1955 Scottish Grand Prix

The 1955 Scottish Grand Prix was the fifth race of the 1955 Formula One World Championship and was held on the Holyroodhouse Street Circuit in Edinburgh on July 31st 1955. B.C.M.A. driver Tony Brooks and Irish Racing Cars man Desmond Titterington were the two fastest in qualifying, but both retired in accidents as Gordini's Robert Manzon recorded his fourth career victory. Scuderia Anglo-Italia took the remaining two podium spots.

Background

After the British Grand Prix, the championship race is still wide open, despite there being only three rounds remaining. It has been so unpredictable that the late Alberto Ascari is still leading the championship two races after his untimely death in a sportscar test in Monza.

It is rather fitting that the main news from these past two weeks are relevant to the fight for the championship. Scuderia Ferrari have recovered from their financial woes and will be competing in the final three races, while title contender Dries van der Lof and defending champion B. Bira was attacked outside their hotel in Northampton shortly after the race and were hospitalised with broken legs, missing the rest of the season. 49 drivers have turned up for the inaugural Scottish Grand Prix at the Holyroodhouse Street Circuit.

• Fueling rumours that Renzo was behind the Ferrari takeover, Dorino Serafini left Renzo between both races to rejoin the Ferrari team as fourth driver. Ramos stays in the Sicilian team alongside de Graffenried, who is replacing the injured Cesare Perdisa.

• With de Graffenried leaving Voeckler to replace Perdisa, he has been replaced by 1950 Le Mans winner and son of Louis, Jean-Louis Rosier, making his return to Grand Prix racing after an almost 5- year absence.

• Ferrari finally return to the paddock, having landed a few drivers from the rumoured connection with Renzo. Early in the year, they'd signed Parnell and Nello Pagani, but their new line-up includes Parnell, Troy Ruttman, Paco Godia and Dorino Serafini. Seeing the standings, they might still stand a chance at taking a title or three.

• After Swaters' accident and injury in Silverstone, Anglo-Italia have decided not to repair the car or replace Swaters, shrinking the operation to three cars for Moss, Whitehead and Gonzalez.

• Following Joe Kelly's unsuccessful fill-in at IRA, Reg Armstrong steps back into the car in Scotland.

• Reatherson Racing Development return to a single car for Scotland after failing to switch their originally entered and damaged 555 for a healthy car. Ken Wharton will be driving the car.

• Jaguar-Aston Martin Racing had to find two replacements for the rest of the season. They landed Indy 500 winner Bob Sweikert for Scotland and Italy, and a deal was all but signed with Alan Brown for the second car, yet it wasn't finalised before the race weekend. JAMR are therefore reduced to 3 cars this weekend.

• Scuderia Adriatica are skipping ahead to Monza after making their début in Silverstone.

• David Murray's Ecurie Ecosse is making its début this week. Murray has previously had a tenth place finish in Italy 1950 in a private entry and a thirteenth place in Germany 1951 for BRM. He returns this weekend in a Cooper-Jaguar.

• After some administrative mistakes by the team, Phoenix didn't appear in Silverstone, but they're back for Edinburgh, Wolfgang von Trips still driving.

Race weekend

Prequalifying

On comeback, all three Ferraris make the main session, as do both JAMR cars who had to prequalify. This left just three other spots. Armstrong took one in the ridiculously fast Lancia, with Marzotto and Schell taking the other two.

With those two big teams stuck in prequalifying, there would always be some disappointments, and they came from de Graffenried, Wharton, Simon and both Ambrosianas, who would usually easily make the cut.

More positively, Wolfgang von Trips does much better than he did in Spa, Anne Hall doesn't too too badly for once, David Murray isn't last in the Cooper-Jaguar, and Edgar Barth puts the van Hoff in front of an unprecedented four different cars.

Qualifying

Just two weeks after taking their first win in Silverstone, B.C.M.A. continue their leap forward with their first pole position in Edinburgh! It's the young Tony Brooks who takes it. At 23 years, 5 months and 5 days, he's the third-youngest pole sitter in F1 to date, behind Jimmy Davies and Stirling Moss.

Maria Teresa de Filippis surprises by making the short grid, while the Vanwalls and Hawthorn disappoint, although not as much as Ferrari. Despite all the Italian team's promise in prequalifying, Ruttman and Serafini failed to make the cut, and Parnell will start the race in dead last. At least Paco Godia is in a decent position. Sweikert, Jones and Marzotto were the other drivers who failed to qualify.

