Meanwhile Vanwall deploy some excellent drafting tactics, as Collins uses Fairman’s wake to draft past Behra and up to 9th place, which drops the Cooper to 10th – and Fairman even manages to prevent Gibson from passing him for 11th as well! Flockhart meanwhile has a lap to forget, as he drifts wide at Azenmour Road Curve to drop behind Hill (now 13th) and Hawthorn (now 14th) into 15th place. Moss also overhauls Trintignant at Ain Diab Corner, before de Beaufort does the same as Flockhart to let Marsh into 18th and Gendebien into 19th overall.

*Lap 3* – Another FL for Salvadori of a 2:24.7 as he pulls out a 0.3 second advantage over Gerard in 2nd place, who has von Trips only half a second or so behind right now! Behind them a frenetic sequence of corners through Boulevard Panoramique 1 and 2 sees 4th place change hands several times…but after the jostling is through it is Brabham who emerges in 4th with Musso a surprise 5th, Gould down to 6th and Bonnier down to 7th!

Behra overtakes Collins to reclaim 9th place – but will that leave him to fall victim to the Vanwall slipstream again!?! Further back Moss defends diligently from Trintignant in their fight over 16th position.

*Lap 4* – Brabham is defending vigorously from Musso, which causes a concertina effect all the way down to Piotti in 8th, who uses the slipstream behind Bonnier to pass him, Gould and Musso in the space of the Azenmour Casablanca Road to catapult into 5th position with the others all holding station!

Behra meanwhile is the latest to fall victim of the slippery surface at Azenmour Road Curve, as he drops behind both the Vanwall’s into 11th place. Hill and Gibson swap places for BRM in 12th and 13th in an otherwise uneventful lap…

Up front Salvadori takes another Fastest Lap of a 2:24.6…

*Lap 5* – …but that is quickly beaten by Gerard with a 2:24.5 the next time around! Musso is the man on the move this time around, as he charges past Piotti and Brabham to move up to an impressive 4th place for BRM!!! Bonnier meanwhile overtakes Gould for 7th place, while the BRM’s again swap 12th and 13th around and Gendebien falls victim to de Beaufort’s advances, as he reclaims 19th place.

*Lap 6* – Salvadori reclaims Fastest Lap with a slightly faster 2:24.5, while behind them Piotti overtakes Brabham for 5th position and Gould passes Bonnier for 7th as the fight for the minor points placings intensifies!

Hill meanwhile is defending from Hawthorn and Marsh passes Trintignant for 17th place, with a well-timed move at Boulevard Alexandre Corner.

*Lap 7* – Piotti passes Musso for 4th at Azenmour Road Curve, which means the BRM spends the rest of the lap defending from Brabham! Meanwhile Bonnier makes up for the previous lap with a well-timed pass on Gould to move up to 7th and onto the tail of Brabham…

Salvadori uses this lap to lay down his credentials for the race win early on with a 2:24.1 that extends his advantage over Gerard to 8 tenths! Von Trips is gamely hanging on to Gerard’s coattails with around a 1 second deficit to his title rival.

*Lap 8* – Brabham is defending from Bonnier, as both of them and Gould are in incredibly close proximity from one another – it’s an impressive driving display that they can travel so quickly, so close to each other!

Further back Hill is defending from Hawthorn, who seems to have some real pace in the OSCA at this stage…

*Lap 9* – Bonnier is the man on the move here, as he picks his moment to dive up the inside of Brabham at Boulevard Panoramique 1 to claim 6th overall – but will he leave himself vulnerable to the Ferrari slipstream, with Brabham and Gould now close together behind him!?!

*Lap 10* – The gap at the front is over a second from Salvadori to Gerard, as the Top 3 are starting to pull away from the rest of the pack, with everyone down to 15th placed Flockhart still comfortably within 4 seconds of 4th placed man Piotti!

