This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2015) |
1955 New Zealand Grand Prix | |||
---|---|---|---|
3rd New Zealand Grand Prix | |||
Race details | |||
Date | 8 January 1955 | ||
Location | Ardmore Circuit, Auckland, New Zealand | ||
Course | Temporary racing facility | ||
Course length | 3.2 km (2.0 miles) | ||
Distance | 100 laps, 300 km (186 miles) | ||
Weather | Sunny | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver |
| ||
Fastest lap | |||
Driver | Prince Bira | Maserati 250F | |
Time | 1:33.0 | ||
Podium | |||
First | Maserati 250F | ||
Second | Ferrari 500/625 | ||
Third | Ferrari 500/625 |
The 1955 New Zealand Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Ardmore Circuit on 8 January 1955. It was the third iteration of the New Zealand Grand Prix and was run to Formula Libre regulations.
The event was won by Thailand's Prince Bira. Bira won in relatively dominant fashion, lapping all but two drivers – Peter Whitehead and Tony Gaze. The need for pitstops potentially cost the Ferrari pairing of Whitehead and Gaze a shot at victory. They did however complete the podium, on the lead lap. Having both set a time of 1:33.0, Bira and Whitehead had shared the fastest lap of the race.
The second iteration of the New Zealand International Grand Prix saw the introduction of heats to determine the starting grid positions for the main race. The modified layout from the previous years race to mitigate the slew of cars spinning at the west end of the circuit was retained for the 1955 event. This would be the last year it would be run as, for 1956, Ardmore would revert to the original layout. It was immediately apparent that speeds had drastically increased from the previous year and Bira, with his formidable Maserati 250F and menthol blend fuel mixture, was the fastest of them all in early practice. The two qualifying heats were held mere hours before the race. The first was won by Peter Whitehead while the second was won by Bira.
At the start of the main Grand Prix, Whitehead and Tony Gaze leapt off into an early lead in their Ferrari's. However, they were soon vanquished by Bira, who never looked back once he assumed the lead. Both the Ferrari's repeatedly made brief calls to the pits during the race, starting from lap 22 while Bira continued to tear around and never required to venture to the pitlane for the entirety of the race. Whitehead lost 23 seconds in the first stop whilst Gaze lost an entire lap to clear a jammed throttle linkage. Down the pack, local driver Fred Zambucka had trouble negotiating College Corner and spun into the hay bales no less than three times during the course of the race. Australian Stan Coffey exceeded expectations by jostling among the leading pack in the early part of the race before being forced to retire due to oil pressure on lap 16.
From that point, the race was rather processional. However, the effect of Ferrari's pitstops were not immediately apparent. Bira was leading comfortably but with a handful of laps remaining, Bira's brakes began to fade noticeably and was essentially driving on the gears. The effort required to pull the car up wore out the soles of his shoes and as Gaze scythed past to unlap himself, a late-race challenge by Ferrari might've been feasibly possible had Whitehead and Gaze not lost as much time as they did in the pits. As it was, Bira romped home to take victory, with the winning average speed over six miles an hour faster than last years event. Whitehead and Gaze rounded out the top three with both being the only cars other than Bira on the lead lap.
Pos | No. | Driver | Car | Laps | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Prince Bira | Maserati 250F / Maserati 2497cc 6cyl | 100 | 2hr 40min 12sec |
2 | Peter Whitehead | Ferrari 500/625 / Ferrari 2968cc 4cyl | 100 | + 33.0 s | |
3 | 4 | Tony Gaze | Ferrari 500/625 / Ferrari 2968cc 4cyl | 100 | + 1.26.0 s |
4 | Jack Brabham | Cooper T23 / Bristol 1971cc 6cyl | 98 | + 2 Laps | |
5 | 3 | Reg Hunt | Maserati A6GCM / Maserati 2497cc 6cyl | 97 | + 3 Laps |
6 | Syd Jensen | Cooper Mk. VII / Norton 498cc 1cyl | 91 | + 9 Laps | |
7 | 12 | Fred Zambucka | Maserati 8CM / Maserati 2992cc 8cyl s/c | 89 | + 11 Laps |
8 | George Palmer | Jackson-Mercury / Mercury 4118cc V8 | 88 | + 12 Laps | |
9 | 18 | Ross Jensen | Triumph TR2 / Triumph 1991cc 4cyl | 86 | + 14 Laps |
10 | Dick Cobden | Ferrari 125 / Ferrari 1995cc V12 s/c | 86 | + 14 Laps | |
11 | Arnold Stafford | Cooper Mk. VII / Norton 498cc 1cyl | 85 | + 15 Laps | |
12 | Phil Neill | Austin-Healey 100 / Austin 2660cc 4cyl | 83 | + 17 Laps | |
13 | Peter McInally | Austin-Healey 100 / Austin 2660cc 4cyl | 80 | + 20 Laps | |
14 | Des McDonagh | Thomas-Mercury / Mercury 4100cc V8 | 75 | + 25 Laps | |
15 | John Horton | HWM F1 / Alta 1960cc 4cyl s/c | 55 | + 45 Laps | |
Ret | Ron Frost | Cooper Mk. VIII / Norton 498cc 1cyl | 89 | Gearbox | |
Ret | Lex Davison | HWM F2 / Jaguar 3442cc 6cyl | 88 | Transmission | |
Ret | Ron Roycroft | Alfa Romeo Tipo B / Alfa Romeo 2905cc 8cyl s/c | 58 | Valve | |
Ret | John McMillan | Alfa Romeo Tipo B / Alfa Romeo 2905cc 8cyl s/c | 33 | Retired | |
Ret | Bill Lee | Cooper Mk. VI / Norton 498cc 1cyl | 30 | Retired | |
Ret | Les McLaren | Austin-Healey 100 / Austin 2660cc 4cyl | 30 | Retired | |
Ret | Bill Culver | DeSoto Special / DeSoto 3368cc 6cyl | 19 | Engine | |
Ret | 26 | Reg McCutcheon | Normac Special / Chevrolet 3870cc 6cyl | 17 | Frost Plug |
Ret | Stan Coffey | Cooper T20 / Bristol 1971cc 6cyl | 16 | Oil Pressure | |
Ret | Gordon Brown | GBS / Ford 1172cc 4cyl | 9 | Engine | |
DNS | George Smith | GCS / Chrysler 5600cc V8 | Did Not Start | ||
DNS | Wally Bern | Triumph TR2 / Triumph 1991cc 4cyl | Did Not Start | ||
DNS | Tony Shelly | Morgan +4 / Standard 2088cc 4cyl | Did Not Start | ||
DNS | Johnny Mansel | Mansel Special / Mercury 3950cc V8 | Did Not Start | ||
Source: [1] | |||||
The 1951 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 29 July 1951 at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It was race 6 of 8 in the 1951 World Championship of Drivers.
