1951 Belgian GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Spa-Franchorchamps
* Location – Belgium
* Corners – 13
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 5:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 4:22.100 (Juan Manuel Fangio)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 4:28.700 (Bob Gerrard)
* Pit Lane Length – 40 seconds
* Fuel Consumption – High
* Tyre Wear – High

## Qualifying 1

In a real turn-up for the books last time's winner Farina does not set a time and thus does not qualify for the race…however under new rulings due to there being less than 20 drivers competing in Q1 those who did not compete can now take part in Q2, but can not improve on the times of anyone who was in Q1. So this race, Farina will qualify in 16th at best.

Meanwhile though, James was leading the standings up until the final minutes of the session where Gerrard swooped in to take the Provisional Pole for the moment, the Ferrari's look strong here too and Godia is once again out-performing the car in his debut season. Looks like Q2 could be a very close affair indeed…

**Qualifying 1 Results**

* 1st – Bob Gerrard [AR] – 2:36.292 (1)
* 2nd – John James [EG] – 2:38.260 (2)
* 3rd – Alberto Ascari [F] – 2:39.004 (2)
* 4th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 2:39.510 (2)
* 5th – Paco Godia [EP] – 2:40.551 (3)
* 6th – Piero Taruffi [AR] – 2:40.828 (2)
* 7th – Georges Grignard [A] – 2:41.020 (2)
* 8th – Maurice Trintignant [EG] – 2:41.952 (1)
* 9th – David Murray [T] – 2:42.306 (1)
* 10th – Toulo de Graffenried [EP] – 2:42.923 (1)
* 11th – Onofre Marimon [T] – 2:43.309 (1)
* 12th – Juan Manuel Fangio – 2:43.770 (1)
* 13th – Peter Walker [E] – 2:44.031 (2)
* 14th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [SA] – 2:45.257 (1)
* 15th – Johnny Claes [T] – 3:00.000 (1)
* 16th – Giuseppe Farina – No Time Set
* 17th – Toni Branca [EP] – No Time Set
* 18th – Rudi Fischer [AR] – No Time Set
* 19th – Luigi Fagioli [O] – No Time Set
* 20th – Reg Parnell [EG] – No Time Set
* 21st – Yves-Girard Cabantous [AR] – No Time Set
* 22nd – Prince Bira [SA] – No Time Set
* 23rd – Franco Rol [EG] – No Time Set
* 24th – Louis Rosier [E] – No Time Set
* 25th – Louis Chiron [H] – No Time Set
* 26th – Stirling Moss – No Time Set

## Qualifying 2

Gerrard manages to keep his lead on James, with Pietsch and Taruffi in 3rd and 4th position…de Graffenried finally sets a good lap this season in 5th place ahead of Trintignant and newcomer Godia.

Fischer is best of the rest that did not compete in Quali 1, and as only 19 drivers competed in the qualifying they will all start the race.

**Qualifying 2 Results**

* 1st – Bob Gerrard [AR] – 4:34.196 (2)
* 2nd – John James [EG] – 4:34.273 (2)
* 3rd – Paul Pietsch [F] – 4:34.995 (4)
* 4th – Piero Taruffi [AR] – 4:36.017 (3)
* 5th – Toulo de Graffenried [EP] – 4:36.644 (2)
* 6th – Maurice Trintignant [EG] – 4:37.010 (2)
* 7th – Paco Godia [EP] – 4:37.955 (4)
* 8th – Onofre Marimon [T] – 4:38.050 (2)
* 9th – David Murray [T] – 4:38.501 (1)
* 10th – Georges Grignard [A] – 4:38.732 (2)
* 11th – Peter Walker [E] – 4:39.250 (2)
* 12th – Johnny Claes [T] – 4:40.016 (3)
* 13th – Juan Manuel Fangio – 4:40.165 (1)
* 14th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [SA] – 4:40.627 (1)
* 15th – Rudi Fischer [AR] – 4:36.974 (2)
* 16th – Luigi Fagioli [O] – 4:38.065 (1)
* 17th – Giuseppe Farina – 4:38.219 (2)
* 18th – Louis Rosier [E] – 4:40.360 (1)

## Overall Qualifying Results

An exciting end to the qualifying session sees Fischer record a lap time that would have been good enough for 6th on the grid, but with the Swiss starting in a lowly 15th place it should be an exciting race to witness.

That said, Branca, Parnell and Cabantous will be surprise absences to the grid this race, and with James in the Equipe Gordini in a surprise 2nd position and rain looming this race is anyone's for the taking!!!

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - Off the start James gets past Gerrard, but leads by less than a second after the 1st lap. Up to 3rd place is Trintignant, and even more impressively the man in 4th is Frenchman and perennial back-marker Grignard!

Pietsch stalls off the grid and drops way back to 7th place, though that is still only around 2 seconds off the leader as the Top 10 are separated by just 5 seconds!

