1952 British GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Silverstone
* Location – UK
* Corners – 8
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 2:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 1:44.000 (Giuseppe Farina)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 1:38.790 (Yves-Girard Cabantous)
* Pit Lane Length – 30 seconds
* Fuel Consumption – Low
* Tyre Wear – Medium

## Qualifying 1

The Gordini's close out 4 of the top 5 positions in the session…with Klenk the only non-Gordini runner to separate them with a 3rd position for Maserati. Whilst next up were the Ferrari's they are surely close enough to be a threat in the 2nd qualifying session.

After a good performance last time around Brown fails to qualify this time out - presuming less than 3 drivers fail to set a time in Q2 that is.

**Qualifying 1 Results**

* 1st – Elie Bayol [G] – 2:20.200 (6)
* 2nd – Rudi Fischer [G] – 2:20.600 (3)
* 3rd – Hans Klenk [M] – 2:22.198 (2)
* 4th – Toulo de Graffenried [G] – 2:22.440 (2)
* 5th – Jean Behra [G] – 2:24.360 (2)
* 6th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [F] – 2:24.860 (2)
* 7th – Bob Gerrard [F] – 2:25.000 (4)
* 8th – Piero Taruffi [FN] – 2:25.008 (6)
* 9th – Dennis Poore [CP] – 2:25.677 (3)
* 10th – Peter Collins [M] – 2:26.278 (3)
* 11th – Hans Stuck [M] – 2:26.799 (3)
* 12th – David Murray [H] – 2:26.841 (4)
* 13th – Peter Whitehead [F] – 2:27.900 (5)
* 14th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 2:28.050 (4)
* 15th – Paul Pietsch – 2:28.700 (3)
* 16th – Rudolf Krause [AF] – 2:30.210 (4)
* 17th – Josef Peters [V] – 2:30.939 (1)
* 18th – Alberto Ascari [CP] – 2:31.520 (3)
* 19th – Franco Rol [M] – 2:32.820 (3)
* 20th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [A] – 2:33.044 (2)
* 21st – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 2:34.120 (3)
* 22nd – Chico Landi – 2:34.500 (2)
* 23rd – Mike Hawthorn [CN] – 2:55.150 (1)
* 24th – Alan Brown [H] – 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

What a brilliant end to the session!!! Whitehead moves into provisional pole position, before Bayol takes it back for Gordini and on the last lap of the session Pietsch nicks in to claim a brilliant Pole for Ferrari…and leaving the front 2 rows of the grid as Ferrari-Gordini-Ferrari-Gordini, which should create a very exciting race tomorrow.

Klenk sits 5th for Maserati and a sterling effort from Claes sees him place his Connaught in a remarkable 6th place. Taruffi is 7th ahead of the Gordini pair of de Graffenried and Behra with Gerrard 10th for Ferrari.

**Qualifying 2 Results**

* 1st – Paul Pietsch [F] – 1:45.139 (7)
* 2nd – Elie Bayol [G] – 1:45.160 (4)
* 3rd – Peter Whitehead [F] – 1:45.958 (5)
* 4th – Rudi Fischer [G] – 1:51.520 (12)
* 5th – Hans Klenk [M] – 1:51.600 (3)
* 6th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 1:51.870 (7)
* 7th – Piero Taruffi [FN] – 1:52.066 (4)
* 8th – Toulo de Graffenried [G] – 1:52.220 (4)
* 9th – Jean Behra [G] – 1:52.420 (3)
* 10th – Bob Gerrard [F] – 1:52.688 (1)
* 11th – Josef Peters [V] – 1:52.880 (2)
* 12th – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 1:52.959 (3)
* 13th – Franco Rol [M] – 1:54.275 (1)
* 14th – Chico Landi – 1:55.135 (4)
* 15th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [F] – 1:55.160 (5)
* 16th – Rudolf Krause [AF] – 1:55.364 (3)
* 17th – Hans Stuck [M] – 1:56.280 (3)
* 18th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [A] – 1:57.410 (3)
* 19th – Peter Collins [M] – 1:57.960 (4)
* 20th – Dennis Poore [CP] – 2:00.360 (3)
* 21st – Alberto Ascari [CP] – 2:02.620 (3)
* 22nd – David Murray [H] – 2:03.280 (1)
* 23rd – Mike Hawthorn [CN] – 2:06.710 (3)

## Overall Qualifying Results

Pietsch is back on the pace here, with his 1st pole position in quite some time. His team-mate Whitehead is 3rd, but more surprisingly the former top Ferrari man and defending champion Gerrard languishes down in 10th position behind the unlikely figures of Klenk, Claes, Taruffi and Behra in 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th respecitvely.