Race

At the start, Brooks and Titterington payed too much attention to each other, both of them losing time as Robert Manzon took the early lead. Brooks lost many positions on the second lap, with Brabham, Farina and Moss passing him. Moss kept gaining positions, taking third place on lap 3. On the following lap, he passed Titterington on the cobblestones and outbraked Manzon to take the lead in the final corner! Brooks clawed his way back up to fourth, while Manzon and Titterington fought over second place.

On lap 8, Brabham and Whitehead tangled over sixth position at Holyrood. Both were uninjured, but almost came to blows, in full view of the Queen! Two laps later, Manzon passed Titterington and Moss to take the lead once more. Titterington also fell behind Collins and Brooks, dropping to fifth place. At the back, Reg Parnell span his Ferrari out of second-last place while defending against Ramos. He promptly left his car and jumped into the North British Hotel to get a scotch. On the next lap, his teammate Godia tangled with Rubirosa, taking the Dominican out of the race. At this point, many battles were occurring up and down the field. A bit earlier, Stillwell's gearbox failed anonymously.

On lap 22, de Filippis' engine expired, and Ramos span on the resulting oil slick, leaving 15 drivers in the race. They were reduced to 14 two laps later when Sanesi overzealously defended his place from Gonzalez and took himself out of the race. At this point, only very fast cars were left, with a gigantic scrap going on between third place and last place. After a few laps, the fight had cleared up a bit, leaving Manzon with a sizeable lead over Moss and Gonzalez, with Titterington fourth, Bettenhausen fifth and Trintignant sixth.

At this point, contact was rife up and down the field, and it was only a matter of time before drivers started to take each other out again. On lap 44, Brooks and Trintignant were fighting for seventh place when the Frenchman pushed Brooks off the track. Gonzalez and Moss were trading second place at this point, slowly eating into Manzon's lead. Collins attempted to pass Gaze for seventh place on lap 63, which distracted the Australian enough to lead him into a mistake at Waterloo, leaving 12 cars in the race. Two thirds of the wat through, Manzon had a not unassailable lead on Gonzalez, Moss, Bettenhausen, Titterington, Maglioli, Collins, Armstrong, Trintignant, Schell, Godia and Farina.

By lap 70, Bettenhausen had caught Moss, but when making a move at Abbeyhill, he lost control of the Aston Martin and span into the stone wall by the side of the track. Maurice Trintignant soon followed his teammate into retirement with a clutch failure out of seventh place. Then, with eight laps remaining, Desmond Titterington span off into the straw bales when he was headed to a safe fourth position. This left Peter Collins in fourth place, ahead of Maglioli and Farina. This proved to be the last element of excitement in the race.

Robert Manzon won his fourth career Grand Prix, putting Gordini in the lead of both the entrants' and constructors' championships. Thanks to the entire field tripping over itself throughout the race, he was able to pull out extreme gaps to his pursuers. Gonzalez and Moss took an unprecedented 2-3 for Anglo-Italia, and were classified four and five laps behind respectively. Peter Collins finished fourth in the B.C.M.A., meaning that Alberto Ascari retained a posthumous lead in the drivers' championship with two rounds remaining. Maglioli scored his best F1 result with fifth place, with Farina scoring the final point after spending a significant portion of the race in last place. Schell was seventh, Armstrong eighth, Titterington classified ninth despite his retirement, and Paco Godia tenth and last on Ferrari's comeback, a full 14 laps down.

