1955 Italian GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Monza
* Location – Italy
* Corners – 9
* Laps – 50
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 3:00.000
* Road Circuit:
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 1:53.200 (Juan Manuel Fangio)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 1:42.299 (Hermann Lang)
* Combined Circuit:
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 2:46.500 (Juan Manuel Fangio)
* Lap Record (F1R) – Not Yet Contested
* Pit Lane Length – 40 seconds
* Fuel Consumption – High
* Tyre Wear – Medium

## Qualifying

The Farina v Wharton duel will be decided here, with Farina taking the advantage into the race with a convincing pole position. However with 6 manufacturers in the top 6 it could well be a rather open race, with Kling's Mercedes, Villoresi's Cooper, Maglioli's Lancia and Perdisa's Maserati between Farina's Ferrari and Lucas' HWM.

Taruffi makes an epic comeback for Lancia to secure 8th on the grid, ahead of Collins' Vanwall and Castellotti's Maserati who round out the top 10. Whilst outside the top 10 several well-known faces can be found, including the Ferrari of Moss, the the Mercedes of Salvadori and the Lancia of Brabham.

Also making the grid are the Coopers of Fairman & Hawthorn, the Gordini's of Pollet & Simon, the Connaughts of Sparken, Claes & da Silva Ramos, the Ferrari of Diogo and the HWM of Fitch. All of that means we wont see several highly-ranked drivers in the final race, including reigning champion Hans Herrmann who caps a tough season with an ignominious end and Fangio's Connaught.

However possibly the most surprising is the entire Arzani-Volpini team not being present, as it seems their withdrawal from F1R is now confirmed and they will not be around in 1956.

## Grid

The drivers line up for the final race of the season, with the title now a 2 horse race between Farina and Wharton - though the latter could in theory be overhauled by Collins if the Vanwall takes the race victory (though from 9th on the grid that looks rather unlikely).

A strong qualifying by Kling gives Mercedes hope of a 2nd podium this season in what has been a disappointing season by their standards. Meanwhile Villoresi looks to build on Cooper's recent success as he lines up 3rd, with the Lancia of Maglioli close behind in 4th position. Perdisa is a surprise package in 5th for Maserati, as he uses home-town advantage to great effect as one of the four Italians in the top five today.

Lucas and Wharton in the HWMs are next up, though will need to really gun it if Wharton is to take the 2nd place he needs (presuming Farina goes on to win the race). Taruffi, Collins and Castellotti make up the top 10, with more established names Moss, Salvadori and Brabham just missing out as a result.

Hans Herrmann elects not to take part this race, with his title defence in smithereens after failing to score a single point (despite coming close on a number of occasions) with his decision to remain at Maserati this season looking increasingly like a mistake on his behalf.

22 drivers line up for the final race of the season, which will be getting under-way shortly!!!

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - Farina gets a clean getaway, and streaks away from the rest of the field - already with a 3.3 second lead over Kling, and it looks like the Ferrari driver is firm favourite to win this race with only a lap complete. No-one can match that pace!!!

Villoresi gets away well in 3rd, but the best start goes to Taruffi, who goes around the outside of a whole host of drivers and manages to slot back into the pack in 4th place, whilst Perdisa retains 5th. That means the loser at the start is Maglioli, who does keep 6th place ahead of Lucas, Wharton, Collins and Castellotti, who still round out the top 10.

Behind them it's the end of the road for Stirling Moss, who runs wide at Curva Grande and is almost collected by several of the back-markers, who ultimately escape unscathed. The Ferrari though appears to have broken its steering, and as a result is unable to rejoin the race.

The only other person with a start worth mentioning is John Fitch who moves up from 17th to 14th place just behind Fairman, Brabham and Salvadori outside the top 10.

*Lap 2* - Taruffi is in pursuit of Villoresi, though only taking a tenth out of him at the moment. Meanwhile Wharton exerts some serious pressure over Lucas, but his team-mate holds firm (no team orders in 1955!). Meanwhile Fairman is now right on the back of Brabham, and pushing the Lancia hard!

Da Silva Ramos pulls out to take Claes, but the Connaught is unable to pass his team-mate around the outside of Lesmo 2.

*Lap 3* - Villoresi pegs Taruffi back to maintain his advantage, whilst Wharton ducks out of Lucas' slipstream on the run down to Curva Grande, but is not quite close enough to move past him. Another effort by Fairman comes to nothing, as Brabham makes his Lancia as wide as possible. Da Silva Ramos is also thwarted by Claes, as Sparken begins to move away from the pair thanks to their own squabbles.

