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25px Belgium  1952 Belgian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 3 of 8 in the 1952 Formula One season
Spa 1950
Date 22 June 1952
Official name XIV GROTE PRIJS VAN BELGIE
Location Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Belgium
Course Grand Prix Circuit
14.12 km (8.774 mi)
Distance 36 laps, 508.320 km (315.864 mi)
Weather Rain
Pole position
Driver 25px Italy Alberto Ascari Ferrari
Time 4:37.0
Fastest lap
Driver 25px Italy Alberto Ascari Ferrari
Time 4:54.0
Podium
First 25px Italy Alberto Ascari Ferrari
Second 25px Italy Nino Farina Ferrari
Third 25px France Robert Manzon Gordini

The 1952 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 22 June 1952 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It was the third round of the 1952 World Drivers' Championship, which was run to Formula Two rules in 1952 and 1953, rather than the Formula One regulations normally used.

Report[]

Maserati's new A6GCM was still not ready, and, to compound this, their lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio had suffered back injuries at the non-championship Monza Grand Prix. This meant that Ferrari were once again favoured for success in the race, with their driver lineup consisting of Alberto Ascari (in place of André Simon), Nino Farina and Piero Taruffi. There were also two privateer Ferrari entries: local driver Charles de Tornaco of Ecurie Francorchamps, and Louis Rosier. The Gordini team expanded their lineup to include Belgian driver Johnny Claes, alongside Behra, Manzon and Bira. American Robert O'Brien also drove a Simca-Gordini for this race. HWM also recruited a pair of Belgian drivers — Paul Frère and Roger Laurent — who raced alongside regular drivers Peter Collins and Lance Macklin. Stirling Moss switched from HWM to ERA for this race. A handful of other privateer entrants also took part, including future World Champion Mike Hawthorn, who made his debut in a Cooper-Bristol.

Ascari headed an all-Ferrari front row, with teammates Farina and Taruffi in second and third, respectively. The Gordinis of Manzon and Behra made up row two, while the third row consisted of Hawthorn, Ken Wharton (in a Frazer-Nash), and Frère, who was the highest qualifier of the five Belgian drivers on the grid.

Taruffi started badly in the rain, dropping to ninth by the end of the first lap, while Behra overhauled the two leading Ferraris to take the lead of the race. Moss also started well, before his car broke down half way through the first lap. Behra's lead was short-lived, as both Ascari and Farina overtook him on the second lap, subsequently holding first and second for the remainder of the race. Behra dropped to fourth when the recovering Taruffi passed him on lap 13. On the following lap Taruffi spun at Malmédy and Behra hit him, causing both to retire. Manzon overtook Hawthorn to assume what was now third place. Despite suffering from fuel leakage problems, Hawthorn was able to maintain fourth place until the end of the race. His fellow debutant Paul Frère also finished in the points, in fifth.[1]

Ascari's win (with fastest lap), and Taruffi's retirement, meant that the two now shared the lead of the Championship, on nine points each. Indianapolis 500 winner Troy Ruttman was in third, while Farina's second place finish raised him to fourth in the standings, three points adrift of the joint Championship leaders.

Entries[]

No Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre
2 25px Italy Nino Farina Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 P
4 25px Italy Alberto Ascari Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 P
6 25px Italy Piero Taruffi Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 P
8 25px UK Mike Hawthorn Leslie D. Hawthorn Cooper-Bristol Cooper T20 Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
10 25px UK Alan Brown Ecurie Richmond Cooper-Bristol Cooper T20 Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
12 25px UK Eric Brandon Cooper-Bristol Cooper T20 Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
14 25px France Robert Manzon Equipe Gordini Gordini Gordini T16 Gordini 20 2.0 L6 E
16 25px France Jean Behra Gordini Gordini T16 Gordini 20 2.0 L6 E
18 25px Belgium Johnny Claes Gordini Gordini T16 Gordini 20 2.0 L6 E
20 25px Flag of Thailand Prince Bira Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Gordini 1500 1.5 L4 E
22 25px France Louis Rosier Ecurie Rosier Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 D
24 25px UK Lance Macklin HW Motors HWM-Alta HWM 52 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
26 25px UK Peter Collins HWM-Alta HWM 52 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
28 25px Belgium Paul Frère HWM-Alta HWM 52 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
30 25px Belgium Roger Laurent HWM-Alta HWM 52 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
32 25px UK Stirling Moss English Racing Automobiles Ltd. ERA-Bristol ERA G Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
34 25px Belgium Charles de Tornaco Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 E
36 25px UK Ken Wharton Scuderia Franera Frazer Nash-Bristol Frazer Nash FN48 Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
38 25px Belgium Arthur Legat Arthur Legat Veritas Veritas Meteor Veritas 2.0 L6 E
40 25px UK Robin Montgomerie-Charrington Robin Montgomerie-Charrington Aston-Butterworth Aston NB41 Butterworth F4 2.0 L6 D
42 25px Australia Tony Gaze Tony Gaze HWM-Alta HWM 51 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
44 25px United States Robert O'Brien Robert O'Brien Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Gordini 1500 1.5 L4 E
Sources: [2][3]

