1953 Swiss GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Bremgarten
* Location – Switzerland
* Corners – 13
* Laps – 65
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 3:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 2:35.900 (Juan Manuel Fangio)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 2:31.312 (Chico Landi)
* Pit Lane Length – 30 seconds
* Fuel Consumption – High
* Tyre Wear – Medium

## Qualifying 1

And so with wet weather looming for Q2 this looks to be the grid for the race next weekend, which sees Salvadori line up on Pole for Ferrari. This is about the only good news for the Prancing Horse here though, given that Pietsch is 5th, Gerard is 6th and Whitehead is a lonely 18th position!

Carini sits 2nd for Veritas, as the German marque is looking very competitive here - Herrmann lines up 8th with Marimon 13th. Newcomer Berger may be the exception, but as he's only getting used to the car it's unlikely any pressure will be placed on him to perform this weekend.

Cooper are also looking strong with Bauer in 3rd and Stuck in 7th, though Gonzalez' 17th position is less than impressive - but he is at least on the grid, unlike most of the rest of the Cooper squadron.

HWM are also in the mix, with Collins leading the charge for them, though Maserati are again surprisingly lacklustre in qualifying.

**Qualifying 1 Results**

* 1st – Roy Salvadori [F] – 2:28.275 (9)
* 2nd – Piero Carini [V] – 2:28.813 (7)
* 3rd – Erwin Bauer [CP] – 2:29.000 (7)
* 4th – Peter Collins [H] – 2:29.134 (7)
* 5th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 2:29.219 (10)
* 6th – Bob Gerard [F] – 2:29.255 (5)
* 7th – Hans Stuck [CP] – 2:29.318 (7)
* 8th – Hans Herrmann [V] – 2:29.266 (7)
* 9th – Stirling Moss [M] – 2:29.398 (6)
* 10th – Hermann Lang [H] – 2:29.531 (9)
* 11th – Umberto Maglioli [M] – 2:29.619 (7)
* 12th – Sergio Mantovani [H] – 2:29.803 (7)
* 13th – Onofre Marimon [V] – 2:29.825 (9)
* 14th – Fred Wacker [O] – 2:29.915 (7)
* 15th – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 2:30.460 (7)
* 16th – Alberto Ascari [M] – 2:30.542 (6)
* 17th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [CP] – 2:30.853 (3)
* 18th – Peter Whitehead [F] – 2:30.900 (8)
* 19th – Chico Landi [M] – 2:31.048 (4)
* 20th – Luigi Villoresi [O] – 2:31.277 (5)
* 21st – Toulo de Graffenried [M] – 2:32.143 (5)
* 22nd – Albert Scherrer [H] – 2:32.670 (6)
* 23rd – Prince Bira [CN] – 2:34.566 (2)
* 24th – Jean Behra [G] – 2:34.675 (3)
* 25th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 2:35.224 (5)
* 26th – Mike Hawthorn [CN] – 2:35.443 (4)
* 27th – Charles de Tornaco [G] – 2:36.545 (2)
* 28th – Georges Berger [V] – 2:48.134 (3)
* 29th – Elie Bayol [M] – No Time Set (0)
* 30th – Carlos Menditeguy [H] – No Time Set (0)
* 31st – Luigi Musso [ B ] – No Time Set (0)
* 32nd – Maurice Trintignant [G] – No Time Set (0)
* 33rd – Louis Chiron [CP] – No Time Set (0)
* 34th – Louis Rosier [G] – No Time Set (0)
* 35th – Alan Brown [CN] – No Time Set (0)
* 36th – Juan Manuel Fangio [CP] – No Time Set (0)

## Qualifying 2

A sensational lap at the end of the session gives Herrmann the somewhat pointless accolade of Q2 victor, given that all the Q1 times will be faster in determining the grid. Well, all times but that of the man in 9th place Berger for Veritas, who manages to improve on his Q1 time - though that is hardly surprising given that he started Q1 without having ever driven the car before!

Salvadori is 2nd in this session, from Scherrer's HWM, Gerard's Ferrari and the 2nd Veritas of Marimon who once again impresses in qualifying. Mantovani is 6th for HWM with the 2 Cooper's of Stuck and Bauer making the top 10 in 7th and 10th respectively.