*Lap 11* – Despite Hawthorn’s aggressive attacking moves, he pays the price for failing to make them stick – as Flockhart behind picks his moment to roar past the OSCA on the straight down to Ain Diab Corner and pick up 14th place by the skin of his teeth!

*Lap 12* – Hill and Gibson swap 12th and 13th place again, while Hawthorn responds immediately to Flockhart by timing his pass to perfection at Sidi Abderharman Curve to reclaim 14th with the tiniest space possible between the two cars!!!

Salvadori meanwhile is the 1st man to break the 2:24 barrier, with a 2:23.6 to extend his lead at the front out to 1.8 seconds!

*Lap 13* – Flockhart and Hawthorn once again are in close proximity, as the Cooper overtakes the OSCA – but THEY TOUCH as the overtake happens at Boulevard Alexandre!!! As such Flockhart elects to pit this time around, while Hawthorn’s damage is a little less and so he elects to stay out…that means Moss is up to 14th, followed by Marsh 15th and Trintignant 16th with Hawthorn then down to 17th.

18th is now de Beaufort, from Gendebien 19th, Chiron 20th, Emery 21st, Scarlatti 22nd, Godia 23rd and then Flockhart out in 24th position.

*Lap 14* – Gibson and Hill continue to switch positions over 12th and 13th, while Trintignant passes Marsh for 15th as behind them Hawthorn continues to lose ground with his damaged car, dropping behind de Beaufort 17th, Gendebien 18th, Chiron 19th and Emery 20th overall.

Further back Flockhart begins his comeback drive with an easy pass on team-mate Godia for 23rd position.

*Lap 15* – By just 0.017 of a second Gerard reclaims the Fastest Lap – and the point for that would be enough to claim the title as it stands!!!

*Lap 16* – Von Trips must have got wind from the pits of Gerard gaining Fastest Lap, as he goes some 0.058 faster to set a new FL of a 2:23.6 exactly! Meanwhile Scarlatti is the latest man to comfortably pass the ailing Hawthorn, as the Lotus claims 21st position on this lap.

*Lap 17* – The BRM’s switching position seems to have borne fruit, as Gibson manages to get up the inside of Behra and brake later than the Cooper at Ain Diab corner to claim 11th place.

Salvadori meanwhile is the latest man to reclaim Fastest Lap with a 2:23.4 that extends his lead over Gerard to 2.2 seconds overall.

*Lap 18* – A 2:23.3 for Salvadori is really testing both Gerard and von Trips in their battle for supremacy, while the ‘Luigi’s’ in 4th and 5th don’t have a big lead over those outside the points but are managing to cope without issue.

Further back Scarlatti pits with Hawthorn in behind him, clearly keen to fix his car on his scheduled stop! That moves Flockhart up to 21st, with Scarlatti out in 22nd, Godia up to 23rd narrowly ahead of Hawthorn, who emerges in 24th position!!!

*Lap 19* – An even quicker 2:23.3 for Salavdori extends his lead to 2.6 seconds, with von Trips keeping Gerard honest still just 1.3 seconds behind the Maserati…

Meanwhile Hawthorn comfortably overhauls Godia for 23rd place, as he looks to make amends for his earlier collision.

*Lap 20* – Marsh, Godia, Phil Hill and Fangio all come into the pits – which seems to indicate the last of the 2 stoppers now, judging by the pace of those left on track. All of that means de Beaufort is up to 16th, with Gendebien 17th, Chiron 18th, Emery 19th and then Marsh out in 20th position.

Godia, Phil Hill and Fangio all emerge as they were in 24th, 25th and 26th places respectively – albeit now a lap down on the leaders.

*Lap 21* – A 2:23.1 for von Trips takes Fastest Lap and swings the Championship back in his favour (and narrows the gap to Gerard to just 1.2 seconds ahead).

*Lap 22* – Near the back Flockhart is desperate to make amends for his previous error, as he hurtles past Marsh to claim a spot in the Top 20 again – though with little regard for the other car that could have been a horrific accident! Hawthorn meanwhile is also improving his position, as he comfortably drives around the outside of Scarlatti at Ain Diab Corner to claim 22nd place.

