1951 Italian GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Monza
* Location – Italy
* Corners – 8
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 2:30.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 1:53.200 (Juan Manuel Fangio)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 1:58.600 (Bob Gerrard)
* Pit Lane Length – 40 seconds
* Fuel Consumption – Medium
* Tyre Wear – Low

## Qualifying 1

As 20 drivers take to the track for the 1st qualifying session it is certain that each will take a place in the race on Sunday, so as long as they complete at least one timed lap of the Q2 session.

Newcomer Fothrtingham-Parker gets HWM off to a good start since they lost Louis Chiron earlier in the season; he sits ahead of both BRM drivers (who are again struggling with their handling on such a powerful car) and a Ferarri amongst others already.

Up at the front and it is Ferrari who lead the way from the Alfa Romeo pairing of Gerrard and Fischer, with Walker and Gonzalez in a credible 5th and 6th position as it stands.

**Qualifying 1 Results**

* 1st – Paul Pietsch [F] – 1:54.922 (6)
* 2nd – Peter Whitehead [F] – 1:55.061 (6)
* 3rd – Bob Gerrard [AR] – 1:55.232 (7)
* 4th – Rudi Fischer [AR] – 1:55.338 (6)
* 5th – Peter Walker [E] – 1:55.834 (8)
* 6th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [SA] – 1:56.675 (3)
* 7th – Piero Taruffi [AR] – 1:56.972 (5)
* 8th – Toulo de Graffenried [EP] – 1:57.199 (3)
* 9th – Johnny Claes [T] – 1:57.381 (6)
* 10th – Luigi Fagioli [O] – 1:57.418 (4)
* 11th – David Murray [T] – 1:58.720 (4)
* 12th – Onofre Marimon [T] – 1:58.900 (3)
* 13th – Georges Grignard [A] – 1:59.510 (3)
* 14th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [AR] – 1:59.654 (1)
* 15th – Philip Fotheringham-Parker [H] – 2:00.904 (1)
* 16th – Alberto Ascari [F] – 2:02.342 (2)
* 17th – Louis Rosier [E] – 2:02.753 (2)
* 18th – Hans Stuck [EG] – 2:04.334 (2)
* 19th – Franco Rol [ B ] – 2:07.207 (2)
* 20th – Juan Manuel Fangio [ B ] – 2:09.115 (1)
* 21st – Giuseppe Farina [ B ] – No Time Set (0)
* 22nd – Maurice Trintignant [EG] – No Time Set (0)
* 23rd – John James [EG] – No Time Set (0)
* 24th – Toni Branca [EP] – No Time Set (0)
* 25th – Reg Parnell [EG] – No Time Set (0)
* 26th – Stirling Moss [ B ] – No Time Set (0)

## Qualifying 2

Gerrard manages to take the session, with the Ferrari's retaining 2nd and 3rd place in the end. Fischer takes a strong 4th, and Fagioli has another good showing in 5th position here.

Taruffi nips in ahead of Walker in 6th place, with Gonzalez, Grignard and Claes doing well to keep the 4th Alfa Romeo of Cabantous outside the Top 10.

**Qualifying 2 Results**

* 1st – Bob Gerrard [AR] – 1:54.389 (6)
* 2nd – Paul Pietsch [F] – 1:54.500 (5)
* 3rd – Peter Whitehead [F] – 1:54.500 (5)
* 4th – Rudi Fischer [AR] – 1:54.813 (4)
* 5th – Luigi Fagioli [O] – 1:55.219 (4)
* 6th – Piero Taruffi [AR] – 1:55.255 (3)
* 7th – Peter Walker [E] – 1:55.513 (2)
* 8th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [SA] – 1:55.636 (5)
* 9th – Georges Grignard [A] – 1:55.908 (5)
* 10th – Johnny Claes [T] – 1:56.012 (4)
* 11th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [AR] – 1:56.110 (7)
* 12th – Toulo de Graffenried [EP] – 1:56.204 (3)
* 13th – David Murray [T] – 1:56.226 (3)
* 14th – Onofre Marimon [T] – 1:56.702 (4)
* 15th – Alberto Ascari [F] – 1:57.563 (3)
* 16th – Hans Stuck [EG] – 1:57.658 (3)
* 17th – Louis Rosier [E] – 1:57.845 (5)
* 18th – Philip Fotheringham Parker [H] – 2:01.294 (4)
* 19th – Franco Rol [ B ] – 2:05.794 (1)
* 20th – Juan Manuel Fangio [ B ] – 2:06.490 (1)