Classification[]

Qualifying[]

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 4 25px Italy Alberto Ascari Ferrari 4:37.0 -
2 2 25px Italy Nino Farina Ferrari 4:40.0 + 3.0
3 6 25px Italy Piero Taruffi Ferrari 4:46.0 + 9.0
4 14 25px France Robert Manzon Gordini 4:52.0 + 15.0
5 16 25px France Jean Behra Gordini 4:56.0 + 19.0
6 8 25px UK Mike Hawthorn Cooper-Bristol 4:58.0 + 21.0
7 36 25px UK Ken Wharton Frazer Nash-Bristol 5:01.0 + 24.0
8 28 25px Belgium Paul Frère HWM-Alta 5:05.0 + 28.0
9 10 25px UK Alan Brown Cooper-Bristol 5:07.0 + 30.0
10 32 25px UK Stirling Moss ERA-Bristol 5:07.6 + 30.6
11 26 25px UK Peter Collins HWM-Alta 5:09.0 + 32.0
12 12 25px UK Eric Brandon Cooper-Bristol 5:11.0 + 34.0
13 34 25px Belgium Charles de Tornaco Ferrari 5:14.5 + 37.5
14 24 25px UK Lance Macklin HWM-Alta 5:17.1 + 40.1
15 40 25px UK Robin Montgomerie-Charrington Aston Butterworth 5:19.3 + 42.3
16 42 25px Australia Tony Gaze HWM-Alta 5:22.8 + 45.8
17 22 25px France Louis Rosier Ferrari 5:25.7 + 48.7
18 20 25px Flag of Thailand Prince Bira Simca-Gordini-Gordini 5:28.4 + 51.4
19 18 25px Belgium Johnny Claes Gordini 5:31.1 + 54.1
20 30 25px Belgium Roger Laurent HWM-Alta 5:37.9 + 60.9
21 38 25px Belgium Arthur Legat Veritas 5:45.0 + 68.0
22 44 25px USA Robert O'Brien Simca-Gordini-Gordini 5:51.0 + 74.0

Race[]

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 4 25px Italy Alberto Ascari Ferrari 36 3:03:46.3 1 9
2 2 25px Italy Nino Farina Ferrari 36 +1:55.2 2 6
3 14 25px France Robert Manzon Gordini 36 +4:28.4 4 4
4 8 25px UK Mike Hawthorn Cooper-Bristol 35 +1 lap 6 3
5 28 25px Belgium Paul Frère HWM-Alta 34 +2 laps 8 2
6 10 25px UK Alan Brown Cooper-Bristol 34 +2 laps 9
7 34 25px Belgium Charles de Tornaco Ferrari 33 +3 laps 13
8 18 25px Belgium Johnny Claes Gordini 33 +3 laps 19
9 12 25px UK Eric Brandon Cooper-Bristol 33 +3 laps 12
10 20 25px Flag of Thailand B. Bira Simca-Gordini-Gordini 32 +4 laps 18
11 24 25px UK Lance Macklin HWM-Alta 32 +4 laps 14
12 30 25px Belgium Roger Laurent HWM-Alta 32 +4 laps 20
13 38 25px Belgium Arthur Legat Veritas 31 +5 laps 21
14 44 25px United States Robert O'Brien Simca-Gordini-Gordini 30 +6 laps 22
15 42 25px Australia Tony Gaze HWM-Alta 30 +6 laps 16
Ret 40 25px UK Robin Montgomerie-Charrington Aston Butterworth 17 Engine 15
Ret 6 25px Italy Piero Taruffi Ferrari 13 Accident 3
Ret 16 25px France Jean Behra Gordini 13 Accident 5
Ret 36 25px UK Ken Wharton Frazer-Nash-Bristol 10 Spun off 7
Ret 22 25px France Louis Rosier Ferrari 6 Transmission 17
Ret 26 25px UK Peter Collins HWM-Alta 3 Halfshaft 11
Ret 32 25px UK Stirling Moss ERA-Bristol 0 Engine 10

Drivers' Championship standings after the race[]

Pos Driver Points
1 25px Italy Piero Taruffi 9
2 25px Italy Alberto Ascari 9
3 25px USA Troy Ruttman 8
4 25px Italy Nino Farina 6
5 25px Switzerland Rudi Fischer 6
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship.

References[]



Previous race:
1952 Indianapolis 500
FIA Formula One World Championship
1952 season
Next race:
1952 French Grand Prix
Previous race:
1951 Belgian Grand Prix
Belgian Grand Prix Next race:
1953 Belgian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1951 French Grand Prix
European Grand Prix
(Designated European Grand Prix)
Next race:
1954 German Grand Prix
Smallwikipedialogo.png This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1952 Belgian Grand Prix. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


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