*Lap 4* - Another effort from Wharton is closed down by Lucas at Curva Nord, whilst Fairman runs a little wide as he dives up the inside of Brabham but is unable to hold the corner at Parabolica so loses the place he just won and allows Fitch to gain a little on him as a result.

*Lap 5* - Yet another dive up the inside for Wharton comes to no avail, as Lucas calmly drives around the outside of his team-mate to retain 7th place. Hawthorn is now starting to gain ground on Iglesias, taking around 0.5 seconds this lap.

*Lap 6* - Da Silva Ramos has another go at Claes, but the Belgian holds his ground as this would be his best finish of the season if he can maintain it!

*Lap 7* - Wharton gets another go at Lucas, as the Frenchman is a little slow at the exit of Parabolica - the 2 HWMs are side by side around Curva Nord and Curva Sud, but Lucas has Wharton on the outside and there's no way through for him so he is forced to tuck back behind again. Another effort for da Silva Ramos is denied by Claes here too.

*Lap 8* - Farina dips below the 2:45 mark for the 1st time as he continues to exert his dominance over the race. Despite losing ground Wharton again pushes Lucas, but to no avail as it stands…attention is on Fairman though, as he pressures Brabham at Parabolica, but the Lancia holds firm in 12th place.

*Lap 9* - Another passing attempt by Fairman comes to no avail, but does allow Fitch to keep pace with them despite clearly not having his HWM set-up as he would like!

*Lap 10* - Da Silva Ramos puts Claes under yet more pressure - but this time the Belgian is caught looking over his shoulder as they approach the Parabolica, and too late realises the corner is upon him. Despite braking hard it's not enough and he runs wide, doing some damage to the under-body, which means he is forced to pit immediately to gift da Silva Ramos 19th place.

*Lap 11* - Fairman is still pressuring Brabham, with Hawthorn again gaining ground on Iglesias and da Silva Ramos now beginning to eat into Sparken's advantage as well.

*Lap 12* - Wharton tries yet again to get past Lucas, with an unorthodox attempt at Curva de Vialone that ultimately comes to naught.

*Lap 13* - A sub 2:44 lap for Farina is almost showing off given the lead he already has, whilst further back Fairman is getting frustrated by Brabham who has the widest car on track right now!

*Lap 14* - Fitch pits on this lap, but such is his advantage over Pollet that he remains in the same position after his stop though now some 30 seconds down on the Brabham vs Fairman fight.

*Lap 15* - Wharton draws up to the back of Lucas, but wisely elects not to make a pass but rather just lie in wait for a mistake. Meanwhile Fitch on cold tyres and a heavy fuel load is losing time to Pollet at around a second per lap!

*Lap 16* - Wharton has another go at Lucas, but the crowd's attention is drawn to the pits, as we have both Collins and Fairman coming into the pits, both of whom don't lose a position but now have some free air to drive in. Simon also pits, and of course is still last when he emerges.

*Lap 17* - Another spate of pit-stops see Kling, Villoresi, Taruffi, Salvadori, Hawthorn, Sparken and da Silva Ramos all come in. The Mercedes manages to retain 2nd place, but Perdisa comes through into 3rd place. Villoresi and Taruffi do manage to get out of the pits ahead of Maglioli in 6th.

Salvadori is out ahead of Brabham as he retains 11th, whilst no other positions change as a result of this round of stops.

*Lap 18* - Perdisa's podium place is short-lived, as he comes in for his pit-stop but the Maserati mechanics look frankly lackadaisical as they come out to work on the car (it seems a pay dispute has led to them to only work at a slow pace on the stops this race)!

As such Perdisa drops down to 7th place behind Lucas and Maglioli, whilst Wharton stops and emerges in 8th position.

*Lap 19* - An error from Sparken sees the Connaught spinning at Lesmo 1, which costs him significant time and seems to have damaged the front of his car.

*Lap 20* - Maglioli is gaining on those in the points, with an 8 second deficit he is rapidly eating into. Castellotti is now gaining ground on Collins, and is right behind him now. Pollet pits on this lap, letting both Iglesias and Hathworn through in the process after a predictably slow stop from the Gordini mechanics.

Meanwhile da Silva Ramos zips past the ailing Sparken, who will soon have Claes doing likewise unless he can find some pace quickly!

*Lap 21* - Claes does pass Sparken as predicted, to move the Belgian back into a season's best 19th position. Also improving their personal best at the moment are Pollet (17th), Castellotti (10th), Perdisa (7th), Taruffi (4th), Villoresi (3rd) and Kling (2nd).

*Lap 22* - Claes' joy is short-lived, as he enters the pits on this lap to lose 19th place to Sparken again - though if the Frenchman doesn't pit soon he will likely lose out thanks to his damage anyway!