Failing to record a lap in this session, and thus failing to reach the grid for tomorrow's race are both Gonzalez and Behra, who will be disappointed not to have managed to compete in a race that especially the former could have performed well in.

**Qualifying 2 Results**

* 1st – Hans Herrmann [V] – 2:41.960 (6)
* 2nd – Roy Salvadori [F] – 2:43.016 (7)
* 3rd – Albert Scherrer [H] – 2:44.097 (6)
* 4th – Bob Gerard [F] – 2:44.373 (6)
* 5th – Onofre Marimon [V] – 2:44.477 (6)
* 6th – Sergio Mantovani [H] – 2:44.547 (5)
* 7th – Hans Stuck [CP] – 2:44.771 (6)
* 8th – Toulo de Graffenried [M] – 2:44.772 (7)
* 9th – Georges Berger [V] – 2:44.861 (4)
* 10th – Erwin Bauer [CP] – 2:44.922 (4)
* 11th – Peter Collins [H] – 2:45.100 (3)
* 12th – Piero Carini [V] – 2:45.479 (2)
* 13th – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 2:45.972 (6)
* 14th – Stirling Moss [M] – 2:46.942 (1)
* 15th – Hermann Lang [H] – 2:47.939 (2)
* 16th – Alberto Ascari [M] – 2:48.676 (6)
* 17th – Fred Wacker [O] – 2:49.846 (8)
* 18th – Chico Landi [M] – 2:51.877 (18)
* 19th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 2:52.251 (2)
* 20th – Peter Whitehead [F] – 2:52.374 (1)
* 21st – Luigi Villoresi [O] – 2:53.293 (6)
* 22nd – Charles de Tornaco [G] – 2:59.340 (2)
* 23rd – Prince Bira [CN] – 2:59.672 (1)
* 24th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 3:03.740 (1)
* 25th – Mike Hawthorn [CN] – 3:18.500 (1)
* 26th – Umberto Maglioli [M] – 3:59.738 (1)
* 27th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [CP] – No Time Set (0)
* 28th – Jean Behra [G] – No Time Set (0)

## Overall Qualifying Results

An exciting race in store with several drivers in somewhat unusual positions; even Salvadori being on Pole is a rarity (the last time was the Argentinian Grand Prix, the championship season opener), with Carini in a career best 2nd place and Bauer also in a best ever 3rd position too!

Collins is in a commendable 4th place for HWM ahead of the Ferrari's of Pietsch and Gerard who will expect to make significant gains up the grid at the start to get an early challenge on Salvadori…whilst further back we expect the other Veritas' of Herrmann, Marimon and Berger to come through the field, as well of course as Whitehead's Ferrari, which is stranded down in 17th place.

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - As the flag waves in Switzerland the rain of Q2 is a distant memory, as both Salvadori and Carini make it into the 1st corner unscathed. Bauer gets far too much wheel-spin off the line and is quickly swallowed up by the advancing pack to drop back to 13th place. Collins has to make evasive action as a result of this and falls even further down due to being pushed wide at Batlehem.

Chief beneficiaries of this are none other than the Ferrari duo of Pietsch and Gerard, whilst a stunning start from Scherrer sees him gain no less than 10 positions off the start, with a further 6 cars being overtaken by him over the course of the 1st lap to see him into the points positions already!

Mantovani cottons on quickly and follows his team-mate through to 6th, ahead of the two Veritas of Marimon and Herrmann in what is shaping up to be a strong race for the German manufacturer. Meanwhile O.S.C.A will be delighted to have Wacker into 9th place ahead of the fast-starting duo of Farina and Whitehead of Maserati and Ferrari respectively.

*Lap 2* - Salvadori gets it all wrong going into Passerelle Elchholz, and allows Carini to dart up the inside, followed by Pietsch in the Ferrari…who carries on his momentum to get the slipstream on Carini and to lead the race going into Eymatt!

Herrmann in the Veritas is on the move, with passes on team-mate Marimon, and the two HWMs of Mantovani and Scherrer, with the former of the two passing the latter on this lap as well. Wacker loses his top 10 position to Farina, Whitehead, Maglioli and the recovering Cooper of Stuck. Lang passes Stuck on this lap too, with HWM looking particularly quick today ahead of Bauer's Cooper now too.

