Sports car world championship 1957

Ferrari 290MM

Maserati 450S

The 1957 World Sports Car Championship was the fifth season of this championship. It began on January 20 and ended on November 3, 1957.

championship

Almost twenty kilometers lie between the sports car manufacturer Maserati, founded in 1914, and Enzo Ferrari's company , which was only ten years old in 1957 , the great competitor of the 1957 World Championship. The engineers of both racing teams pushed the development of the racing vehicles to the technological limits possible at the time.

The 290MM , which had already been successful in 1956, was used at Scuderia Ferrari . The 290S and two four-camshaft wonder cars - 315S and 335S - were driven for this. The 335S was the most powerful and fastest Ferrari sports car to date. The racing car reached a top speed of 305 km / h. A value that was only surpassed by the 330P3 ten years later. However, the 330P3 was a prototype 150 kg lighter with a 420 hp V12 engine, while the unit in the 335S only made 390 hp. Louis Klemantaski - the photographer was like Peter Collins's co-driver at the Mille Miglia in 1957 - about the 335S: Its pace was so much faster than anything I'd experienced before. The impression of advancing in second and third gear was unforgettable. The pressure in my back when accelerating in the gears, the centrifugal forces that acted on me in the corners soon became very exhausting, not to mention that we were constantly jolted by the chassis .

The Maserati 450S was not much less powerful . Similar to the Ferrari models, the 450S was regarded as a hard-to-drive, almost brutal vehicle that was difficult to tame when it was fully powered. The 400 hp engine ensured a top speed of around 300 km / h. The Maserati team management therefore only allowed the most experienced factory drivers to take the wheel and was very hesitant when handing the cars over to private teams.

The racing season started on January 20th with the 1000 km race in Buenos Aires . The first argument between the two Italian sports car manufacturers ended with a win for Ferrari. Masten Gregory , Eugenio Castellotti and Luigi Musso won in a Ferrari 290 MM Spider Scaglietti registered by the American Scuderia Temple Buell in front of the factory Maserati 300S from Jean Behra , Carlos Menditéguy and Stirling Moss . When 12-hour race at Sebring then won the first Maserati and the Mille Miglia that the fatal accident de Alfonso Portago was overshadowed his co-driver and nine bystanders, again Ferrari.

The 1000 km race at the Nürburgring showed that not only Ferrari and Maserati cars were at the start in the world championship. Tony Brooks and Noel Cunningham-Reid triumphed in the overall standings on a plant - Aston Martin DBR1 / 300 . In Le Mans , the Scottish Ecurie Ecosse was successful and the race in Sweden again Maserati.

The decision was made at the last race of the season in Caracas where all Maseratis retired and Peter Collins and Phil Hill won the race and championship for Ferrari.

Racing calendar

No.	date	Race name / circuit	team	Overall winner	vehicle	championship
1	January 20th	1000km race of Buenos Aires ( Circuito de la Costanera Norte )	Scuderia Temple Buell	Masts Gregory Eugenio Castellotti Luigi Musso	Ferrari 290MM Spider Scaglietti	Brands
2	March 23	Sebring 12-hour race ( Sebring International Raceway )	Maserati Factory	Jean Behra Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati 450S	Brands
3	May 11-12	Mille Miglia (Brescia - Rome - Brescia)	Scuderia Ferrari	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari 315 Sport	Brands
4th	May 26	1000 km race on the Nürburgring ( Nürburgring )	David Brown	Tony Brooks Noël Cunningham-Reid	Aston Martin DBR1 / 300	Brands
5	June 22-23	24 Hours of Le Mans ( Circuit des 24 Heures )	Ecurie Ecosse	Ron Flockhart Ivor Bueb	Jaguar D-Type	Brands
6th	August 11th	1000km Kristianstad ( Råbelövsbanan ) race	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Jean Behra Stirling Moss	Maserati 450S	Brands
7th	November 3rd	Caracas 1000km race (Caracas)	Equipo Ferrari	Peter Collins Phil Hill	Ferrari 335 Sport	Brands

Brand world championship for designers

Overall rating

position	constructor	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	total
1	Ferrari	8th	(3)	8th	6th	(2)	(6)	8th	30th
2	Maserati	6th	8th	3	(2)		8th	(1)	25th
3	jaguar	3	4th			8th	2		17th
4th	Aston Martin				8th				8th
5	Porsche			2	3			2	7th
6th	OSCA	1							1

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 .

Web links

Commons : World Sports Car Championship 1957  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Results of the 1957 World Sports Car Championship

Individual evidence

1. ^ Karl Ludvigsen: Ferrari vs. Maserati. Relentless motorsport rivals. Heel, Königswinter 2008, ISBN 978-3-86852-051-4 , p. 205.