1959 Dutch GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Zandvoort
* Location – Netherlands
* Corners – 10
* Laps – 75
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 2:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 1:36.000 (Joakim Bonnier)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 1:36.298 (Bob Gerard – J Ibbotson)
* Pit Lane Length – 20 seconds\*
* Fuel Consumption – Low
* Tyre Wear – Medium

\*Note that this season pit-stops will last longer than in previous seasons; this number represents the time it takes to travel down the pit-lane not including the time you will spend stationary.

## Qualifying & Grid

After a late surge it is effectively Maserati domination here in the Netherlands - and had Bonnier not had a horrific start to his qualifying session it could have been even worse for the other teams! As it is, Bruce McLaren claims his 1st ever Pole Position from team-mate Gurney in 2nd place - neither of whom scored points last time out! Brabham maintains his consistent start to the season with 3rd position on the grid, with Bonnier a likely threat in 4th place.

Von Trips lines up 5th with d'Orey 7th in the final Ferrai, while Porsche are having a great start to the season and line up in 6th for Trintignant and 8th for Gendebien (though Testut lagged back in 26th after a miscommunication with his pit-crew). Similarly for BRM they have two drivers in great contention for the Top 10, as Phil Hill lines up 9th and Gregory in 13th overall, while Graham Hill has to settle for 27th on track after fitting the wrong tyres for his stint on-track.

Cooper meanwhile have something of a fall from grace, as they only line up 10th, 11th and 12th for Behra, Bianchi and the Pole Sitter from last time Flockhart. Herrmann qualifies decently for Lotus in 14th, while Aston Martin, Vanwall and JBW contend for the final places in the Top 20 - as Salvadori 15th, de Filippis 17th and Brooks 19th represent the Aston Martin cause, de Beaufort 16th, Fairman 18th and Ireland 21st fight for Vanwall's somewhat tarnished reputation and finally Burgess 20th, Naylor 22nd and Scarlatti 23rd (who had more laps to run!) will look to claim another Top 20 finish for JBW…

Behind them are the Connaught team of Shelby 24th and Allison 25th, while Moss languishes down in 29th after his own crash early on in the session sees him fall behind Ward 28th for Lotus, who also has an early-session accident that gives him a mountain to climb come race time!

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* – In a race where no driver has any idea of how the track and their car will perform in conjunction with each other, this one is wide open for anyone to take the victory! Predictably therefore, the start is chaotic in the extreme – with a whole host of drivers failing to find the right biting point to get a strong start…in fact, the leading trio all have difficulties! Though, many drivers decide to back off after the opening corner as they see Fairman steam in and completely miss his braking point to crash and retire from the race already!!!

Bonnier (starting in 4th) does get away quite well though and makes quick work of moving past the erstwhile leaders, though he finds himself being outclassed by Trintignant in the Porsche, who takes a shock lead here!!! McLaren gets away in 3rd after his Pole Position goes to waste within the first few metres of the race – with Gendebien up to 4th position in a phenomenal start to the race for Porsche! Gurney is away in 5th place, with de Beaufort up to 6th for Vanwall.

Meanwhile the Porsche outfit must have managed to find some kind of secret ingredient for their starts – as Testut gets a rocket-launch to move up to 7th overall thanks largely to how tentative most of the pack are going through the 1st corner!!! Ireland also starts well for Vanwall in 8th position, with then a large gap back to Brabham in 9th, d’Orey in 10th, Allison up to an impressive 11th for Connaught, while Phil Hill is down to 12th, ahead of his team-mates Graham Hill and Gregory for BRM.

Burgess is up to 15th, from Moss 16th for Connaught, Bianchi down to 17th, Herrmann down to 18th, von Trips really tentatively starting as he falls down to 19th overall. Flockhart and Behra are in 20th and 21st for Cooper, with the Aston Martin trio in 22nd to 24th, ahead of Shelby 25th, Ward 26th, Naylor 27th and Scarlatti 28th overall.

It is clear to see that some of the drivers are pushing harder than others here, with the leading 8 out ahead – but are they pushing too hard?!?