## Overall Qualifying Results

Pole Position for new champion Gerrard then, but he will be pushed all the way by Pietsch and Whitehead, with his team-mate Fischer also unlikely to give up the chase easily.

For the rest it will come down to who can claim the 5th position, with Fagioli in the box seats for that as it stands…

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - Gerrard leads at the end of the 1st lap, with Pietsch maintaining 2nd position…Taruffi has a great start up to 3rd from 6th on the grid! Fischer holds 4th to make 3 Alfa Romeo's in the Top 4, with Whitehead dropping down to 5th and Fagioli down in 6th place now.

Walker is still 7th with the best start of all going to the impressive Stuck, who is now in 8th position after starting 16th! Murray is up to 9th from 13th and Grignard keeps his Top 10 position, albeit having lost a place in the process.

An accident at the start rules out Gonzalez as he misses his braking for Curva Grande, and is followed into retirement by Franco Rol of BRM at the self same corner.

Poor starts for Claes, Cabantous and de Graffenried sees Marimon, Rosier and Ascari challenge for their former positions, but with 79 laps to go there is far more action to come here at Monza!

*Lap 8* - Gerrard leads now, with Fagioli the surprise package as the Italian in the Italian car amazes supporters by forcing his way into 2nd position ahead of the far more fancied Ferrari duo! Taruffi is 3rd for Alfa and thrilling the home crowd by staying ahead of former champion Pietsch.

Fischer and Whitehead are squabbling and dropping off the pace as a result, with Murray keeping tabs on them in 7th position. Marimon is up to 8th with some good solid lap times in the bag, though Walker and Stuck are hanging on gamely to the Argentinian.

Rosier is up to 11th now, ahead of Grignard, with Ascari in 13th and Claes down to 14th place. Cabantous in the Alfa Romeo has now dropped down to 15th position with a surprising lack of pace thus far…

*Lap 16* - Gerrard is starting to extend his lead over Fagioli, but the Italian is maintaining position impressively well given his sub-standard machinery! Pietsch is the man on the move at the moment as he takes Taruffi's fastest lap and the final podium position too.

And things get even worse for Alfa Romeo, as Whitehead passes Fischer for 5th place. Murray has taken advantage of the infighting between the two in front and closed the gap right down to the two of them!

Stuck passes Walker and pulls out a brilliant lead, as Rosier begins to hone in on his ailing ERA team-mate. Claes is also moving quickly and up to 11th place now.

At the 1st Sud corner Onofre Marimon overcooks it and ends his race in the barriers! And de Graffenried slows down too much through the incident-affected area, which lets Fotheringham-Parker through on the following corner in a legitimate pass that will greatly upset the demanding Swiss driver.

*Lap 24* - Fagioli is actually closing the gap to Gerrard now, along with claiming the fastest lap of the race! And as he's yet to pit it appears he is actually on the leader's pace legitimately!

Pietsch and Taruffi continue to trade places with the Italian now back in front, and Whitehead is 5th pulling away from Fischer who has his mirrors full of Murray! There is then a long gap back to Walker, Rosier and Grignard…Stuck is 11th now due to taking his 1st pitstop.

Behind them Fotheringham-Parker's race ends with a mistake at the 1st Lesmo corner, and he's shortly followed by Fangio at Sud 1…thus gifting de Graffenried 15th position.

*Lap 32* - As the front-runners pit for their 1st pitstops it looks like a 2 stopper is the strategy of choice for most here, and both Gerrard and Fagioli make it out of the pits unscathed…Taruffi and Pietsch both lose out though, as Whitehead stays out for 2 laps longer and gains time as a result to leapfrog into 3rd place!