However passing a whole host of cars on this lap is Chico Landi, in his come-back race, as he risks a lot to overtake around the outside at several corners and sit in 11th position from 18th place! Berger follows him through on several drivers too. Further back Villoresi takes de Tornaco too.

*Lap 3* - Status quo is maintained at the front, whilst the mid-field continue to jostle for position - Mantovani is the man on the move this time around, with passes on Herrmann, Gerard and Salvadori to move into a brilliant 3rd place for HWM. Scherrer takes the Ferrari duo too, as do Farina and Whitehead - both of them providing a thrilling comeback for the crowds to observe!

But yet again, the quickest on this lap is Landi's Maserati! The Brazilian is now on the back of Farina in an incredible 7th place, with Berger also doing well to pass a whole host of cars to sit on the outskirts of the top 10. Wacker comes back on this lap to re-pass Stuck, the ailing Lang and Maglioli too. Collins claims several scalps on this lap too, passing Moss, de Graffenried and Lang through the middle of the lap. Claes takes Hawthorn in the all-Connaught scrap near the rear of the race too.

*Lap 4* - Salvadori re-takes Mantovani, but he can only enjoy it briefly as another astonishing lap from Landi sees him take Farina, Scherrer and the aforementioned pair to sit in a brilliant 3rd place as it stands! Ahead of him Carini is keeping Pietsch very honest as these two move away from the chasing group…

Both Scherrer and Farina, locked in their own battle, lose places to Whitehead, Gerard and Herrmann's Veritas on this lap. A thrilling bit of racing just outside the top 10 sees Marimon lose places to Wacker, Berger and Maglioli, with the latter pair switching positions on this lap too. Lang takes Collins in the all-HWM scrap on the outskirts of the top 20 but behind them finally Moss seems to wake up with passes on de Graffenried, the aforementioned pair, Collins, Bauer, Stuck, Maglioli, Wacker, Berger and Marimon in an absolutely unbelievable lap from the Maserati king-pin!!!

*Lap 5* - Salvadori takes Whitehead for 4th position, but once again his progress is made to look meagre by an advancing Mantovani, who also takes Landi as well to sit in a podium position once again! Scherrer takes Herrmann for 8th, whilst a mistake for Farina drops him behind Moss, Wacker, the advancing group of Marimon, Stuck, Lang and Bauer, and then the pair of Maglioli and Berger too. Collins passes de Graffenried here as well.

*Lap 6* - The gap at the front is just 0.2 seconds, with a good 3 seconds back to Mantovani in 3rd. 4th place is now Scherrer, who takes advantage of some confusion on the run-down to Forsthaus to pass Gerard and Whitehead (who follow him through to 5th and 6th respectively) and Landi too. Salvadori also drops a place to Herrmann's Veritas as well.

Further down Maglioli has a great lap to move past Bauer, Lang, Stuck and Marimon in the succession of corners after Quarry. Farina takes Berger too, and the the all-Connaught battle at the back is now being won by Hawthorn after a move on Claes at Glasbrunnenrampe.

*Lap 7* - The pace of the race appears to have settled after the initial skirmishes, though there is still some overtaking, not least Whitehead passing Gerard for 5th in what is a crucial battle for the championship! Salvadori moves on to the back of this scrap after he passes both Landi and Herrmann on this lap.

Strong laps from Lang and Bauer see them leave Maglioli, Marimon, Stuck and Farina in their wake. Berger follows them through to pass all but Maglioli on this lap.

*Lap 8* - Carini is all over the back of Pietsch at the moment, does he have less fuel on board? Meanwhile Gerard gets the bit between his teeth to pass championship rival Whitehead and then put distance between them with overtakes on Mantovani and Scherrer to sit 3rd at the end of the lap. Salvadori follows him through, but cannot make it past Mantovani who stays in the points in 4th place.

Whitehead, in his haste to catch Gerard, makes an error on the outside of Jorden to allow Herrmann and Moss through…Landi has to take evasive action to avoid hitting the back of the slower moving Ferrari and thus loses places to Wacker, Lang, Bauer and the fast-moving Stuck this time around.