*Lap 2* – McLaren is under real pressure from Gendebien, though the Kiwi holds firm for this lap – however that battle allows the man of the hour to continue his epic start to the race, as Testut roars past de Beaufort and Gurney at Tarzanbocht before taking Gendebien and McLaren at Scheivlak – as he moves up to 3rd place to mean there are now two Porsche’s in the podium positions! Is he pushing too hard too early on though?!?

McLaren is now 4th, with Gendebien 5th and Ireland now up to 6th as he manages to follow Testut through part of the order. Gurney is down to 7th with de Beaufort in 8th having a significant lead over what may as well be a different race at this point! In that other race, we see a swap of the Hill’s, as Phil moves over to let Graham into 12th position – while the other BRM of Gregory is busy holding up Burgess for 14th.

*Lap 3* – Testut claims the Fastest Lap of the race (with a 1:36.6), as he moves to within 3 seconds of his team-mate in the race lead – while McLaren is still under pressure from Gendebien. De Beaufort meanwhile moves past Gurney at Rob Slotemakerbocht to claim 7th position overall. Meanwhile in the “other race”, Allison now marches past d’Orey to claim 10th position for Connaught in this bizarre race!

Behind them, Burgess gets the better of Gregory for 14th place with a dive up the inside at Panoramabocht – while at the back of the grid many drivers are just crawling round to ensure they make the finish.

*Lap 4* – Trintignant reclaims the Fastest Lap with a 1:36.3, while behind him Bonnier is occupied by Testut’s advances, which allows the leader to pull out over a 3 second advantage from the chasing duo. Meanwhile McLaren is defending from Gendebien and Ireland, who are crawling all over the back of the Maserati driver…

*Lap 5* – Testut moves past Bonnier into 2nd with a great out-braking manoeuvre at Tarzanbocht to make it a Porsche 1-2, while Trintignant up front beats his own Fastest Lap with an even better 1:36.3. Behind them the lap gets even worse for Maserati, as McLaren runs wide at Bos Uit to gift 4th to Gendebien and 5th to Ireland in the Vanwall!

*Lap 6* – Testut takes the Fastest Lap of the race with a 1:36.0 – though he is only marginally faster than Trintignant some 4.2 seconds up the road. Meanwhile McLaren looks to have an issue with his car that’s come on suddenly – and while he is looking down and desperately trying to fix the issue, he finds himself overhauled by de Beaufort on the run down to Hondenvlak – as the Vanwall moves into 6th position.

Meanwhile Allison continues his decent start to the race by making life even worse for Ferrari by overtaking Brabham for 9th position with a brilliant pass into Panoramabocht that the Australian is powerless to defend against.

*Lap 7* – A 1:35.8 for Testut is the only action this lap, as Porsche revel in this unusual set of circumstances!

*Lap 8* – Same drill this lap, as Testut sets a 1:35.0 to move to within 3.5 seconds of the race lead…

*Lap 9* – Testut breaks the 1:35 barrier to move to just 3.2 seconds behind Trintignant – elsewhere de Beaufort is now hot on the heels of team-mate Ireland for the final points position!

*Lap 10* – Ireland moves over to let his fast-approaching team-mate through into 5th position…

*Lap 11* – A 1:34.6 for Testut narrows the gap to 2.5 seconds at the front…

*Lap 12* – No action on track, as most drivers are looking to just get to grips with the unexpectedly dry conditions…

*Lap 13* – A 1:34.3 for Trintignant re-establishes the gap at around 3 seconds at the front. Meanwhile d’Orey is another to have issues with a new part, which is now seeing him lose ground to the BRM’s behind him…

*Lap 14* – Breaking the 1:34 barrier is enough for Testut to get the gap back down to 2.1 seconds at the front.

*Lap 15* – The secret to Testut’s early pace becomes clear, as he comes into the pits, which moves Bonnier up to 2nd for Maserati from Gendebien 3rd, de Beaufort 4th, Ireland 5th, McLaren 6th, Gurney 7th and then Testut emerging in 8th position overall. Graham Hill also pits for BRM on this lap, which moves Phil Hill up to 12th, Burgess to 13th and Gregory to 14th, with Graham Hill emerging in 15th position overall.

This race may seem already sewn up – but with so many unknowns it’s still impossible to say who will finish the race and in what position!!!