Salvadori reclaims fastest lap this time around, which does help Gerard a little…

*Lap 23* – …but with an incredible 2:22.9 it might well be that Salvadori has taken the Fastest Lap out of the equation altogether as he really looks in a world of his own right now, with a 3.3 second advantage over Gerard and 4.5 seconds back to his team-mate von Trips!

*Lap 24* – Not much to report this lap, as the only driver making sizeable gains on the driver ahead of him is Flockhart in the Cooper hunting down the ~40 second gap to Emery ahead by around 1 second per lap…

*Lap 25* – The first of the 1-stoppers come in, as Piotti sets off the sequence by coming in from 4th and emerging in 19th position – thereby promoting Musso to 4th, Bonnier to 5th, Brabham to 6th, Gould to 7th, Collins to 8th, Fairman to 9th and Gibson into 10th. Behra is now 11th, from Hill in the BRM 12th, Moss a strong 13th for Connaught, Trintignant 14th, de Beaufort 15th, Gendebien 16th, Chiron 17th and Emery 18th overall.

*Lap 26* – Salvadori comes into the pits before some of his rivals, which will give hope to the likes of Gerard (now 1st), von Trips (now 2nd) and Musso (now 3rd). Also coming in on this lap are Bonnier, Gendebien, Chiron, Flockhart (for his 1st scheduled stop) and the two Vanwall’s of Collins and Fairman – which really costs the latter, as he is queued behind his team-mate.

As a result, Brabham is now 4th from Gould 5th, Gibson 6th, Behra 7th, Hill in the BRM 8th, Moss 9th and Trintignant 10th. De Beaufort is now 11th from Emery 12th and then it’s Salvadori out in 13th, Bonnier with his extra laps out in 14th narrowly ahead of team-mate Piotti in 15th, with Collins looking a little sheepish in 16th place…

That’s because Marsh is up to 17th, Gendebien out in 18th, Chiron out in 19th and THEN comes Fairman in 20th position after losing the best part of 30 seconds waiting for his team-mate’s pit-stop to finish! Hawthorn is up to 21st, from Scarlatti 22nd and then Flockhart out in 23rd overall.

*Lap 27* – Ferrari clearly fancy their chances against Maserati in the pits, as they bring in von Trips on the same lap as Gerard…but as the crew work their hardest it is nowhere near enough – and if anything the Brit extends his lead over the German out to over 2 seconds! Also coming in this time around are Gibson, Behra, Moss, Trintignant and de Beaufort, which means the new race leader is Musso in the BRM!

He is followed by Brabham 2nd and Gould 3rd with Hill’s BRM in 4th and Emery’s Connaught in an incredible 5th position – albeit yet to pit! All eyes are on the pit exit to see who will come up first of those that have stopped, and it is… Salvadori in 6th some 1.9 seconds ahead of Gerard in 7th, with von Trips a further 2.2 seconds back in 8th place.

Bonnier is 8 seconds back in 9th from Piotti 10th, Collins 11th, Behra 12th (after the Cooper team manage to get him out ahead of his rival…), Gibson 13th, Moss 14th for Connaught, Trintignant 15th for Porsche, Marsh up to 16th and de Beaufort out in 17th position overall.

*Lap 28* – Brabham and Graham Hill both pit to leave only 3 drivers yet to stop in the shape of Musso, Gould and Emery – all of whom are starting to lose time thanks to their tyres…though the latter is at least showing Connaught in 3rd place right now!

Salvadori is now 4th from Gerard 5th, von Trips 6th, Piotti 7th after Bonnier moves over – and thank goodness he did – as Brabham hurtles out of the pits in 9th just narrowly behind them after a relatively slow stop. Collins is up to 10th with Behra and Gibson in 11th and 12th, with Hill’s BRM out in 13th place in roughly the same position as he was before.

