1958 German GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Nurburgring Nordschleife
* Location – Germany
* Corners – 24
* Laps – 15
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 11:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 9:09.200 (Stirling Moss)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 9:07.569 (Bob Gerard – J Ibbotson)
* Pit Lane Length – 40 seconds\*
* Fuel Consumption – Very High
* Tyre Wear – Extremely High

Note that this season pit-stops will last longer than in previous seasons; this number represents the time it takes to travel down the pit-lane NOT including the time you will spend stationary.

## Qualifying

Gerard makes it Pole Position at the German GP for the 3rd season in a row! Meanwhile behind him the two Germans are well represented, with von Trips in 2nd for Ferrari and Herrmann in 6th for Cooper, with Brabham's Ferrari, Trintignant's Porsche (incredibly!) and Bonnier's Maserati in between the German drivers.

Ferrari are somewhat under-represented within the leading group, with Salvadori only managing 7th and Gould only achieving 11th on the grid. Between them are Behra's Cooper, Piotti's Maserati and Collins' Vanwall - while Fairman, Gendebien, Flockhart, Musso, Schell, Gibson, Hill, de Beaufort and Moss that round out the Top 20.

OSCA meanwhile have a tough qualifying session, with Chiron 21st after sustaining some heavy damage, Hathworn 22nd after failing to get all his laps in (and Fangio yet again failing to qualify for the Italian marque) - and Connaught also struggle (aside from Moss in 20th), with Marsh 23rd after a crash and Emery some way behind the times in 25th overall, while Godia makes it onto the grid for Cooper in 24th overall.

That also leaves us without Brooks in the Vanwall, who misses his 2nd race in a row, while Lotus actually completely miss the qualifying session entirely - the 1st time a manufacturer has done that since the 1956 Italian GP where the Bugatti outfit raced (or rather, failed to race) in their last F1R race.

## Grid

Gerard breaks his own lap record to put himself on Pole Position, though no one manufacturer looks to have a distinct advantage here - with the likes of Ferrari, Maserati and even Porsche, Cooper and Vanwall all in the mix for the points paying positions!

That said, after last race's unpredictability who knows where the winner will be coming from - indeed last time it was the man 17th on the grid who achieved the race victory…though the man in 17th again is Dick Gibson in the BRM!!! Surely he can't make it two in a row…!?!

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* – Gerard and von Trips both get off the start line with ease…but the Ferrari gets slightly better traction, though it is the Maserati that has the inside line into Südkehre and keeps the place. But that doesn’t deter the German who, in front of his home fans, keeps his foot planted around the outside…which becomes the inside at Hatzenbach! That means von Trips leads at the end of the lap…

Behind them the man making moves is Salvadori, who makes short work of passing Herrmann, Bonnier, Trintignant, team-mate Brabham (who moves aside for him) and then – in a brilliant move up the inside of Schwalbenschwanz – Gerard himself, as the Brit claims 2nd place already! That means Gerard is now 3rd, with Brabham 4th and the enterprising Herrmann in 5th place, as the Cooper gets into Salvadori’s wheel-tracks to move past both Trintignant and Bonnier!

He is not the only man making progress, as Gould is yet another Ferrari to get a great start, as he passes everyone up to Herrmann in the Cooper to claim 6th after the opening lap…behind him are Trintignant in 7th, Bonnier in 8th and then Piotti in 9th, who retains his starting grid slot by getting a better start than Behra, who now sits 10th for Cooper.

Flockhart is another Cooper having a strong start to the race, as he moves up to 11th thanks to moves on Gendebien, Fairman and Collins. Following him through is Musso in the BRM, who takes 12th with his team-mate Gibson up to 13th and then Gendebien’s Porsche in 14th and Hill’s BRM in 15th overall.

Meanwhile Godia gets a good start for Cooper but finds himself stuck behind the slow starting de Beaufort…and as he jinks out to pass, he fails to see that Schell has stalled on the grid! The collision has enough force that parts of the Cooper’s suspension go hurtling across the track and take down the Vanwall of de Beaufort before he can reach the 1st corner either!!!

Collins has dropped down to 16th after a slow start with Fairman 17th, Moss up to 18th, Hawthorn 19th after Chiron moves out to let him through – meaning there are two OSCA’s in the Top 20 as it stands – with Marsh 21st and Emery 22nd overall.