Peters does well to qualify 11th for Veritas, with the championship leading Maserati's of Rol and Farina both outside the Top 10. Landi will make a rare race start for BMW, as will Gonzalez for Alta, whilst Collins will simply be hoping to finish for Maserati!

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - Bayol gets a great start, passing Pietsch off the line and demoting the German back into 2nd position. Whitehead has a quite poor start, with Fischer overtaking him and the fast-starting de Graffenried getting the better of him too. Later in the lap the equally quick-off-the-line BMW of Landi gets the better of him under braking into Club to take 5th position.

Rol, Stuck, Cabantous and Klenk round out the top 10, as the latter fails to maintain the position he gained in qualifying while an even worse start for Claes sees him stall on the grid to drop down to a net 16th position. Reigning champion Gerrard sits 12 place overall as it stands in what has been a tough race for the Ferrari thus far.

*Lap 5* - Pietsch takes back the lead from Bayol, as the Frenchman makes an error that lets de Graffenried through into 2nd position too! Whitehead is up to 4th place as he gets past Fischer and Landi, with the Swiss in 5th and Gerrard in the Ferrari taking the BMW driver to demote him to 7th position.

And things get even better for de Graffenried as he goes around the outside of his old adversary Pietsch at Stowe. Gerrard has another phenomenal lap, as he overtakes Fischer and Whitehead to move into 3rd place. Fischer loses positions to Rol also, but the big loser on this lap is the erstwhile leader Bayol who drops from 3rd down to 6th place ahead of his Swiss team-mate and the fast starting Landi.

And in an action-packed first few laps Pietsch re-takes the lead from de Graffenried, whilst Gerrard's roll is finally ended by Whitehead who reclaims 3rd place. Back in the nether regions of the top 10 Stuck takes Landi for 8th with Farina moving into the top 10 with a pass on Collins…expect Taruffi to be involved in that particular battle very soon though.

De Graffenried finally slips up, as he lets Whitehead and Gerrard through into 2nd and 3rd position to close out a Ferrari 1-2-3 at this point. Bayol and Fischer lose positions during this lap to current championship leader Franco Rol of Maserati, who is now in the points paying positions. And 2nd place in the title race overall Farina passes Stuck for 8th here too.

*Lap 10* - Gerrard takes Whitehead up the inside at Becketts, and Peters takes Taruffi for 12th in a carbon copy of that move later in the lap. However Gerrard's 2nd place is short-lived, with Whitehead quickly back up to 2nd position ahead of de Graffenried.

And down the straight between Chapel and Stowe there is a fracas further back with Fischer making a move on Rol that pushes them both to the edge of the track before neither is willing to let the other brake later and so both slip wide. Bayol takes advantage to overtake both of them, with Fischer coming out ahead of Rol too.

Taruffi retakes 12th from Peters on lap 8, and goes on to pass Landi on the very next lap. But attention switches to the front of the race as Pietsch makes an error going into Abbey by putting a wheel of the grass…he keeps his car on track, but loses positions to both Whitehead and the ever-persistent de Graffenried in the process.

*Lap 15* - Gerrard re-takes Pietsch as these Ferrari's battle over the podium positions, and continue to lose time to those chasing as a result. And on lap 12 Pietsch manages to re-pass the 1951 Champion in a brillliant battle that the crowd are really enjoying.

However de Graffenried may have had his eyes on his mirrors too much, as he misjudges his braking into Woodcote to let both the battling Ferrari's through. Fischer passes Bayol on this lap too, whilst Peters puts moves on both Landi and Taruffi to move into 11th place.

Gerrard is once more ahead of Pietsch and now into 2nd, with Bayol back past Fischer for 5th place. And Taruffi regains 11th from Peters here too.

