1951 German GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Nurburgring Nordschleife
* Location – Germany
* Corners – 24
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 11:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 9:55.800 (Juan Manuel Fangio)
* Lap Record (F1R) – None Set
* Pit Lane Length – 40 seconds
* Fuel Consumption – High
* Tyre Wear – Very High

## Qualifying 1

The 1st qualifying session comes to an end in dramatic fashion, with Cabantous putting in a marathon stint to close out the session ahead of the newcomer Stuck. Marimon is in 3rd ahead of Gerrard and Fagioli, with Branca, Murray and Gonzalez next up.

Claes is the man in the danger zone in Q2, though there is very much a 'usual suspects' feel to those now all but out of contention for a place in the race, as anyone yet to send a lap time in would have to hope that not everyone took part in Q2 to have a hope at starting the race.

**Qualifying 1 Results**

* 1st – Yves-Girard Cabantous [AR] – 10:24.441 (6)
* 2nd – Hans Stuck [EG] – 10:27.357 (4)
* 3rd – Onofre Marimon [T] – 10:33.718 (3)
* 4th – Bob Gerrard [AR] – 10:35.396 (4)
* 5th – Luigi Fagioli [O] – 10:37.851 (3)
* 6th – Toni Branca [EP] – 10:47.829 (3)
* 7th – David Murray [T] – 10:51.059 (3)
* 8th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez - 10:52.106 (2)
* 9th – Piero Taruffi [AR] – 10:56.634 (3)
* 10th – Georges Grignard [A] – 10:59.369 (3)
* 11th – Toulo de Graffenried [EP] – 11:00.234 (3)
* 12th – Juan Manuel Fangio – 11:03.850 (1)
* 13th – Peter Whitehead [F] – 11:04.716 (3)
* 14th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 11:05.258 (3)
* 15th – Peter Walker [E] – 11:06.020 (3)
* 16th – John James [EG] – 11:15.828 (3)
* 17th – Louis Rosier [E] – 11:15.902 (3)
* 18th – Rudi Fischer [AR] – 11:18.725 (3)
* 19th – Maurice Trintignant [EG] – 11:24.596 (1)
* 20th – Alberto Ascari [F] – 11:27.164 (3)
* 21st – Johnny Claes [T] – 11:29.757 (2)
* 22nd – Giuseppe Farina – No Time Set (0)
* 23rd – Reg Parnell [EG] – No Time Set (0)
* 24th – Prince Bira [SA] – No Time Set (0)
* 25th – Franco Rol [EG] – No Time Set (0)
* 26th – Stirling Moss – No Time Set (0)

## Qualifying 2

Cabantous performs well in this session, but Stuck sneaks in at the death to deny another Alfa 1-2…and things are worse for the other 2 Alfa Romeo drivers with neither Taruffi nor Fischer looking in danger of troubling the points on Sunday.

A pity down the end of the field that Fangio could not compete to set up the showdown as to who doesn't make the race, and so Claes can breath a sigh of relief and concentrate on the race to come…

**Qualifying 2 Results**

* 1st – Yves-Girard Cabantous [AR] – 10:12.474 (6)
* 2nd – Hans Stuck [EG] – 10:14.316 (4)
* 3rd – Bob Gerrard [AR] – 10:15.107 (4)
* 4th – Onofre Marimon [T] – 10:24.761 (4)
* 5th – Georges Grignard [A] – 10:25.293 (4)
* 6th – Luigi Fagioli [O] – 10:28.599 (4)
* 7th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 10:32.717 (3)
* 8th – Toni Branca [EP] – 10:34.672 (3)
* 9th – Peter Whitehead [F] – 10:37.022 (4)
* 10th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [SA] – 10:37.355 (6)
* 11th – David Murray [T] – 10:38.506 (4)
* 12th – Toulo de Graffenried [EP] – 10:40.563 (4)
* 13th – Piero Taruffi [AR] – 10:44.213 (4)
* 14th – Alberto Ascari [F] – 10:47.992 (4)
* 15th – Peter Walker [E] – 10:52.871 (2)
* 16th – Louis Rosier [E] – 10:54.797 (3)
* 17th – Maurice Trintignant [EG] – 10:56.001 (4)
* 18th – John James [EG] – 11:02.122 (2)
* 19th – Rudi Fischer [AR] – 11:04.440 (3)
* 20th – Johnny Claes [T] – 11:18.390 (3)
* 21st – Juan Manuel Fangio [ B ] – No Time Set

## Overall Qualifying Results

With 20 starters lined up for what promises to be a gruelling race around the Nurburgring's many twists and turns the hot money is on an Alfa Romeo driver to win the race, as they have won everything since the recalcitrant Fangio was on the top step in the opening race of the season for BRM.

If not Cabantous or Gerrard at the front, then who though? Neither Taruffi nor Fischer gave a good account of themselves for Alfa in qualifying, whilst Pietsch is ever dangerous but does have a fair amount of time to make up here. And don't forget newcomer Hans Stuck, who is as likely to make his car explode as he is to take the point for fastest lap!!!

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - Off the start the wide-spaced grid markings mean that there is little overtaking into the tight 1st corner…and moving into the Südkehre the pack files round in order behind Cabantous.

Further down the field there is a big incident, as Gonzalez tangles with Branca to slide off the track, with Trintignant swerving to avoid the two of them and also going off into an unrecoverable position. And so 17 drivers remain in the race at this point…

*Lap 2* - Cabantous extends his lead over Stuck, who has his mirrors full of Gerrard at this point. Marimon cannot quite keep with this pace in 4th, ahead of Grignard, Fagioli and Pietsch.