*Lap 16* – Von Trips is keen to rectify the difficult situation he finds himself in – but pushes too hard and finds himself slipping on some of yesterday’s rain! Trintignant enters the pits meanwhile, dropping from 1st to 7th and handing the lead to the resurgent Bonnier. Gendebien is now 2nd from de Beaufort 3rd, Ireland 4th and McLaren back into the Top 5 despite his damage (which he is coping with rather well!).

*Lap 17* – A quiet lap on track here – though Testut is really pushing the limits of his car as he looks to close up the 2.4 second gap to Trintignant ahead of him.

*Lap 18* – Testut has closed the gap to just 1 second and continues to really hammer it around the circuit – if it wasn’t for his heavier fuel, he would certainly be improving his own Fastest Lap time here!!! Further back d’Orey pits to fix his damage and go again, allowing Phil Hill into 11th, Burgess into 12th and Gregory into 13th overall.

*Lap 19* – Gendebien pits to replenish his own fuel reserves, dropping down to 7th position – though many would have expected he would come out in 8th position behind Testut…but it looks like the Porsche has pushed too hard too soon and come off the track at Tarzanbocht!!! He limps round the rest of the circuit and pits to fix that damage – but he is likely out of points contention for a while (other than the FL point of course).

De Beaufort inherits 2nd place with Ireland 3rd, McLaren 4th, Gurney 5th and Trintignant up to 6th overall. Further back von Trips pits to move Flockhart up to 19th and Behra back inside the Top 20 with the German out in 21st overall. Naylor also pits to drop to the rear of the field behind Scarlatti…

*Lap 20* – Bonnier pits to promote the Vanwall duo of de Beaufort and Ireland into the race lead – though Team Principal Mike Baston’s face isn’t celebrating quite yet, as he and his team anxiously compare notes about their fuel calculations…though they aren’t the only team in the paddock doing the same!

McLaren is now 3rd from Gurney 4th and Trintignant crucially up to 5th place ahead of the emerging Bonnier in 6th. There are a series of pits further down the order meanwhile, as Allison, Brabham and Phil Hill all follow each other in – with the Connaught emerging still in a sensational 9th place ahead of Burgess now 10th, Brabham out in 11th, Gregory up to 12th, d’Orey 13th, Graham Hill 14th, Moss 15th and Phil Hill out in 16th overall.

Herrmann drops from 18th to 20th as he promotes Flockhart and Behra in the Cooper’s, while de Filippis comes in for Aston Martin to hand 22nd to team-mate Brooks. Shelby also pits this lap, but is running very much a solo race today and thus has no change in positions…

*Lap 21* – A much quieter lap here, with the only sounds in the Vanwall garage being made by Baston’s constant pacing to and fro, at whether his cars will make it to their next stops…

*Lap 22* – There are exclamations of shock at JBW, as Burgess rolls to a stop on-track, seemingly out of fuel…however the crafty young Brit jumps out and starts pushing the car until he finally makes it to the pits!!! He has fallen from 10th to 16th as a result, but at least he will be able to continue in the race!

Brabham is now 10th from Gregory 11th, d’Orey 12th, Graham Hill 13th, Moss 14th and Phil Hill 15th overall. Elsewhere we have seen no drivers from Vanwall or Cooper into the pits – and messieurs Baston and Morris look somewhat anxious here…

*Lap 23* – …and with good reason it seems. Behra coasts to a halt, far too far away to be able to push his Cooper back to the pit-lane and that is his race over with…the same applies for Brooks in the Aston Martin, which is a real surprise given that de Filippis has already pitted for the newcomers! That split strategy could prove crucial in future though…

*Lap 24* – …and those aren’t the only fuel-related retirements, as de Beaufort and Ireland both retire in the space of the same lap!!! They are followed by Bianchi and Flockhart – meaning there are now no Vanwall or Cooper car’s left running in the race! Team Principal’s Baston and Morris can be seen heading in the direction of the nearest pub to drown their sorrows, while that changes the shape of the race significantly…

McLaren now leads from Gurney (though both are still to pit – and the normally relaxed Ibbotson looks a little more stressed than usual as a result!), with Trintignant back up to 3rd, Bonnier 4th, Gendebien 5th and Testut 6th.

