1952 French GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Rouen-Les-Essarts
* Location – France
* Corners – 8
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 2:30.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 2:14.800 (Alberto Ascari)
* Lap Record (F1R) – None Set
* Pit Lane Length – 20 seconds
* Fuel Consumption – Medium
* Tyre Wear – Quite High

## Qualifying 1

So a frantic last exchange of lap-times results in Bayol reclaiming the top spot he had held earlier in the session; though the damage to his car from pushing so hard is yet to be seen. Likewise pushing hard were the Maserati's of Collins and Klenk, who are currently 2nd and 3rd eclipsing championship leader Franco Rol who is only 9th.

Pietsch for Ferrari is currently 8th position, whilst defending champion Gerrard is now 12th. The tables could well be turned though as it looks to be even hotter for Q2, which should see the lap times tumble.

**Qualifying 1 Results**

* 1st – Elie Bayol [G] – 2:22.480 (5)
* 2nd – Peter Collins [M] – 2:22.779 (5)
* 3rd – Hans Klenk [M] – 2:22.816 (2)
* 4th – Rudi Fischer [G] – 2:24.680 (4)
* 5th – Toulo de Graffenried [G] – 2:25.180 (5)
* 6th – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 2:25.480 (1)
* 7th – Piero Taruffi [FN] – 2:25.924 (6)
* 8th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 2:26.196 (3)
* 9th – Franco Rol [M] – 2:27.100 (2)
* 10th – Josef Peters [V] – 2:27.858 (3)
* 11th – Hans Stuck [M] – 2:27.980 (4)
* 12th – Bob Gerrard [F] – 2:28.260 (4)
* 13th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 2:30.307 (4)
* 14th – David Murray [H] – 2:30.287 (5)
* 15th – Dennis Poore [CP] – 2:30.560 (3)
* 16th – Peter Whitehead [F] – 2:30.860 (4)
* 17th – Rudolf Krause [AF] – 2:31.485 (4)
* 18th – Chico Landi – 2:31.944 (3)
* 19th – Alan Brown [H] – 2:32.919 (1)
* 20th – Alberto Ascari [CP] – 2:33.811 (4)
* 21st – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [A] – 2:36.634 (2)
* 22nd – Mike Hawthorn [CN] – 2:47.307 (3)
* 23rd – Jean Behra [G] – No Time Set (0)
* 24th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [F] – No Time Set (0)
* 25th – Robert Manzon [G] – No Time Set (0)
* 26th – Louis Rosier [CI] – No Time Set (0)
* 27th – Stirling Moss [AB] – No Time Set (0)

## Qualifying 2

Gerrard tops the time sheets in the end, as the Ferrari resurgence comes right when they need it most to give them a 1-2-3 as both Pietsch and Whitehead get in on the act. Rol and Farina secure a strong 4th and 5th place for Maserati, whilst the Gordini's lose out in the end and must settle for 6th, 8th and 9th.

Surprise presences in the Top 10 include Taruffi of Frazer-Nash and Poore of Cooper, who must now fancy their chances at getting in amongst the points scorers in the race.

**Qualifying 2 Results**

* 1st – Bob Gerrard [F] – 2:17.459 (6)
* 2nd – Paul Pietsch [F] – 2:17.578 (5)
* 3rd – Peter Whitehead [F] – 2:17.599 (6)
* 4th – Franco Rol [M] – 2:17.740 (6)
* 5th – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 2:17.759 (5)
* 6th – Elie Bayol [G] – 2:17.800 (6)
* 7th – Piero Taruffi [FN] – 2:18.220 (7)
* 8th – Rudi Fischer [G] – 2:18.240 (4)
* 9th – Toulo de Graffenried [G] – 2:18.440 (5)
* 10th – Dennis Poore [CP] – 2:18.536 (6)
* 11th – Hans Klenk [M] – 2:18.820 (4)
* 12th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 2:18.958 (6)
* 13th – Peter Collins [M] – 2:19.059 (4)
* 14th – Alberto Ascari [CP] – 2:19.110 (6)
* 15th – Hans Stuck [M] – 2:19.160 (4)
* 16th – David Murray [H] – 2:19.684 (6)
* 17th – Rudolf Krause [AF] – 2:20.185 (6)
* 18th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [A] – 2:21.787 (2)
* 19th – Josef Peters [V] – 2:21.810 (3)
* 20th – Alan Brown [H] – 2:25.080 (3)
* 21st – Chico Landi – 2:28.173 (1)
* 22nd – Mike Hawthorn [CN] – No Time Set (0)

## Overall Qualifying Results

Ferrari lock out the front row with Gerrard and Pietsch likely to be contesting the race win…although those in the Maserati and Gordini camps will likely contest that assumption. Let's just hope they do so on the day!

