The Race of Two Worlds (Trofeo dei Due Mondi in Italian), also known as the ''500 Miglia di Monza'' (500 Miles of Monza), was an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

held at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy in 1957 and again in 1958. It was intended as an exhibition event, allowing American teams from the

United States Auto Club The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapol ...

(USAC)

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

to compete directly against teams from the

Formula One World Championship Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

based in Europe. The two types of cars competed on the banked

oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one ...

at Monza which had been completed in 1955. Due to the similarity to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the USAC teams ran the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

, the event earned the nickname Monzanapolis. American drivers and teams won the event in both the years in which it was run.

Jimmy Bryan James Ernest Bryan (January 28, 1926 – June 19, 1960) was an American racecar driver who won the 1958 Indianapolis 500. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Bryan died as a result of injuries sustained in a champ car race at Langhorne Speedway. Career ...

won the 1957 event, while

Jim Rathmann Jim Rathmann (July 16, 1928 – November 23, 2011), born Royal Richard Rathmann, was an American race car driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1960. He drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series in the 1949–1950 and 1952–1963 sea ...

swept the 1958 race. Although some Formula One teams did participate and even built special cars specifically for the event, several withdrew over safety concerns. Continued concern over the speeds on the track and the cost of the event led to the race being canceled after the 1958 running.

Initial concept

In 1954, redevelopment of the Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit began for the first time since 1948, concentrating on rebuilding the oval portion of the track which had been abandoned during World War II. The banked oval, which had last been used in 1933, was dismantled. The southern ''Sud Alta Velocita'' corner was relocated, moving it northward by several meters, shortening the lap distance length to . Both banked corners were rebuilt on a curving gradient which reached 80 degrees, replacing the flat banking which had been previously used. The reconstruction was completed in August 1955, in time for the

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...

, which combined the new oval with the Monza road course for a full . Circuit Monza 1955 Oval

The following year, Giuseppe Bacciagaluppi, then president of the Automobile Club of Milan and chairman of the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, invited

Duane Carter Duane Carter (May 5, 1913 – March 7, 1993) was an American racecar driver. He raced midget cars, sprint cars, and IndyCars. The two discussed the similarities between Monza's new oval and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which also held a round of the 1957 Formula One season, the

. Although the 500 counted as part of the championship, only a few Europeans attempted to participate in the event since the formation of the World Championship. Ferrari's

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 ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

was the only European competitor to actually qualify for the race. Bacciagaluppi and Carter believed that an oval race held in Europe instead of the United States could attract Formula One teams, and USAC and the Automobile Club of Italy began work on making such an event possible. A race was scheduled for June 1957, running just the 4.25 km oval at Monza. Volunteering USAC teams were to be transported from the United States, while Formula One teams were also free to participate if they chose. In preparation,

Firestone Tire and Rubber Company Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is a tire company founded by Harvey Firestone (1868–1938) in 1900 initially to supply solid rubber side-wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheele ...

transported a USAC

Kurtis Kraft Kurtis Kraft was an American designer and builder of race cars. The company built midget cars, quartermidgets, sports cars, sprint cars, Bonneville cars, and USAC Championship cars. It was founded by Frank Kurtis when he built his own midg ...

– Chrysler to Monza in April 1957 in order to conduct tests on tyres made for the event. American driver Pat O'Connor completed on the oval, setting a best lap speed of , nearly faster than lap speeds reached at Indianapolis.

Format

The rules for the race were based on those used by USAC in North America. Engines were limited to in naturally aspirated form, for supercharged engines. A USAC

rolling start A rolling start is one of two modes of initiating or restarting an auto race; the other mode is the standing start. In a rolling start, the cars are ordered on the track and are led on a certain number of laps (parade or caution laps) at a pre-de ...

was also used, instead of Formula One's usual

standing start A standing start is a type of start in auto racing events, in which cars are stationary when the race begins (different to the rolling start, where cars are paced). Procedure In a standing start, cars are completely still but with their engines ...

. The race was planned for a distance of , similar to the Indianapolis 500. However, unlike Indianapolis, the 500 miles would not be run continuously. Instead, three separate 63-lap heats were planned, with an hour break for repairs and rest between each heat, for a total of approximately 500 miles. The overall race winner would be determined by the driver which finished all three heats with the highest average speed. The circuit would be run in an

anti-clockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top. The opposite s ...

direction, the same used at Indianapolis, but opposite the direction used by Formula One at Monza.