*Lap 9* - FINALLY! Pietsch makes a mistake to let Carini through to the lead for Veritas!!! Gerard is around 3 seconds behind the pair now in 3rd place. Hermann passes Stuck for 6th and Whitehead takes Moss for 8th, but all 4 lose a place to Hermann Lang, who gets an incredible slipstream on the run down to Forsthaus!

Landi passes Stuck at Tenni, Marimon takes his team-mate Berger and the Maserati of Maglioli on this lap, whilst Farina really slips up as he loses a position to Collins, and then a strong defence against his team-mate de Graffenried sees the pair of them overhauled by the O.S.C.A of Villoresi!

*Lap 10* - Disaster for Carini, as he almost spins at Passerelle Elchholz to allow Pietsch back into the lead. At least there is still a good 3 seconds back to Gerard in 3rd though. Salvadori passes Mantovani for 4th place, and is followed through by Lang's HWM too.

Whitehead is also on the move for Ferrari, as he takes Herrmann and Scherrer on this lap. Meanwhile outside the top 10 Maglioli takes Marimon, before line astern they canter past both Landi and Stuck. Farina recovers to overtake both Collins and Villoresi on this lap as well.

*Lap 11* - A more stable top 10 this lap, with only Moss making a slight error to drop to 9th behind Herrmann and Scherrer. Maglioli makes a mistake to lose places to Landi, Stuck, Marimon and the quick-moving Collins.

Farina takes Berger too, who seems to be in some difficulties at this early stage with an odd-sounding car…a special mention to de Graffenried on this lap, who takes a good 3 seconds out of those in front of him to move onto the back of Villoresi, whilst behind him Claes passes Hawthorn to re-assume the position of leading Connaught.

*Lap 12* - Up front Pietsch finally breaks Carini's tow on him to move around 4 seconds ahead, with Salvadori passing Gerard for 3rd place too to keep Carini several seconds ahead of the Ferrari pair.

Mantovani makes a mistake at Jordenrampe to swap ends and just recover to get back on the circuit behind Whitehead, Scherrer, Moss and Bauer. Herrmann has to get right out of the throttle to avoid the rejoining HWM and drops down the field behind those mentioned as a result. Stuck takes Landi, who is beginning to struggle with the pace, as he loses positions to Marimon, Collins and Maglioli too. Villoresi takes the ailing Berger and Farina too on this lap.

*Lap 13* - A slow lap for Pietsch sees Carini get back on level terms with him, but Salvadori is still lurking in the back-ground as it stands. Mantovani makes a move on both Bauer and Moss this time around, with that midfield pack still very tightly bunched through the twists and turns of this magnificent Bremgarten track.

A mistake for Marimon sees Collins and Maglioli through, while Farina and Villoresi take Landi and also swap positions on track as well. De Tornaco pits to come out at the back, but quickly moves past Berger, who pulls up on the run down to Glasbrunnenrampe seemingly out of fuel.

*Lap 14* - Pietsch re-establishes his lead with another incredibly strong lap-time (though still not as quick as Carini's fastest lap it must be said), whilst Gerard loses places to Whitehead and Scherrer who are now 4th and 5th respectively thanks to Lang, whose pit-stop drops him down behind Claes and Hawthorn to 22nd position.

Stuck gets a flyer on this lap, passing Herrmann early on and then towing him back past Wacker, Bauer, Moss and Mantovani too. Collins loses places to Maglioli and Marimon, with Farina losing out to Villoresi and Landi in an almost carbon-copy incident in the braking zone at Forsthaus. And Hawthorn is back in front of Claes in the battle for supremacy at Connaught, whilst de Tornaco easily sails past Ascari with his much fresher tyres.

*Lap 15* - Gerard makes amends for his error a few laps ago, as he passes Whitehead and Scherrer to reclaim 4th, credit to the HWM driver though as he follows through on Whitehead to stay in the points at the moment. Bauer passes Wacker and Mantovani on this lap, as the Coopers start to make inroads into the lead of those in front.

Marimon re-takes Moss and Maglioli, the latter who also loses a position to Collins as well. Farina passes Landi here, whilst de Graffenried's pit drops him back behind Lang, who passes the dueling Connaughts of Claes and Hawthorn - the former seizing the impetus to re-take his place at the head of that mini-scrap.