*Lap 2* – Ferrari look incredibly strong here, as von Trips sets the Fastest Lap of the race with a 9:10.1, while Brabham roars past Gerard to make it a Ferrari 1-2-3 on the run down to Hohenrain! Gould meanwhile pulls out at Bergwerk to pass Herrmann, but the home favourite is easily able to block the attempt.

Meanwhile Piotti uses Bonnier to slipstream behind and pass Trintignant for 7th, while both Behra and Flockhart take advantage of the Maserati’s selfless act – as they demote the Swede to 11th overall! Flockhart meanwhile rises up to 8th after strong block passes on Trintignant (now 9th) and team-mate Behra (who doesn’t put up much of a fight!).

Hill uses his superior pace to pass Gendebien for 14th overall (and to pass team-mate Gibson for 13th without any fuss), but this is still a decent showing for Porsche, who are competing at a much higher level at their home race than they were earlier in the season…

*Lap 3* – Salvadori sets the new Fastest Lap of the race, as he narrows the gap at the front to just 0.2 seconds. Meanwhile Gerard gets his own back on Brabham, as he manages to get a slipstream down to Aremberg, where he gets his nose ahead and reclaims 3rd place! It’s not all bad news for Ferrari though, as Gould displaces Herrmann from 5th thanks to a better run through Mutkurve…which is roundly booed by the home support.

*Lap 4* – Von Trips reclaims the fastest lap (a 9:09.6) to take his lead over Salvadori out to 0.3 seconds, while Brabham refuses to be outdone by Gerard and manages to surprise the Maserati at Pflanzgarten to take back the podium position and restore the Ferrari 1-2-3 at the front!

Meanwhile we have the first stops of the race, as Flockhart shows the reason for his early pace and comes in with Hawthorn into the pits as well. Trintignant is therefore up to 8th, Behra 9th, Bonnier 10th, Hill 11th as Musso moves over and lets his team-mate through, Gibson 13th, Gendebien 14th, Collins 15th, Fairman 16th, Moss 17th, Chiron 18th, Marsh 19th, Flockhart out in 20th, Emery 21st and Hawthorn out in 22nd overall.

*Lap 5* – A 9:09.1 confirms von Trips’ early pace, which is all the more impressive given that Salvadori pits from 2nd place, with Piotti, Gendebien, Chiron and Emery all also piling in for their own stops this time around!

That means Brabham is now 2nd, from Gerard 3rd (and still within touching distance of the Ferrari ahead), Gould 4th, Herrmann 5th, Trintignant 6th, Behra 7th, Bonnier 8th, Hill 9th, Musso 10th, Gibson 11th, Collins 12th, Fairman 13th, Moss 14th, Salvadori out in 15th, Marsh up to 16th, Piotti out in 17th, Flockhart 18th, Gendebien out in 19th, Hawthorn 20th, Chiron out in 21st and Emery out in 22nd overall.

*Lap 6* – Von Trips has an even better 9:09.1 to move to a 5.5 second lead. In the battle for 2nd place, Gerard has another go at Brabham at Kallenhardt but finds the door shut firmly in his face – as this race looks to be setting the tone for who will be contending the championship battle over the final races of the season!

The pits are busy this lap, with Herrmann, Trintignant, Hill, Collins and Moss all coming in without incident – although Fairman follows Collins in to the Vanwall pits and ending up queued behind his team-mate and losing a significant amount of time there. Marsh also pits on the same lap as his team-mate, but the gap is enough to allow both Connaughts to come out without losing a single second.

All of that means Behra is now 5th, Bonnier 6th, Musso 7th, Gibson 8th, Salvadori back up to 9th, Herrmann out in 10th, Piotti up to 11th, Trintignant out in 12th ahead of Flockhart in 13th (a switch from earlier in the race), Hill out in 14th, Gendebien back up to 15th, Collins out in 16th, Moss out in 17th ahead of Fairman 18th (which is a pass in the pit-lane), Hawthorn up to 19th, Chiron 20th, Marsh out in 21st and Emery 22nd overall.

*Lap 7* – Another lap where the pits are the centre of attention, starting with von Trips, followed by Gerard and Behra, while Gould also comes in and finds himself queued behind his German team-mate – and that changes the complexion of the points-paying positions again! As such Brabham leads the way from Bonnier 2nd, Musso 3rd, Gibson 4th and von Trips out in 5th ahead of the charging Salvadori in 6th position. Gerard emerges in 7th, with Herrmann 8th, Piotti 9th, Trintignant 10th, Behra out in 11th, Flockhart 12th (another switch in positions), Hill 13th, Gendebien 14th and Gould finally emerging from the pits in 15th place overall.