1957

The inaugural running of the Race of Two Worlds was scheduled for Sunday, June 29, shortly after the running of the

, and a few weeks before the running of the

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

. USAC's entries in the event traveled from Indianapolis to New York City, whence they were shipped to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

. The drivers and personnel traveled separately from their cars, arriving by plane. The teams and equipment were then transported from Genoa to Monza, where teams began practice on Tuesday the 18th.

Entrants

1957-06-29 500 Monza Ferrari 340 0030MT Borniggia

Fifteen cars were entered for the event. Ten cars traveled across the Atlantic from USAC, while only two teams arrived with Formula One equipment. Mario Bornigia used a

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

Ferrari, while Maserati entered their factory driver Jean Behra. The rest of the Formula One teams however chose to boycott the event. The ''Union des Pilotes Professionnels Internationaux'' (International Union of Professional Pilots), which had been formed only a few months prior, cited the dangers of the speeds able to be obtained on the Monza banking and the wear on tires posing threats to safety. A further three entries arrived from the

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 ...

, thanks to the Scottish

Ecurie Ecosse Ecurie Ecosse (French: "Scotland Stable") was a motor racing team from Edinburgh, Scotland. The team was founded in November 1951 by Edinburgh businessman and racing driver David Murray and mechanic Wilkie Wilkinson. Its most notable achievem ...

Jaguar team, who had just won 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 ...

the weekend before.

Practice and qualifying

Although several American teams ran laps on Tuesday, official practice did not begin until Wednesday. All drivers were required to meet speed requirements to qualify: three laps at , three laps at , and another three laps at . All drivers in attendance passed, and began to set their cars for top speed.

Eddie Sachs Edward Julius Sachs Jr, (May 28, 1927 – May 30, 1964) was a United States Auto Club driver who was known as the "Clown Prince of Auto Racing". He coined the phrase "If you can't win, be spectacular". Early life Sachs was born May 28, 1927 in A ...

led the first day's practice with a lap time of 56.4 seconds, one of few drivers to lap under a minute. On Thursday, Maserati arrived to enter Jean Behra in the event, but the two cars which Behra practiced with suffered handling problems when they were fitted with larger diameter Firestone tyres, recording a best lap time of 1:03.2 in the team's Formula One car. Maserati chose to not return the following day, joining the already withdrawn Ferrari, and leaving the race without any Formula One machinery. Qualification was held on Friday, and the USAC teams continued to lower their lap times.

Tony Bettenhausen Melvin Eugene "Tony" Bettenhausen (September 12, 1916 – May 12, 1961) was an American racing driver, who won the National Championship in 1951 and 1958. Bettenhausen was nicknamed the "Tinley Park Express" in honor of his hometown. He was ...

, in the Novi Special, took pole position with a lap time of 53.7 seconds, averaging a speed of , over 50 km/h faster than the pole speed at that year's Indianapolis 500. Eight other USAC cars also qualified, with

Paul Russo Paul Russo (April 10, 1914 in Kenosha, Wisconsin – February 13, 1976 in Clearwater, Florida) was an American racecar driver. Midget car career He started racing midget cars in 1934. He went with a contingent of midget-car drivers to Hawa ...

in the other Novi Special suffering a terminal

flywheel A flywheel is a mechanical device which uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy; a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, as ...

failure during its qualification attempt and withdrawing. The three Ecurie Ecosse Jaguars also qualified, but all slower than the USAC entries, due in part to being limited to their Dunlop road racing tyres, which were smaller than the Firestones. The best Ecurie Ecosse time was earned by Jack Fairman, lapping in 59.8 seconds.

Race

Heat one

The first heat started on Sunday, with temperatures at the circuit reaching . Bettenhausen slowly led the field to the starting line where an official waved the

Italian flag The national flag of Italy ( it, Bandiera d'Italia, ), often referred to in Italian as ''il Tricolore'' ( en, the Tricolour, ) is a tricolour (flag), tricolour featuring three equally sized vertical Pale (heraldry), pales of green, white and red, ...

to begin the race. The trio of Jaguars, although starting at the back, managed to jump to an early lead due to their use of a four-speed

gearbox Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...