*Lap 29* – It’s Gould’s turn to pit but all those additional laps on worn tyres have done him no favours, and he re-joins in 9th place just behind Brabham and just ahead of Collins. As such Emery is now 2nd (!) for Connaught from Salvadori 2.7 seconds ahead of Gerard, who in turn is 2.0 seconds ahead of von Trips in 5th. Bonnier meanwhile slipstreams past Piotti for 6th, with Brabham now up to 8th place too.

*Lap 30* – Musso and Emery both come in, as everyone has now made their 1st stop at least – though for many it will also likely be their last stop too! That means Salvadori is back in the lead and extending his gap to Gerard out to 3.1 seconds, while the Maserati likely needs to pay more attention to von Trips behind, who is just 1.6 seconds back.

Musso must have looked after his tyres a little better than the others before him, as he emerges in 4th position (in his final ever race!) some 2.6 seconds ahead of Bonnier 5th, Piotti 6th, Brabham 7th, Gould 8th, Collins 9th, Behra 10th, Gibson 11th, Graham Hill 12th, Moss 13th, Trintignant 14th, Marsh 15th, de Beaufort 16th, Gendebien 17th and then Emery out in 18th place overall (but staying out has at least moved him ahead of Chiron’s OSCA!).

*Lap 31* – Von Trips is gaining on Gerard at a rate of around 2 tenths of a second per lap, though both are still losing ground to Salvadori ahead. If things stay as they are the German is the new World Champion…so it may be in his interest to just shadow the Maserati and not try anything too dangerous.

Meanwhile Behra slides wide at Azenmour Road Curve to drop places to both Gibson and Hill in the BRM’s, who subsequently elect to swap so Hill sits 10th and Gibson maintains 11th overall. Collins some 3 seconds up the road will now be their next target…presuming they can keep Behra behind them!

*Lap 32* – The gap between Gerard and von Trips is 1.3 seconds…and you have to wonder whether this is the reigning champion’s hopes slipping away now! In fact, even Musso in 4th is faster than him right now…meanwhile further back Marsh is making some real in-roads on Trintignant in 14th – though we do believe the Connaught has to pit once more before the end of the race.

*Lap 33* – A big lap for von Trips here, as he is faster than both of his rivals ahead – and takes the gap to Gerard down to just half a second in the process! Meanwhile Brabham is thwarted by Piotti in his attempt to overtake at Ain Diab Corner and Marsh is now just 1.5 seconds behind Trintignant in his own pursuit!!!

*Lap 34* – Gerard jinks to the inside at Boulevard Alexandre Corner…but despite a rigorous defence he can do nothing to prevent von Trips getting the better drive out of the corner and passing him for 2nd position!!! Meanwhile Marsh could not be any closer to Trintignant if he tried right now…

*Lap 35* – Gerard has already fallen almost a second behind von Trips, as his championship hopes look to be over barring a miracle. Indeed, he now needs to be wary of Musso going around 7 tenths of a lap faster and only 6.6 seconds behind him!

Meanwhile Hill in the BRM successfully challenges Collins at Ain Diab Corner, as the Vanwall’s pace has really dropped off in the final race of his career and he now looks like he will be lucky to remain in the Top 10!

Further back Marsh moves to challenge Trintignant at Ain Diab Corner and the Porsche sweeps across to shut the door…but not in time! THEY COLLIDE and that causes serious damage to both…which means Trintignant pits to mend his damage, while Marsh elects to stay out until his final scheduled stop. All of that means Marsh briefly inherits 14th but will surely lose that soon to the likes of de Beaufort 15th, Gendebien 16th, Emery 17th, Chiron 18th and the charging Fairman in 19th. Behind them are Hawthorn in 20th, Scarlatti 21st, Flockhart 22nd and then Trintignant, who emerges in 23rd position clearly upset with the way his race has been ruined!!!