*Lap 16* - This race could well be decided in the pits, and most of the field dives in at this point. Of those that stay out Carini has a decent lead over Stuck's Cooper in 2nd, the charging Mantovani now in 3rd, Herrmann in 4th for Veritas, Bauer 5th for Cooper, 6th for Wacker, 7th for Collins who passes the now 8th-placed Moss, with Maglioli in 9th and Landi in 10th position.

Of those who pitted Pietsch is out in 11th place, from Scherrer in 12th, then Lang in 13th who pitted a while ago and who has been exploiting his fresher tyres to goo effect. Whitehead sits 14th, from Gerard and Salvadori, who must be cursing his pit-crew who barely seemed to be ready for him when he came into the pits!

Marimon is now 17th, from Farina 18th, de Graffenried in 19th with Villoresi rounding out the top 20 some way down now. 21st is de Tornaco, who passes Claes and Hawthorn for 22nd and 23rd - following them are Ascari who is yet to pit in 24th and Bira rounding out the field in 25th place.

*Lap 17* - Almost all of the rest of the field come into the pits on this lap, which is brilliant for Wacker, who leads for just 1 corner, before Collins blazes past him at Batlehem. Landi is 3rd place, with these three being the only ones yet to pit.

Pietsch is now 4th, using his out-lap to great effect ahead of Carini who does well in the pits to stay ahead of Scherrer in 6th, Gerard now up to 7th with the fastest lap of the race to pass championship leader Whitehead who now sits 8th (how crucial might that be!?!) and Lang 9th. Salvadori rounds out the top 10, ahead of Bauer 11th, Herrmann 12th, Mantovani 13th and 14th placed Marimon who can't quite do enough on his outlap to jump past this group.

15th is a trio of Maserati's with Moss from Farina and de Graffenried now 17th, and then Stuck 18th, whose pit crew just didn't seem interested in speed there. 19th is Villoresi, from Maglioli in 20th after a woeful stop. 21st is de Tornaco, from Claes, Hawthorn, Bira and Ascari.

*Lap 18* - Up front both Collins and Landi pit, whilst Wacker ends up tantalisingly close to the pit entrance, but runs out of fuel just out of reach. That returns the lead to Pietsch, from Carini and now Gerard in 3rd as he gets the better of Scherrer under braking at Eymatt.

Herrmann moves past Bauer for what is now 8th place, with both Moss and Mantovani following him through too. Collins is out a long way behind the main group after a very lacklustre pit stop, with Landi about 1 second behind him after similar issues.

*Lap 19* - Salvadori passes Lang for 6th place, whilst Maglioli's recovery begins to pass Villoresi for 18th position. Farina also dramatically cuts the gap to Marimon here with a great lap. Herrmann sets an incredible lap-time to take fastest lap for Veritas here!

*Lap 20* - A horrendous lap for Carini sees him drop behind Gerard, as the Veritas newcomer begins to have trouble keeping with the incredible pace of those relentless Ferrari's! Likewise Scherrer can do nothing to resist Whitehead for 4th place.

Bauer and Marimon pass Mantovani here, as the Italian makes a slight error at Tritignant.

*Lap 21* - Carini will not give up, as he slings it up the inside at Tenni to move back into 2nd place at the expense of Gerard! Marimon passes Bauer for 10th place, with Mantovani also following him through.

*Lap 22* - Carini is really lacking consistency, and a mistake under pressure from Gerard at Batlehem sees him drop back to 3rd now only a couple of seconds in front of Whitehead's Ferrari.

A mistake from Hawthorn sees him take some superficial damage, which will slow him down a little over the coming laps.

*Lap 23* - Gerard takes a lump out of Pietsch's lead, as he makes his pass on Carini stick at long last. Salvadori passes Scherrer to put all four Ferrari's into the points, with Lang also taking Scherrer as well.

Marimon passes Moss, as he seems to have a set of tyres he can really rely on at the moment. Bauer passes Mantovani too, whilst Stuck takes de Graffenried and Maglioli gets the better of Landi, who makes a mistake at Forsthaus, just like Hawthorn did a lap or two ago - though his impact was far more severe it must be said!

*Lap 24* - Whitehead is right on the back of Carini for 3rd, but can't find a way through yet. Lang makes a small error at Tenni, which lets both Scherrer and Herrmann past. The Mantovani-Bauer battle continues, with the former back into 11th place and Farina now into 12th with an opportunistic move.

