Grand Prix de Caen
The Grand Prix de Caen (German: Großer Preis von Caen ) was an automobile race that was held six times in the north-west French city of Caen from 1952 to 1958 . The race has been advertised for various racing classes over the years, including four times for Formula 1 . It had no world championship status .
history
The city of Caen, located in Normandy , had already hosted various automobile races called Coupe de Normandie several times before the First World War . The last of these races took place in 1910. In the years between the wars, there were no high-class car races in Caen.
After the end of the Second World War , in addition to the French Grand Prix , which was held annually from 1947 , other automobile races were gradually organized in France. The first steps in this direction were motorsport events in the Paris area ( Montlhéry ), followed by races in the provinces a little later. From 1950 onwards they included the Grand Prix of Albi , Bordeaux and Pau and - later - of Reims . Most of them were short-lived, however. Only the Grand Prix de Pau became a fixture in international motorsport.
From 1952 onwards, Caen was once again host of an automobile race; The organizer was the Automobile Club de l'Ouest. Caen held the Grand Prix, now named after the city itself, until 1958. In a few years, a world championship-free Formula 1 race was also held in neighboring Rouen , which usually attracted more racing drivers than the event in Caen.
Racetrack
For the Grand Prix of Cean, a temporary street course was set up that circled the city park called “La Prairie” and the local horse racing track (“ Hippodrome de la Prairie ”) located therein . The track was named Circuit La Prairie . It led almost exclusively on public roads. Over the years, the route and the length of the course have changed considerably. In the first year the route was 4.122 km long, in 1954, 1957 and 1958 only 3.520 km; In 1956, however, it was 5.562 km. The number of laps driven was adjusted so that a total distance of more than 300 km was achieved.
They run
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1952
The first edition of the Grand Prix of Caen was advertised according to the regulations of Formula 2 , which in this (and the following) year, instead of Formula 1, were the decisive motorsport class for the World Automobile Championship . The starting field in 1952 consisted of French racing drivers without exception, with the exception of the American pilot Harry Schell . The work team of Amédée Gordini dominated the race: Gordini pilot Maurice Trintignant reached the pole position and won the race, his team-mate Jean Behra finished second. In addition, vehicles from Panhard , DB and HWM appeared ; Marcel Balsa finally drove a self-made BMW based vehicle.
1953
The second edition of the Caen Grand Prix was a sports car race.
1954
In 1954 the race was advertised for Formula 1 for the first time. It took place three weeks after the French Grand Prix and was sparse. A total of only ten drivers started. There was a serious fire accident during training. The private Maserati owned by the Argentine Roberto Mieres suffered an engine failure which resulted in burning gasoline being sprayed. Mieres was hit by it and suffered severe burns. He was unable to take part in the rest of the training or the race. Stirling Moss in the factory Maserati , Jean Behra in the factory Gordini and Maurice Trintignant in the factory Ferrari fought for pole position in practice; the other drivers achieved significantly slower lap times. With a lead of 0.4 seconds, Trintignant ultimately took first place on the grid. He won the race ahead of Moss and Behra. Prince Bira in a private Maserati and Louis Rosier in a privately used Ferrari crossed the finish line in fourth and fifth. All other drivers dropped out prematurely.
1956
After the Caen Grand Prix had not been held in 1955 , the fourth edition took place in 1956 . The race was again a Formula 1 race without world championship status. 13 drivers started here. Harry Schell drove a Maserati with works support, Gordini drove four works cars for Robert Manzon , André Simon , Hernando da Silva Ramos and Georges Burgraff . Numerous private drivers also appeared, including Paul Emery , who launched his own design with an Alta engine. Two Formula 2 vehicles completed the starting field: Aldo Pedini drove a Ferrari 500 for Scuderia Centro Sud , and Bill Morice drove a Cooper T23 with a Bristol engine.
Roy Salvadori took pole position in his private Maserati; he also achieved the fastest race lap. He finished the race in third. The winner was Harry Schell in the factory Maserati, who had started from fifth place; Gordini driver André Simon, who started seventh, crossed the finish line in second, more than a minute behind. A total of seven drivers were rated; The last in the ranking were the two Formula 2 drivers who were 9 and 15 laps behind the winner at the finish line.
1957
Only 11 drivers registered for the fifth edition of the race in the summer of 1957 . Unlike in previous years, Maserati did not take part in the race at the factory. The Équipe Gordini was also not represented; Amédée Gordini had stopped racing at the end of 1956. Jean Behra and Harry Schell, who drove for the Maserati factory team in the Automobile World Championship , started in Caen with factory cars from BRM . Roy Salvadori drove a Cooper Formula 2 works car , Jack Brabham and Tony Brooks fielded comparable cars for the Rob Walker Racing Team . Bruce Halford , Horace Gould , Luigi Piotti and Joakim Bonnier , who drove one of his first Formula 1 races here, competed in private Maserati vehicles. Jean Behra dominated the entire event. He took pole position with a lead of one and a half seconds over training runner-up Brooks. The slowest driver in practice was Marc Rozier , who drove a Formula 2 Ferrari 500. His lap time was 18 seconds faster than the pole sitter. Behra set the fastest lap time in the race and crossed the finish line first. Salvadori was second ahead of Bruce Halford. Six drivers came into the ranking.
1958
In the 1958 season , the Grand Prix was the last of only five Formula 1 races without world championship status. The timing of the race collided with the British Grand Prix , which took place the day before the race in Caen. Regardless of this, the Caen Grand Prix was filled with numerous top drivers: Jean Behra, Joakim Bonnier, Gerino Gerini , Stuart Lewis-Evans , Stirling Moss, Harry Schell and Maurice Trintignant took part in the World Championship run in Silverstone on Saturday as well as in the race on Sunday Caen part. Schell and Behra started here as there for the BRM works team, Moss started for Rob Walker Racing. A total of 12 drivers were registered. Stirling Moss (Cooper) was on pole position and won the race; Jean Behra drove the fastest lap in the BRM. Behra and Schell both retired from the race with engine defects.
Results
Web links
- Statistics of the World Championship-free Formula 1 races from 1949 to 1983 on the website www.silhouet.com
- History of the Caen Grand Prix on www.8w.forix.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ Statistics of the III. Coupe de Normandie on the website www.teamdan.com ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed April 17, 2015).
- ↑ Mattijs Diepraam: "Horse Power on the Prairie". 8w.forix.com, August 20, 2010, accessed February 7, 2018 .