Classification

Entry list

No	Driver	Entrant	Chassis	Engine
2	Edgar Barth	Trod von Hoff Racing	Von Hoff TVHR100	O.S.C.A. 156s 1.5 L6s
4	Maria Teresa de Filippis	Maria Teresa de Filippis	O.S.C.A. F154	O.S.C.A. 156s 1.5 L6s
6	David Hampshire	Hampshire Racing Alliance	Bentley Speed 4	Bentley 16VL-1 3.0 V16
8	Roy Salvadori		Bentley Speed 4	Bentley 16VL-1 3.0 V16
10	Hernando da Silva Ramos	Officine Renzo	Alfa Romeo AR161	Alfa Romeo AR2V8 1.5 V8
12	Toulo de Graffenried		Alfa Romeo AR161	Alfa Romeo AR2V8 1.5 V8
14	Jean-Louis Rosier	Écurie Voeckler	Alfa Romeo AR161	Jaguar JFE-2 4.5 V12
16	Alfonso de Portago	Loyer Racing	Loyer LR101	Porsche 755 1.5 L4
18	Eugenio Castellotti	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 855	Porsche 755 1.5 L4
20	Jean Behra		Porsche 855	Porsche 755 1.5 L4
22	Porfirio Rubirosa	/ Alexander Racing Team-Gordini	Gordini G-953	Gordini ART-004 3.0 V6
24	Consalvo Sanesi		Gordini G-953	Gordini ART-004 3.0 V6
26	Robert Manzon		Gordini G-953	Gordini ART-004 3.0 V6
28	Roberto Mières	Escuderia Hernandez	Ferrari 555	FIAT 155 1.5 V8
30	Reg Parnell	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 555	Ferrari 555 2.5 L4
32	Troy Ruttman		Ferrari 555	Ferrari 555 2.5 L4
34	Paco Godia		Ferrari 555	Ferrari 555 2.5 L4
36	José Froilán González	/ Scuderia Anglo-Italia	O.S.C.A. F154	Bentley 16VL-1 3.0 V16
38	Peter Whitehead		Bentley Speed 4	O.S.C.A. 156s 1.5 L6s
40	Stirling Moss		Bentley Speed 4	O.S.C.A. 156s 1.5 L6s
42	Harry Schell	Geoff Richardson Racing	Bentley Speed 4	Bentley 16VL-1 3.0 V16
44	Desmond Titterington	Irish Racing Cars	Lancia D50	Lancia DS50 2.5 V8
46	Reg Armstrong		Lancia D50	Lancia DS50 2.5 V8
48	André Guelfi	Écurie Maghreb	Lancia D50	Lancia DS50 2.5 V8
50	Peter Collins	British Commonwealth Motorsport Association	B.C.M.A. C-01	B.C.M.A. A/AS Griffin 2.5 L6
52	Tony Brooks		B.C.M.A. C-01	B.C.M.A. A/AS Griffin 2.5 L6
54	Umberto Maglioli		B.C.M.A. C-01	B.C.M.A. A/AS Griffin 2.5 L6
56	Bib Stillwell	Tasman Racing Alliance	O.S.C.A. F154	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4
58	Ken Wharton	Reatherson Racing Developments	Ferrari 555	Ferrari 555 2.5 L4
60	Jack Brabham	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo AR161	Alfa Romeo AR2V8 1.5 V8
62	Giuseppe Farina		Alfa Romeo AR161	Alfa Romeo AR2V8 1.5 V8
64	Tony Gaze		Alfa Romeo AR161	Alfa Romeo AR2V8 1.5 V8
66	Mike Hawthorn	Vanwall	Vanwall VW55	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4
68	Dennis Poore		Vanwall VW55	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4
70	Giannino Marzotto	Maria Teresa de Filippis	O.S.C.A. F154	O.S.C.A. 156s 1.5 L6s
72	Anne Hall	BRUNEL	O.S.C.A. F154	Porsche 755 1.5 L4
74	Pat Moss		Bentley Speed 3	Bentley 163-1 3.0 V16
76	Tony Bettenhausen	Jaguar - Aston Martin Racing	Aston Martin AM-04	Jaguar JFE-2 4.5 V12
78	Bob Sweikert		Aston Martin AM-04	Jaguar JFE-2 4.5 V12
80	Maurice Trintignant		Aston Martin AM-04	Jaguar JFE-2 4.5 V12
82	Stan Jones	/ Balkan Leader	Alfa Romeo AR161	Balkan Lion F154 1.5 L4
84	Kenneth McAlpine	Owen Racing Organisation	Bentley Speed 4	Bentley 16VL-1 3.0 V16
86	Luigi Musso	Scuderia Ambrosiana	Ambrosiana A-004	Alfa Romeo ARV8 1.5 V8
88	Alberto Uria		Ambrosiana A-004	Alfa Romeo ARV8 1.5 V8
90	Karl Kling	Rennkollektiv EMW	Aston Martin AM-04	Jaguar JFE-2 4.5 V12
92	Dorino Serafini	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 555	Ferrari 555 2.5 L4
94	André Simon	Écurie Voeckler	Alfa Romeo AR161	Jaguar JFE-2 4.5 V12
96	David Murray	Ecurie Ecosse	Cooper T41	Jaguar JFE-2 4.5 V12
98	Wolfgang von Trips	Phoenix Racing Organisation	Phoenix PRO-4	O.S.C.A. 156s 1.5 L6s
n/a*	Lex Davison	Scuderia Australasia	Cooper T41	Jaguar JFE-2 4.5 V12

Prequalifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	34	Paco Godia	Ferrari	1:35.68	-
2	76	Tony Bettenhausen	Aston Martin-Jaguar	1:36.14	+ 0.46
3	46	Reg Armstrong	Lancia	1:37.26	+ 1.58
4	42	Harry Schell	Bentley	1:37.38	+ 1.70
5	32	Troy Ruttman	Ferrari	1:38.45	+ 2.77
6	78	Bob Sweikert	Aston Martin-Jaguar	1:38.50	+ 2.82
7	70	Giannino Marzotto	O.S.C.A.	1:38.88	+ 3.20
8	30	Reg Parnell	Ferrari	1:39.31	+ 3.63
9	12	Toulo de Graffenried	Alfa Romeo	1:39.39	+ 3.71
10	58	Ken Wharton	Ferrari	1:39.40	+ 3.72
11	28	Roberto Mières	Ferrari-FIAT	1:39.44	+ 3.76
12	94	André Simon	Alfa Romeo-Jaguar	1:39.68	+ 4.00
13	86	Luigi Musso	Ambrosiana-Alfa Romeo	1:39.85	+ 4.17
14	88	Alberto Uria	Ambrosiana-Alfa Romeo	1:39.97	+ 4.29
15	98	Wolfgang von Trips	Phoenix-O.S.C.A.	1:40.13	+ 4.45
16	14	Jean-Louis Rosier	Alfa Romeo-Jaguar	1:40.40	+ 4.72
17	72	Anne Hall	O.S.C.A.-Porsche	1:41.22	+ 5.54
18	48	André Guelfi	Lancia	1:41.38	+ 5.70
19	18	Eugenio Castellotti	Porsche	1:41.46	+ 5.78
20	90	Karl Kling	Aston Martin-Jaguar	1:41.47	+ 5.79
21	84	Kenneth McAlpine	Bentley	1:41.62	+ 5.94
22	16	Alfonso de Portago	Loyer-Porsche	1:41.81	+ 6.13
23	2	Edgar Barth	Von Hoff-O.S.C.A.	1:41.95	+ 6.27
24	8	Roy Salvadori	Bentley	1:42.42	+ 6.74
25	96	David Murray	Cooper-Jaguar	1:43.07	+ 7.39
26	20	Jean Behra	Porsche	1:43.08	+ 7.40
27	74	Pat Moss	Bentley	1:43.69	+ 8.01

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	52	Tony Brooks	B.C.M.A.	1:34.61	-
2	44	Desmond Titterington	Lancia	1:34.84	+ 0.23
3	26	Robert Manzon	Gordini	1:35.06	+ 0.45
4	62	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	1:35.43	+ 0.82
5	60	Jack Brabham	Alfa Romeo	1:35.79	+ 1.18
6	50	Peter Collins	B.C.M.A.	1:36.02	+ 1.41
7	38	Peter Whitehead	Bentley-O.S.C.A.	1:36.17	+ 1.56
8	40	Stirling Moss	Bentley-O.S.C.A.	1:36.23	+ 1.62
9	76	Tony Bettenhausen	Aston Martin-Jaguar	1:36.53	+ 1.92
10	64	Tony Gaze	Alfa Romeo	1:36.64	+ 2.03
11	46	Reg Armstrong	Lancia	1:36.79	+ 2.18
12	34	Paco Godia	Ferrari	1:36.93	+ 2.32
13	22	Porfirio Rubirosa	Gordini	1:37.04	+ 2.43
14	36	José Froilán González	O.S.C.A.-Bentley	1:37.06	+ 2.45
15	80	Maurice Trintignant	Aston Martin-Jaguar	1:37.11	+ 2.50
16	54	Umberto Maglioli	B.C.M.A.	1:37.27	+ 2.66
17	24	Consalvo Sanesi	Gordini	1:37.35	+ 2.74
18	4	Maria Teresa de Filippis	O.S.C.A.	1:37.37	+ 2.76
19	56	Bib Stillwell	O.S.C.A.-Vanwall	1:37.38	+ 2.77
20	10	Hernando da Silva Ramos	Alfa Romeo	1:37.44	+ 2.83
21	42	Harry Schell	Bentley	1:37.76	+ 3.15
22	30	Reg Parnell	Ferrari	1:38.81	+ 4.20
23	92	Dorino Serafini	Ferrari	1:38.83	+ 4.22
24	32	Troy Ruttman	Ferrari	1:38.91	+ 4.30
25	78	Bob Sweikert	Aston Martin-Jaguar	1:39.15	+ 4.54
26	68	Dennis Poore	Vanwall	1:39.44	+ 4.83
27	82	Stan Jones	Alfa Romeo-Balkan Lion	1:39.49	+ 4.88
28	70	Giannino Marzotto	O.S.C.A.	1:39.80	+ 5.19
29	6	David Hampshire	Bentley	1:39.90	+ 5.29
30	66	Mike Hawthorn	Vanwall	1:40.25	+ 5.64

