Michael's Blog: “THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX” 1955 FORMULA 1 AUTO RACE AINTREE, UNITED KINGD...

Aintree Motor Racing Circuit is a 3.000 mi (4.828 km) motor racing circuit in the village of Aintree, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. The circuit is located within the Aintree Racecourse and used the same grandstands as horse racing. It was built in 1954 as the "Goodwood of the North", hence the fact the two venues had so many things in common. The track was well surfaced and relatively flat – ranging from 49–98 ft (15–30 m) in elevation.

History

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The circuit has hosted the Formula One British Grand Prix five times, in 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961 and 1962.

In addition to the Grands Prix, which were organised by the British Automobile Racing Club, the circuit also held eleven non-championship Formula One races, known as the Aintree 200, first won by Stirling Moss in 1954 with the last winner being Jack Brabham, in April 1964 (Brabham had made his Formula One debut at the circuit in the 1955 British GP). Aintree was the location for the famous race in 1955 in which Moss won his first British Grand Prix, driving a Mercedes. Two years later, he and Tony Brooks became the first British drivers to win the British Grand Prix and a round of the Formula One World Championship in a British car, the Vanwall. The 1957 Grand Prix was also given the honorific "European Grand Prix" title and was the premier Formula One event of the season, attracting 150,000 spectators.

The full Grand Prix circuit was last raced on in 1964, but part of it – the 1.535 mi (2.470 km) Club Circuit – is still open, having been operated by the Aintree Circuit Club from the mid-1960s to the late 1990s. In the 1980s the 108 Car Club (St. Helens) brought rallying back to Aintree Circuit revitalising the circuit's use with new and innovative ideas. A limited amount of motorsport continues today in the form of car sprints, track days and motorcycle racing on the Club Circuit.

The motorcycle events have been organised by Aintree Motor Cycle Racing Club since 1982, which runs six events at Aintree each year.

The car events are organised by Liverpool Motor Club in the form of three sprints, in May, June and September, and two track days in April and August on the Club Circuit. Nick Algar, the 2010 British Sprint Champion, set a new course record of 35.82 seconds on the 1.148 mi (1.847 km) sprint course on 26 June 2010 in a Gould GR553500cc. The record was previously set by Roy Dawson on 8 September 2007 in the same car, in a time of 36.03 seconds. Nick Algar's speed through the finish line speed trap was 172 mph (277 km/h), although he did manage a speed of 176 mph (283 km/h) on an earlier run that day. His record still stands despite several drivers attempting to beat it.

In addition, the Club Circuit sees occasional use by visiting events such as the Greenpower Electric Car Races for Schools,^[1] Sporting Bears Motor Club giving Dream Rides for charity,^[2] and also bicycle racing. The Club Circuit itself is situated within the Aintree Grand National Course, and in turn, contains a public nine-hole golf course operated by Aintree Racecourse.

Race lap records

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The fastest official race lap records at the Aintree Motor Racing Circuit are listed as:

Category	Time	Driver	Vehicle	Event
Full Circuit: 4.828 km (1954–1964)
Formula One	1:51.800^[3]	Jim Clark	Lotus 25	1963 Aintree 200
Formula Two	2:04.400^[4]	Tony Brooks	Cooper T43	1958 BARC Aintree 200

Aintree Motor Racing Circuit

Location Aintree, Merseyside, England

Time zone GMT

Coordinates

53°28′37″N 2°56′26″W

Opened 1954

Major events Formula One
British Grand Prix
(1955, 1957, 1959, 1961–1962)Grand Prix Circuit (1954–1964)

Length 4.828 km (3.000 miles)

Turns 8

Race lap record 1:51.8 (

Jim Clark, Lotus 25, 1963, F1) Club Circuit (1954–present)

Length 2.470 km (1.535 miles) Turns 4

The 1955 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Aintree on 16 July 1955. It was race 6 of 7 in the 1955 World Championship of Drivers. British driver Stirling Moss led a Mercedes 1–2–3–4 domination of the race, to win his first Formula One race narrowly ahead of his illustrious Argentine teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. Several people, including Moss, believed that the Argentine allowed his British protégé to claim his debut win in front of his home crowd. This was, however, at Moss' inquiry, consistently denied by Fangio, who claimed that Moss "was simply faster that day."

In the wake of the Le Mans disaster, the French, German, Swiss and Spanish Grands Prix which were to take place at existing circuits had all been cancelled. The Aintree circuit was an all-new circuit around the Grand Nationalhorse racing course in Liverpool; it was built to be at the time one of the safest and most modern racing facilities in Europe.^[2]

With only one Championship round therefore remaining (the Italian Grand Prix some 2 months later), Fangio's points advantage over Moss was sufficient to secure his third World Drivers' Championship.

This was the last all-Mercedes-powered podium until the 2014 Italian Grand Prix.