A debut race for Alan Brown of HWM is an impressive achievement, though he is likely to struggle with the quick pace of those in front. And the eyes of the crowd will almost certainly be on the sole Frenchman Bayol, who starts from 6th and will hope to challenge for a podium at least.

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - Off the start Pietsch gets a brilliant get-away while Gerrard is very slow off the line…Whitehead also passes Gerrard, forcing the Englishman out wide and allowing the fast-starting trio of Farina, de Graffenried and Fischer through on the inside.

Klenk starts well and is up to 7th, ahead of Taruffi and none other than Rudolf Krause, who gets a rocket of a start and overtakes a good 9 cars around the outside of Premiére! Poore maintains 10th position with the big losers of the start Bayol and Rol down to 11th and 12th respectively.

*Lap 7* - With the pack so close together in these early stages a mistake can mean a lot of places dropped; and Pietsch makes just such an error on lap 2 by sliding wide at Six Fréres and letting Whitehead, Farina and de Graffenried through. Meanwhile Bayol is on fire, as the French crowd erupt to see him move from 11th to 5th after a succession of impressive overtakes, including taking Gerrard of Ferrari up the inside at L'Etoile.

Rol also makes some progress as he moves into 8th place ahead of Taruffi and Collins, who follows the Italian through past Poore and Krause…though the latter is really struggling to keep up with the top 10 and so drops down to 16th position, with Fischer also making an error at the 1st Nouveau Monde corner which drops him down to 11th position.

Taruffi is the big mover on lap 3 as he capitalises on some cautious driving by those ahead to climb into 4th place ahead of Bayol and Pietsch…also moving up is Murray for HWM, who gets into the top 10 by virtue of a brave overtake around the outside at Sanson.

Taruffi continues his progress in the 4th lap as he forces de Graffenried wide at La Deuxiéme to gift Bayol 4th place in the process. And in a carbon copy of that move Farina takes Whitehead for the lead on the very next lap, with Taruffi beginning to close the gap to the leading pair.

Bayol makes a big mistake on lap 6 with a big slide at Beauval and loses places to Gerrard, Pietsch and Rol in the process. Meanwhile at the front Whitehead puts a great move on Farina to claim the lead of the race, though both lose time to Taruffi as a result.

Also on that lap Rol does well to pass the Ferrari champions Pietsch and Gerrard in the same lap, whilst Poore and Fischer climb into the Top 10 at the expense of Murray and Klenk who now sit just outside the Top 10.

*Lap 14* - In what is turning into a brilliant scrap Farina passes Whitehead at the same place he was passed last lap! But the crowd are not focusing on this brilliant battle, as Bayol is tearing his way through the pack…past Pietsch, Gerrard, Rol and de Graffenried…though Taruffi is up to 3rd position now as he manages to stay ahead of the Frenchman. Rol maintains 5th from de Graffenried whilst Murray passes Poore for 10th place.

Franco Rol moves into 4th position, while de Graffenried passes 2 drivers on the straight coming up to L'Etoile. Bayol passes Pietsch for 7th on lap 9 too…

De Graffenried reclaims 3rd place on lap 10, from Rol, Gerrard and Taruffi; the Italian having a dismal lap as he drops 3 places in total!

Gerrard finally starts to move up the field with some purpose, as he takes de Graffenried to move into 4th behind Rol who is finally into a podium position about 7 seconds behind the leading pair.

Fischer really struggles on lap 12 as he lets through both Poore and Murray and loses a fair amount of time in the process too. Taruffi passes Bayol on lap 14 as the early excitement generated by the home favourite seems to have faded somewhat since then.

*Lap 21* - Gonzalez is the man on the move right now, as he takes Fischer and Claes to go up to 12th position on lap 17. On the next lap a rather more vital overtake is done by Rol, who manages to catch and pass the Ferrari of Whitehead to move into 2nd place, with Bayol back into 7th as he dispatches Taruffi to now pursue Pietsch's 6th place.

Gonzalez pits on lap 18 and emerges in 17th position after quite a good pit-stop. On lap 19 Farina and Rol both pit and plummet down to 2nd and 7th respectively…whilst the benefit of new tyres are shown by Gonzalez, who took a staggering 11 seconds out of Collins on that lap - though he does still have to pass the Maserati driver.

Farina backs this up by easily passing Whitehead on lap 20, as the Englishman's tyres are really struggling in these conditions. Klenk also pits on this lap…but the big talking point is quite how much of an advantage a fresh set of tyres are, as Rol leaps into 3rd place with some incredibly quick laps.

He quickly follows this up with a pass on Whitehead for 2nd position and moves within 12 seconds of the race leader too. Bayol is now up to 6th as he passes Pietsch at Nouveau Monde 2.