, allowing them to out-accelerate the USAC roadsters with two-speed gearboxes. Fairman led the first of 63 laps before the roadsters were able to build enough speed to catch and eventually pass the Jaguars. Bettenhausen returned to the front of the field, but was forced to relinquish the lead during the fourth lap with a broken throttle linkage. Pat O'Connor and

moved to the front and traded off the lead for half of the heat. Bryan Dean Van Lines Monza

Bryan eventually took command of the lead, pulling away from O'Connor and followers Eddie Sachs and Andy Linden. By the end of the 63 laps, Bryan was leading O'Connor by three seconds, with Linden the only other driver finishing on the lead lap. Bettenhausen, having rejoined the race after repairing the throttle linkage, was the only retirement after a

sway bar An anti-roll bar (roll bar, anti-sway bar, sway bar, stabilizer bar) is a part of many automobile suspensions that helps reduce the body roll of a vehicle during fast cornering or over road irregularities. It connects opposite (left/right) whee ...

broke on Lap 45. The USAC entries dominated, earning the first seven positions. Only Bob Veith's Phillips-Offy was unable to finish ahead of the trio of Jaguars.

Heat two

Following an hour of repairs, the field began a rolling start for the second heat. In preparation for the Jaguar's ability to accelerate at the start, the lead USAC entries attempted to block the front stretch by running alongside one another.

Troy Ruttman Troy Ruttman (born March 11, 1930 – May 19, 1997) was an American race car driver. He was the older brother of Jimmy Ruttman, and NASCAR driver Joe Ruttman. Ruttman won the Indianapolis 500 in 1952, at the age of 22 years and 80 days. , he is ...

took the early lead, followed closely by O'Connor, Sachs, Bryan, and the Jaguar of Fairman. O'Connor soon retired with a broken fuel tank, followed several laps later by Sachs with broken cam house bolts. Ruttman was eventually caught and passed by Bryan, and the two finished in first and second at the end of the 63 laps. Only seven cars were still running at the end of the race, including the three Jaguars running in fifth, sixth, and seventh places.

Heat three

Another hour for repairs allowed for O'Connor to repair his fuel tank, bringing the entry to eight cars for the final heat. Only seven managed to begin the rolling start, as Ray Crawford remained in his pits to finish repairs. Bryan and Ruttman took the early lead once again as O'Connor was once again forced to retire, his repairs to the fuel tank not holding up to the bumps of the Monza banking. Jack Fairman's Jaguar managed to lead

Johnnie Parsons Johnnie Woodrow Parsons'' The Talk of Gasoline Alley'' – 1070-AM WIBC, May 15, 2007 (July 4, 1918 – September 8, 1984) was an American race car driver from Los Angeles, California who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1950. During his racing care ...

' Kuzma-Offy early, but eventually the three remaining USAC cars led the three Jaguars to the finish line. Ruttman finished ahead of Bryan, while Fairman once more led the Jaguar trio.

Final result

With two heat wins, and being the only driver to complete all 189 laps, Jimmy Bryan was declared the winner in front of a crowd of 20,000. For his victory, he won US$35,000 in prize money, as well as a unique trophy created for the event. Bryan averaged over the full race distance, making it the fastest race in history, while

also earned a world record by recording a lap speed of breaking a closed circuit speed record.

1958

Following a successful running of the first Race of Two Worlds, the Automobile Club of Italy and USAC announced a second running in 1958, to be held on Sunday, June 29. Several Formula One teams, impressed by the speeds achieved by the USAC teams but also enticed by the large prize sum, promised to attend the event. Ferrari, initially reluctant, entered their own team after the Automobile Club of Italy announced that the Race of Two Worlds was a required event for teams vying for club's cash award for most successful Italian constructor. Once again, USAC teams were transported from New York City on ships shortly after the

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...

provided trucks for transport of the teams once they arrived in Genoa.

Entrants

Once again, ten drivers and cars traveled from the United States to represent USAC. A further two USAC cars were also in attendance, to be driven by Formula One drivers Juan Manuel Fangio 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 ...