Entries

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Team	No	Driver	Car	Engine	Tyre
Officine Alfieri Maserati	2	Jean Behra	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	P
	4	Luigi Musso
	6	Roberto Mieres
	8	André Simon
Daimler Benz AG	10	Juan Manuel Fangio	W196	Mercedes M196 2.5 L8	C
	12	Stirling Moss
	14	Karl Kling
	50	Piero Taruffi
Scuderia Ferrari	16	Mike Hawthorn	625	Ferrari 555 2.5 L4	E
	18	Maurice Trintignant
	20	Eugenio Castellotti
Equipe Gordini	22	Robert Manzon	T16	Gordini 23 2.5 L6
	24	Hermano da Silva Ramos
	26	Mike Sparken
Vandervell Products	28	Ken Wharton	VW 55	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4	P
Vandervell Products	30	Harry Schell	VW 55	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4	P
Connaught Engineering	32	Kenneth McAlpine	B	Alta GP 2.5 L4	D
Connaught Engineering	34	Jack Fairman
Rob Walker Racing Team	36	Tony Rolt
Rob Walker Racing Team	36	Peter Walker
Leslie Marr	38	Leslie Marr
Cooper Car Company	40	Jack Brabham	Cooper T40	Bristol BS1 2.0 L6
Owen Racing Organisation	42	Peter Collins	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6
Gilby Engineering	44	Roy Salvadori
Stirling Moss Ltd	46	Lance Macklin
Gould's Garage (Bristol)	48	Horace Gould
Source:^[3]

Classification

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Qualifying

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Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	12	Stirling Moss	Mercedes	2:00.4	—
2	10	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	2:00.6	+0.2
3	2	Jean Behra	Maserati	2:01.4	+1.0
4	14	Karl Kling	Mercedes	2:02.0	+1.6
5	50	Piero Taruffi	Mercedes	2:03.0	+2.6
6	6	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	2:03.2	+2.8
7	30	Harry Schell	Vanwall	2:03.8	+3.4
8	8	André Simon	Maserati	2:04.0	+3.6
9	4	Luigi Musso	Maserati	2:04.2	+3.8
10	20	Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari	2:05.0	+4.6
11	22	Robert Manzon	Gordini	2:05.0	+4.6
12	16	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	2:05.4	+5.0
13	18	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	2:05.4	+5.0
14	36	Tony Rolt	Connaught-Alta	2:06.6	+6.2
15	28	Ken Wharton	Vanwall	2:08.4	+8.0
16	46	Lance Macklin	Maserati	2:08.4	+8.0
17	32	Kenneth McAlpine	Connaught-Alta	2:09.6	+9.2
18	24	Hermano da Silva Ramos	Gordini	2:10.6	+10.2
19	38	Leslie Marr	Connaught-Alta	2:11.6	+11.2
20	44	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	2:11.6	+11.2
21	34	Jack Fairman	Connaught-Alta	2:11.6	+11.2
22	48	Horace Gould	Maserati	2:11.8	+11.4
23	26	Mike Sparken	Gordini	2:12.6	+12.2
24	42	Peter Collins	Maserati	2:13.4	+13.0
25	40	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Bristol	2:27.4	+27.0
Source:^[4]

Race

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Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	12	Stirling Moss	Mercedes	90	3:07:21.2	1	9¹
2	10	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	90	+0.2	2	6
3	14	Karl Kling	Mercedes	90	+1:11.8^[5]	4	4
4	50	Piero Taruffi	Mercedes	89	+1 Lap	5	3
5	4	Luigi Musso	Maserati	89	+1 Lap	9	2
6	16	Mike Hawthorn Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari	87	+3 Laps	12
7	26	Mike Sparken	Gordini	81	+9 Laps	23
8	46	Lance Macklin	Maserati	79	+11 Laps	16
9	28	Ken Wharton Harry Schell	Vanwall	72	+18 Laps	15
Ret	18	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	59	Overheating	13
Ret	6	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	47	Engine	6
Ret	40	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Bristol	30	Engine	25
Ret	32	Kenneth McAlpine	Connaught-Alta	30	Oil Pressure	17
Ret	42	Peter Collins	Maserati	28	Clutch	24
Ret	24	Hermano da Silva Ramos	Gordini	26	Oil Pressure	18
Ret	44	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	23	Gearbox	20
Ret	48	Horace Gould	Maserati	22	Brakes	22
Ret	30	Harry Schell	Vanwall	20	Throttle	7
Ret	36	Tony Rolt Peter Walker	Connaught-Alta	19	Transmission	14
Ret	38	Leslie Marr	Connaught-Alta	18	Brakes	19
Ret	20	Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari	16	Transmission	10
Ret	8	André Simon	Maserati	9	Gearbox	8
Ret	2	Jean Behra	Maserati	9	Oil Leak	3
Ret	22	Robert Manzon	Gordini	4	Transmission	11
DNS	34	Jack Fairman	Connaught-Alta		Engine	21
Source:^[6]

Notes

^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Shared drives

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Car #16: Mike Hawthorn (60 laps) and Eugenio Castellotti (27 laps).
Car #28: Ken Wharton (50 laps) and Harry Schell (22 laps).
Car #36: Tony Rolt (10 laps) and Peter Walker (9 laps).

Notes

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This was the Formula One debut of future triple world champion Jack Brabham.
This was only the second time a Ferrari (powered-car) did not finish in a points position (be it through the classification or a fastest lap). It ended a 37-race streak since the 1950 Belgian Grand Prix of a Ferrari ending a race with at least one point.