1951 French GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Reims-Gueux
* Location – France
* Corners – 6
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 3:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 2:25.700 (Juan Manuel Fangio)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 2:28.100 (Bob Gerrard)
* Pit Lane Length – 45 seconds
* Fuel Consumption – Medium
* Tyre Wear – High

## Qualifying 1

The Alfa Romeo is certainly the car to beat, with Gerrard and Fischer trading the 1st position between them with a good half a second ahead of Pietsch. Late surges from Cabantous and Ascari see them move up in amongst the earlier shows of Grignard and James.

Again Farina does not take part in Q1, which means the championship leader is unlikely to hold onto his title lead for long…he will have a chance to qualify still, along with anyone who did not take part in Q1, though they will be fighting for positions 19 and 20 on the grid.

**Qualifying 1 Results**

* 1st – Bob Gerrard [AR] – 2:29.235 (6)
* 2nd – Rudi Fischer [AR] – 2:29.368 (7)
* 3rd – Paul Pietsch [F] – 2:29.881 (6)
* 4th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [AR] – 2:30.229 (4)
* 5th – John James [EG] – 2:30.425 (6)
* 6th – Alberto Ascari [F] – 2:31.356 (5)
* 7th – Georges Grignard [A] – 2:31.478 (3)
* 8th – Johnny Claes [T] – 2:31.972 (2)
* 9th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [SA] – 2:31.990 (2)
* 10th – Onofre Marimon [T] – 2:32.177 (5)
* 11th – Peter Walker [E] – 2:32.195 (3)
* 12th – Piero Taruffi [AR] – 2:32.389 (3)
* 13th – Toulo de Graffenried [EP] – 2:32.412 (2)
* 14th – David Murray [T] – 2:33.442 (2)
* 15th – Juan Manuel Fangio – 2:34.162 (2)
* 16th – Louis Rosier [E] – 2:34.427 (2)
* 17th – Maurice Trintignant [EG] – 2:37.965 (2)
* 18th – Toni Branca [EP] – 2:39.632 (1)
* 19th – Giuseppe Farina – No Time Set
* 20th – Luigi Fagioli [O] – No Time Set
* 21st – Reg Parnell [EG] – No Time Set
* 22nd – Prince Bira [SA] – No Time Set
* 23rd – Franco Rol [EG] – No Time Set
* 24th – Stirling Moss – No Time Set

## Qualifying 2

Alfa Romeo dominate the 2nd part of qualifying, with only Pietsch in the Ferrari even close…with only 13 drivers taking part, the drivers who failed to take part in Q2 but were involved in Q1 will also qualifying for the race today.

**Qualifying 2 Results**

* 1st – Bob Gerrard [AR] – 2:29.100 (3)
* 2nd – Rudi Fischer [AR] – 2:29.180 (3)
* 3rd – Piero Taruffi [AR] – 2:29.338 (7)
* 4th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 2:29.520 (7)
* 5th – Georges Grignard [A] – 2:30.002 (7)
* 6th – Alberto Ascari [F] – 2:30.092 (3)
* 7th – John James [EG] – 2:30.268 (2)
* 8th – Onofre Marimon [T] – 2:30.285 (6)
* 9th – Toulo de Graffenried [EP] – 2:30.372 (4)
* 10th – Johnny Claes [T] – 2:31.061 (1)
* 11th – David Murray [T] – 2:31.289 (2)
* 12th – Peter Walker [E] – 2:31.465 (1)
* 13th – Maurice Trintignant [EG] – 2:31.885 (1)
* 14th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [AR] – No Time Set (0)
* 15th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [SA] – No Time Set (0)
* 16th – Juan Manuel Fangio – No Time Set (0)
* 17th – Louis Rosier [E] – No Time Set (0)
* 18th – Toni Branca [EP] – No Time Set (0)

## Overall Qualifying Results

The Alfa Romeo's will be tough to contend with at this stage of the season, with a 1-2-3 lockout of the front row. Ferrari look next best, with only the skill of Grignard putting his under-powered Alta in contention for points today…

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - Off the start Gerrard is passed by Fischer with the 3rd Alfa Romeo of Taruffi still in close attendance. Grignard is up to 4th by virtue of Pietsch stalling and dropping way down the field, and going in the opposite direction Fangio gets an incredible start and moves up to 5th position overall!

James, Ascari, Murray, the quick starting Rosier and Cabantous round out the Top 10. There is one crash at the start, which is Gonzalez, who misses the corner at Muizon and ploughs deep into the wall.

*Lap 7* - Taruffi is pushing to the limit with some storming lap times as he forces his way past 2 fellow Alfa's and starts to draw out a lead…more surprisingly it is Grignard who is his main challenger at this point, as the Frenchman revels in competing on the streets he practised on as a younger man.

Gerrard and Fischer are now 3rd and 4th, ahead of the still competitive Fangio who has opened up a handy gap back to 6th placed man Murray, 7th placed Cabantous who is making his way through the field effortlessly at this point and 8th placed Ascari.