*Lap 36* – Musso’s arrears to Gerard are down to almost 6 seconds exactly – but the man they may need to all watch out for is Hill in the BRM, who sits 9th and is fastest man on track right now with 3 seconds of clear air ahead of him! In the meantime, as predicted, Collins loses his Top 10 spot to Gibson and will soon have Behra to contend with as well…

Further back de Beaufort has no issues in passing the struggling Marsh for 14th and both Hawthorn and Scarlatti pit for the last time, which promotes Flockhart to 20th, Trintignant to 21st and then comes Hawthorn 22nd and Scarlatti 23rd overall.

*Lap 37* – Musso is now fastest man on track, as the BRM’s look a real threat in the closing stages…indeed he is now just 4.9 seconds behind Gerard in his pursuit of a 3rd place that would ensure his season is bookended by podium finishes! Meanwhile Gould slipstreams past Brabham into 7th place, which puts him in prime position to challenge the Maserati duo ahead…

In the meantime, Marsh loses places to both Gendebien (now 15th) and Emery (now 16th) – and his scheduled stop cannot come soon enough…!

*Lap 38* – Gould has a look up the inside of Piotti at Ain Diab…but the Maserati closes the door just in time – though all of this attention has allowed Bonnier to move over a second ahead of his team-mate in the final points paying position. Ahead of them 3.8 seconds is now Musso’s gap to Gerard…

Behra passes Collins for 11th place, as the Cooper makes up a position that he will hope will be another one on the way to eventually reaching the Top 10! Meanwhile Emery passes Gendebien for 15th and Marsh pits at last to drop from 17th to 21st behind Chiron, Fairman, Flockhart and Trintignant.

*Lap 39* – Musso is 3.1 seconds behind Gerard, while von Trips is now just 3.3 down on Salvador for the race win! Meanwhile Gould again finds his overtaking efforts thwarted by the determined Piotti ahead, who may soon regret his decision to pit earliest of all the 1-stoppers given that his tyres may not last well…

Behind them Hill’s BRM is just 1.7 seconds behind and is fairly easily the fastest man on track!

*Lap 40* – Gould FINALLY hooks up the overtaking manoeuvre at Ain Diab Corner to get a better drive out of the exit and move past Piotti and into 6th position, in what will be his final race ever! Ahead of them Musso is just 2.3 seconds down on Gerard now, in what looks likely to be both of their final races too…

At the back Godia, Hill’s Vanwall and Fangio all pit for the final stops of the season.

*Lap 41* – 2.3 seconds is Salvadori’s lead over von Trips, while Musso is just 1.4 seconds down on Gerard ahead. Further back Fairman angrily slams his car past Chiron for 17th, knowing that the collision has cost him a likely Top 10 place in the final race of the season.

*Lap 42* – Salvadori is 2.1 seconds ahead – with a grandstand finish seemingly ahead for the race victory! Meanwhile Musso is now 0.2 seconds behind Gerard – and watch out for Hill’s BRM, who is less than a tenth behind Brabham in 8th place – and just 3 seconds outside of the points places too!

A quick word for Moss in 13th, who is currently on to deliver Connaught’s best finish of the season – though he would need to advance up to 8th place to move past Porsche in the Team’s Standings!

*Lap 43* – Von Trips is now just 1.7 seconds behind team-mate Salvadori, while Gerard offers little resistance to Musso, who moves up to 3rd place for BRM as a result. He is going marginally faster than von Trips – but with a 7 second gap to catch it may prove a step too far for the Italian in his final ever race…

Behind them Hill in the BRM makes his almost inevitable catch of Brabham at Boulevard Alexandre Corner…but also takes Piotti further down the straight as well to move up to 7th place with Piotti down to 8th and Brabham down to 9th overall.

*Lap 44* – 1.5 seconds is the gap at the front, with Bonnier in 4th gaining on team-mate Gerard at a rate of around 7 tenths per lap…and a 5.7 second gap to make up, which he may still have time for! Hill is now just 0.5 seconds behind Gould in 6th and gaining quickly, while further back Emery is starting to shape up to have a look at de Beaufort for 14th position.