Once everyone has caught the laps up that they are behind it will be Allison a magnificent 7th, Brabham 8th, Gregory 9th (though yet to pit) , d’Orey 10th, Graham Hill 11th, Moss 12th (yet to pit) , Phil Hill 13th, Burgess 14th, Herrmann 15th, von Trips 16th, de Filippis 17th, Salvadori 18th (also yet to pit), Shelby 19th, Ward 20th (also yet to pit), Scarlatti 21st (also yet to pit) and Naylor 22nd (the last runner in the race).

*Lap 25* – Sighs of relief at Maserati, as they see McLaren come into the pits to fix his damage, refuel and be on his way. That promotes Gurney to the race lead, Trintignant to 2nd, Bonnier to 3rd and Gendebien up to 4th position – with McLaren out in 5th overall. Behind them, Allison looks somewhat laboured after his pit-stop and finds himself easily overhauled by Brabham, who claims 7th by driving around the outside of the Connaught at Panoramabocht!!!

Gregory pits for BRM, promoting d’Orey to 9th, Graham Hill to 10th, Moss to 11th and Phil Hill to 12th overall – with Gregory out in 13th position. Further back Scarlatti pits for JBW to drop behind Naylor again, though Salvadori in the Aston Martin is less fortunate – as he runs out of fuel on track to become the 8th retirement of this race already…

*Lap 26* – Gurney finally pits to wipe the look of concern from Ibbotson’s face, which hands the lead back to Trintignant, from Bonnier 2nd, Gendebien 3rd and McLaren 4th – with the American out of the pits in 5th place just 1 second ahead of Testut!

Moss also pits this time around, promoting Phil Hill to a net 11th and Gregory to a net 12th overall – while further back Ward runs out of fuel on-track…but emulates Burgess earlier and pushes his car into the pits – such is his lead over those behind that it doesn’t cost him a position though.

*Lap 27* – Testut looks to take advantage of Gurney’s cold tyres and heavier fuel load after the pits – and such is their pace differential you would have thought he could have easily driven around the outside, instead the Maserati defends the corner apex…and the Porsche just ploughs into the back of him! It looks like the Monegasque has come off significantly worse, which allows the Maserati to retain 5th position – albeit with a little damage to his car.

*Lap 28* – Allison is really tentative at this stage of the race and both d’Orey and Graham Hill are gaining ground hand over fist on him at the moment. Meanwhile, further back Burgess is duelling with Moss, though doesn’t find a way past this time around…

*Lap 29* – …but the next lap he makes short work of taking 13th from the Connaught at Hugenholtzbocht.

*Lap 30* – Disaster strikes for Trintignant in the race lead! He pushes too hard at Tarzanbocht, misses his braking point and crashes fairly heavily – he continues to limp around the track (presumably with a scheduled stop not too far away) but now has Bonnier just 0.2 seconds behind!

Testut pits this lap to fix the damage sustained in his earlier collision and to refuel (to the relief of Porsche boss Hoekstra!). Graham Hill also pits from 10th to emerge behind team-mate Phil Hill…

*Lap 31* – Bonnier makes quick work of overtaking the struggling Trintignant for the race lead, with Gendebien only a couple of seconds behind as well.

*Lap 32* – Trintignant doesn’t make it easy for team-mate Gendebien to pass him – but ultimately the Belgian does make the pass for 2nd place at Scheivlak with ease. Allison also suffers this lap, as d’Orey comfortably overtakes him to move up to 8th position.

*Lap 33* – A quieter lap here, though Trintignant will soon have company from McLaren!

*Lap 34* – Another quite lap – though McLaren is now just 6 seconds behind Trintignant and moving at a significantly faster pace…

*Lap 35* – Trintignant comes in for his scheduled stop to refuel, which promotes McLaren to 3rd and Gurney to 4th overall – with the Porsche out of the pits in 5th place.

*Lap 36* – D’Orey comes into the pits this time around, dropping him to 9th behind Allison – who is still mixing it with the Ferrari’s despite his struggles on pace!