The Alfa Romeo pairing of Taruffi and Fischer sit 5th and 6th right now, with Murray of Talbot, Walker of ERA and the BRM of Farina who rounds out the Top 10. Through L'Eau Rouge Fagioli and Ascari's woeful weekend comes to a finish somewhat prematurely as a coming together spells the end for the O.S.C.A and Ferrari drivers.

*Lap 4* - The Top 5 remain unchanged with about 5 seconds between them, with Farina making some incredible progress using the power of the BRM to propel him up to 6th place overall! Pietsch is still 7th, ahead of Fischer and Murray with a quite large gap now opened up back to 10th placed Walker and Fangio.

They are in turn more than 10 seconds ahead of Claes, de Graffenried, Godia, Gonzalez, Rosier and the somewhat disappointing Marimon, who had looked promising in qualifying.

*Lap 8* - James pits after pushing hard in the early laps and emerges in 10th position behind Walker but ahead of both Claes, de Graffenried, Gonzalez, Godia, Rosier and the lacklustre Marimon. An accident at La Source lends speed to Pietsch, who capitalises on this to bypass Farina for the final points paying position as it stands. This accident is Fangio in the BRM getting it all wrong at the entrance and sliding well wide in the monsoon-like conditions that are catching many a driver out!

As a result of James' pit Gerrard leads the race from Trintignant and Grignard, with Taruffi in 4th as it stands…

*Lap 12* - Gerrard continues to lead from Trintignant and Grignard, whilst Taruffi is caught by Pietsch as the German begins to move up the order slowly but surely…though he has around 5 seconds to catch back up to the leading group. Farina has held on rather gamely to this leading set of drivers, and as a result is beginning to put some daylight between him and Fischer back in 7th.

James is in 9th currently and tracking Walker's pace ahead of him, with Claes completing the Top 10 as things stand. Further back it is the end of the road for Murray as he becomes the latest driver to be caught out by La Source's deceptively early braking point.

*Lap 16* - Trintignant refuses to let Gerrard stretch out too much of a gap, though Grignard is now far more focused on the menacing figure of defending champion Pietsch in his mirrors than anything else right now!

Farina is right on the back of Taruffi now in the fight for the final point on offer…but they must be aware that James, who has fuelled very heavily in his pit-stop, is fast approaching them.

Near the back the Holowell corner has oil laid down on it by Rosier's ailing ERA, which claims Fischer's Alfa Romeo before the ERA driver himself falls foul of his own oil spill to slide off the track and end beached next to the Swiss with his race over.

*Lap 20* - All the leaders pit, with Gerrard coming back out into the lead from Trintignant, Pietsch, Grignard (who succumbed to the pressure levied by the defending champion), Taruffi and James. Farina is now dropping back off the pace though in 7th position.

Walker is very much in no-man's land at this stage, with de Graffenried, Gonzalez, Godia and Marimon the remaining runners, with Claes becoming the 7th retirement of the race as he breaks his suspension and under-body going over the Masta Kink.

*Lap 24* - In a real shock Grignard gets right on the back of Pietsch and reclaims his podium position with a brilliant move around the outside at L'Eau Rouge! Meanwhile Taruffi's resistance against the onslaught of James comes to an end with the Englishman back into the points paying positions, albeit some way down after that scrap now.

Godia seems to have a box full of neutrals as he coasts out of the race at Haut de la Cote, meaning now only 11 drivers remain in the running today!

*Lap 28* - The Grignard charge continues! He passes fellow Frenchman Trintignant under braking at La Source and now sits just 3 seconds or so behind Gerrard, with the Englishman haemorrhaging time to his competitors every lap!

Trintignant and Pietsch are now locked in a battle for the final podium place with James gaining ground every time around, setting up a grandstand finish to this race!

*Lap 32* - As the track finally dries out with the rain abating it could not come at a worse time for Grignard, who drops outside the podium positions with a few laps where he struggles to adjust to the new conditions.

Pietsch is now looking a lot more feisty, and Trintignant is now the main target…all of which means that Gerrard seems to have this race sown up! Don't count James in 5th place out of getting to the podium quite yet though, as he is only around 5 seconds or so behind.

The fastest lap is broken by Farina, who uses the clean air and the opportunity to really force the envelope and smash the lap record!

*Lap 36* - A victory for Gerrard today in some style, with a good finishing margin over the chasing pack…on which the action was certainly concentrated in the final laps, as first Grignard, then Trintignant and finally then Pietsch led the duelling group of cars through the twists and turns of the challenging Spa circuit.

Trintignant does make the podium, and James will be delighted to not only sneak into 4th position but to also claim the fastest lap of the race on the very last tour of the circuit; and that is what is responsible for dropping the adventurous Grignard back down to 5th place, and so the Frenchman must settle for just 2 points today.

Taruffi is a respectable 6th place, a long way ahead of Walker, who was likewise a country mile ahead of de Graffenried. Both Gonzalez and Marimon are lapped but finish in the Top 10, whilst Farina is unfortunate to crash out at La Source with only just over 1 lap remaining in the race.