Villoresi takes Landi too, as the latter is really struggling after his accident last lap.

*Lap 25* - Salvadori claws the gap to those in front down, and opens up space back to those behind too. Farina drops some time on this lap, losing positions to Bauer and Stuck in the process. Maglioli also takes Collins on this lap as well for 16th position, but the gap to his team-mate de Graffenried is a good 16 seconds.

*Lap 26* - Marimon bridges the gap to Lang, but the German has lost touch with Herrmann's Veritas in 7th unfortunately. Bauer re-passes Mantovani, as these two continue to slow each other up to allow Stuck and Farina to close up.

Near the back Landi finally pits for his damage, whilst de Tornaco comes in for a scheduled stop to drop the pair of them behind Claes and Hawthorn.

*Lap 27* - At the front Carini in 3rd is slowing down Whitehead and allowing everyone behind to close up to them down to Marimon in 9th place now just 8 seconds off the podium! Of course the usual tussle between Mantovani and Bauer takes place, with the Cooper driver losing out on this occasion.

*Lap 28* - Pietsch moves away from Gerard, who makes a mistake that sees Carini et al close back up. Carini also moves away from Whitehead at long last, as the Brit is more focused on defending from Salvadori, which he does with little success, allowing his countryman to make a sensational pass which really takes the pressure off Carini.

Lang moves on to the back of Herrmann again, taking Marimon along with him. Moss gets sucked into the Bauer-Mantovani scrap, but loses place to both as they are clearly keen to not let each other get away!

*Lap 29* - Whitehead re-takes Salvadori, whilst Carini gains time on Gerard as he refuses to let that 2nd place go! Marimon almost passes Lang on this lap too, but is just held off!

*Lap 30* - Marimon passes Lang, as he continues to make in-roads into the group in front, although he is now around 12 seconds off the podium. Mantovani drops behind three close-fighting drivers, with Moss then Farina and then Stuck hurtling past him.

*Lap 31* - Pietsch's tyres look to be wearing out slightly more than those behind him as he drops a couple of seconds, on this stint Carini moves away from Whitehead too at last. Salvadori's tyres are also struggling after the effort he put in to get back in touch with his team-mates, and as a result he is powerless to defend against either Scherrer or Herrmann.

Lang comes into the pits, once again looking to get that newer rubber on earlier than the others. Crucially he comes out ahead of Collins to a fairly clear track, which could be a massive advantage in a lap or two.

In the battle for what is now 9th place, Moss gets ahead of Bauer, who is followed by the quickly advancing Mantovani, Stuck in the Cooper and Farina's Maserati. Landi passes the damaged Hawthorn on this lap as well.

*Lap 32* - Of those who have not pitted Carini leads the race, from Herrmann, Moss, Bauer and Mantovani. Pietsch emerges in 6th place after his stop, with Farina now 7th but yet to pit ahead of Stuck in 8th. Gerard comes out in 9th, ahead of Whitehead 10th and Scherrer 11th.

Maglioli, who is yet to come in, currently occupies 12th place ahead of Salvadori and Marimon in 13th and 14th respectively. Lang is now 15th, ahead of Collins who is yet to stop in 16th. De Graffenried is out behind Villoresi in 18th.

Hawthorn comes out behind de Tornaco, whilst Ascari's miserable afternoon comes to a premature end with an error at Passerelle Elchholz which leaves his car in the barriers.

*Lap 33* - Still yet to pit is Moss, who leads the race for a couple of turns, before Pietsch spoils his party with a pass at Eymatt for the lead. Gerard sits 3rd a tiny bit ahead of Carini, who has a solid 5 seconds over Whitehead in 5th place.

Scherrer is currently 6th from Herrmann in 7th, Salvadori in 8th, just ahead of Marimon in 9th place. Lang sits 10th, his gamble of pitting earlier not having worked out as he didn't manage to get enough heat into his tyres to make it count.

Collins is now 11th though yet to pit, from Bauer, Mantovani, Farina, de Graffenried (who is also yet to pit) and Stuck's Cooper. Maglioli is 17th, from Villoresi, Landi, de Tornaco, Claes, Hawthorn and Bira.