And yet again it is for less than a lap that Gerrard can enjoy being ahead of his team-mate, as Pietsch is now back into 2nd position with a good slipstream up to Club corner. Collins loses his top 10 place this lap, as both Taruffi and Peters march past as their private battle continues.

And on lap 20 Pietsch goes one better to oust Whitehead from the lead…pushing as hard as he is now. Gerrard tries to follow him through but in locking his brakes he skids and really loses control…he lets through de Graffenried into 3rd, Bayol into 4th and Fischer into 5th!

*Lap 20* - Taruffi can only hold on to 10th for a couple of laps before Peters swoops in and passes him at Woodcote corner on lap 16, but it is lap 17 which sees most of the action on track. Collins also passes Taruffi to take 11th; Farina gets the better of Rol as 2nd in the title race overhauls 1st here…albeit only for 7th place on track.

Up front de Graffenried passes Whitehead, and the British home favourite is unlucky to slide wide and lose places to Bayol and Gerrard in the process…the latter of whom had just put a move on Fischer too!

The very next lap sees Rol retake Farina for 7th, whilst Whitehead re-passes Gerrard in the battle of the Brits and Bayol continues his phenomenal progress over the last couple of laps to sell his team-mate de Graffenried a dummy and get by into Stowe corner.

On lap 19 Collins passes Peters for what is now 10th position and Fischer takes 4th from Whitehead too…lap 20 sees the 1st pitstop in the shape of Stuck for Maserati who drops from 9th down to 14th place just ahead of his team-mate Klenk.

Also in this lap de Graffenried passes Bayol for 2nd and Peters passes Collins to move into 9th position too.

*Lap 25* - Bayol pits from 3rd on this lap and drops down to 8th position, whilst Taruffi also stops for fuel and tyres and comes out 13th just ahead of Stuck, meaning it has worked for the Italian to pit slightly later…though his mechanics were much quicker than those of his German adversary.

Lap 22 sees Fischer dive into the pit lane, emerging in 10th position behind Collins and ahead of Landi, and just a little way back there is a battle for 12th between Cabantous, Taruffi and Stuck developing nicely.

The very next lap sees Bayol begin his comeback through the field, as he advances past both Farina and Rol with a calm move up the inside at Club of the former and an equally relaxed-looking pass at Woodcote on the latter, as he uses his new tyres to good effect. And in the 12th place battle we see Taruffi make a move stick on Cabantous about half way down the Hangar Straight, but that just serves to provide a double slipstream for Stuck, who takes them both up the inside at Stowe!

Fischer is on the war-path on lap 24 as he glides past Farina in his chasing of Bayol, who is rapidly decreasing the gap to the Ferrari's and de Graffenried up front; and speaking of rapid, Stuck claims yet another victim with a pass on Landi that the BMW driver almost certainly did not see coming! Finally Cabantous also pits this lap to let through both Krause and Klenk.

Up front Pietsch has a slight gap over de Graffenried and Gerrard, who has just passed Whitehead for 3rd position. In the all-Maserati battle for supremacy Farina gets a tow on Rol into Copse, which sees the former claim the position. Taruffi also takes Landi on this lap, which sees Fischer set a new fastest lap too.

*Lap 30* - Fischer takes Bayol as the recovering Gordini's begin to squabble amongst themselves - which will surely be a relief for the Ferrari's up front that were starting to glance over their shoulders. However Bayol seems to wake up at this point, and into Copse he re-takes his 5th place…further back Cabantous passes Krause for 15th after his pit-stop had dropped him back down the field.

The leader is in!!! Pietsch pits from the lead and comes out in 6th place - crucially behind the battling duo of Fischer and Bayol, which the Swiss has once again gained the upper hand in. But will their in-fighting lose them the opportunity to make a clean break from the Ferrari pack? Peters pits on this lap too and emerges in 13th behind Landi of BMW.

On lap 29 all the top 3 come into the pits, which sees de Graffenried have quite a slow stop…Gerrard comes out ahead of him and so does Whitehead, though quickest in the pits was definitely the British driver there as all three emerge within about 3 seconds of each other. However they are in 6th, 7th and 8th respectively as their worn tyres at the end of the stint cost them dearly. And that puts Fischer back into the lead, from Bayol, Pietsch, Farina and Rol! Poore also pits on this lap, but is really too far back now to be of much consequence this race, one would expect.