*Lap 28* - Taruffi is on the move, as he overtakes Poore and Murray with Gonzalez also moving through the field going up to 11th place now. And both continue to make progress, with Taruffi charging past those in the mid-field with worn tyres to sit 4th after lap 23 with Gonzalez up to 9th past Poore and Murray too, with Klenk now up to 12th place and putting pressure on those ahead too.

The Italian moves into 3rd place on lap 24 but has quite a gap to the leaders to catch up in order to challenge for the race lead though. Murray pits on this lap too and will be relieved to have fresh tyres on now.

Those fresh tyres are paying real dividends for Gonzalez, who is now into 5th place behind Whitehead who must be pitting soon. And on the next lap he does just that, dropping to 7th place behind Gonzalez, Klenk and Bayol but keeping ahead of de Graffenried and Gerrard who both pit, with the Swiss passing the Englishman in that stop as his pit-crew really pull out all the stops.

Several other drivers pit on lap 26 too, including Pietsch (who is sandwiched between the aforementioned pair), Poore and Krause. Losing out badly on lap 28 is Elie Bayol, who drops way down to 15th position due to some horrendous laps on tyres that are about to give up.

*Lap 35* - Poore passes Fischer on lap 29, as the Swiss really struggles as 1 of 4 drivers still yet to pit who clearly did not anticipate the level of tyre wear and have really tanked their chances of a win through this.

Klenk passes Gonzalez for 4th, and Fischer finally pits, along with Claes too with Bayol capitalising on these pits to get back up to 12th place. On the very next lap Whitehead shows what he can do with new tyres, as he passes both Klenk and Gonzalez in 1 lap! Pietsch also passes de Graffenried as the Ferrari's resurgence begins.

Fischer also finally moves up the order, his new tyres giving him a new lease of life and seeing him into 13th place behind home favourite Bayol. Pietsch passes Gonzalez to move into 5th position with the Ferrari's setting the pace on track right now…

Gonzalez loses more ground, as de Graffenried and Gerrard take advantage of the fact his tyres are somewhat more worn than most at this stage. Stuck pits on this lap too.

Finally on lap 35 Pietsch makes good on his pace to get into the points at the expense of Klenk, who is starting to struggle with his tyres too.

*Lap 42* - Whitehead continues to push forward the Ferrari cause as he overtakes Taruffi for 3rd position on lap 36. Gerrard also moves forward next lap as he dispatches de Graffenried up the inside at Premiére.

Taruffi pits next lap and comes out in 8th place behind Pietsch, de Graffenried, Gerrard and Klenk. Brown also finally pits on this lap for the 1st time, meaning Peters is the only driver yet to stop.

Taruffi uses his fresh tyres to good effect straight away with a pass on Klenk; Bayol also makes a move through the field putting Gonzalez, Murray and Poore behind him as he drives.

Farina and Rol pit on lap 40 as rain begins to come down, with the former losing far more time in the stop and dropping to 3rd as a result, while Rol is up to 1st position ahead of Whitehead with very little time separating the top 3. Klenk and Gonzalez also pit this time around, with neither maintaining their top 10 position as a result.

Farina quickly retakes 2nd position by virtue of the fresher tyres he is utilising, and on the next lap several drivers do likewise, including Taruffi, Klenk and Stuck. And as the rain begins to abate it seems to have had very little effect given how little of it there was.

*Lap 49* - Gerrard is passed by Taruffi, and drops out of the points positions as a result. The Italian goes on to pass another Ferrari next lap, as Pietsch also loses out to the Frazer-Nash under-dog.

Gonzalez passes Fischer, as Murray slides wide and loses positions to both of them. The Argentinian goes on to pass Poore the very next lap and goes into 10th position. Poore loses another position to Fischer on lap 46, whilst Klenk also takes Bayol this lap too.

The action on lap 47 is mostly near the back of the field with Stuck passing Krause for 17th place, whilst Claes pits and drops back into 16th position. Gonzalez passes Bayol on lap 49 but the main focus here is that Peter Collins crashes out at Sanson by taking too much speed into the corner in the 1st retirement of the race.

In fact so much focus goes on that almost no-one realises that Taruffi has snuck past Peter Whitehead to claim a podium position as it stands.

*Lap 56* - Claes passes Ascari on the track, whilst Murray pits for the 2nd time on lap 50. Klenk passes Gerrard for 6th, whilst De Graffenried pits and drops back to 9th position.

Several drivers pit on this lap, including Whitehead, Pietsch and Gerrard in the Ferrari and both Poore and Krause too. That moves Klenk into 4th, Gonzalez up to 5th, de Graffenried back up to 7th behind Whitehead. Bayol is into 9th place behind Paul Pietsch and ahead of Gerrard also.

