The 1949 British Grand Prix was a
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
motor race
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...
which was held at
Silverstone
Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...
on 14 May 1949. The race was won by
Emmanuel de Graffenried
Immanuel ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל, 'Īmmānū'ēl, meaning, "God is with us"; also romanized: , ; and or in Koine Greek of the New Testament) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the ...
driving a
Maserati 4CLT
The Maserati 4CL and its derived sister model the Maserati 4CLT are single-seat open-wheel Grand Prix racing cars that were designed and built by Maserati. The 4CL was introduced at the beginning of the 1939 season, as a rival to the Alfa Rome ...
.
Background
The 1949 Grand Prix was held just seven months after the
1948 event on a substantially modified layout. For 1949 the layout used perimeter roads only, no longer running down the runways. The layout was much the same as that used until 1973 with the exception of a tight chicane at what became Club corner in order to ensure cars were tested at both high and low speeds.
Also new for 1949 was the
RAC
RAC or Rac may refer to:
Organizations
* Radio Amateurs of Canada
* RATCH-Australia Corporation, electricity generator
* Refugee Action Collective (Victoria), Melbourne, Australia
* Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, US
* Rent-A-Center, ...
being granted ''Grande Epreuve'' status for their race, officially adopting the title of
British Grand Prix.
Entries
Although a large entry was attracted, in spite of the increased importance placed on the event the entry did not include any true factory entries.
Practice and qualifying
Practice began on the Thursday before the race, although not all competitors arrived, some having travelled from the
1949 Roussillon Grand Prix in Perignan.
Peter Walker set the fastest time on Thursday in 2 minutes 13.2.
Luigi Villoresi was still tired, having arrived directly from Perignon, but was able to set second fastest time in 2 minutes 14.4, followed by
Tony Rolt (2 minutes 15.8) and
Cuth Harrison (2 minutes 16.4).
Times improved the following day as more of the international drivers had arrived. Villoresi would improve on his Thursday time to be fastest of all in 2 minutes 9.8, followed by
Bira
Bira may refer to: Places Greece
*Boura (Achaea) (alternatively spelled Bira or Bura), an ancient city of Achaea, Greece India
* Bira, North 24 Parganas, a census town in West Bengal, India
** Bira railway station Lebanon
*Bireh, Akkar
* Al-Bireh ...
, who had also arrived from Perignan, in 2 minutes 10.2. The next fastest times set on Friday were by
Emmanuel de Graffenried
Immanuel ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל, 'Īmmānū'ēl, meaning, "God is with us"; also romanized: , ; and or in Koine Greek of the New Testament) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the ...
(2 minutes 13.6) and
Bob Gerard (2 minutes 14.4).
The starting grid was arranged in rows of five, then four, then five, and so on.
Classification
Race
Bira made the best start in his Maserati, leading Villoresi's similar car by a clear two lengths at the first corner, followed closely by two more Maseratis, driven by de Graffenried, and by
Reg Parnell taking advantage of starting directly behind the fastest drivers. Fifth was the
ERA
An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth.
Compa ...
of Gerard. Villoresi overtook Bira for the lead on the third lap, as the pair pulled away from the rest of the field.
On lap 24, Bira regained the lead, and Villoresi began slowing, stopping for fuel at the end of lap 27 and dropping to fourth place behind Parnell moving into second place just slightly ahead of de Graffenried. Behind Villoresi was the
Alta
Alta or ALTA may refer to:
Acronyms
* Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage
* American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry
* American Literary Translators Associatio ...
of
George Abecassis in fifth and another Maserati, that of Fred Ashmore, in sixth. After thirty laps Bira had lapped every car outside of the top four. Not long after this Abecassis lost most of his exhaust pipe but continued on unfazed, while at the same time Villoresi stopped again, this time retiring with a loss of oil pressure.
Bira began suffering from brake fade, allowing Parnell to slowly close the gap but after 40 laps they were still around 40 seconds apart, with de Graffenried now around 20 seconds behind Parnell, followed now by Gerard and the
Talbot-Lago of
Philippe Étancelin. On his 48th lap Bira was unable to slow for the Club chicane, colliding with the straw bales and a barrel, damaging his suspension too much to continue, giving the lead to Parnell. At the halfway point (50 laps), Parnell lead de Graffenried by 23.6 seconds, followed by Gerard in third from
Billy Cotton (who had taken over
David Hampshire's ERA), and the Talbot-Lagos of
Louis Rosier and Étancelin.
Parnell did not lead for long, however, as his axle oil plug popped out, losing him the lead. He would stop three more times over the next few laps and eventually retired after 69 laps due to a broken rear axle. So then after 60 laps the order was de Graffenried over three minutes ahead of Gerard, the soon to retire Parnell, Cotton, the two Talbot-Lagos, Ashmore and the Alta of Abecassis back up to seventh after losing a significant amount of time with carburettor trouble. Soon after Rosier took his Talbot-Lago into fourth place ahead of Cotton.
For the final 30 laps Gerard began to catch de Graffenried but was still some way back. His progress was helped by de Graffenried making a second stop for fuel on lap 85, but only managed to come within a minute of leading. So then de Graffenried won the race in a time of nearly four hours, 65 seconds ahead of Gerard who was himself a lap clear of third placed Rosier, the only driver to complete the race without stopping for fuel.
Classification
References
{{Grand Prix race report
, Name_of_race =
British Grand Prix
, Year_of_race = 1949
, Previous_race_in_season =
1948 British Grand Prix
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.''GrandPrix.com''
Held two years ...
, Next_race_in_season =
1949 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1949 Belgian Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race which was held at Spa-Francorchamps on 19 June 1949. The race was won by Louis Rosier driving a Talbot-Lago T26C.
Entries
Classification
Race
References
Belgian Grand Prix
Belgi ...
, Previous_year's_race =
1948 British Grand Prix
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.''GrandPrix.com''
Held two years ...
, Next_year's_race =
1950 British Grand Prix
The 1950 British Grand Prix, formally known as The Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix d'Europe Incorporating The British Grand Prix, was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 1950 at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone, England. It was the fi ...
British Grand Prix
British
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
British Grand Prix