1955 RAC Tourist Trophy
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 1955 RAC Tourist Trophy took place on 17 September, on the roads around
Dundrod Dundrod () is a small village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 167 people. It is within the Lisburn City Council area. Buildings Sport Dundrod Circuit is the location to Dundrod M ...
, (
County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
,
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
). It was also the fifth round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship, however it was the first championship race following the horrendous tragedy at Le Mans. It was also the Golden Jubilee year for the
RAC Tourist Trophy The RAC Tourist Trophy (sometimes called the International Tourist Trophy) is a motor racing award presented by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) to the overall victor of a motor race in the United Kingdom. Established in 1905, it is the world's ol ...
. Going into the race,
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
were leading the Manufacturers Championship by four points from
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
. Victory for the Italian marque would put them in a strong position to win a third successive title.


Report


Entry

A grand total of 64 racing cars were registered for this event, of which 55 arrived for practice and qualifying. Scuderia Ferrari entered a pair of Ferrari 857 Monzas for regulars
Eugenio Castellotti Eugenio Castellotti (10 October 1930 – 14 March 1957) was a Formula One driver from Italy. Driving career Castellotti was born in Lodi, Italy. He acquired a Ferrari at the age of twenty, from a local benefactor, and began racing sports cars ...
and
Piero Taruffi Piero Taruffi (12 October 1906 – 12 January 1988) was a racing driver from Italy. Sports car career Taruffi began his motorsport career racing motorcycles. He won the 1932 500cc European Championship on a Norton and in 1937 set the motorcycle ...
, and
Umberto Maglioli Umberto Maglioli (5 June 1928 – 7 February 1999) was a racing driver from Italy. He participated in 10 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 13 September 1953. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 3 championship ...
and
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 caree ...
, alongside a 750 Monza for the partnership of
Olivier Gendebien Olivier Jean Marie Fernand Gendebien (12 January 1924 – 2 October 1998) was a Belgian racing driver who was called "one of the greatest sportscar racers of all time". Rally racer Gendebien spent some years in the Belgian Congo. On his return ...
and
Masten Gregory Masten Gregory (February 29, 1932 − November 8, 1985) was an American racing driver. He raced in Formula One between and , participating in 43 World Championship races, and numerous non-Championship races. He was also a successful sports car r ...
. Their closest championship rivals, Jaguar, brought just one D-Type to Northern Ireland for
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 ...
and
Desmond Titterington John Desmond Titterington (1 May 1928 – 13 April 2002) was a British racing driver from Northern Ireland. He was born at Cultra, near Holywood, County Down. He participated in one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, on 14 July 1956. He ...
. Hoping to keep the championship alive, Officine Alfieri Maserati sent two of their 300S and an A6GCS over. Amongst their line-up were
Jean Behra Jean Marie Behra (16 February 1921 – 1 August 1959) was a Formula One driver who raced for the Gordini, Maserati, BRM, Ferrari and Porsche teams. Appearance and personality Behra was small in stature, stocky, and weighed 178 pounds.''B ...
and
Luigi Musso Luigi Musso (28 July 1924 – 6 July 1958) was an Italian racing driver. In 1955 he joined the Ferrari team, entering into a fierce rivalry with Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins, which boosted the performance of the team, but also encouraged ...
. From West Germany,
Daimler-Benz AG The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...
entered three of their
Mercedes-Benz 300SLR The Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR (W 196 S) was a 2-seat sports racing car that took part in the 1955 World Sportscar Championship before a catastrophic crash and fire at Le Mans later that year ended its domination prematurely. The car ...
s to tackle the 7.41 mile circuit. The cars were to be driven by
Juan Manuel Fangio Juan Manuel Fangio (American Spanish: , ; 24 June 1911 – 17 July 1995), nicknamed ''El Chueco'' ("the bowlegged" or "bandy legged one") or ''El Maestro'' ("The Master" or "The Teacher"), was an Argentine racing car driver. He dominated t ...
and
Karl Kling Karl Kling (; 16 September 1910, Gießen – 18 March 2003, Gaienhofen on Lake Constance, Germany) was a motor racing driver and manager from Germany. He participated in 11 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 4 July 1954. He achieved 2 podiums - ...
,
Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of comp ...
and John Fitch, and André Simon joined by team newcomer
Wolfgang von Trips Wolfgang Alexander Albert Eduard Maximilian Reichsgraf Berghe von Trips (; 4 May 1928 – 10 September 1961), also known simply as Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips and nicknamed 'Taffy' by friends and fellow racers, was a German racing driver. He w ...
. With works entries also from the likes of
Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...
and
Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
, an incredible fifteen manufactures were represented in the field.


Qualifying

In qualifying, the number 10 Mercedes-Benz of Moss and Fitch emerged with the fastest lap. Alongside them was the Hawthorn/Titterington Jaguar. A Ferrari was in third place, driven by Gendebien and Gregory, followed by Fangio/Kling. The third Mercedes, of von Trips and Simon, would start the race from seventh.


