12 Hours of Casablanca

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The 12 Hours of Casablanca was a sports car endurance race organised on the route of the future Ain-Diab Circuit in Morocco. Only two editions were held in 1952 and 1953, before the race was replaced by the Moroccan Grand Prix in Agadir for the 1954 season. [1]

Contents

History

The race was held on a road circuit, partially on the main road from Casablanca, that was initially 4.2 kilometers long in 1952. By 1953, the route was changed to 3.26 kilometers. The competition was intended for sports racing cars and for passenger cars as well. The starting grid was of a 'Le Mans start'-type. [2] [1]

1952

Talbot-Lago T26GS Retromobile 2015 - Talbot Lago T26GS Course - 1951 - 002.jpg
Talbot-Lago T26GS

In December 1952, the first edition of the 12 Hours of Casablanca race was held. [3] 24 entrants had started the race, but only 14 of them finished and were classified. [4] [1] [5]

Pos.No.DriversCarLaps
1st22 Flag of France.svg Charles Pozzi
Flag of France.svg Lucien Vincent
Talbot-Lago T26GS 264
2nd25 Flag of France.svg Jean Lucas
Flag of France.svg Jacques Péron
Ferrari 225 S berlinetta [6] 263
3rd16 Flag of France.svg Georges de Tudert
Flag of Morocco.svg Robert La Caze
Delahaye 135S 250

1953

Ferrari 375 MM spyder Ferrari 375 MM.JPG
Ferrari 375 MM spyder

The second edition of the endurance race was held in 1953. This time 17 cars finished the race. Casimiro de Oliveira and Alberto Ascari had crashed during practice in their Ferrari 375 MM and had to change teams and cars. [7] Luckily for Ascari, he joined Luigi Villoresi in the Ferrari 500 Mondial and arrived second at the finish line in the actual race. [8] The 500 Mondial that won its class, was based on a Ferrari 625 TF berlinetta chassis that was destroyed in a fire, rebodied by Scaglietti and equipped with a 2.0-litre engine. [9] Charles Pozzi, who won the first edition with his Talbot-Lago T26GS, failed to arrive for the race. [10] [1] [11]

Pos.Pos.ClassNo.DriversCar
1st1stS+2.02 Flag of Italy.svg Giuseppe Farina
Flag of Italy.svg Piero Scotti
Ferrari 375 MM spyder [12]
2nd1stS2.020 Flag of Italy.svg Luigi Villoresi
Flag of Italy.svg Alberto Ascari
Ferrari 500 Mondial spyder
3rd2ndS+2.06 Flag of France.svg Pierre Levegh
Flag of France.svg Philippe Etancelin
Talbot-Lago T26GS
4th3rdS+2.08 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Roy Salvadori
Flag of France.svg "Mike Sparken"
Aston Martin DB3 coupé
5th4thS+2.07 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Whitehead
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Peter Whitehead
Aston Martin DB3
6th2ndS2.025 Flag of France.svg Jean-Louis Armengaud
Flag of France.svg Élie Bayol
Osca MT4 1100 coupé
ClassNo.DriversCarDNF reason
S+2.03 Flag of Italy.svg Luigi Piotti
Flag of Italy.svg Clemente Biondetti
Ferrari 250 MM Transmission
S+2.05 Flag of France.svg Georges Grignard
Flag of Venezuela.svg Lino Fayen
Talbot-Lago T26GSOut of fuel
S+2.09 Flag of France.svg Jean Behra
Flag of France.svg André Guelfi
Gordini T15SHoled fuel tank
S+2.010 Flag of France.svg John Simone
Flag of France.svg Armand Roboly
Jaguar C-Type Fuel feed

Demise

Between 1954 and 1956, no motor racing was organized on this dangerous road circuit and the racing was moved to the Agadir area. Ain-Diab was more suited for the bicycle races. In 1957, the race route was refitted and increased to 7.618 kilometers thanks to the Royal Automobile Club of Morocco. The new track was named Ain-Diab Circuit and hosted the first official Moroccan Grand Prix in 1957. [13]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "AIN DIAB". jbbassibey.free.fr (in French). Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  2. "Tracks - Ain Diab". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  3. "12 h Casablanca 1952". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  4. "12 h Casablanca 1952 - Race Results". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  5. "Non Championship Races 1952". classicscars.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  6. "225 S s/n 0164ED". barchetta.cc. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  7. "375 MM s/n 0366AM". barchetta.cc. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  8. "12 h Casablanca 1953". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  9. "625 TF s/n 0302TF". barchetta.cc. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  10. "12 h Casablanca 1953 - Race Results". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  11. "Non Championship Races 1953". classicscars.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  12. "375 MM s/n 0360AM". barchetta.cc. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  13. "History: When Morocco had its own Grand Prix". yabiladi.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.