Further back Fairman is on the comeback charge, as he easily claims 17th from Moss with a strong move up the inside at Klostertal!

*Lap 8* – Almost everyone has now stopped, as Brabham, Bonnier and Musso all come in this time around, which leaves Dick Gibson leading his 2nd race in a row!!! Though in this one he is still yet to stop, and his tyres are clearly crying “enough!” Von Trips is now 2nd, with Salvadori 3rd and gaining on his team-mate.

Brabham is out in 4th, as his longer stint has moved him 2.2 seconds ahead of Gerard in 5th position. Herrmann is 6th, with Piotti 7th, Trintignant 8th, Bonnier 9th, Behra up to 10th (which is a swap in positions between him and the Swede ahead), Flockhart 11th and Musso out in 12th (a switch between him and his team-mate behind). Hill retains 13th but both he and Gendebien are looking nervously over their shoulders at the pace of Gould in 15th!!!

Further back in a surprising strategic move, Hawthorn elects to pit for the 2nd time and thus promotes Chiron to 19th and Marsh to 20th, as he emerges back into the race in 21st overall – though potentially fuelled to the finish!

*Lap 9* – Gibson pits at last, which promotes von Trips back into the race lead – but for how long, considering Salvadori’s pace (the Brit sets an even faster 9:09.1 to move right onto the back of his German team-mate)?!? Brabham reassumes his podium position, with Gerard over 2 seconds behind and looking a little out of ideas…

Herrmann is back into the points paying positions in 5th, with Piotti 6th, Trintignant a solid 7th for Porsche, Bonnier 8th, Flockhart 9th and pressuring the Swede ahead, Behra 10th (after he moves aside to let Flockhart past), Musso 11th and Gibson out JUST behind his Italian team-mate in 12th place – in an otherwise uneventful lap.

*Lap 10* – Salvadori pits for the 2nd time, which may well explain his pace! Piotti, Trintignant, Flockhart, Chiron and Emery join him – although considering how the tyres on most of those 1 stopping lasted earlier, this may be a mistake in strategy!

That means Brabham is into 2nd, Gerard 3rd, Herrmann 4th, Bonnier 5th, Behra 6th and Gibson up to 7th after Musso moves aside to let his team-mate through. Hill is up to 9th from Gendebien into 10th for Porsche for a shining moment, until Gould gets the better of him at Kallenhardt to claim back his own Top 10 position!

Collins is 12th, with Salvadori out in 13th, Fairman up to 14th, Piotti out in 15th and Moss up to 16th, much to the irritation of Trintignant, who emerges in 17th just moments behind the Connaught in front!!! Flockhart is out in 18th, with Marsh now 19th, Hawthorn back into the Top 20 and Chiron out in 21st overall.

*Lap 11* – Herrmann, Gendebien, Collins, Moss and Marsh all pit this time (the bad news for the latter being that his stop is preceded by a crash at Bergwerk, but the good news is that he doesn’t lose any time behind Moss, given his team-mate’s time advantage!), which moves Bonnier up to 4th, Behra 5th, Gibson 6th, Musso 7th, Hill 8th and Gould into 9th – and gaining time all the while!

Salvadori is back into the Top 10 as the best of the 2 stoppers – but with over 30 seconds to make up on his team-mate in 9th he looks like he will have to settle for a Top 10 position. Fairman is up to 11th, with Herrmann out in 12th, Piotti 13th, Trintignant 14th (after what looked like such a promising race for the Porsche), Flockhart 15th, Gendebien out in 16th, Collins out in 17th, Moss out in 18th, Hawthorn up to 19th, Chiron 20th, Marsh out in 21st and Emery still bringing up the rear.

*Lap 12* – In what looks like the final stop of the race, Fairman comes in from 11th and drops to 17th in the process, which promotes Herrmann, Piotti, Trintignant, Flockhart, Gendebien and Collins. Further back Chiron carries way too much speed into Karussell and damages the under-side of his car on the steep banking!

As we head into the final laps of the race the closest battles on track is Gibson gaining on Behra for the crucial final point in 5th, with Musso, Hill and even Gould in 9th all in contention for that final points paying position!

*Lap 13* – The Behra and Gibson gap is down to 3.3 seconds, with Musso a further 1.1 seconds behind and Gould now up to 8th after completing a relatively easy pass on Hill at Flugplatz!

