1954 World Sportscar Championship

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The 1954 World Sportscar Championship was a motor racing competition for Sportscars. It was the second FIA World Sportscar Championship. It featured a series of six endurance races, contested from 24 January to 23 November 1954. The championship was won by Ferrari.

Contents

Season summary

Ferrari won the championship with its Ferrari 375 Plus (pictured), 375 MM and 750 Monza models. 1954 Ferrari 375 Plus 34.jpg
Ferrari won the championship with its Ferrari 375 Plus (pictured), 375 MM and 750 Monza models.

The 1954 World Sports Car Championship was contested over a six race series. With legendary races such as the Mille Miglia and the Carrera Panamericana now part of the international race calendar, they were accompanied by the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 12 Hours of Sebring and the RAC Tourist Trophy. The championship started in January in Argentina with a new race to the calendar, the 1000 km Buenos Aires, but the 24 Hours of Spa was omitted. [1] The 1000 km Nürburgring was originally scheduled for the 29th of August, however once it became clear that the Mercedes 300 SLRs would not be ready in time, the race was cancelled with organisers fearing another poor attendance. [2]

The Championship remained as a competition for manufacturers, and works teams including Scuderia Ferrari, Lancia, Aston Martin and Jaguar lead the way. The majority of the fields were made up of amateur or gentlemen drivers in privately entered cars, often up against professional racing drivers with experience in Formula One.

All races included Sportscar classes defined according to engine displacement. [3] The Millie Miglia also defined classes for Grand Touring and Special Touring cars and the Carrera Panamericana included additional Stock car and Touring car classes. [3] Championship points were however only awarded for outright placings. Ferrari continued to be the dominant force in 1954, winning four of the six races, a result of Enzo Ferrari’s determination to bring prestige to his marque. The other two races were also won by Italian marques, Lancia and O.S.C.A.

Season results

Lancia placed second with its Lancia D24 Lancia D24 - Flickr - exfordy.jpg
Lancia placed second with its Lancia D24
Jaguar placed third with its Jaguar C-Type and D-Type (pictured) models Jaguar D-Types - Flickr - exfordy.jpg
Jaguar placed third with its Jaguar C-Type and D-Type (pictured) models
O.S.C.A. placed fourth after a win at Sebring with its MT4 1954 O.S.C.A. MT4 1500 (rear), ex-Moss & Cunningham.jpg
O.S.C.A. placed fourth after a win at Sebring with its MT4

Results

Date [4] RoundEventCircuit or LocationWinning driverWinning teamWinning carResults
24/011 Flag of Argentina.svg 1000km of Buenos Aires Autódromo Municipal-Avenida Paz Flag of Italy.svg Giuseppe Farina
Flag of Italy.svg Umberto Maglioli
Flag of Italy.svg Scuderia Ferrari Flag of Italy.svg Ferrari 375 MM Results
07/032 Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg 12 Hours of Sebring Sebring International Raceway Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Bill Lloyd
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Stirling Moss
Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Briggs Cunningham Flag of Italy.svg Osca MT4 1500 Results
01/05 - 02/053 Flag of Italy.svg Mille Miglia Brescia-Rome-Brescia Flag of Italy.svg Alberto Ascari Flag of Italy.svg Scuderia Lancia Flag of Italy.svg Lancia D24 Results
12/06 - 13/064 Flag of France.svg 24 Hours of Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe Flag of Argentina.svg José Froilán González
Flag of France.svg Maurice Trintignant
Flag of Italy.svg Scuderia Ferrari Flag of Italy.svg Ferrari 375 Plus Results
05/095 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg RAC Tourist Trophy Dundrod Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Hawthorn
Flag of France.svg Maurice Trintignant
Flag of Italy.svg Scuderia Ferrari Flag of Italy.svg Ferrari 750 Monza Results
19/11 - 23/116 Flag of Mexico (1934-1968).svg Carrera Panamericana Tuxtla Gutiérrez-Ciudad Juárez Flag of Italy.svg Umberto Maglioli Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Erwin Goldschmidt Flag of Italy.svg Ferrari 375 Plus Results

Note: The Tourist Trophy was awarded to the DB of Paul Armagnac and Gerard Laureau, which was the winner of the Dundrod race on handicap. World Championship points were awarded on the overall race results rather than the handicap results. [5]

Championship

Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. [6] Manufacturers were only awarded points for their highest finishing car [6] with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. Only the best 4 results out of the 6 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the table below. [5]

Pos [7] Manufacturer [7] Flag of Argentina.svg BUE Flag of the United States.svg SEB Flag of Italy.svg MMI Flag of France.svg LMS Flag of the United Kingdom.svg TTR Flag of Mexico.svg PAN Pts
1 Flag of Italy.svg Ferrari 8(6)88832 (38)
2 Flag of Italy.svg Lancia 68620
3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jaguar 36110
4 Flag of Italy.svg O.S.C.A. 88
5 Flag of Italy.svg Maserati 1427
6 Flag of Germany.svg Porsche 145
7= Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Cunningham 44
7= Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Austin-Healey 44
7= Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Aston Martin 44
10 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg HWM 33
11= Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Kieft 11
11= Flag of France.svg Gordini 11

The cars

The following models contributed to the nett championship pointscores of their respective manufacturers. [8]

References

  1. World Sportscar Championship, www.racingsportscars.com Retrieved on 4 April 2015
  2. Posthumus, Cyril (1961). World Sports Car Championship. p. 56.
  3. 1 2 János L. Wimpffen, 1954 - Ferrari consolidates, Tine and Two Seats, 1999, pages 14 to 169
  4. 1954 World Sportscar Championship, www.teamdan.com Retrieved on 4 April 2015
  5. 1 2 Peter Higham, The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing, 1995, pages 260–262
  6. 1 2 János L. Wimpffen, Rules and Exceptions, Tine and Two Seats, 1999, page 16
  7. 1 2 1954 World Sportscar Championship table at www.wspr-racing.com Retrieved on 4 April 2015
  8. 1954 World Sportscar Championship race results, www.classicscars.com Retrieved on 4 April 2015