*Lap 34* - Moss pits and comes out behind Mantovani in 13th place, whilst Herrmann passes Scherrer for what is now 5th position - though Salvadori is in very close attendance as it stands.

*Lap 35* - Salvadori makes good on his promise to pass Scherrer for 6th place, and heap the pressure on Herrmann in 5th. Moss takes Mantovani here, while Collins pits at long last to emerge behind Maglioli. Stuck also takes de Graffenried after a scintillating lap-time.

*Lap 36* - A quiet lap here, as only Landi comes in to pit for the 3rd time, coming out between the Connaughts of Claes and Hawthorn!

*Lap 37* - Whitehead will have hoped to be challenging Carini for 3rd, but instead he loses 4th to Herrmann's Veritas in what is becoming an incredible race for the German manufacturer. Mantovani passes Moss for 11th on this lap too.

*Lap 38* - Whitehead is on a really poor run of laps, as he lets team-mate Salvadori through to 5th place. Stuck passes Farina too as the Cooper gets it hooked up on this lap too.

*Lap 39* - Herrmann makes a mistake at Tenni, which gifts 4th to Salvadori and 5th to Whitehead, albeit only just. De Tornaco makes his 3rd stop, dropping behind everyone but Bira's Connaught.

*Lap 40* - Herrmann is not to be outdone though, as he scythes past both Salvadori and Whitehead on the run down to Forsthaus. A good lap from Carini sees him gain on Gerard too.

*Lap 41* - Salvadori takes Herrmann for 4th at Batlehem, whilst Bauer moves past Lang as the Cooper is starting to look really hooked up as it stands. Stuck passes Moss on this lap too.

*Lap 42* - A quieter lap here, with the only action being Stuck passing Mantovani for 11th place.

*Lap 43* - Mantovani passes Stuck in an otherwise quiet lap, which did see Carini fall back into the clutches of those behind.

*Lap 44* - Herrmann is unstoppable on this lap, as he passes both Salvadori and Carini (doing what many Ferrari drivers have failed to do this race), with the former also losing a place to Whitehead as well.

*Lap 45* - It is now Whitehead's turn to rise to the top, as he passes both Herrmann and Carini, with the latter looking as if he is finally succumbing to the rigours of racing near the top as he loses the place to Salvadori. Stuck passes Mantovani on this lap as well.

*Lap 46* - Whitehead makes a clean break in 3rd place, ahead of Salvadori who is now 4th from Herrmann in 5th position.

*Lap 47* - Carini recovers somewhat to pass Herrmann, but both Ferrari's are starting to move away from the pair of them. Bauer streaks past Marimon for Cooper, as he pulls himself onto the back of Scherrer with real aplomb.

*Lap 48* - As several drivers pit it is now Salvadori who leads the race from Carini, Herrmann and Bauer. Pietsch emerges in 5th place for Ferrari, ahead of Gerard in 6th position. 7th place is now Stuck, ahead of Mantovani and the recently pitted Whitehead in 9th.

Moss is 10th from Farina 11th, Marimon 12th and Lang 13th, with the latter two of this group having pitted already. Hawthorn pits to allow de Tornaco through, though he comes out ahead of Bira who also comes in to change tyres and fill up on fuel.

*Lap 49* - Pietsch re-takes the lead, with Gerard in 2nd and Whitehead now in 3rd in a Ferrari 1-2-3. Moss sits 4th but is yet to pit, ahead of Carini in 5th place and Salvadori in 6th in another less than inspiring pit from the Brit.

Herrmann is 7th, from Bauer in 8th, Scherrer in 9th, Marimon in 10th and Lang in 11th position. Coming out in 12th is Mantovani ahead of Collins in 13th, with Stuck's pit-crew once again losing him a lot of time as he sits 14th now. Villoresi and Claes pitting promotes Landi who is now behind Maglioli on track.

*Lap 50* - Only the pit of Landi is worth commenting on this lap, which drops him behind Villoresi, de Tornaco and Claes.

*Lap 51* - Moss pits for the 3rd time at last, dropping back behind Mantovani after losing time on his worn tyres. That promotes Carini to 4th and Salvadori to 5th, as the Brit continues to push to complete a Ferrari 1-2-3-4.

