1950 Swiss GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Bremgarten
* Location – Switzerland
* Corners – 13
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 3:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 2:41.600 (Giuseppe Farina)
* Lap Record (F1R) – None
* Pit Lane Length – 30 seconds
* Weather – N/A
* Temp – 15°C
* Fuel Consumption – Very Low
* Tyre Wear – None

## Qualifying 1

Qualification 1 finishes with Pagani on top, followed by de Graffenried and Gerrard who is enjoying a brilliant start to his F1R career already! Several drivers only just made it into the session, but messieurs Fangio, Fagioli and Rol now have the chance to improve on their one hasty effort with Q2 that is now OPEN!

**Qualifying 1 Results**

* 1st – Nello Pagani [SA] – 2:34.250 (7)
* 2nd – Toulo de Graffenried [SA] – 2:34.900 (6)
* 3rd – Bob Gerrard [EP] – 2:34.900 (7)
* 4th – Piero Taruffi [AR] – 2:34.950 (6)
* 5th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [A] – 2:35.200 (8)
* 6th – Peter Walker [A] – 2:35.200 (5)
* 7th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [F] – 2:35.410 (2)
* 8th – Prince Bira [EP] – 2:35.550 (5)
* 9th – Maurice Trintignant [E] – 2:35.800 (2)
* 10th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 2:36.000 (8)
* 11th – Harry Schell [E] – 2:36.050 (2)
* 12th – Louis Rosier [T] – 2:36.350 (7)
* 13th – Dorino Serafini [E] – 2:36.700 (4)
* 14th – Juan Manuel Fangio [AR] – 2:36.800 (1)
* 15th – Luigi Fagioli [AR] – 2:37.150 (1)
* 16th – Franco Rol [E] – 2:37.600 (1)
* 17th – Alberto Ascari [F] – No Time Set
* 18th – Reg Parnell [SA] – No Time Set
* 19th – Joe Kelly [A] – No Time Set
* 20th – Joe Fry [EP] – No Time Set
* 21st – Toni Branca [E] – No Time Set

## Qualifying 2

Gerrard sets a stunning lap to lead the way, as he has long been threatening to do. Taruffi's resurgence continued with 2nd position earlier in the session, though Pagani, the late-starting Gonzalez and de Graffenried all have something to say about this.

A couple of surprises are that championship leader Pietsch is currently languishing in 10th place, whilst podium finisher Fagioli is at the back…the 2 drivers yet to set a lap are Rol and Schell.

**Qualifying 2 Results**

* 1st – Bob Gerrard [EP] – 2:33.500 (5)
* 2nd – Peter Walker [A] – 2:33.690 (2)
* 3rd – Prince Bira [EP] – 2:33.700 (5)
* 4th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [A] – 2:33.900 (7)
* 5th – Toulo de Graffenried [SA] – 2:33.900 (4)
* 6th – Piero Taruffi [AR] – 2:33.950 (5)
* 7th – Nello Pagani [SA] – 2:34.000 (4)
* 8th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [F] – 2:34.210 (2)
* 9th – Maurice Trintignant [E] – 2:34.500 (4)
* 10th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 2:34.570 (5)
* 11th – Louis Rosier [T] – 2:34.750 (1)
* 12th – Juan Manuel Fangio [AR] – 2:35.300 (6)
* 13th – Dorino Serafini [E] – 2:35.400 (4)
* 14th – Luigi Fagioli [AR] – 2:35.750 (2)
* 15th – Harry Schell [T] – No Q2 Time
* 16th – Franco Rol [E] – No Q2 Time

## Overall Qualifying Results

A stunning end to a session that sees 14 drivers successfully qualify for the race tomorrow. At the death Taruffi drops from 2nd place to 6th as Cabantous and de Graffenried move into 2nd and 3rd before both are deposed by Bira and then Walker with some stunning last minute lap times!

This has set up an amazing race tomorrow, with Gerrard the man to beat on his F1R debut!

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - The field get a clean start for once! But pole-sitter Gerrard bogs down at the start and is passed by several drivers…the worst start is made by Pagani, who overcooks his braking at Passerelle Elchholz and drops right to the back of the grid.