*Lap 37* – A quiet lap this time around with nothing much to report…

*Lap 38* – Gendebien pits from 2nd place to make it a Maserati 1-2, as Bonnier leads McLaren with the Belgian out in 3rd position some 14 seconds down on the Kiwi ahead. Further back Herrmann, von Trips and Naylor all pit – though none of them change positions thanks to how wide the gaps are between most of the field now…

*Lap 39* – Trintignant has had a torrid time of late, and it only gets worse as he makes an error at Rob Slotemakerbocht that pitches him off the track – he does re-join, but elects to pit immediately to mend the damage he has incurred. That promotes Testut to 5th overall as a result…

Meanwhile Connaught had seemed to be one of the teams that knew what they were doing about fuel – though Shelby is the latest driver to fall victim to the unknown conditions here, as he pulls over to the edge of the track with his race over.

*Lap 40* – Bonnier pits from the lead and emerges less than a tenth behind McLaren, which hasn’t eased Ibbotson’s worries any – he knows how competitive these two drivers are! Brabham also pits on this lap, which promotes Allison into 7th position – an impressive performance for that Connaught at least (if his fuel is right…!).

Phil Hill also comes in this time around to shuffle the BRM cars, with Graham Hill now 10th, Gregory now 11th and Phil Hill now 12th and looking likely to come under pressure from Burgess in the JBW behind him…de Filippis also pits this lap, to palpable sighs of relief from the Aston Martin crew and Team Principal Josh Anderson!

*Lap 41* – Another fuel-based retirement on this lap…and it’s a surprise, as JBW had looked so sure of their fuel calculations – but Burgess is the man to suffer, as he will inevitably lose his 13th position (which could have been even better) to others behind who weren’t as daredevil with their fuel levels…only 19 drivers now remain in the race in fact!

*Lap 42* – A quieter lap here, as McLaren takes advantage of the emptier roads to pull around 3 seconds ahead of his heavier-fuelled team-mate Bonnier. Testut is actually fastest man on track right now and is gaining impressively on the struggling Gurney in 4th place…

*Lap 43* – Testut is now just 9 seconds behind Gurney and travelling some 3 seconds per lap faster right now…

*Lap 44* – …and it’s now a 5.8 second gap with the Porsche desperate to make the pass stick this time!

*Lap 45* – He doesn’t get the chance though, as he pits to emerge just 0.1 seconds ahead of team-mate Trintignant. Behind them Graham Hill pits to emerge in 11th behind Gregory but ahead of Phil Hill.

*Lap 46* – Trintignant is allowed through by Testut, who recognises his higher-ranked team-mate is faster at this point in the race and so lets him into 5th place overall. Meanwhile Allison’s tyres look absolutely shot at this point and so Brabham has no trouble in passing him for 7th with ease at Bos Uit…

*Lap 47* – A quiet lap here, as Bonnier is starting to close up the 10 second gap McLaren opened up on him earlier in the stint…

*Lap 48* – Gendebien was the only Porsche driver not to have had a big incident at Tarzanbocht…so maybe it was only a matter of time before the Belgian pushed too hard and span off there, as happens this time around! He crawls back to the pits to fix the damage – though emerges in 4th some 16 seconds behind the ailing Gurney with a shot at a podium place still intact.

Meanwhile Allison is bleeding time to d’Orey behind and soon sees the Ferrari roar past him up to 8th place, with the BRM’s also making significant gains as it stands…

*Lap 49* – McLaren’s tyres also look to be struggling, as he loses 5 of his 7 second lead over Bonnier on this lap. Meanwhile Gendebien is attacking the track with a resurgence of pace, as he narrows his gap to Gurney to just 9 seconds.

*Lap 50* – McLaren pits to sort out his worn-out tyres, which promotes Bonnier to the lead, Gurney to 2nd and Gendebien up to 3rd position. Trintignant almost claims 4th but McLaren manages to swerve to keep the Porsche behind for this lap at least…

Further back Gregory won’t be able to take advantage of Allison’s struggles, as he pits to promote Graham Hill to 10th (and eating up the ground to Allison ahead!) and Phil Hill to 11th – in fact Moss in 13th is not that far behind the BRM either as it stands! Scarlatti also stops this time around from last position.

*Lap 51* – An action-packed lap, as we see 2 overtakes, 1 pit-stop and 1 fuel-based retirement! Up front Gendebien makes short work of passing Gurney with his damage and fading tyres for 2nd place at Tarzanbocht, while Trintignant makes it a great lap for Porsche as he roars past the heavily laden Maserati of McLaren to claim 4th position!