Race

Following an accident in practice, the Ferrari 857 Monza of Gendebien and Gregory did not start. The race was held over 84 laps of the 7.416 miles Dundrod Circuit, giving a distance of 622.936 miles. To make matters worse, the race started in warm conditions, but it would not remain dry. Despite this, the German marque would finish in the first three places. As the flag dropped, it was Moss who led the incredible array of cars around the
County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
countryside. As there was an obvious threat of rain, this motivated the drivers to push a little harder at the beginning of the race than normal for a seven-hour event. But with so many cars, on such a tight and dangerous circuit, racing at high speed, on par with
Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
, the TT was balancing between safety and catastrophic danger. There was no margin for error. Mercedes driver John Fitch had already publicly criticized the safety of the Dundrod circuit. While everyone was looking forward to a Mercedes/Jaguar duel, the Tourist Trophy was marred by tragedy, within the first few laps of the race. The Cooper-Climax T39 of Jim Mayers, who was sharing the car with
Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in , , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name. Brabham was a R ...
, hit a concrete pillar and the car immediately burst into a ball of flame. Mayers was killed instantly. This explosion caught out the approaching William Smith, at the wheel of a Connaught AL/SR. Smith plowed straight into Mayers and perished just a little while later. The deaths of two more drivers shortly after the horrific events previously at Le Mans only added to the numbness for many. Meanwhile, Moss was strong right from the start, as was
Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...
. Hawthorn pushed his
Jaguar D-Type The Jaguar D-Type is a sports racing car that was produced by Jaguar Cars Ltd. between 1954 and 1957. Designed specifically to win the Le Mans 24-hour race, it shared the straight-6 XK engine and many mechanical components with its C-Type ...
as hard as he had when he won at
Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
. He set the fastest lap of the race, averaging a speed of nearly 95 mph. With a lead of one and a half minutes, the right rear tyre on Moss's 300 SLR began to throw its tread and tore through the rear-end bodywork. Incredibly, Moss managed to bring the car back to the pits, even with the damaged bodywork and shredded tyre. The mechanics set to work changing the tyre and pulling away some of the dangling bodywork. Having lost a lot of time, Moss and his co-driver Fitch drove flat-out in an effort to catch up with Hawthorn, and with it a shot at the win. As the rain began to fall on the Irish countryside, the accidents kept on coming. In the first two laps, a total of nine cars were eliminated due to accidents. Of course, two of those were fatal, but then on lap 35, Richard Manwaring lost control of his Elva-Climax Mk I and crashed off the track. As a result of this crash, a third driver lost his life. It was clear that the cars of that day were out-pacing the roads upon which they were competing. Incredibly dangerous, the combination of fast cars and narrow lanes still made for some entertaining action. And, despite the deaths, the crowd remained, watching Hawthorn and Titterington trying to hold off Moss and Fitch. Once the repairs had been made to the number 10 300SLR, Moss and Fitch managed to bring the car up to second place overall behind the sole works Jaguar D-Type. Still, Hawthorn and Titterington managed to hold off Mercedes, turning some truly fast laps around the Dundrod circuit. With the finish in sight, the Jaguar remained in the lead ahead of the Mercedes, despite everything that Moss and Fitch could do, the Jaguar was just too far out of reach. But, all of a sudden, Hawthorn came to a screeching halt, just a few miles from the finish line. The Jaguar's engine seized, leaving the Coventry marque without any hope of winning the race, or even finishing. Although slowed by the damage and weather conditions, Moss and Fitch had been unable to close down the gap enough to be able to challenge for the lead. It was clear that Mercedes were "gifted" the race. As a result, car number 10 (Daimler-Benz AG), took an impressive victory, winning in a time of 7hrs 03:11 mins., averaging a speed of 88.321 mph. The retirement of the Jaguar led to Mercedes being able to take a sweep of the top three positions. Second place went to Fangio, for the second year in a row, and Kling, one lap down. The podium was complete by the other 300SLR, that of von Trips and Simon, two laps adrift. Meanwhile, the
Aston Martin DB3S The Aston Martin DB3S is a sports racing car that was built by Aston Martin. Following the failure of the heavy and uncompetitive Aston Martin DB3 designed by Eberan Eberhorst; William Watson, employed as Eberhorst's assistant, presented an alter ...
of Peter Walker and
Dennis Poore Roger Dennistoun "Dennis" Poore (19 August 1916, Paddington, London – 12 February 1987, Kensington) was a British entrepreneur, financier and sometime racing driver. He became chairman of NVT during the dying days of the old British motorcycle ...
were the best of the English entrants, finishing in fourth place, with the best of the works-Maserati further behind in fifth. One of the outstanding drives of the race came from Peter Collins, whose Aston Martin DB3S was left stranded at the start due to a seized starter motor. Once the mechanics got the engine started, a furious Collins set off after the pack. After what must have been an astonishing first lap, he had climbed up to 14th. By lap 31, Collins had caught and passed Fangio for third before handing the car over to Tony Brooks, who was only able to complete a few laps before the Aston's engine expired.


Official Classification

''Class Winners are in Bold text.'' * Fastest Lap:
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 ...
, 4:42.000secs (94.671 mph)


Class Winners


Standings after the race

*Note: Only the top five positions are included in this set of standings. Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only awarded points for their highest finishing car with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. Only the best 4 results out of the 7 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the above table.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1955 RAC Tourist Trophy
Dundrod Dundrod () is a small village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 167 people. It is within the Lisburn City Council area. Buildings Sport Dundrod Circuit is the location to Dundrod M ...
RAC Tourist Trophy
RAC Tourist Trophy The RAC Tourist Trophy (sometimes called the International Tourist Trophy) is a motor racing award presented by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) to the overall victor of a motor race in the United Kingdom. Established in 1905, it is the world's ol ...