Rol loses out on lap 30, as his severely scrubbed tyres are no match for the charging group of Gerrard, Whitehead and de Graffenried. Indeed Whitehead and Gerrard even manage to pass Farina later in the lap; leaving de Graffenried between the two Maserati's at this point. Further back Cabantous takes Klenk for 14th also. On this lap Whitehead becomes the 1st man to break the 1:40 barrier too, as he claims the fastest lap of the race.

*Lap 35* - Gerrard just gets a car length ahead of Whitehead at Abbey to move into 4th position, whilst as expected de Graffenried finally passes Farina to claim 6th position. Stuck completes his catch of Collins to move into 9th, and Peters aptly demonstrates the value of new tyres with a pass on Landi that looked ridiculously easy!

A couple of laps later Taruffi also passes the ailing BMW driver, but the crowds' attention is firmly fixated on the chase at the front that sees Pietsch gaining some serious ground on both the top 2.

Something unexpected happens on lap 34 as Stuck of Maserati passes his championship leading team-mate for 8th place! Great stuff from the plucky German under-dog here!!!

Lap 35 sees a lot of action, with Whitehead passing Gerrard for 4th, while Stuck also does a number on his other team-mate Farina to claim 7th now! Taruffi follows the German's example with a pass on Rol…and 2 drivers pit this lap; Collins from 11th and Klenk from 15th who come out in 14th and 16th respectively.

*Lap 40* - The latest man to pass the struggling Maserati of Rol is Peters in the Veritas (!), whilst in the battle for 13th Collins really enjoys his new tyres as he easily outstrips the Ferrari of Cabantous for raw pace.

Pietsch has been gradually whittling the gap to Bayol down, who gets caught in traffic and lets the 1950 Champion through on the run into Becketts. Taruffi passes Farina for 8th; the latter must be crying out for a new set of tyres by now! And Collins underlines his pace with a pass on Landi for 12th position.

Not too much action on lap 39 as Krause pits to return Klenk's 15th position. On lap 40 the crowd gets to see a little overtaking; with Taruffi getting through on Peters at Copse for 8th and Cabantous taking Landi at Club for 13th position.

*Lap 45* - Whitehead passes Bayol for 3rd place, whilst Taruffi loses out on 8th place to Peters at the fast Maggotts-Becketts sequence of corners. Landi pits on this lap, to the relief of the BMW supporters, who could see his worn tyres visibly falling apart!

On lap 42 Bayol pits for the 2nd time, ceding positions to Gerrard and de Graffenried in the process. Rol also pits for the 1st time with just over half the race gone, dropping down to 12th as a result…

Taruffi, Farina and Claes all dive into the pits on lap 43, with Taruffi out in 9th where he was previously and Farina losing only 1 place to Collins as a result of his stop. Claes drops behind Poore to become the last runner left, albeit just 8 seconds behind the Cooper driver.

Fischer pits on lap 44, which drops him from the lead down into 6th BEHIND Bayol, who has managed to pull off an impressive undercut, thanks mostly to a brilliant pitstop and a couple extra laps on newer tyres.

Pietsch leads the race, but only for less than a lap as Whitehead swoops in to pass his Ferrari team-mate, and it goes from bad to worse for the former race leader and pole-sitter who cannot get back on the racing line in time to prevent Gerrard from coming through as well. In another inter-team battle de Graffenried loses out to Bayol and Fischer for 4th, and the latter maintains his momentum to emerge from the corner ahead of Bayol too!

Stuck pits on this lap and drops back to 10th place, whilst in the battle to avoid the wooden spoon Claes quickly gets the better of Poore.

