1950 French GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Reims-Gueux
* Location – France
* Corners – 6
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 3:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 2:35.600 (Juan Manuel Fangio)
* Lap Record (F1R) – None
* Pit Lane Length – 40 seconds
* Weather – N/A
* Temp – 15°C
* Fuel Consumption – Medium
* Tyre Wear – None

## Qualifying 1

At the last gasp Pietsch sets an amazing lap time to depose Fagioli, as is becoming a pattern this season. There is certainly more to come from Fagioli in 2nd, with Pagani and Serafini right on the pace too. A special mention for Crossley in his debut race, who is on course to qualify for the race in the Talbot that Rosier has struggled in so much this season. Note that the Frenchman fails to make the grid here, so Crossley will be carrying the Talbot flag on Sunday.

**Qualifying 1 Results**

* 1st – Paul Pietsch [F] – 2:28.500 (8)
* 2nd – Luigi Fagioli [AR] – 2:28.750 (5)
* 3rd – Nello Pagani [SA] – 2:29.200 (7)
* 4th – Dorino Serafini [E] – 2:29.800 (7)
* 5th – Toulo de Graffenried [SA] – 2:29.900 (7)
* 6th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [A] – 2:30.050 (8)
* 7th – Peter Walker [A] – 2:30.200 (4)
* 8th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [F] – 2:30.290 (7)
* 9th – Bob Gerrard [EP] – 2:30.500 (6)
* 10th – Prince Bira [EP] – 2:31.400 (4)
* 11th – Piero Taruffi [AR] – 2:31.450 (6)
* 12th – Alberto Ascari [F] – 2:31.830 (3)
* 13th – Geoff Crossley [T] – 2:32.400 (3)
* 14th – Juan Manuel Fangio [AR] – 2:38.000 (1)
* 15th – Maurice Trintignant [E] – 2:40.950 (1)
* 16th - Louis Rosier [T] - No Time Set
* 17th - Harry Schell [E] - No Time Set
* 18th - Reg Parnell [SA] - No Time Set
* 19th - Joe Kelly [A] - No Time Set
* 20th - Franco Rol [E] - No Time Set
* 21st - Joe Fry [EP] - No Time Set

## Qualifying 2

Cabantous sets a great lap near the end of the race, which is equalled moments later by Pagani but slightly too late for the Italian to take Pole Position. Pietsch is surprisingly off the pace in this session, and is one of few drivers not to improve on their Q1 time.

**Qualifying 2 Results**

* 1st – Yves-Girard Cabantous [A] – 2:27.500 (12)
* 2nd – Nello Pagani [SA] – 2:27.500 (14)
* 3rd – Toulo de Graffenried [SA] – 2:28.000 (7)
* 4th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [F] – 2:28.420 (4)
* 5th – Luigi Fagioli [AR] – 2:28.500 (4)
* 6th – Dorino Serafini [E] – 2:29.000 (6)
* 7th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 2:29.000 (7)
* 8th – Bob Gerrard [EP] – 2:29.100 (4)
* 9th – Geoff Crossley [T] – 2:29.100 (3)
* 10th – Alberto Ascari [F] – 2:29.500 (4)
* 11th – Maurice Trintignant [E] – 2:30.000 (8)
* 12th – Juan Manuel Fangio [AR] – 2:30.050 (5)
* 13th – Peter Walker [A] – 2:30.170 (2)
* 14th – Prince Bira [EP] – 2:30.300 (2)
* 15th – Piero Taruffi [AR] – No Time Set

## Overall Qualifying Results

A Pole Position for Cabantous means that it finally comes good for the ex-Privateer driver, as he lines up ahead of a very tightly packed field for the race…at which no less than 8 of the drivers have been in the Top 3 of qualifying at some point over the past 2 sessions!

But with Pietsch only starting 5th is this the opportunity for one of his rivals to move in on his territory as dropped scores come into play in this race.

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - The lights go out in France! And Cabantous bogs down off the start…too much wheelspin for the Frenchman drops him way down the order, and Pietsch has to swerve to avoid him, which allows several drivers past the championship leader already!

Bira certainly seems to have the worst start, as he stalls initially and only just gets away from the line…but this mantle is soon taken by Gonzalez at the 1st corner; the Argentinian seems to have no plan of action as he simply slides off the track and ends up beached in a pile of hay bales.

The biggest mover then is Walker, who gets amazing traction off the line to spring from 13th on the grid right up to 5th already! Serafini likewise starts well, and given the issues with Cabantous and Pietsch it is the Italian who leads after lap 1 from Fagioli, Pagani and Gerrard.

*Lap 8* - Fangio has an accident at Bretelle Nord on the 4th lap of the race, which really only affects Bira initially to promote the Thai into 12th place. However it comes into effect over the next few laps far more…as first of all Cabantous slides wide and damages his right rear tyre, though that does not stop the persistent Frenchman from setting the fastest lap of the race in Lap 7!

Far more crucially though, Serafini completely misjudges his braking at the Bretelle Nord corner and ends up only just saving the car from complete devastation in Garenne. He is forced to pit, but does refuel so the overall loss is not likely to be as severe now.