Fischer does the same as Whitehead to close the gap to just 5 seconds…Walker is up to 7th by virtue of being yet to stop, with Murray in 8th looking as if his chances of points are somewhat slim today.

Rosier's stop drops him way down the order, but Grignard, Claes, Stuck and Ascari all have more stops to do as well. Cabantous is now a lap behind almost all of his team-mates, which makes it hard to believe he is driving essentially the same car! And de Graffenried's race ends in disaster at Lesmo 1 as he fails to turn in in time and loses control of the car. Poor luck for the Swiss who will be glad to have this season behind him…

*Lap 40* - The Top 6 are still in the same order, though Whitehead is still the man setting the pace and closing the gap to Fagioli in 2nd. Further back Walker, Grignard and Stuck all pit which puts Murray back into 7th place, Claes up to 8th (as he is yet to pit), and then the aforementioned trio still in the same order.

Ascari makes his scheduled stop to put Rosier into 12th place, with Cabantous really not making any impression on the gap back to those in front of him…

*Lap 48* - Fagioli continues to fall into the clutches of those behind him as Gerrard appears to be in a different class at the front of this race! 3rd place is now Taruffi, as the Italian strings together some good laps and forces past Whitehead at Lesmo 2.

Claes makes his only scheduled stop, and drops back to 10th place behind Walker and Grignard. Stuck's race is over as it seems as if his steering fails as he goes through Vialone, causing him to end the race in some hay bales and a less than happy camper!

*Lap 56* - Fischer leads the race as he is yet to pit for a 2nd time, but Gerrard's only a couple of seconds behind and does not need to stop again. Whitehead yet again does well in the pits as he passes Fagioli for a net 2nd position.

Pietsch is past Taruffi, who really loses out and is now in 6th position. Murray is not far behind the Italian, but does need to pit once more…

*Lap 64* - Fischer pits, but thanks to those extra laps he is now into 4th place ahead of both Pietsch and Taruffi; not that the German is likely to let him get too far away. Whitehead is still in 2nd place, but Fagoli is right on his tail at the moment with the aforementioned Fischer not far off the pace either.

That said, rain is threatening in the air which could upset the balance of the race in the coming laps…

*Lap 72* - Fischer looks to be the man on the pace as the rain starts to intensify, Fagioli passes Whitehead as the newest Ferrari driver begins to struggle in the rain and now has Pietsch right in his mirrors!

Claes is into 9th position now, as he gets past Grignard…whilst Rosier becomes the latest retirement with the standard failure to keep on the inside of Curva Sud 1 that sees him join Marimon and Fangio in the hay-bales there. Rosier will soon lose out to Cabantous once the Frenchman finally gets around the lap again, but that will be scant compensation for the final Alfa Romeo man.

*Lap 80* - To recap messieurs Rol and Gonzalez never made it past the first corner after a poor start to the race, with Marimon, Parker, Fangio, de Graffenried, Stuck and Rosier all also failing to finish at various points along the way.

Cabantous is classified as a finisher, but a measure of how poor his day is has to be that Taruffi, who was once in the points but crashed out with 2 laps to go is still placed higher as he covered more distance in the time it took for the winner to complete the race!

A respectable Top 10 result for Ascari (though Ferrari must be concerned that he does not have the same pace as his team-mates) behind Grignard in 9th, Claes in 8th, Walker in 7th for ERA and then Murray who claims a brilliant 6th position in his Talbot.

Pietsch will be disappointed with 5 position, behind his team-mate Whitehead in a big scalp for the Ferrari newcomer, who also takes the point for fastest lap as well in a brilliant display of what may be to come! Fagioli produces an astounding performance to take a podium position and the accolade of the Italian fans in his tiny O.S.C.A!!!

Fischer takes an unlikely 2nd position, after his laps in the rain did enough to move him past those fighting for what can only be termed as 'best of the rest' today. And that is because newly crowned champion Bob Gerrard of Alfa Romeo celebrates in style with a lights to flag victory that assures he easily surpasses Pietsch's points total from last season.