*Lap 45* – 1.1 seconds is now Salvadori’s lead, with 4.9 seconds between Bonnier and Gerard and just 0.3 seconds between Gould and Hill’s BRM! Emery is now just 1 tenth behind de Beaufort in their scrap as well…

*Lap 46* – The gap at the front is just half a second, as von Trips looks to close out a championship winning season (barring any issues) with a victory that Salvadori will surely not contest!!! Bonnier is 4.1 seconds behind Gerard and Hill in the BRM is just 0.1 seconds down on Gould in their fight over 6th position.

Further back Emery makes the move on de Beaufort at Boulevard Panoramique, which promotes the Connaught to 14th overall.

*Lap 47* – Hill wastes no time in moving past Gould to claim 6th position and now sits only 1.7 seconds behind Bonnier in 5th, who in turn is now just 3.3 seconds down on Gerard! At the front von Trips is right on the gearbox of Salvadori and looking menacing!

*Lap 48* – Salvadori moves aside to let von Trips into the race lead and what will surely be his 1st ever Drivers Championship as a result. Meanwhile Brabham takes advantage of Piotti’s ageing tyres to comfortably overtake the Maserati for 8th, who may need to watch out for Gibson behind as well!

Other battles to watch on track are Musso gaining on Salvadori at the rate of around 1 second a lap – though with 6 seconds to find and only 5 laps remaining it may be too tall an order, then Bonnier v Gerard that is now down to 2.6 seconds, with Hill’s BRM a further 1.5 seconds behind and closing up rather quickly and finally Emery catching Moss for 13th in the pursuit to get Connaught’s best result of the season!

*Lap 49* – In the key battles to watch on track Musso is 5.5 seconds behind Salvadori, Bonnier is 2.4 seconds behind Gerard, Hill is 0.9 seconds behind Bonnier, Gibson is 2.2 seconds behind Piotti, and Emery is 5.1 seconds down on Moss.

*Lap 50* – 4 seconds separate Musso and Salvadori after a stellar lap by the BRM driver takes a full 1.5 seconds out of the Ferrari ahead, with Bonnier now 2 seconds down on Gerard and Hill 0.1 seconds behind the Maserati. Meanwhile Gibson is less than a second behind Piotti, with Emery now 4.1 behind Moss…

*Lap 51* – Bonnier had been chasing 4th position…but a momentary lapse of concentration at Azenmour Road Curve sends him wide and lets Hill into 5th and Gould into 6th for Ferrari! Gerard is just 1.5 seconds ahead of the BRM as a result with Gould lurking a further tenth behind as the Brit has really pulled himself back into points contention in this, his final ever race…

*Lap 52* – Von Trips has opened up a 4.3 second lead over Salvadori, who now has Musso just 0.2 seconds behind him – what incredible pace the BRM has had in these latter stages! Meanwhile the fight for 4th intensifies as Gerard is just 0.3 seconds ahead of Hill, who is forced to defend from Gould and keeps the Ferrari another tenth behind him!

Further back it’s misery for Emery, who pulls over to the side of the road out of fuel and out of luck. The Connaught retires just over a lap from the end, which drops him to 22nd – and will surely drop him to 23rd behind Scarlatti after the next lap. That moves de Beaufort up to 14th, Gendebien up to 15th, Fairman into 16th, Chiron into 17th, Flockhart 18th, Trintignant 19th, Marsh back into the Top 20 (so it’s not a complete loss for Connaught) and Hawthorn up to 21st overall.

*Lap 53* – Von Trips crosses the line to become the 1958 Drivers Champion! Meanwhile Musso does overhaul Salvadori to make his final race a memorable one, as he takes his best ever F1R result of 2nd position here in Morocco! Rounding out the podium is Salvadori, who will move up to 4th in the Championship as a result.