Moss is the man in the pits this time around, while Ward is not as fortunate as the last set of stops, as this time he runs out of fuel far too far away to entertain the idea of pushing his car to the pits…

*Lap 52* – Gurney finally pits to fix his damage, refuel and replace his dying tyres! That promotes Trintignant to 3rd and McLaren to 4th, with the American out of the pits in 5th some 20 seconds or so ahead of Testut, who also pits this time around after another whopper of a crash at Tarzanbocht means he requires even more attention to his bruised and battered car!!!

Another man in this lap is Allison, who drops behind the BRM trio to promote Graham Hill to 9th, Phil Hill to 10th and Gregory to 11th, with Allison now down to 12th place.

*Lap 53* – Phil Hill has the pace on Graham Hill (no relation) but finds his team-mate stubbornly blocking his path! They are all on their own on-track, so it may be that Graham Hill feels they can duel without interruption or fear of impacting their overall race positions…!

*Lap 54* – Gendebien in 2nd was progressing swimmingly, but a mis-step at Rob Slotemakerbocht sees him flying off the track and picking up some serious damage to his car – he stays out, presumably meaning that a scheduled stop is not far off…

Further back d’Orey pits from 8th and emerges in the same position, which is a good sign for the Ferrari team in a race that has been lacking good signs for them thus far! Meanwhile it’s another lap of the Battle of the Hill’s, as Graham again thwarts Phil on the run through Tunnel Oost – but they are much closer now as a result.

*Lap 55* – Thanks to Gendebien’s issues and the pit sequence, Bonnier is now the only man on the lead lap of the race!!! Trintignant pits this time to move McLaren up to 3rd – though the Porsche pit-crew do JUST enough to get the Frenchman out ahead of Gurney in 5th overall.

Phil Hill pits with a sense of righteous indignation at the time he has lost behind his team-mate – and consequently only emerges 1.9 seconds ahead of his other team-mate Gregory!

*Lap 56* – Gendebien is bleeding time to McLaren in 3rd, though still has a 12.7 second buffer there – while Testut has reduced his arrears to Gurney for the final points-paying position to just 11.9 seconds now…

*Lap 57* – Gendebien finally pits to fix the damage and refuel to surely make it to the end of the race – he drops all the way back to 6th position to restore the Maserati 1-2 for Bonnier and McLaren, with Trintignant now 3rd, Gurney 4th and Testut 5th just 7.7 seconds behind the American.

Von Trips and Naylor also pit on this lap for their final stops, though there are no position changes as a result.

*Lap 58* – Herrmann also pits for what is surely the final scheduled time in the sole remaining Lotus, while Testut is now just 4 seconds behind his target of Gurney’s 4th position!

*Lap 59* – Disaster for Testut, as it looked certain that he would break his own Fastest Lap here – but he comes across Gurney at Bos Uit and the Maserati forces him to choose between a crash and lifting off, from which the Porsche chooses the lesser of the two evils and slows down. That may have something to do with the fact that he currently owns the Fastest Lap point – and no-one else seems close to getting that!

Further back Phil Hill moves over to let his team-mate Gregory past into the Top 10 – though is forced to swerve back onto the racing line very quickly, given that Allison in the Connaught is making some decent headway right now…

*Lap 60* – Bonnier pits, which allows McLaren back onto the lead lap – but the Swede is now surely on his way to the 1st victory of his career! Testut also pits for his final stop here, which promotes Gendebien back into 5th – and travelling around 1-2 seconds per lap faster than Gurney, who is just 7 seconds up the road!

Brabham and Graham Hill both come into the pits, emerging in 7th and 9th where they previously were – though the latter may need to pick his pace up given that his team-mates are only around 20 seconds down on him…and his tyres are going to be cold!

*Lap 61* – Allison has bridged the gap to the BRM’s – and his hopes of a Top 10 finish are not yet over, given that he makes short work of passing Phil Hill for 11th place at Tarzanbocht! It looks like all scheduled stops are completed, so it’s just a matter of everyone making it to the finish…

*Lap 62* – A quieter lap here, with the closest battle on track between Gregory and Allison for the final Top 10 position (just 2.5 seconds between them).