And as with before the fresh tyres give those who pitted a significant advantage…Whitehead and de Graffenried pass Gonzalez whilst further back Murray, Poore and Krause make some real progress as Ascari pits and comes out in 16th position.

Then on lap 54 Whitehead usurps 4th place from Klenk, who is likely to lose the 5th position from the hard-charging Ferraris and de Graffenried also. Brown pits on this lap too.

And just as predicted on lap 55 de Graffenried moves into 5th with Pietsch 6th and Klenk now down to 7th position. Claes moves past Fischer and Bayol on this lap to enter the top 10 finally, though with the Frenchman about to pit he could well come roaring back.

Gerrard passes Gonzalez on lap 56, whilst Bayol drops down to 15th place but should start to come back soon.

*Lap 63* - Gerrard overtakes Klenk as the German is already wishing for some new tyres. Taruffi pits on this lap too and comes out in 3rd place still, with Fischer also pitting and dropping down to 16th position, though he will need some quick lap-times to make that time back up.

Rol and Farina both pit, but stay in 1st and 2nd place in what is looking like a great day for Maserati thus far. On lap 60 Bayol moves past Stuck to claim 13th position, though it is far from what the home favourite had hoped for.

Gonzalez pits on lap 62 and comes out in 14th position, but the crowd are more focused on the fact that Farina is starting to gain ground on Franco Rol for the lead.

That gap is down to just 9 seconds by lap 63, with Bayol and Gonzalez also setting their own pace at this stage as they start to move through the pack.

*Lap 70* - On lap 64 the action really heats up; Bayol passes both Claes and Klenk in the run-up to L'Etoile, and Claes manages to maintain his position in effect by also passing Klenk. Poore overtakes Murray at Premiére, and Ascari puts a sweet move on Stuck up the inside at the 1st Nouveau Monde corner and so surprised is the German that he lets Fischer through at the next corner too! Worth a mention is that Brown is beginning to close the gap to Peters hand over fist…but will he have the time to catch and pass the German?

Lap 65 sees Claes lose a position to Poore who is now 9th for Cooper, and Fischer passes Ascari for 14th this time around also. Up front Rol looks to have pegged the gap back to Farina at around the 10-11 second mark as the current championship leader looks to extend his advantage over the others.

Klenk's tyres are incredibly worn and he is dire in terms of pace, as Gonzalez swoops by with ease. The German then loses positions to Fischer and Ascari in the next lap. Farina is now closing the gap to Rol up front, after it seemed the Italian was so comfortable before! Claes loses out to Gonzalez this lap too, as the Argentinean proceeds to pass Murray's HWM just a couple of corners later.

Gonzalez then passes Poore at L'Etoile, as the Argentinians' challenge takes him up to 9th position. But the crowd's focus right now is on Farina who is taking lumps of time out of Rol as he gets the gap down to 4 seconds and then just 1 single second the lap after! Fischer passes Claes for 12th place on lap 69, but it's the end of the road for Murray in the next lap as he makes an error at Six Fréres corner that sees him beached at the side of the road with his Top 10 position hopes up in smoke.

*Lap 77* - On lap 72 it finally happens…Farina passes Rol for the lead. But it was less than simple as both came up on Gonzalez at the same time…the Argentinian gave them some space; too much and getting a wheel on the grass saw the Alta driver lose control and crash out in spectacular fashion at Sanson. He will be gutted to have lost such a good position, but the crowd are delighted to see a proper fight for the lead taking place here! Fischer also passes Poore for what is now 9th position thanks to Gonzalez' retirement.

The attention is now drawn to Pietsch fighting with Whitehead, with less than 1 second between the two…Ascari passes Claes for 11th on lap 73 and Stuck takes his team-mate Klenk for 13th too.

And on lap 76 Pietsch finally makes the move on Whitehead for 4th position and Klenk's woes intensify at the back as Krause in the AFM takes him for 14th place. Brown is not going to catch Peters with 1 lap remaining and 17 seconds deficit to catch up…but a brave effort for the young HWM driver nevertheless.

And so as the chequered flag falls just 3 drivers stay on the lead lap; Farina who takes his 1st ever race victory, championship leader Rol, and the man who set the fastest lap today in a stunning performance for Taruffi or Frazer-Nash.

Also in the points are Pietsch and Whitehead for Ferrari, whilst team-mate Gerrard must settle for 7th behind de Graffenried in the lead Gordini, whose team-mates finish in 8th and 9th for Bayol and Fischer respectively. Completing the Top 10 in a solid display is Poore of Cooper, who has his own team-mate Ascari for company in 11th.

Claes takes 12th for Connaught, ahead of Stuck's Maserati, Krause's AFM and Klenk's Maserati…and a long way back were Peters of Veritas and Brown of HWM who round out the finishers today.