By contrast there are phenomenal starts for both Trintignant and Pietsch, who make stunning progress off the line to move from 9th and 10th to 1st and 2nd overall! Admittedly both were assisted by the drivers who had to avoid the recovering Pagani, including Walker who drops down to 9th overall as he has to really get out of the throttle to avoid an incident.

Maintaining 3rd is Bira, who looks strong today…de Graffenried claims 1 position at the start and Gerrard slots in 5th as it stands ahead of the quick-starting Serafini and then the group of Taruffi, Cabantous and Walker. Fagioli is off the back of the grid as he sits 10th ahead of the risk-taking Gonzalez, the unpractised Fangio and then Rosier who is only off the back due to Pagani's aforementioned incident.

*Lap 3* - DRAMA HERE! Pietsch applies the pressure on Trintignant, and bumps wheels with the ERA driver causing the Brit to lose control and spin out…Pietsch has to brake hard to stop from going off as well and both drop down the order. Fagioli has an incident all of his own making at the back too and drops back to last overall.

De Graffenried puts a move on Bira that sees him claim the lead of the race due to the leader's accident, with Taruffi now up to 3rd as he demonstrates some good pace to set the fastest lap of the race too.

Gerrard and Serafini may have lost position to the speedy Taruffi, but others misfortune gifts both of them positions and Pagani is also recovered from his poor start to the race as he is up to 7th and looks strong at the moment. Cabantous holds station in 8th ahead of Gonzalez and Fangio who round out the Top 10.

*Lap 6* - De Graffenried becomes the latest leader of the race to spin…the reason soon becomes clear, as it appears that Fagioli's car has managed to spill some oil on the track! No wonder whoever's leading seems to have an accident…they're coming up to the danger zone first of course!

Bira keeps his head though, and moves up to 1st place as a result of the Swiss's misfortune here…Pietsch continues to fight back and is now up to 2nd, though more impressively Gonzalez is up to 3rd with none other than Trintignant in 4th place. De Graffenried has slotted into 5th, with Gerrard just behind in 6th and Serafini starting to struggle with the pace in 7th.

Pagani is still finding it tough to make an impact, despite his impressive pace in qualifying, with Fangio in 9th and Taruffi in 10th, who had a spin in lap 4 that dropped him down the order. Rosier and Cabantous are ahead of Fagioli and in last place is Walker, who has no luck whatsoever today, as he now trails the ailing car of Fagioli and must endeavour to prevent himself spinning on the slick surface behind the Italian.

*Lap 9* - Bira keeps the lead of the race, though the gap has come down significantly…Pietsch and Gonzalez are now right on his tail. A little further back Trintignant is having to defend from Pagani, who is really starting to come back at the field after his early misfortune.

Another driver doing likewise is Walker, who has overhauled Rosier already and is now on the back of Fagioli and Cabantous. Taruffi is up to 8th and is setting a stonking pace!!! Expect to see him move even further up the field as time goes on…

*Lap 12* - Bira is finally overtaken by Pietsch, who in turn simply cannot shake Gonzalez…the young Argentinian is really batting above his average today. Prince Bira now has to focus to avoid being overtaken by the pacey Gerrard, who's starting to put some serious pressure on the front runners.

Pagani maintains 5th place with Serafini continuing his strategy of slow and steady now beginning to fall behind in 6th. De Graffenried is losing time in 7th, as he is blocked by the ERA driver at almost every turn and is thus being tracked closely both by both Cabantous and Fangio.

Walker continues to make good progress up the field as he now lies 10th, ahead of the first pit-stoppers Trintignant and Taruffi…the latter had a horrendous stop though, and lost a good 10 seconds by his mechanic needing to screw on a loose wheel nut more than once!

*Lap 15* - Pietsch pits from the lead, and comes out just ahead of Trintignant…also pitting are Taruffi, Walker and Fagioli who come out in that order in the last 3 positions, with Rosier in between these two groups of drivers who is yet to pit.