The only that might liven up the end of this race is the prospect of the tyres on those 1-stopping completely giving up…with 2 laps remaining that is still a possibility for some!!!

*Lap 14* – Von Trips is certainly losing pace in his tyres, as Brabham gains almost a second on him in a lap – but an 8.5 second advantage looks relatively secure still…Gerard likewise in 3rd is bleeding time to Bonnier, but is still 10 seconds ahead right now – though Behra in 5th is now just 1.1 seconds ahead of Gibson in 6th, with both Musso and Gould starting to fade behind him.

Neither is fading as fast as Hill though, who was the first of the 1-stoppers to pit – and given that he lost 10 seconds to Salvadori on that lap, one wonders if a 23 second buffer will be enough to keep him ahead! Meanwhile at the back Emery is the latest to try too hard at Karussell, as he causes significant damage to his car by riding over the banking at the top of the corner!!!

*Lap 15* – The home fans roar as Wolfgang von Trips claims the 1958 German GP victory, which moves him up to 6th on the all-time list and strengthens his claim as a proper Championship contender this season! He only defeats Brabham by some 3 seconds in the end, which means 1 more lap would have been enough for the tables to turn, while Gerard rounds out the podium positions – and potentially the Championship hopefuls too, as right now this trio looks to be the class of the field!

Bonnier comes home in a solid 4th position for Maserati (his 2nd points finish in a row), while it is not quite a win for Gibson but it might feel like it is – after Behra’s tyres completely give up the ghost and he not only loses 5th to Gibson (the BRM’s 2nd points finish in a row as well), but also 6th to Musso in the process. The Cooper does manage to come home 7th with Gould 8th and Hill 9th, though the BRM only finishes 5 seconds ahead of the charging Salvadori in 10th overall (who can at least console himself with the point for Fastest Lap!).

Herrmann finishes 11th after he and the likes of Piotti (12th), Trintignant (13th), Flockhart (14th), Gendebien (15th), Collins (16th), Fairman (17th) and all those behind make the wrong strategic call given the pit-lane length at this track! Moss celebrates his 30th race start with a Top 20 finish in 18th place, while Chiron likewise celebrates his 10th race start with a Top 20 finish in 20th, though around a minute behind Hawthorn in 19th.

Marsh and Emery complete the race finishers in 21st and 22nd respectively – and both avoid the indignity of being lapped at the Nurburgring! That only leaves Schell, de Beaufort and Godia who all had the same Start Crash that wiped them out on Lap 1…

Watch this space for the next race, which will be the inaugural Portuguese Grand Prix at Boavista (one of two new countries for F1 in the final three races!).

## Milestones

* 50th race entry for Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorn
* 40th race entry for Maurice Trintignant
* 30th race entry for Harry Schell
* Salvadori up to 5th in Most Race Entries, at the expense of Toulo de Graffenried
* Trintignant up to 8th in Most Race Entries, at the expense of José Froilán González
* This is Stirling Moss’s 30th race start
* This is Louis Chiron’s 10th race start
* Menditeguy up to 6th in Most Races without a Win, at the expense of Alberto Ascari
* Schell up to 9th in Most Races without a Win, at the expense of Luigi Villoresi
* Godia up to 3rd in Most Races without Points, at the expense of Louis Rosier
* Brooks up to 5th in Most Races without Points, at the expense of both Eugenio Castellotti and André Simon
* Von Trips victory moves him into 6th on the all-time list ahead of Ken Wharton
* Gerard won the German GP in 1951, 1954, 1956 and 1957, which means von Trips ends the Brit’s streak here! The only other past winner is Peter Whitehead (’52 and ’53 - retired)
* 2nd consecutive points finish for both Gibson and Bonnier here
* FL for Salvadori moves him up to 4th place in Most Fastest Laps ever
* Gerard has set FL at the German GP in 1952, 1956 and 1957, which means Salvadori ends his countryman’s steak here! Other past Fastest Laps are held by Peter Whitehead (’54 – retired), Erwin Bauer (’53 – retired) and Yves-Girard Cabantous (’51 – retired)
* Gerard has achieved Pole in Germany in 1952, 1956 and 1957, and so keeps his streak alive with Pole here! Past Pole Sitters were Yves-Girard Cabantous (’51 – retired), Paul Pietsch (’53 – retired) and Rodney Nuckey (’54 – retired)