*Lap 50* - Gerrard takes Whitehead for the lead, as the two Brits battle it out to the delight of the home fans! However their joy is short-lived, as neither is watching their wing mirrors to block Pietsch, who sails up the inside of both to take the lead of the race going into lap 47…

…on which Gerrard re-takes Pietsch; there is certainly no love lost between these two former champions! Lap 48 is where it all kicks off though, as Pietsch puts a move on Gerrard into Club…but it is Whitehead who capitalises to move into the lead of the race past both of them! This is a slipstreaming master-class from the Ferrari squadron!!! It almost seems inconsequential what is going on behind them, but Bayol passes Fischer for 4th as the Gordini's continue to gain ground. Stuck passes Collins for 9th and Landi passes Cabantous for 13th also.

Lap 49 sees Gerrard pass Pietsch, as Whitehead begins to move away at a rate of knots! And Collins race gets worse, as he drops outside the top 10 with Farina moving up at his expense.

*Lap 55* - In another brilliant moment of slipstreaming genius, Gerrard gets up the inside of Whitehead who gives away far too much under braking and loses out to Piestch…and the German makes both Englishmen pay by screaming up the inside at Club to re-take the lead. However they must be careful as the Gordini pair of Bayol and Fischer are now just over 1 second behind! Cabantous pits on this lap to put Klenk back into 14th overall.

And on lap 53 a complete reverse takes place on the run up to Club, with Whitehead completing the double pass and Gerrard gaining a position Pietsch too…however in the run down to Abbey the Gordini's also become involved, with an uncompromised exit both Bayol and Fischer easily outstrip the duo of Gerrard and Pietsch!

Lap 54 sees Fischer finally pass Bayol for what is now 2nd position, and behind them - clearly perturbed by being passed by 2 cars in 1 lap AGAIN - Paul Pietsch makes a move stick on Gerrard that elevates him into 4th place. Also on this lap Rol passes Collins for 11th and Cabantous passes Klenk for 14th, as he gets the best out of his brand new set of tyres.

Bayol reigns supreme on lap 55, with a pass on Fischer into Stowe and a good slipstream into Woodcote on Whitehead that gives him the lead of the race.

*Lap 60* - Fischer passes Whitehead to make it a Gordini 1-2, though it looks like the pit-stop phase for many drivers is beginning now…Pietsch is first of the front runners to come in for a new set of tyres. He is down to 6th behind de Graffenried, who has been somewhat off the pace since the last set of stops.

On the next lap both Whitehead and Gerrard pit, dropping them to 5th and 6th respectively, meaning Pietsch has one again come out on top after the pitstops. Peters also stops here to change his incredibly worn tyres over, and drops down from 7th to 12th as a result in this incredibly tightly packed midfield.

De Graffenried comes in on lap 58 and drops back out of the points as a consequence, whilst Stuck passes Taruffi for what is now 7th place (or best of the rest, some might say) and Poore pits at the back of the field to increase the gap between him and Claes by quite a way!

Collins come into the pits on lap 60, dropping behind Peters and Landi as a result…but there is a real surprise on track this lap, as the normally so grounded Taruffi of Frazer Nash gets it all wrong out of Stowe…he wrestles the car down the straight towards Club corner, with what looks like oil spilling out everywhere on the track! He ends up nudging gently into the hay bales at the outside of the corner, with his race over…but what implication could that have for the remainder of the race now?!?

*Lap 65* - Gerrard gets the better of Whitehead into Becketts, and then the race settles down a little…for a couple of laps leading up to Bayol's pit-stop very little happens. The Frenchman has an uneventful stop and should be able to get to the end of the race now, as he rejoins in 5th position ahead of de Graffenried.

On lap 64 everything seems to happen at once though, as firstly Gerrard inches past Pietsch with the two neck and neck over the start/finish line…however it is the Englishman who holds his inside line into Copse, much to the delight of the home fans. Collins also passes Landi into Abbey…before things get very exciting indeed!

Maserati have been having a tough race, and championship contenders Farina and Rol have been languishing outside of the points all day…but as the championship leader Rol comes up to pass his team-mate he seems to forget about the oil left from Taruffi's earlier incident on the way into Club, he skids and clouts the back of Farina, who is out on the spot! Rol manages to keep the engine running and gets to Woodcote but retires just to the side of the pit-lane entry. DISASTER for Maserati!!!