, but set up and run by the American crews. Ferrari, as part of their requirement with the Automobile Club of Italia, brought two unique cars. The first was an older 375 F1 chassis using a modified

V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The f ...

from 335 S sports car, and renamed the 412 MI. The second was a modified 246 featuring a Ferrari-built Dino

V6 engine A V6 engine is a six-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V6 engines were designed and produced independently by Marmon Motor Car Company, Deutz Gasmotoren Fabr ...

, enlarged to and equally renamed the 326 MI.

Luigi Chinetti Luigi Chinetti (July 17, 1901 – August 17, 1994) was an Italian-born racecar driver, who emigrated to the United States during World War II. He drove in 12 consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans races, taking three outright wins there and taking two m ...

's new

North American Racing Team The North American Racing Team (NART) is a motorsport racing team founded in 1958. It was created by businessman Luigi Chinetti to promote the Ferrari marque in United States through success in endurance racing. It was created in 1958 when Chin ...

also entered a third Ferrari in the event, using an older V12 car which had originally attempted to qualify for the

1952 Indianapolis 500 The 36th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was a motor race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, May 30, 1952. It was the opening race of the 1952 AAA National Championship Trail and was also race 2 of 8 in the 1952 World Champion ...

. Ferrari also chose to use the Firestone tires which USAC teams used, rather than the Englebert tires the company had a contract with. Maserati also built a custom car, their only entry in the event. Based on the design of USAC's cars, the car (designated the 420M/58) featured an alcohol-fueled

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and u ...

which was placed off-center to counteract centripetal force of running on an oval. Learning from their problems the previous year, the car was specifically designed to use the larger Firestone tyres. A two-speed gearbox was also used. The Italian Eldorado Ice Cream Company helped fund the effort and so the entire car was painted white with their logo written across the side. Jaguar also had a custom-built car entered, thanks to

Lister Cars The Lister Motor Company Ltd. is a British sports car manufacturer founded by Brian Lister in 1954 in Cambridge, England, which became known for its involvement in motorsport. After buying the company in 1986, Laurence Pearce produced variants ...

. A Lister sports car chassis was purchased by the team, modified into a single-seater body style, and fitted with a Jaguar Straight-6 engine from the D-Type. The bodywork was aluminium, and remained unpainted for the event, giving it a near mirror finish. Dunlop tyres remained on the front, but the rear was adapted to handle the larger Firestone tyres. The team also entered two standard Jaguar D-Types as they had done the previous year, although these were also altered to adapt to Monza's oval. Air scoops were added to the rear fenders in an attempt to help keep the cars' Dunlop tyres from overheating.

Practice and qualifying

Juan Manuel Fangio started practice early by setting one of the first laps around the circuit on Wednesday in a USAC entry loaned to him. Jim Rathmann set the fastest lap of the day with a time of 54.4 seconds, or . Monza was drenched by rain on Thursday when official practice began, but Fangio chose to use the circuit anyway and set a lap speed over , while the American teams chose to not run. Qualifying began on a dry track late on Friday, with Fangio once again setting early laps, and increasing his pace to record a 55.2 second lap. Luigi Musso recorded the fastest time for the European entries, with a 55.3 second lap in a 412 MI. Qualifying continued again on Saturday, with the Americans quickly jumping to the top of the time charts. Bob Veith recorded a 54.0 second lap at a speed of , however qualifying was determined by an average of three laps. Musso was able to improve on his previous day's performance in the Ferrari and recorded an average speed of to earn pole position. Veith qualified second, and Fangio ended the day third. Stirling Moss' Maserati qualified eleventh, while Phil Hill's Ferrari was fourteenth.

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 ...

led the Jaguar trio in sixteenth with the older D-Type.

Race

Heat one

1958-06-29 500 miglia Monza Ferrari 326 MI Hill

Sunday was race day, once again running as three 63-lap heats. Problems occurred early for Fangio as he was forced to withdraw from the first heat after his team discovered that his Offenhauser engine had a cracked piston. The other eighteen cars took the rolling start and, as in the year before, the Jaguars' gearing allowed them to jump to the early lead before Ferrari's Musso and several USAC drivers reclaimed it before the end of the first lap of the race.

and Musso traded off the lead over the next several laps before Sachs remained in the lead,

also slipping into second. Rathmann worked his way through the field and took the lead from Sachs on Lap 11. Sachs was forced to drop from second place a few laps later when he broke a connecting rod, giving second to Musso. Musso however also dropped back after being overcome by methanol fumes, pitting on Lap 27 and handing the car to

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 ...

