The 1959 World Sportscar Championship was the seventh

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and ...

. It was a series for sportscars that ran in many worldwide endurance events. It ran from 21 March 1959 to 5 September 1959, and comprised five races, following the

1000 km Buenos Aires The 1000 km Buenos Aires was an endurance sports car event held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The race mostly run on the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, although it would run the Costanera circuit in 1957. Besides a single race in Cara ...

being removed from the calendar, although the race did return in 1960. The championship was won by Aston Martin.

Season

The championship comprised five qualifying rounds; the 12 Hours of Sebring, the

Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...

run over 1000 km, the

Nürburgring 1000 km The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around the village a ...

, the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

, and 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 ...

run over 6 hours. At the Sebring 12 Hours in Florida, the Scuderia Ferrari scored a 1-2 with Porsche filling the next three places. Aston Martin sent a single DBR1, as a favour to the organisers, in the hands of Salvadori and Shelby but it retired early in the race. Porsche dominated the Targa Florio winning with the little Porsche 718 RSK whilst 2-3-4 places were filled by other Porsche models. Meanwhile, the works Ferraris all retired. Aston Martin missed the event as back in England, David Brown of Aston Martin had initially ruled against a World Championship challenge, on financial grounds. But, Stirling Moss wangled one DBR1/300 works car to win the Nürburgring 1000 km,Stirling Moss, “Stirling Moss: All My Races" (Haynes Publishing, , 2009) with

Jack Fairman Jack Fairman (15 March 1913 – 7 February 2002) was a British racing driver from England. He participated in 13 Formula One Grands Prix, making his debut on 18 July 1953. He scored a total of five championship points, all of which came in ...

beating the Hill/Gendebien Ferrari by over 40 seconds with the best placed Porsche in fourth. At Le Mans, the Astons of

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 s ...

Carroll Shelby Carroll Hall Shelby (January 11, 1923 – May 10, 2012) was an American automotive designer, racing driver, and entrepreneur. Shelby is best known for his involvement with the AC Cobra and Mustang for Ford Motor Company, which he modified dur ...

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 care ...

Paul Frère Paul Frère (30 January 1917 – 23 February 2008) was a racing driver and journalist from Belgium. He participated in eleven World Championship Formula One Grands Prix debuting on 22 June 1952 and achieving one podium finish with a total of elev ...

finished one-two!. The works Ferrari Testa Rossas all retired as did the works Porsches leaving privately entered Ferrari 250GTs to complete the minor placings. So David Brown’s company simply had to field a full three-car team in what had become the title-deciding race, the

. Despite setting fire to their race leading car during a schedule refuelling stop, the sister car of Shelby/Fairman/Moss took victory and saw Aston Martin become the first British manufacturer ever to win the FIA World Sportscar Championship.Peter Swinger, “Motor Racing Circuits in England" (Ian Allan Publishing, , 2005)

Season results

Results

Championship

Note: *Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1.Peter Higham, The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing, 1995, page 260 *Manufacturers were awarded points only for their highest finishing car with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. *Only the best 3 results out of the 5 races could be retained by each manufacturer.Peter Higham, The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing, 1995, page 267 Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the table below. † - Ferrari declared second due to having the same number of wins, one, and second places, one, as Porsche but having two 3rd-place finishes to Porsche's one.

The cars

The following models contributed to the net championship point scores of their respective manufacturers. * Aston Martin DBR1/300 * Ferrari 250 TR 59 & Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta LWB * Porsche 718 RSK * Maserati A6GCS/53 * Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint Veloce Zagato * Lola Mk.1

Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, racing, and other specialty engine manufacturer. History Pre WW1 The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was reloca ...

www.classicscars.com
Retrieved 6 April 2018

References

External links

* ttp://www.classicscars.com/wspr/results/wscc/tablemsmakes.html#1959- 1959 World Sportscar Championship points table, www.classicscars.com {{DEFAULTSORT:1959 World Sportscar Championship Season World Sportscar Championship seasons

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