Back on track Fagioli and Pagani have both moved up thanks to Serafini's crash, and Walker continues to show an incredible level of form as he takes Gerrard who is slipping back into the clutches of the lighter Trintignant who has passed almost half the field in this early part of the race to move into the points.

Pietsch and Crossley both take Ascari, but both the German leader of the championship and the British débutante are being held up by the damaged car of Cabantous that is costing them.

*Lap 16* - Cabantous elects to pit to fix the damage from his earlier incident, and subsequently drops down the order…he does however come out in front of Serafini, who has not been on the pace since he fuelled heavily in his last stop, and also sets the fastest lap of the race in the process!

Fangio is in even worse trouble, as he gets a tyre puncture that sees him plummet further behind the aforementioned pair at the back. Fagioli and Trintignant both make scheduled stops in this stint, all of which advances Bira, Ascari et al up the pecking order.

Crossley continues to hold up Ascari in 6th place, and meanwhile Pietsch stretches away in 5th…but is a significant way behind the Top 4. Gerrard and De Graffenried pass Walker here, as the Brit gets a little out of shape in Muizon and loses 2 positions down into Virage de Gueux.

All of which means Pagani now leads the way by nearly 3 seconds from Gerrard…but the Top 4 are all likely to pit very soon indeed…

*Lap 24* - The top 4 all pit in this stint, and emerge in the same order in position 5-8, ahead of Trintignant and Cabantous in 9th and 10th by some way…Fagioli is now 11th and struggling with an incredibly heavy fuel load that has seen Serafini begin to close that gap to him.

Up front Pietsch now leads the way, with Ascari up to 2nd place ahead of Crossley…though the Brit will be delighted to hold a podium position as it stands! Bira is now right on the back of the Top 3, having set the pace for the last few laps to be right back in with a chance of a podium position.

*Lap 32* - Pietsch and Crossley both pit to hand 1st and 2nd to Ascari and Bira respectively…Pagani is up to 3rd, with Gerrard in 4th and de Graffenried in 5th. Pietsch comes back out in 6th position, less than 1 second behind his Swiss title opponent…

Crossley pits and comes out behind Walker, who looks to have a gearbox issue that is not helping his cause, as Cabantous is now ahead of the Alta driver and starting to pull away.

Trintignant is back with the pack in 10th, with Serafini now ahead of Fagioli as it seems that the latter's apparent lack of pace was down to more than just a heavy fuel load, so another pitstop is necessary for him. Likewise Fangio must pit again, which drops him more than a lap behind the leaders.

*Lap 40* - Bira and Ascari pit in this stint to drop behind the Top 6, whilst Cabantous' pitstop puts him right down in 11th place with Serafini only just ahead of him. Trintignant is up to 6th due mostly to the pitstops that took place, but he has taken Crossley legitimately.

De Graffenried manages to get ahead of Gerrard, in what could be a crucial move for the Championship as the Swiss puts more daylight between him and Pietsch!

*Lap 48* - The top 4 all pit here, which promotes Pietsch to 1st position…and with both Trintignant and Bira also pitting (the latter due to a hydraulics issue that needed addressing) this moves Ascari up from 8th to 2nd position!

De Graffenried jumps Pagani, by virtue of a quicker pitstop a few laps later than the Italian (which of course gave the Swiss more laps without fuel), add to that a spin for Pagani and de Graffenried is in 3rd place after the stops.

Cabantous' irresistible pace puts the former Privateer up to 5th place as it stands, with his nearest challenger being none other than Crossley. Walker and Gerrard both suffered from damage in this stint that cost them a significant amount of time, and though both fixed their issues in the pits they are now a fair way down on the leaders.

*Lap 56* - Pietsch continues to lead, but de Graffenried's pace is phenomenal as he passes Ascari to move into 2nd place less than 5 seconds behind the leader…

Pagani is also past Ascari, though he's unlikely to progress much further as the top 2 are now quite far ahead of the rest. Cabantous continues to hold 5th, but some stellar lap times from Gerrard have seen him move into 6th ahead of Crossley and Walker.

But it could all still change with 8 laps left to go…

*Lap 64* - A tense and gripping final few laps see de Graffenried hone in on Pietsch, but though he catches the German on Lap 58 he is seemingly stuck until Pietsch runs slightly wide at Thillois and the Swiss capitalises on the error to go through and make the victory his own!

Pagani takes a deserved podium position after a strong weekend, with Ascari in a surprise 4th place…the battle for 5th may have not changed much position-wise, with Cabantous taking the final championship point, but the contest for the fastest lap point goes right down to the wire. Gerrard surprises Cabantous by taking his lap record with only a few laps remaining, and though the Frenchman does all but equal the lap on the penultimate time round it is Gerrard who gets something for his efforts.

Walker finishes ahead of Crossley, though just outside the points, which will be a disappointment for the Alta driver. It is however still a good début for Crossley, who takes a credible 8th place. Bira overhauls Trintigant near the end, which considering his starting position is a fine effort.

Serafini and Fagioli round out the finishers today…and with just 1 round remaining the final race in Italy will decide it all.