*Lap 52* - Gerard is quickly closing the gap to Pietsch to just a couple of seconds, with Whitehead now in a strong 3rd place by around 10 seconds. Collins pits for his 3rd stop, emerging behind Maglioli. De Tornaco's 4th stop drops him behind everyone but Bira as the lone Gordini.

*Lap 53* - Bauer roars past Herrmann as he moves the Cooper up to an impressive 6th position just 4 seconds down on the points. Whitehead is making serious inroads in to the leaders advantage too, at the moment.

*Lap 54* - Gerard is right on the back of Pietsch now, but Whitehead - clearly motivated by the fact that the championship could be decided here - is now within a couple of seconds of the lead as well. Some would say Pietsch should move out of the way and not get involved in this titanic struggle, but that seems unlikely for the defending champion.

*Lap 55* - And Pietsch loses the lead!!! Gerard, conscious of Whitehead gaining ground on him quickly, makes a move round the outside of Quarry to take 1st place. Bauer manages to make some gains on Salvadori, with the Brit entirely focused on Carini's 4th place at the moment.

*Lap 56* - Salvadori passes Carini for 4th in what is now a Ferrari 1-2-3-4, much to the distress of all other teams in the paddock! Landi also passes Claes on this lap to move into 19th place.

*Lap 57* - No changes in position this lap, but Pietsch is less than 1 second behind Gerard, with Whitehead now nearly 5 seconds behind after running wide at Eymatt and almost losing it.

*Lap 58* - Pietsch re-takes Gerard for 1st position, as the defending champion is clearly upset with giving up a race win that looked certainly his! Carini re-takes Salvadori, as the #4 Ferrari driver is once again having difficulty keeping with the pace.

Marimon passes Scherrer too, as the Veritas driver is once again winding up for an assault on the points, though he has a good 15 seconds to gain somehow!

*Lap 59* - Collins passes Maglioli for 16th place, though all attention is still on the front, where Gerard is just 0.1 seconds behind Pietsch and Whitehead is less than 4 seconds down.

*Lap 60* - Whitehead passes Gerard for 2nd place, which really could change things for the championship…all three Ferrari drivers are now within 0.25 seconds as they cross the start/finish line! Lang takes Scherrer for 9th position on this lap too. De Tornaco also gets the better of Hawthorn this time around.

*Lap 61* - Does Pietsch moves over to avoid interfering with the championship battle? Or is he simply not quick enough to cope with Gerard and Whitehead in their frenzy to win against one another? Salvadori will be relieved to have forced his way past Carini at long last, and quite convincingly too by the looks of things.

*Lap 62* - Gerard gets into Whitehead's slipstream and with a quick move left then right, he catches his adversary off guard to move into the lead. Pietsch is right on the back of Whitehead too, and you can't discount the German from this race yet! Further back Scherrer takes Lang's 9th position in an all-HWM scrap.

*Lap 63* - Lang re-takes 9th place from Scherrer, whilst up front Gerard now has a 3 second advantage over his Ferrari team-mates.

*Lap 64* - Mantovani takes a top 10 place at the expense of Scherrer, which allows Lang to make good his escape. Gerard's lead is just 2 seconds, as he eases off, clearly eager not to make a mistake!

*Lap 65* - Whitehead comes close to Gerard, but just cannot do enough to get past, despite showing his nose a couple of times up the inside as they hurtle around the track. Whitehead will at least be pleased to have moved up from an 18th placed grid slot!

Pietsch will have to settle for 3rd place, with Salvadori now 4th position in a Ferrari 1-2-3-4. Carini's reward for a strong weekend is a points paying position, but he could have hoped for a lot more after his impressive qualifying place.

Bauer takes 6th position in a great race for Cooper, from Herrmann and Marimon in 7th and 8th for Veritas, with Lang in 9th and Moss rounding out the top 10 after a brilliant last lap effort to overtake Scherrer and Mantovani, who finish 11th and 12th respectively.

Stuck could have done so much more with better pit-stops, but 13th place will have to suffice. Farina finishes 14th after maybe not pushing enough during the race, with de Graffenried now 15th for Maserati from Collins in 16th, Maglioli 17th, Villoresi 18th, Landi 19th and Claes in 20th position.

A last lap pass for Hawthorn on de Tornaco gives him 21st place, with Bira rounding out the finishers in 23rd position.