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1954 French Grand Prix
The 1954 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Reims on 4 July 1954, the same date as the 1954 Football World Cup Final. It was race 4 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers. The 61-lap race was won by Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from pole position. His teammate Karl Kling finished second and Ferrari driver Robert Manzon came in third. This race was held the same day as the 1954 FIFA World Cup Final in Bern, Switzerland, but that event took place later in the day from this Grand Prix. Race report The long-awaited Mercedes W196 with its straight-8 fuel-injection engine made its debut with Juan Manuel Fangio transferring from Maserati to join an otherwise all-German line-up of Hans Herrmann, Karl Kling and pre-war driver Hermann Lang. It was a dominant return with Fangio recording a practice lap of 124.31 mph. He and Kling led away and continued to race side by side around the Rheims track. The Ferrari drivers sim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Automobile Club
The Automobile Club of France (french: Automobile Club de France, links=no) (ACF) is a men's club founded on November 12, 1895 by Albert de Dion, Paul Meyan, and its first president, the Dutch-born Baron Etienne van Zuylen van Nijevelt. The Automobile Club of France, also known in French as "ACF" or "l'Auto", was initially located near the Paris Opera and benefited from a villa in the Bois de Boulogne. In 1898, the club moved to the exceptional site of the former "Place Louis XV" (currently Place de la Concorde) in order to offer its members more comfort in a prestigious setting. The club still occupies more than 10,000 square meters in the Hotels du Plessis-Bellière and Moreau, both located between the Hôtel de Crillon and the Hôtel de Coislin, where France signed a treaty by which it became the first nation ever to recognize the independence of the United States. The members of the Automobile Club of France enjoy several lounges, a swimming pool, a gym, a library containi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercedes-Benz W196
The Mercedes-Benz W196 was a Formula One racing car produced by Mercedes-Benz for the and F1 seasons. Successor to the W194, in the hands of Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss it won 9 of 12 races entered and captured the only two world championships in which it competed. Firsts included the use of desmodromic valves and Daimler-Benz developed mechanical direct fuel injection adapted from the DB 601 high-performance V12 used on the Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighter during World War II. The legendary 3-liter 300 SLR (''Sport Leicht-Rennen'', eng: ''Sport Light-Racing'') was derived from the W196 for the 1955 World Sportscar Championship season. Its crash at Le Mans that year ended not only its own short-lived domination on the WSC circuit but spelled the end also for the W196, as Mercedes pulled out of competitive racing in 1955 and did not return for another three decades. Types Monza The W196's delayed debut at the 1954 French Grand Prix saw the introduction of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luigi Villoresi
Luigi Villoresi (16 May 1909 – 24 August 1997) was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver who continued racing on the Formula One circuit at the time of its inception. Biography Born in Milan, Lombardy, and nicknamed "Gigi", he was the older brother of race car driver Emilio Villoresi who co-piloted with him in several races at the beginning of their careers. From a prosperous family, Villoresi could afford to buy a car and began competing in local rallies at the age of twenty-two with a Lancia Lambda and a few years later acquired a Fiat Balilla with which he and his brother Emilio competed in the Mille Miglia. In 1935, he raced in the Coppa Ciano, finishing third and went on to capture the Italian driving championship in the 1100 cc sports car class. The following year he and his brother purchased a Maserati which they drove individually in different races. Emilio was so successful that he was signed to drive an Alfa Romeo for Scuderia Ferrari in the 1937 season. In 1938, L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis Rosier
Louis Rosier (5 November 1905 in Chapdes-Beaufort – 29 October 1956 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a racing driver from France. Career highlights He participated in 38 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 13 May 1950. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 18 championship points. He won the Dutch Grand Prix twice in consecutive years between 1950 and 1951, the Circuit d'Albi, Grand-Prix de l'Albigeois and the 24 Hours of Le Mans with his son Jean-Louis Rosier. Rosier owned the Renault dealership of Clermont-Ferrand.''Rosier First In Auto Race'', New York Times, June 26, 1950, Page 36. In 2016, in an academic paper that reported a mathematical modeling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine, Rosier was ranked the 19th best Formula One driver of all time. Formula One and sports car competition Rosier finished 4th at Silverstone in a Talbot, in October 1948. The event was the RAC International Grand Prix, the first grand prix ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roberto Mieres
Roberto Casimiro Mieres (3 December 1924 – 26 January 2012) was a racing driver from Mar del Plata, Argentina. He participated in 17 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 7 June 1953. He scored a total of 13 championship points. Formula One and sports car racer Mieres competed in a number of different sports, including rowing, sailing, rugby, and tennis. He first took up motorsport in Argentina with an MG, which he later replaced with a Mercedes-Benz SSK and then a Bugatti formerly driven by Achille Varzi, using the latter to win the Argentine sports car championship. As a reward, he was invited to join his compatriots Juan Manuel Fangio and José Froilán González on a trip to Europe, during which he finished fourth in the 1950 Circuit des Nations in Geneva driving a Maserati 4CLT/48 Formula Two car. After returning to Argentina, he was recruited by the Gordini team to replace the injured Jean Behra, allowing him to make his début in the World Champ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Salvadori