Defending champion Pietsch is back up to 11th, and will soon reach former title contender de Graffenried on track if he keeps up this pace and can pass the Equipe Gordini of John James first!

*Lap 14* - TARUFFI IS OUT! The leading Alfa Romeo driver just overcooks it at the entry to Bretelle Nord and cannot keep the engine running!!! And just a couple of laps later Fangio makes a similar error at Virage de Gueux which eliminates him also.

As a result Gerrard reclaims the lead he had at the start by passing Grignard, who delighted the crowd by leading the race for a couple of laps at least! Fischer sits 3rd with Murray up to 4th now, and Cabantous sitting in the final points paying position as it stands, but Ascari is still within touching distance at the moment…

Pietsch is now in 8th place and bearing down on de Graffenried, but the Swiss will not be easily caught by his old adversary!

*Lap 21* - Gerrard is now moving way ahead of the pack, with fastest lap after fastest lap! Fischer is now into 2nd place, having forced his way past home favourite Grignard at Garenne, with Murray and Cabantous still occupying the points positions.

Ascari is dropping back in 6th, with Pietsch now up to 7th place ahead of James and de Graffenried. Rosier's race comes to an unfortunate end at Virage de Gueux in a cloud of smoke meaning that now just 14 drivers remain in the race.

*Lap 28* - Fischer leads the race from Gerrard by virtue of the fact that the Swiss is yet to pit, James is up to 3rd place now ahead of Pietsch and Grignard for the same reason…although he did pass the German on the track.

Murray, Cabantous and Ascari all sit just outside the points and will be hoping to catch those yet to pit when they come in…

*Lap 35* - As Fischer pits it is Gerrard who moves into the lead, and Grignard is also up to 3rd as James goes in to refuel. And that puts Pietsch up to 4th position now, with Murray in 5th place having stopped once and Cabantous also in close attendance for that final point on offer.

*Lap 42* - The 1 stoppers pile in to the pits, with Pietsch leading the way and coming out in 7th place, behind Cabantous, Murray and Ascari. Walker is the next best 1 stopper, but is a fair way down the field in 10th position as everyone has now stopped once.

*Lap 49* - Fischer is now starting to put a little pressure on Gerrard as he sets the fastest lap of the race so far, but it seems likely to be too little too late for the Swiss. Grignard is yet to give up on 2nd place, but he is looking good for a podium position at very least if his 2nd stop goes without a hitch.

Cabantous is showing some good pace in 4th, with Ascari overtaking Murray to claim 5th position. And in an upsetting moment for Pietsch, de Graffenried overtakes him around the outside at Virage de Gueux…however this is likely to mean very little as the Enrico Plate driver must pit once more.

Worse news for Enrico Plate as Branca's disappointing day comes to an end with a crash at Thillois to leave just 13 drivers still racing.

*Lap 56* - As the final stops take place Gerrard loses significant ground to the fast-moving Fischer, but there is still a substantial gap there. Grignard still looks solid in 3rd position, with Cabantous ever stronger in 4th and 5th placed man Murray starting to come under increased pressure from Pietsch.

Ascari ends his race in the gravel at Thillois, with Marimon doing likewise at Virage de Gueux, and that means that de Graffenried is now into 7th position with Walker 8th, Claes 9th and James the penultimate runner left in the race rounds out the Top 10.

*Lap 63* - The race has begun to settle down now, with Pietsch's worn out tyres causing him to lose ground on those in front of him. Really now it should be a formality for those in the points positions to remain there…

*Lap 70* - Delight amongst the home fans, as Fischer makes a mistake at the Garenne corner which hands the Frenchman the initiative! Grignard now has a 4 second advantage to hold over the next 7 laps…Pietsch and the other 1 stoppers are all struggling from the fuel penalty around here at the moment, and the tyres that have been wearing out for a fair amount of time now.

*Lap 77* - After the demise of Gonzalez, the pacey Taruffi and Fangio, Rosier, Branca, Marimon and Ascari only 11 drivers finish the race. Of these Trintignant finishes WAY off the lead a full 3 laps down, with most of those choosing the slower 1 stop option on a track with a very big fuel penalty and quite poor tyre wear finishing in 8th through 10th. Claes and Walker enjoyed a race long scrap, but James will be disappointed to finish so far off the pace.

De Graffenried has the double disappointment of being the slowest 2 stopper and losing out to Pietsch, who is also just outside the points in 6th with the ignominy of being lapped right at the end of the race.

Murray will be delighted to get the Talbot into the points, with Cabantous the 3rd of 3 Alfa Romeo's to make it into the points paying positions today. However the shock of the day has to be Fischer of Alfa Romeo losing out to Grignard of Alta who takes his home podium to the delight of his fans.

But the race, the pole and on the last lap the Hat-Trick is secured by Gerrard with a fastest lap that is a good second quicker than Fischer in an incredibly dominant display.