*Lap 63* – 2.1 seconds is the Gregory to Allison gap now…

*Lap 64* – …which stays at that level thanks to Gregory upping his pace to ensure it’s not too easy for the Connaught! Phil Hill is still lurking some 2.6 seconds behind Allison, in case of any issues between them…

…meanwhile nearer the front Gendebien has the gap to Gurney down to 6.4 seconds, which he is continuing to chip away at – while Trintignant in 3rd moves slowly away from the Maserati and now has a 6 second advantage of his own.

*Lap 65* – Gurney ups his pace to increase his lead over Gendebien to 6.7 seconds – though he is really pushing the limits of that Maserati right now! Allison meanwhile has his own arrears down to 2.1 seconds in the fight for the final Top 10 position…

*Lap 66* – Maserati have clearly pushing the limitations of the rules – and of the parts they have on their car – as Gurney is the latest driver to fall victim to an issue with their engine (is that part of the team concentrating on something else perhaps…?), though it appears to only be a minor problem. That said, it could have major ramifications as Gendebien closes to 6.4 seconds behind him!

Allison meanwhile is down to 1.8 seconds behind Gregory in a race where most of the other positions look fairly settled already…

*Lap 67* – 6.1 seconds is the gap between Gurney and Gendebien in their fight over 4th place, while 1.6 seconds is the gap between Gregory and Allison.

*Lap 68* – 5.8 seconds and 1.2 seconds are the gaps to watch out for…

*Lap 69* – …and they are now 5.1 seconds (good lap from Gendebien there) and 0.1 seconds (amazing closing speed from Allison!) respectively.

*Lap 70* – It’s a 4.1 second gap between Gurney and Gendebien, as the Maserati looks helpless to improve his pace to match that of the Porsche behind. Meanwhile Allison comes out on top versus Gregory, as he does a switchback manoeuvre at Tarzanbocht to claim a Top 10 position for Connaught. Gregory now needs to watch out for team-mate Phil Hill, who could yet catch him…

*Lap 71* – Bonnier is running away with the race and if McLaren doesn’t pick up his pace, he could yet be lapped by his team-mate here! Gendebien is 3.1 seconds behind Gurney, though both of whom look likely to be celebrating their 1st points finishes ever here!!! Meanwhile Phil Hill is now just 3 seconds behind Gregory in the all-BRM clash over 11th position…

Brabham also has an issue with his car right now, as Ferrari’s engine department look similarly sheepish at the lack of attention, they may have been paying to preparing that car part too – though again, it looks like a manageable issue.

*Lap 72* – If Trintignant was closer than 38 seconds behind McLaren, he might have a sniff of 2nd position here, as the Maserati looks to be really struggling for pace on his used tyres. Gendebien is down to 1.7 seconds behind Gurney, with a showdown for 4th position definitely on the cards!!!

Phil Hill is now just 0.3 seconds behind Gregory and looking likely to pass his team-mate with the incredibly worn out tyres – Allison in front also looks to be cooling his pace a little, as he loses grip from this rather old set of rubber…

*Lap 73* – Gendebien makes the catch but Gurney is wise to the move and blocks him off at Pulleveld, which keeps him in 4th for one more lap at least! Further back Gregory knows that getting his tyres to the finish is the priority, and thus makes way for Phil Hill to move up to 11th place – just 3 seconds down on Allison in 10th overall!

Though with time running out, the question of fuel still hangs over everyone’s heads…surely no-one will fall foul of that in their final stint, will they…?

*Lap 74* – Maserati look aghast, as McLaren pulls over to the edge of the road – though he looks likely to finish in 6th thanks to the massive gap back to Brabham et al behind. That means Trintignant is now 2nd and that means Gendebien’s pass on Gurney at Tarzanbocht takes on new meaning, as it means that the Belgian is now into a podium position!

Gurney is now 4th and Testut into the points in 5th position…while further back Allison is just 1.8 seconds ahead of Phil Hill in the fight for the final Top 10 position.