. Rathmann continued to lead until the finish, followed by Bryan, Veith, and the Moss Maserati in fourth. Musso, who returned to his Ferrari on the final lap, brought the car home in sixth, three laps behind.

Heat two

Heat two began with 13 of the 14 cars which had completed the first heat, Masten Gregory chose to not return with the Jaguar, but

Rodger Ward Rodger M. Ward (January 10, 1921 – July 5, 2004) was a World War II P-38 aviator in the United States Army Air Forces, and an American race driver with 26 victories in top echelon open-wheel racing in North America, two Indianapolis 500 v ...

was able to repair his car and compete. Fangio planned to race, but his team had not completed engine repairs by the end of the hour and a half break.

, who had completed the first heat in the Sclavi & Amos Kuzma-Offenhauser, chose to be relieved by rookie

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...

for the rest of the race. Rathmann led the field to the start and remained in the lead throughout. Musso once again remained with the top drivers, but pitted after only nineteen laps to be replaced, this time by Phil Hill whose Ferrari had retired in the first heat. Moss, Veith, Bryan, and

all fought for second place, eventually led to the finish by Veith, nearly 20 seconds behind winner Rathmann. Moss' Maserati suffered engine trouble and dropped back at the finish, earning fifth.

Heat three

1958-06-29 500 Miglia Monza Ferrari 412 Musso

Eleven cars were entered for the final heat, joined by Fangio and Gregory who had both repaired their cars. Fairman chose not to continue in the Lister-Jaguar, while Hawthorn started the #12 Ferrari in place of Musso. Rathmann once again led at the start, followed by Bryan and Foyt. Fangio's car lasted only two laps before his

fuel pump A fuel pump is a component in motor vehicles that transfers liquid from the fuel tank to the carburetor or fuel injector of the internal combustion engine. Carbureted engines often use low pressure mechanical pumps that are mounted outside the f ...

failed and he was forced to retire. Hawthorn suffered the same methanol inhalation problems as Musso and relinquished his car to Phil Hill after 24 laps. Moss, after bringing his Maserati up to fourth place, suffered steering failure on Lap 41, crashing into the guard rails at the top of the banking. Rathmann led straight to the finish, ahead of Bryan. Hill brought the Ferrari up to third before giving the car back to Hawthorn, who finished the race in third.

Final result

Jim Rathmann, winning all three heats, was declared the race winner, although Jimmy Bryan had finished only a minute and a half behind Rathmann on aggregate time. Rathmann averaged a speed of over the 500 miles. Several thousand more spectators attending the 1958 running of the event than had attended the previous year.

Cancellation

Although the Race of Two Worlds attracted several European teams over its two years, the Automobile Club of Milan was unable to make a profit on the event. Unable to agree on funding a third running, the Club did not organize a Race of Two Worlds for 1959 and the event never returned. The banked oval at Monza remained part of the full Formula One circuit until 1961, and ceased to be used for any motorsports activities in 1969. It has since been abandoned and left to decay, and at times threatened with demolition.

References

Notes

# Maserati provided a 250F Formula One car and a 450S sportscar for Behra. He drove both during practice. # Jim Rathmann served as a reserve driver for the John Zink Watson-Offy. He practiced, but did not race. # The #2 Lister-Jaguar ran Dunlop tyres on the front of the car and Firestone on the rear. # Mike Hawthorn was assigned to drive the #12 Ferrari, but fell ill and Luigi Musso ran during the race. Hawthorn and Hill drove the car as relief drivers for Musso. # Luigi Musso was originally assigned to drive the #14 Ferrari, but when Musso moved to the #12 Ferrari, Phil Hill served as a replacement. # Maurice Trintignant chose to not continue after the first heat, and A. J. Foyt took his place in the car. {{refend

External links

8W
- When? - The Race of Two Worlds

- The Race of Two Worlds

- The Race of Two Worlds 1957-1958

- Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
Race of Two Worlds Monza - Video
Retrieved May 23, 2010 Auto races in Italy