*Lap 23* - Nothing much to report on here, other than Claes closing the gap to Sparken as expected.

*Lap 24* - Disaster for Hawthorn, as the Cooper comes across the ailing Connaught of Sparken, and moves to go around the outside with the Frenchman not realising he was there, and subsequently swerving into the side of the Brit! That has certainly damaged both cars (even more in the case of Sparken!) and handed the initiative to Pollet and Claes respectively, who are chasing them both.

*Lap 25* - Another set of pit-stops as we reach the half-way juncture, with all the 1-stoppers coming in, including Farina, Maglioli, Lucas, Castellotti, Brabham and Iglesias. Of course the Ferrari retains his lead, and Maglioli emerges in 5th place.

The HWM mechanics are somewhat slow, meaning that Perdisa makes his way past Lucas. Salvadori gets past Castellotti to move into the top 10, with no other changes thanks to these stops.

*Lap 26* - Perdida is quickly gaining on Maglioli, but has some 12 seconds to make up as it stands. Wharton is likewise catching Lucas at a similar rate. Pollet is now right behind Hawthorn, whilst Claes now overtakes the struggling Sparken.

*Lap 27* - Pollet makes short work of getting past the damaged Cooper of Hawthorn to take 16th place. Wharton is now right behind Lucas too, but will need to strike quickly if he is to avoid being stuck behind his team-mate again.

*Lap 28* - Wharton catches up with Lucas at Parabolica and manages to sling his car up the inside - but overcooks it and runs wide! Despite his efforts to regain the inside line there is no way to beat Lucas back to it and so he is forced to wait his chance next lap…

*Lap 29* - Again the HWM duo come up to Parabolica, and again Wharton positions his car with his lighter fuel load to take the corner, though this time he brakes slightly earlier, allowing him to seize the apex and finally dispatch his team-mate!!! Maybe this championship battle isn't such a foregone conclusion…

*Lap 30* - Perdisa draws up to the back of Maglioli as they approach Lesmo 1, he feints to the outside and the Lancia promptly defends that part of the track, thereby allowing the Maserati to move back to the inside and claim the position - a classic switch-back manoeuvre!

*Lap 31* - Wharton has set off after Maglioli with real intent, taking around 3 seconds per lap out of the Lancia! Fairman is still taking about 2 seconds out of Brabham each lap as well.

*Lap 32* - Da Silva Ramos is the latest man to come up behind the ailing Hawthorn, as he dispatches the Cooper with ease on the Rettifilo to claim 17th place.

*Lap 33* - Collins, Fairman and Simon all come into the pits on this lap, with no change in positions as a result.

*Lap 34* - Also pitting are Kling, Taruffi, Salvadori, da Silva Ramos, Hawthorn (who at last fixes his damage) and Sparken (who also repairs his car). The only one who loses a position is Salvadori who drops out of the top 10 to allow Castellotti to regain his position.

*Lap 35* - Wharton is within 2 seconds of Maglioli as he really exerts the pressure on the Lancia, but elsewhere it's a relatively quiet lap this time around…

*Lap 36* - More pit-stops taking place here, with Villoresi, Perdisa, Wharton and Fitch taking the opportunity to change tyres and refuel. That allows Maglioli back into 5th after a predictably slow stop from Maserati for Perdisa, with Wharton again behind Lucas after his 2nd stop.

*Lap 37* - No real action on track, other than Kling coming up to lap the incredibly slow Gordini of Simon…

*Lap 38* - …but that proves to be disastrous, as they come into Curva Grande and the Mercedes runs out of space as he attempts to go around the outside of Simon who simply doesn't see him there! They touch wheels and Kling runs wide over the grass, and though he makes it back onto the track it's clear that his car has picked up some damage here!

*Lap 39* - Kling pits to fix the damage, which is an easy decision given the lead he has over Villoresi - and he emerges in 2nd place still to vindicate that particular choice. Perdisa meanwhile is tracking Wharton closely, and pulling ever nearer to the back of the HWM.

Meanwhile Hawthorn makes another error; this time completely on his own as he spins off the track at Parabolica after putting a wheel onto the grass and finding his car swapping ends as a result.

*Lap 40* - That Kling stop has done little other than make it likely that Farina will finish the race a lap ahead of the field. Perdisa catches Wharton at last, and straight away puts him under pressure by showing his nose at Lesmo 1, but the championship contender manages to sweep across and keep the place.

Pollet pits this time around, with a really slow stop, but still not quite slow enough to allow da Silva Ramos to catch him! Claes also gets past Hawthorn to all but ensure that this will be his best result of the season.