And all of that makes Whitehead's pass on Pietsch on lap 65 and Bayol's fastest lap something of an anti-climax! Just 20 laps now remain in the race…and that Club corner looks a real mess right now…

*Lap 70* - Fischer pits from the lead of the race, dropping behind the other 4 contenders for the race victory as a result. Also on this lap, we see another Ferrari slipstreaming contest, as Gerrard bounds into the lead, followed by Whitehead and then Pietsch with hardly anything to separate these 3 and Bayol setting yet another fastest lap now just a second or two behind!

Lap 67 sees a titanic contest, with Gerrard getting a poor exit from Becketts, which sees Pietsch come right up behind him…the German gets the slipstream, but has to lift slightly, decreasing his impetus and though he pulls alongside Gerrard he soon has more to deal with as Bayol has taken Whitehead with ease and now manages to do the same to both Gerrard and Pietsch!!! 3 cars in one straight for Bayol, who is now looking very good indeed for the race victory!

Gerrard passes Pietsch for 2nd position on lap 68, but the focus is certainly on Club corner as the latest person to misjudge where the oil is, is the luckless Collins, who simply can not seem to finish a race these days! Landi also almost slides wide, but manages to control the spin and pits to change tyres instead.

Up front Bayol is now streaking away from the Ferrari trio, who are now coming under pressure from Fischer's lap times. Stuck pits for the 3rd and final time here too, but comes out of the pits with a very rough sounding engine.

*Lap 75* - And Stuck's engine lets go in spectacular fashion!!! And guess where?!? You guessed it…Club corner is where the top Maserati driver this race parks up cursing his luck.

On lap 73 Fischer finally catches up with the Ferrari's, and takes Whitehead without any difficulty…seemingly spurred on by this Gerrard takes Pietsch at the very next corner to leave the German as the next man to face the charging Swiss.

But it looks like Whitehead is not ready to give up just yet, and unbelievably manages to squeeze up the inside of Fischer going into Stowe! Pietsch has cottoned on to what is happening behind and has a run at Gerrard, which sees him reclaim his 2nd position. However he nudges the Englishman's car in the process, which gifts Fischer 4th position.

However Whitehead's resistance comes to an end on lap 75 as Fischer uses his superior grip to keep at top speed through the Maggotts-Becketts complex.

*Lap 80* - Finally Fischer breezes past Pietsch to make it a Gordini 1-2…Gerrard passes Whitehead for 4th as the Ferrari's continue to squabble over the minor points placings. Further back Krause gets it all wrong into Club, as he skids on some of the myriad debris that has been laid on track and is eliminated from proceedings.

The big question up front is which Gordini will win, as Fischer is shaving chunks of time off Bayol each lap! The crowd groan as on lap 77 the much-liked BMW of Landi gets a wheel on the grass on the approach to Club (almost certainly attempting to avoid the slick tarmac on the entrance) and is pitched out of the race and into the hay bales to leave just 11 runners remaining.

On this lap Pietsch makes a mistake at Club corner, but the seasoned pro gathers it up and continues - albeit now down to 5th place.

And on lap 80 the gap is 9 seconds between Bayol and Fischer, whilst further back there is less good news for the 3rd Gordini of de Graffenried, who has a big off at Club corner to join the assorted selection of cars beached at this turn. That means that 10 drivers remain, though some are so far behind they may not manage to do as much distance as the Swiss.

*Lap 85* - Fischer takes over a second out of Bayol in lap 81, with the Frenchman now having picked up pace to counter the threat from his team-mate. But Fischer is in another class as he takes more than 4 seconds out of his team-mate on lap 82!

The Swiss takes a further couple of seconds out of Bayol in the next 2 laps and is now within sight of his adversary…but it wont quite be enough, as the Frenchman holds on to the win by less than 2 seconds! Brilliant end to an incredible race here…

The Ferrari's round out the point scorers, with Gerrard clinching a podium from Whitehead and Pietsch. Peters is best of the rest in 6th with a strong showing from the Veritas driver here, ahead of the somewhat lacklustre Ferrari of Cabantous in 7th and Klenk in 8th for Maserati.

De Graffenried is classified 9th despite not finish the race, but has done enough laps to class as a finish. Claes rounds out the top 10 and the final finisher in 11th is Poore a full 7 laps off the pace.