Sports car world championship 1956
The 1956 World Sports Car Championship was the fourth season of this championship. It began on January 29th and ended on August 12th, 1956.
championship
The 1956 World Championship consisted of only five races. For the first time, the Le Mans 24-hour race was not part of the series. After the catastrophic accident in 1955 , the 1956 race was not given world championship status .
The season developed into a duel between the two Italian sports car manufacturers Ferrari and Maserati . Maserati relied on the 300S developed in 1955, while Ferrari developed the 860 Monza, a new sports car , in addition to the 290MM from the previous year . After ceasing racing activities at Daimler AG , the two top drivers Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss looked for new employers. While Fangio went to Ferrari, Moss signed with Maserati.
The championship started in January with the Buenos Aires 1000km race and Moss and Carlos Menditéguy winning for Maserati. Maserati won only one more time in the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring , which was not enough to win the world championship against Ferrari, whose racing team won the other three races.
Only the three best results from the five races counted towards the overall championship standings. Points were only awarded to the manufacturers and to the first six ranks of the respective races; in the order 8-6-4-3-2-1.
Racing calendar
| No. | date | Race name / circuit |
team | Overall winner | vehicle | championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | January 29th |
 1000 km race of Buenos Aires( Autódromo Municipal-Avenida Paz ) |
 Officine Alfieri Maserati
|
 Stirling Moss Carlos Menditéguy
|
Maserati 300S | Brands |
| 2 | March 24th |
 Sebring 12-hour race( Sebring International Raceway ) |
Scuderia Ferrari
|
Eugenio Castellotti Juan Manuel Fangio
|
Ferrari 860 Monza | Brands |
| 3 | April 28-29 |
Mille Miglia (Brescia - Rome - Brescia) |
Scuderia Ferrari
|
Eugenio Castellotti
|
Ferrari 290MM | Brands |
| 4th | May 27th |
 1000 km race on the Nürburgring( Nürburgring ) |
Officine Alfieri Maserati
|
Stirling Moss Piero Taruffi Harry Schell Jean Behra 
|
Maserati 300S | Brands |
| 5 | 12. August |
 1000km Kristianstad( Råbelövsbanan ) race |
Scuderia Ferrari
|
Phil Hill Maurice Trintignant
|
Ferrari 290MM | Brands |
Brand world championship for designers
Overall rating
| position | constructor | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Ferrari
|
(6) | 8th | 8th | (6) | 8th | 24 |
| 2 |
Maserati
|
8th | 2 | 8th | 18th | ||
| 3 |
jaguar
|
4th | 3 | 7th | |||
| 4th |
Aston Martin
|
3 | 2 | 5 | |||
| 5 |
Porsche
|
1 | 3 | 4th | |||
| 6th |
Mercedes Benz
|
1 | 1 | 2 |
literature
- Alain Bienvenu: Endurance. 50 ans d'histoire. Volume 2: 1964-1981. Éditions ETAI, Boulogne-Billancourt 2004, ISBN 2-7268-9327-9 .
- Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .
- Karl Ludvigsen: Ferrari vs. Maserati. Relentless motorsport rivals. Heel, Königswinter 2008, ISBN 978-3-86852-051-4 .