The 1952 French Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 6 July 1952 at Rouen-Les-Essarts. It was race 4 of 8 in the 1952 World Championship of Drivers, in which each Grand Prix was run to Formula Two rules rather than the Formula One regulations normally used. Unusually this race was run over a duration of 3 hours, rather than a fixed distance.
The 1952 British Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 19 July 1952 at Silverstone Circuit. It was race 5 of 8 in the 1952 World Championship of Drivers, in which each Grand Prix was run to Formula Two rules rather than the Formula One regulations normally used.
The 1953 French Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 5 July 1953 at Reims. It was race 5 of 9 in the 1953 World Championship of Drivers, which was run to Formula Two rules in 1952 and 1953, rather than the Formula One regulations normally used.
The 1954 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 20 June 1954. It was race 3 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers. The 36-lap race was won by Maserati driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from pole position. Maurice Trintignant finished second for the Ferrari team with Fangio's teammate Stirling Moss in third.
The 1958 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 19 January 1958 at Autodromo Municipal Ciudad de Buenos Aires Circuit. It was race 1 of 11 in the 1958 World Championship of Drivers and race 1 of 10 in the 1958 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the sixth Argentine Grand Prix. It was held on the #2 variation of the circuit. The race was held over 80 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 313 kilometres.
The 1983 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 37th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1983 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1983 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers, which were contested concurrently over a fifteen-race series that commenced on 13 March and ended on 15 October.
The 1959 Formula One season was the 13th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 10th World Championship of Drivers, the second International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and five non-championship Formula One races. The World Championship was contested over nine races between 10 May and 12 December 1959.
The 1957 Formula One season was the 11th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 8th World Championship of Drivers which was contested over eight races between 13 January and 8 September 1957. The season also included nine non-championship races for Formula One cars.
The 1956 Formula One season was the tenth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the seventh World Championship of Drivers, which was contested over eight races between 22 January and 2 September 1956. The season also included nine non-championship races for Formula One cars.
The 1955 Formula One season was the ninth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the sixth World Championship of Drivers, which was contested over seven races between 16 January and 11 September 1955. The season also included several non-championship races for Formula One cars.
The 1954 Formula One season was the eighth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the fifth World Championship of Drivers, which was contested over nine races between 17 January and 24 October 1954. The season also included several non-championship races for Formula One cars.
The 1951 Formula One season was the fifth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the second World Championship of Drivers, which was contested over eight races between 27 May and 28 October 1951. The season also included several non-championship races for Formula One cars.
The 1935 Grand Prix season was the second year of the new 750 kg Formula. The success of the previous year encouraged the AIACR to reinitiate the European Championship. It was composed of the seven national Grands Prix and was won by Rudolf Caracciola, driving for the Mercedes-Benz team. The team dominated the season winning five of those Grand Épreuves, as well as four of the other major races of the season. However, in one of the great motor-races in sporting history, Tazio Nuvolari in a Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo beat the combined numbers of the German teams in their home Grand Prix. The season also saw the arrival on the international stage of the bright young talent Bernd Rosemeyer in the Auto Union team.
The Royal Automobile Club International Grand Prix was a motor race held on 2 October 1948, at Silverstone Airfield, Northamptonshire, UK. It is commonly cited as the first British Grand Prix of the modern era.
The 1970 1000km of Spa-Francorchamps was an endurance race held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium on May 17, 1970. It was the sixth round of the 1970 International Championship for Makes.
The 1956 New Zealand Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Ardmore Circuit on 7 January 1956. Stirling Moss entered the weekend as the favourite, and would deliver with a commanding victory, with the fastest lap to boot. Tony Gaze and Peter Whitehead completed the podium for the second year running.
The 1954 New Zealand Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Ardmore Circuit on 9 January 1954. This was the first New Zealand Grand Prix since 1950 and the second overall. This was also the first New Zealand Grand Prix to be held at the Ardmore Circuit, a venue that would be used for the Grand Prix until 1962.
The 1957 New Zealand Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Ardmore Circuit on 13 January 1957. The event was won by Briton Reg Parnell driving the Ferrari 555/860 to victory over fellow Briton Peter Whitehead and former New Zealand Grand Prix winner, Stan Jones.
The 1949 Zandvoort Grand Prix was a non-championship Formula One race held on 31 July 1949 at Circuit Zandvoort.