Up front none other than the impetuous Gonzalez leads the way from Pagani and the ever-consistent Bira…Gerrard in 4th leads a group including de Graffenried, Serafini and Cabantous, of whom the Swiss is looking the most dangerous at this stage!

*Lap 18* - Gonzalez's lead is short-lived, as a spin sees Bira inherit the lead once more, thanks not only to the Ferrari driver's over-enthusiasm but also Pagani's pit-stop that brings the Italian out just ahead of Taruffi and Walker.

Gerrard and de Graffenried move up to 3rd and 4th as expected, but Cabantous is the big surprise as the young former Privateer overtakes Serafini and keeps Fangio behind him too. We will only really know the full picture once all the drivers have pitted for the 1st time though…

*Lap 21* - At the halfway point de Graffenried leads from Cabantous by virtue of the fact that neither has pitted as yet…though the Swiss is likely to filter in within the top 3 once he does pit.

Pietsch is up to 3rd as some very consistent driving has seen everyone else pit and come out behind him…Bira is in 4th and leading a group of drivers from Gerrard in 5th to Taruffi in 9th. Walker is just off the back of Fangio now, and ahead of Serafini, for whom the pace is beginning to tell.

*Lap 24* - De Graffenried pits and comes out in 5th position behind Gerrard and Bira, whilst Pietsch is now right on the back of Cabantous but the Frenchman is about to finally pit. Trintignant sits 6th as both he and Pagani take Gonzalez, who is really starting to lose ground on the other drivers. Indeed Taruffi is now right behind him…

Walker is moving away from Fangio, but has some way to go to catch up with those in the points at the moment…whilst the final 3 drivers are within a couple of seconds of each other as it stands to avoid finishing bottom of the pile.

*Lap 27* - Cabantous pits, but as he does so Pietsch is right behind him and the German almost crashes into the back of him! As a result he loses a significant amount of time and Gerrard is able to catch and pass him for the lead…what is worse is that Pietsch still has to pit once more…Pagani is in the same situation, but is up to 3rd now ahead of Bira, who does not need to pit again as it stands and is thus looking very competitive indeed!

Trintignant is up to 5th, but must also pit again…unlike Gonzales and de Graffenried who occupy 6th and 7th respectively. Walker is in 8th and moving quickly up the field, but even he has to pit once more which will assist erstwhile leader Cabantous to move back up the grid.

*Lap 30* - This race looks like it's Gerrard's to lose…his nearest rival is de Graffenried, as earlier incidents mean that the 2 stoppers in the race are seriously disadvantaged at this stage, so Pietsch, Pagani, Taruffi, Walker and Trintignant are now behind the likes of Cabantous and Fangio when they have looked quicker all day!

The only saving grace is that the gap is not big at all, and so the final championship point is still up for grabs…and with Gonzalez in 4th and really finding the pace tough to stay with there may yet be more points available today for those in that pack.

Bira looks good in 3rd at the moment, and may yet give de Graffenried a run for his money for 2nd place, but there are only 12 laps remaining for him to do so…

*Lap 36* - Surprisingly Gonzalez seems to be more consistent at this stage of the race than Bira…and it is the Thai royal who is slipping back into the clutches of Pietsch. Fangio is now only just ahead of Pagani, who is fast running out of time to make any sort of inroads to the points.

Cabantous has had an awful stint here, as he spins at Eymatt to gift positions to the aforementioned Fangio and Pagani, and to now sit only just ahead of Taruffi, Walker and Trintignant.

*Lap 42* - Bob Gerrard wins on his F1R debut! He doesn't take the hat-trick thanks to Taruffi's endeavours on the final lap, as the Italian claims the fastest lap as he accelerates past Cabantous, Pagani and Fangio to finish in 6th overall.

The other point scorers today are de Graffenried in 2nd, Gonzalez in a stunning 3rd place and Bira in 4th overall…which will have a real impact on the championship picture.

For those drivers who did not score points today they can at least comfort themselves with the fact that only the best 4 race results count towards the title…so thus far some drivers will only have 1 valid result!