*Lap 41* - Lucas has an 11 second deficit to make up to Maglioli to grab a point for HWM, and is gaining at a rate of around 1-2 seconds per lap. Castellotti is catching Collins, but a 43 second gap may be tough to make up in the remaining 10 laps.

Perdisa has a go at Wharton, with an effort that has the crowd holding their breath as the 2 drivers are right alongside each other with nothing in-between them…but as they exit Lesmo 2 it is still the HWM ahead!

*Lap 42* - Another lap, another pass attempt from Perdisa, but Wharton again snuffs out the chance before the Maserati gets a chance to come past him.

*Lap 43* - Lucas is now just 6 seconds down on Maglioli, and continuing to take chunks out of his lead. Perdisa is again thwarted by Wharton, this time at the entrance to Parabolica. Sparken is also now very close to Hawthorn as he pushes for 19th place to demote the struggling Cooper.

*Lap 44* - Disaster for Wharton, as any hopes he had of springing a surprise in Farina's back-yard are dashed by another Italian in the shape of Perdisa, who claims 7th place with a well-executed move on the run down to Curva Grande.

Sparken passes Hawthorn in a move that takes on extra significance as Claes pulls over to the side of the road at the Parabolica to retire with no fuel left in the car. That puts Sparken into a net 18th place now.

*Lap 45* - A calmer pace seems to have settled on the race, though Perdisa is busting a gut to try to track down Lucas for 6th, who in turn is now just 3.5 seconds behind Maglioli in what is likely to go down to the wire between them!

*Lap 46* - Lucas is less than a second behind Maglioli and looks odds on favourite to take away the Lancia's points scoring position. Perdisa takes another 2 seconds out of Lucas though as he does his best to get back on terms!

Da Silva Ramos spins at Curva Grande after going slightly wide at the corner entrance, which means that he will now Sparken gaining ground on him until the end, as it appears his suspension is slightly bent as a result of that minor excursion.

*Lap 47* - Perdisa may still have a chance at points, as Maglioli defends tigerishly against the on-rushing Lucas, costing them both time as he forces the HWM the long-way around Parabolica. But can the Maserati catch 6 seconds in 3 laps?!?

*Lap 48* - Lucas finally passes Maglioli, as the Lancia is powerless to resist the power of the HWM as he gets a great exit from the 2nd Lesmo to complete the move at Curva del Serraglio. Perdisa though is now just 2.5 seconds down on them!

*Lap 49* - Several drivers are having real issues with their tyres - not least Farina up front who is losing 2-3 seconds a lap to Kling, though with the lead he has it's unlikely to perturb him. Perdisa meanwhile puts a quick move on Maglioli, who looks like he could even find himself caught by Wharton, so slow is his pace now!

*Lap 50* - The final chequered flag of the season waves for Farina, who secures his title here in dominant fashion. Kling comes through in 2nd place, with Villoresi taking a brilliant podium for Cooper and Taruffi a creditable 4th place for Lancia.

The battle for the final point does go down to the wire, with Perdisa swarming all over the back of the Lucas - and as they reach Parabolica the tyres on the HWM simply cry enough and as he fails to hold tight to the apex and allows the Maserati to slip up the inside to hold the line and claim 5th place.

Lucas does at least take 6th, whilst Maglioli is powerless to defend against Wharton, whose brave effort finishes with him coming 7th in the end after the under-dog was unable to have one last crucial day. Maglioli finishes 8th some way ahead of Collins in 9th and Castellotti who rounds out the top 10.

Completing the finishers are Salvadori 11th, Brabham 12th, Fairman 13th, Fitch 14th, Iglesias 15th, Pollet 16th (despite a last-lap off!), da Silva Ramos 17th, Sparken 18th, Hawthorn 19th and Simon 20th for Gordini.

## Race Setups

**How close setups were to perfect**

* 0.05994 Giuseppe Farina (s)
* 0.27994 Jean Lucas
* 0.3336 Jack Brabham
* 0.342752 Roy Salvadori (s)
* 0.356975 John Fitch
* 0.35874 Cesare Perdisa
* 0.40224 Ken Wharton
* 0.43784 Jack Fairman
* 0.4477 Eugenio Castellotti
* 0.50136 Luigi Villoresi (s)
* 0.5705 Umberto Maglioli (s)
* 0.75048 Karl Kling
* 0.787696 Jesús Iglesias
* 0.88512 Piero Taruffi (s)
* 0.990935 Peter Collins (s)
* 1.495952 Jacques Pollet
* 2.35696 Hermano da Silva Ramos
* 4.1544 Mike Sparken
* 4.602184 Johnny Claes (s)
* 4.874656 Mike Hawthorn (s)
* 7.39656 André Simon