We eagerly await who will cross the line in 4th…as Gerard has been blitzed by both Hill’s BRM and Gould’s Ferrari on the run through Azenmour Casablanca Road, and it’s then Ferrari v BRM through Coast Road Curve…and the 4th position goes to…GOULD on his final ever F1R race, while Hill will return next season after bookending his season with points finishes!

Gerard does come home 6th after a stellar career that saw him take almost every record in the F1R record books – though it seems this was just one race too far for him. Bonnier comes home 7th with Brabham 8th, Gibson 9th in his final race and Piotti 10th in his last ever race as well.

Behra finishes 11th, while Collins in 12th rounds out his F1R career with a season to forget compared to how competitive he was in the seasons beforehand. Moss takes Connaught’s best finish in 13th place, with de Beaufort 14th, Gendebien 15th after a good debut season, Fairman 16th after a race (and arguably a whole season!) to forget, Chiron 17th in what will be his final ever F1R outing, Flockhart 18th, Trintignant 19th and Marsh rounding out the Top 20 for Connaught in his last ever F1R race.

Hawthorn also waves goodbye to the series in 21st as the last finisher on the lead lap here today.

*1 LAP DOWN* – Scarlatti comes home 22nd with Emery ending his season – and his F1R career – stuck by the side of the road in 23rd after an otherwise excellent drive by the Connaught driver.

*2 LAPS DOWN* – Godia in 24th and Fangio in 26th both bring their F1R careers to an end (along with the absent duo of Menditeguy and Bridger for Lotus) here, with Hill in the Vanwall in 25th one of many to be returning for next season’s championship…

Watch this space for the next season, which will have the Driver Market start up between now and New Year!!!

## Milestones

* Trintignant up to 7th in Most Entries, at the expense of Toulo de Graffenried
* 30th race entry for Brabham, Fairman and Musso
* 10th race entry for Bridger, Graham Hill, Marsh and McLaren
* Jean Behra’s 30th race start
* Jack Brabham’s 30th race start
* Jack Fairman’s 30th race start
* Maurice Trintignant’s 30th race start
* Joakim Bonnier’s 20th race start
* Horace Gould’s 20th race start
* Luigi Musso’s 20th race start
* Graham Hill’s 10th race start
* Giorgio Scarlatti’s 10th race start
* Schell and Flockhart up to 8th and 9th in Most Races without a win, at the expense of Piero Taruffi
* Von Trips victory moves into 2nd on the all-time list ahead of Giuseppe Farina
* Victory for von Trips is the 1st time he has achieved consecutive race wins, and he is only the 6th driver to achieve that feat ever
* Ain Diab is a new track so there are no previous winners, pole sitters or fastest lap holders
* Salvadori moves up to 6th and Von Trips moves up to 7th for Most Points ever, at the expense of Toulo de Graffenried
* Points finish for von Trips moves him into 7th for Most Points Finishes ever, at the expense of Toulo de Graffenried
* 2nd place for Musso moves him up to 5th in Most Points without a Win, at the expense of Hawthorn, Cesare Perdisa, Georges Grignard and Chico Landi
* 4th place for Gould moves him up to 8th in Most Points without a Win, at the expense of Georges Grignard and Chico Landi
* 4th consecutive points finish for von Trips here, which is something only 8 drivers (including von Trips) have done before. He becomes only the 3rd man to achieve this feat twice (after Gerard and Paul Pietsch).
* 3rd consecutive points finish for Salvadori here
* 2nd consecutive points finish for Gould here
* FL for Salvadori moves him up to 3rd place in Most Fastest Laps ever, at the expense of Giuseppe Farina
* Podium for von Trips moves him into 5th for Most Podiums of all time, at the expense of Toulo de Graffenried
* Podium for Salvadori moves him into 9th for Most Podiums ever at the expense of Moss
* Podium for von Trips is his 4th consecutive podium finish, which puts him 5th on the all-time list!
* Podium for Salvadori is his 2nd consecutive podium finish