Roy Francesco Salvadori (12 May 1922 – 3 June 2012) was a British racing driver and team manager. He was born in Dovercourt, Essex, to parents of Italian descent. He graduated to Formula One by 1952 and competed regularly until 1962 for a succession of teams including Cooper, Vanwall, BRM, Aston Martin and Connaught. Also a competitor in other formulae, he won the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans in an Aston Martin with co-driver Carroll Shelby. In 47 starts he achieved two F1 Championship podium finishes: third place at the 1958 British Grand Prix and second place at that year's German Grand Prix, and won non-championship races in Australia, New Zealand and England. In 1961 he was lying second in the United States Grand Prix when his Cooper's engine failed. At the end of 1962 he retired from F1, and stopped racing altogether a couple of years later to concentrate on the motor trade. He returned to the sport in 1966 to manage the Cooper-Maserati squad for two seasons, and eventual ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice Trintignant
Maurice Bienvenu Jean Paul Trintignant (30 October 1917 – 13 February 2005) was a motor racing driver and vintner from France. He competed in the Formula One World Championship for fourteen years, between 1950 and 1964, one of the longest careers in the early years of Formula One. During this time he also competed in sports car racing, including winning the 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Following his retirement from the track Trintignant concentrated on the wine trade. Maurice Trintignant was the brother of Bugatti race car driver Louis Trintignant — who was killed in 1933, in practice, at Péronne, Picardy — and the uncle of renowned French film actor Jean-Louis Trintignant. Racing career He began racing in 1938, and won the 1939 Grand Prix des Frontières, but his career was interrupted by the Second World War, during which his own Bugatti was stored in a barn. When he rebuilt it for an event of 1945, the '' Coupé de la Liberation'', he overlooked a clogged fuel filte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birabongse Bhanudej
Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh ( th, พีรพงศ์ภาณุเดช; ; 15 July 191423 December 1985), better known as Prince Bira of Siam (now Thailand) or by his ''nom de course'' B. Bira, was a member of the Thai royal family, racing driver, sailor, and pilot. Birabongse raced in Formula One and Grand Prix races for the Maserati, Gordini, and Connaught teams. He was the only Southeast Asian driver to compete in Formula One until Malaysia's Alex Yoong joined Minardi in 2001, and the only Thai driver to compete in Formula One until Alexander Albon made his debut in 2019. Birabongse also competed in sailing events at four Summer Olympic Games, and flew from London to Bangkok in his own twin-engine Miles Gemini aircraft in 1952. Early life Prince Birabongse's parents were Prince Bhanurangsi Savangwongse and his second wife. Birabongse's paternal grandfather was King Mongkut, loosely portrayed in the Hollywood movies ''The King and I'' and ''Anna and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Onofre Marimón
Onofre Agustín Marimón (19 December 1923 – 31 July 1954) was a racing driver from Zárate, Buenos Aires, Zárate, Buenos Aires province, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He participated in 11 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 1 July 1951. He achieved two podiums, and scored a total of 8 championship points. Marimón was killed on 31 July 1954 during practice for the 1954 German Grand Prix, becoming the first driver to be fatally injured at a World Championship Grand Prix other than the Indianapolis 500. His Maserati left the Nürburgring race course at the Breidscheid curve near the Adenauer Bridge after he lost control attempting to improve his qualifying time. He died at the bottom of a steep and treacherous incline. He was going fast on a downgrade but failed to negotiate a sharp turn at the bottom. Marimón impacted a ditch, his Maserati shearing off a tree and rolling over a number of times. He was pinned underneath the car as it came to rest on its top with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lancia D50
The Lancia D50 was a Formula One racing car designed by Vittorio Jano for Lancia in 1954. The car's design made use of many innovative features, such as the use of the engine as a stressed chassis member, the off-centre positioning of the engine to allow a lower overall height, and pannier fuel cells for better weight distribution and aerodynamics. Six of the cars were built, and two of them are displayed in Italian museums. Description The D50 made its race debut toward the end of the 1954 Formula One season in the hands of two-time and reigning World Champion, Italian driver Alberto Ascari. In its very first event Ascari took both pole position in qualifying and fastest race lap, although his car's clutch failed after only ten laps. Following Ascari's death, and in increasing financial trouble, the Lancia family sold their controlling share in the Lancia company, and the assets of Scuderia Lancia were given to Scuderia Ferrari. Ferrari continued to develop the car, although ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alberto Ascari
Alberto Ascari (; 13 July 1918 – 26 May 1955) was an Italian racing driver and a two time Formula One World Champion. He was a multitalented racer who competed in motorcycle racing before switching to cars. Ascari won consecutive world titles in 1952 and 1953 for Scuderia Ferrari. He was the team's first World Champion and the last Italian to date to win the title. This was sandwiched by an appearance in the 1952 Indianapolis 500. Ascari also won the Mille Miglia in 1954. Ascari was noted for the careful precision and finely-judged accuracy that made him one of the safest drivers in a most dangerous era until his death. Ascari remains along with Michael Schumacher Ferrari's only back-to-back World Champions, and he is also Ferrari's sole Italian champion. As the first driver to win multiple World Championship titles, he held the record for most World Championship titles in 1952–54; as a result he is one of 4 drivers to have held the record for most World Championship title ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Hawthorn
John Michael Hawthorn (10 April 1929 – 22 January 1959) was a British racing driver. He became the United Kingdom's first Formula One World Champion driver in 1958, whereupon he announced his retirement, having been profoundly affected by the death of his teammate and friend Peter Collins two months earlier in the 1958 German Grand Prix. Hawthorn also won the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans, but was haunted by his involvement in the disastrous crash that marred the race. Hawthorn died in a road accident three months after retiring. With a total of three career World Championship Grand Prix wins Hawthorn has the lowest number of Grand Prix wins scored by any Formula One World Champion. Early life Mike Hawthorn was born in Mexborough, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, to Leslie and Winifred (née Symonds) Hawthorn, and educated at Ardingly College, West Sussex, followed by studies at Chelsea technical college and an apprenticeship with a commercial vehicle manufacturer. His fathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