There is now anxiety around the remaining Maserati’s of Bonnier and Gurney being able to make it to the race finish…

*Lap 75* – The formality of Bonnier’s win now looks in doubt…and Team Principal Ibbotson looks understandably concerned as he sees Trintignant, Gendebien, Gurney and Testut enter their final laps with no sign of the Swede. At last he comes into view on the start/finish straight…but he is pushing the car! He must have run out of fuel on the final straight and sensationally is now pushing his car to the finish line…the seconds ebb away, and other lapped cars make up some ground…but still no sign of the chasing Porsche’s of Trintignant and Gendebien…until at last…!

BONNIER PUSHES HIS CAR OVER THE LINE FOR HIS 1st EVER VICTORY!!! Trintignant comes home 2nd some 30 seconds behind the leader, with Gendebien in 3rd (first ever Podium and Points!) in a landmark race for the Porsche team! Gurney will rue that late pass by the Belgian in front, as he finishes 4th (though takes his first points ever too) with Testut the last man to claim his first ever points in 5th position. The Monegasque also takes the point for Fastest Lap in an incredible race for the German marque…

*2 LAPS DOWN* – McLaren is classified 6th after his Pole Position doesn’t result in the finish that he had hoped for…

*12 LAPS DOWN* – Brabham comes home in 7th place in what quickly became a damage limitation exercise for Ferrari.

*13 LAPS DOWN* – D’Orey comes home a respectable 8th place, with Graham Hill in 9th as the two were never really troubled this race.

*14 LAPS DOWN* – Allison just can’t hold on, as Phil Hill uses his better traction to accelerate past into Panoramabocht and into the Top 10. 11th is still a solid finish for Connaught though, with Gregory behind in 12th.

*15 LAPS DOWN* – Moss finishes his own lonely race down in 13th position.

*19 LAPS DOWN* – Herrmann comes home 14th after a race to forget for Lotus…

*20 LAPS DOWN* – …and that is a sentiment likely echoed by von Trips, whose incredible streak of great race performances (including the coveted World Championship) comes to an end here with 15th position in Zandvoort.

*22 LAPS DOWN* – De Filippis survives as the only Aston Martin to be classified in 16th here…

*43 LAPS DOWN* – Burgess had some good pace before he finally ran out of fuel, but 17th is a decent result for JBW nevertheless!

*47 LAPS DOWN* – Ward making it past his 1st stop gives him a creditable 18th position.

*52 LAPS DOWN* – Naylor manages to make it to the all-important lap 23 to move up to 19th ahead of Shelby (20th for Connaught), de Beaufort 21st and Ireland 22nd.

*55 LAPS DOWN* – Scarlatti comes home as the last classified finisher in 23rd, with Bianchi, Flockhart, Salvadori, Behra, Brooks and Fairman all failing to keep themselves running until the end.

Watch this space for the next race of the season, which will be the French Grand Prix at Reims…

## Race Setups

**How close setups were to perfect - WET**

**How close setups were to perfect - DRY**

## Milestones

* 40th race entry for Jean Behra and Hans Herrmann, both of whom are up to 9th and 10 for most entries ever, at the expense of José Froilán González (who drops outside the Top 10)
* 10th race entry for Gendebien
* Moss moves up to 6th for Most Starts Ever, at the expense of Umberto Maglioli
* Maserati won another Dutch GP, as Joakim Bonnier took over from where Bob Gerard won last year (along with the 1953 Dutch GP too); other past winners are Wharton (’55 – retired) and Whitehead (’52 - retired).
* Win for Bonnier is his 1st ever and that (plus a 2nd placed finish) moves Trintignant into the Top 10 for Most Points without a Win – in fact this moves him up to 6th at the expense of Mike Hawthorn, Cesare Perdisa, Horace Gould and Georges Grignard.
* Points finish for Bonnier and Trintignant make it their 2nd points finishes in a row
* FL at the Netherlands this time was Testut (in only is 2nd race!), in 1958 it was Gerard; other past FLs were Wharton (’55 – retired), Ascari (’53 – retired) and Whitehead (‘52 – retired)
* 1st ever Pole for Bruce McLaren, while in the past Pole at Zandvoort in ’58 went to Gerard; other past Pole-Sitters were Wharton (’55 – retired), Bayol (’53 – retired) and Whitehead (’52 – retired)
* Podium for Bonnier is his 2nd Consecutive Podium in a row!