Down the field one of the most interesting scraps is over 9th place, as de Graffenried hikes up the pressure on Murray to move past him. That said, the tight and twisty Nurburgring course makes overtaking less than easy apart from on the long straights where a good exit is absolutely crucial…

*Lap 4* - Gerrard forces past Stuck on the long start/finish straight with a good slipstream manoeuvre, which should free up the Alfa Romeo driver to go in search of his leading team-mate.

Back at the de Graffenried/Murray fight the Swiss simply cannot get past; an issue potentially now faced by fellow Swiss Fischer of Alfa Romeo, who is behind James of Equipe Gordini as the tiny French marque challenges the domination of the Italian giants here!

*Lap 6* - As the 1st drivers come in to the pits they are led in by Gerrard, who has been so quick of late that he emerges in 3rd place only about 30 seconds down on Stuck. Marimon follows him in and comes out in 4th also, in an impressive display by the Talbot driver.

Speaking of which the defensive driving from Murray in the fellow Talbot is really frustrating de Graffenried at the moment and one wonders how long he will be able to keep the Enrico Plate star behind him…

The Ferrari's are the immediate beneficiaries of the early pits as the duo of Pietsch and the impressive new signing Whitehead are now up to 5th and 6th, although already under pressure from Grignard now.

*Lap 8* - Stuck leads the race briefly as Cabantous pits…but the Frenchman retakes the lead with ease at Flugplatz. Gerrard is catching the pair of them in 3rd, from Marimon and now Grignard due to the Ferrari pairing pitting from in front of him. Likewise Fagioli inherits 6th place in the same fashion, and further back still de Graffenried is losing time behind Murray hand over fist now!

Taruffi and Ascari pit without losing position, with Fischer undoing the good work he had put in by passing James with a pitstop that drops him behind the young Englishman once more.

*Lap 10* - As Stuck pits for the 1st time he will be relieved to see Gerrard also pit too…meaning the German holds on to his 2nd position, albeit over a minute behind the Alfa Romeo of Cabantous.

Fagioli is into the points now, by virtue of Grignard's 2nd stop, and with the Alta driver coming out in front of the Ferrari duo he is now looking odds on favourite for a points paying position compared to those behind him.

De Graffenried will be relieved and delighted to no longer be following Murray, as the Englishman pits and emerges less than 10 seconds ahead of Taruffi in the Alfa Romeo. And more good news for Alfa Romeo as Fischer leap-frogs James in the pit-stops for good.

At the back Claes becomes the 4th retirement as the G-Forces applied through Klostertal do for the tired Belgian, who has had a weekend to forget here in Germany.

*Lap 12* - The dreaded Klostertal corner is starting to catch out drivers galore, as Marimon is the next man to fall foul of it, failing to stop his car in time to prevent from ploughing into the under-growth. A real pity for the Talbot driver who showed some great pace here since the 1st qualifying session.

That promotes Grignard into 4th, as he easily scythes past Fagioli. Pietsch and Whitehead are certainly taking up closer order to the points paying positions as the race continues.

De Graffenried is still 9th, but will be devastated to emerge behind Murray…looks like the Swiss stayed out too long on a set of tyres that had cried enough several laps before!

Walker is the latest casualty of the Klostertal corner, with a carbon copy of the Marimon accident…and so just 14 drivers remain in the running at this point, with James the 1st to be lapped on pace alone.

*Lap 14* - Cabantous makes his final stop of the race, and comes out over 20 seconds ahead of Stuck and Gerrard; though the latter of these two does have 1 more stop to make still in what should be a brilliant showdown for 2nd position!

Fischer's 2nd stop of the race sees James back ahead in that battle to avoid being the last surviving driver on track, though the smart money is on Fischer coming back at the Englishman to claim that place.

*Lap 16* - De Graffenried is back ahead of Murray with some serious pace at this stage of the race, though it is Cabantous who improves on his own lap record today with a stunning lap-time in the 15th lap of the race.

Fischer's pace takes him past James and with little time left it looks as if these positions will probably stand unless some drivers develop some pace we are yet to see thus far…

*Lap 18* - Gerrard is chasing Stuck down by around 10-15 seconds per lap, meaning the fight for 2nd is likely to go down to the wire! Behind them Whitehead is keeping Pietsch honest for 6th place, but it looks as if neither Ferrari will score points today.

*Lap 20* - WHAT A SHOCK! With just over 1 lap remaining the pole-sitter, lap record holder and erstwhile leader Cabantous crashes out of the race…he ends up 12th by virtue of distance travelled on that penultimate lap.

Fischer and James finish 13th and 14th, with Rosier also lapped and just outside the Top 10…the retirement of the leader moves Ascari into the Top 10 behind Taruffi, Murray and de Graffenried.

Just missing out on the points is Whitehead in a competent debut, behind Pietsch, who picks up the points for 5th today. Fagioli will be delighted to have put the tiny O.S.C.A outfit on the map with a 4th place finish, and Grignard's surprise podium will bring more delight to the Frenchman's growing fan base.

And so the winner…and it looked at the start of the final lap as if Stuck was going to become the 1st ever debut winner of a world championship race but Gerrard loomed in his mirrors around the curves of Pflanzgarten and forced past into Schwalbenschwanz so he can pull out a couple of seconds advantage in the drag race to the line! WHAT A FINISH!!!