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	26	Robert Manzon	Gordini	101	2:52:05.23	3	9
2	36	José Froilán González	O.S.C.A.-Bentley	97	+ 4 laps	14	6
3	40	Stirling Moss	Bentley-O.S.C.A.	96	+ 5 laps	8	4
4	50	Peter Collins	B.C.M.A.	93	+ 8 laps	6	3
5	54	Umberto Maglioli	B.C.M.A.	90	+ 11 laps	16	2
6	62	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	90	+ 11 laps	4	1
7	42	Harry Schell	Bentley	90	+ 11 laps	21
8	46	Reg Armstrong	Lancia	89	+ 12 laps	11
9	44	Desmond Titterington	Lancia	88	Accident	2
10	34	Paco Godia	Ferrari	87	+ 14 laps	12
Ret	80	Maurice Trintignant	Aston Martin-Jaguar	78	Clutch	15
Ret	76	Tony Bettenhausen	Aston Martin-Jaguar	66	Accident	9
Ret	64	Tony Gaze	Alfa Romeo	59	Spin	10
Ret	52	Tony Brooks	B.C.M.A.	40	Collision	1
Ret	24	Consalvo Sanesi	Gordini	23	Spin	17
Ret	4	Maria Teresa de Filippis	O.S.C.A.	21	Engine	18
Ret	10	Hernando da Silva Ramos	Alfa Romeo	20	Alfa Romeo	20
Ret	22	Porfirio Rubirosa	Gordini	12	Collision	13
Ret	30	Reg Parnell	Ferrari	11	Spin	22
Ret	56	Bib Stillwell	O.S.C.A.-Vanwall	9	Gearbox	19
Ret	60	Jack Brabham	Alfa Romeo	7	Collision	5
Ret	38	Peter Whitehead	Bentley-O.S.C.A.	7	Collision	7
DNQ	92	Dorino Serafini	Ferrari
DNQ	32	Troy Ruttman	Ferrari
DNQ	78	Bob Sweikert	Aston Martin-Jaguar
DNQ	68	Dennis Poore	Vanwall
DNQ	82	Stan Jones	Alfa Romeo-Balkan Lion
DNQ	70	Giannino Marzotto	O.S.C.A.
DNQ	6	David Hampshire	Bentley
DNQ	66	Mike Hawthorn	Vanwall
DNPQ	12	Toulo de Graffenried	Alfa Romeo
DNPQ	58	Ken Wharton	Ferrari
DNPQ	28	Roberto Mières	Ferrari-FIAT
DNPQ	94	André Simon	Alfa Romeo-Jaguar
DNPQ	86	Luigi Musso	Ambrosiana-Alfa Romeo
DNPQ	88	Alberto Uria	Ambrosiana-Alfa Romeo
DNPQ	98	Wolfgang von Trips	Phoenix-O.S.C.A.
DNPQ	14	Jean-Louis Rosier	Alfa Romeo-Jaguar
DNPQ	72	Anne Hall	O.S.C.A.-Porsche
DNPQ	48	André Guelfi	Lancia
DNPQ	18	Eugenio Castellotti	Porsche
DNPQ	90	Karl Kling	Aston Martin-Jaguar
DNPQ	84	Kenneth McAlpine	Bentley
DNPQ	16	Alfonso de Portago	Loyer-Porsche
DNPQ	2	Edgar Barth	Von Hoff-O.S.C.A.
DNPQ	8	Roy Salvadori	Bentley
DNPQ	96	David Murray	Cooper-Jaguar
DNPQ	20	Jean Behra	Porsche
DNPQ	74	Pat Moss	Bentley
DNA		Lex Davison	Cooper-Jaguar		Contract dispute

Notes

Drivers

• First and only pole for Tony Brooks.
• First podium for Stirling Moss.
• First start for Reg Armstrong.
• Final entry for Pat Moss.

Constructors

• First pole for B.C.M.A..
• Final podium for the Bentley engine.
• Final entry for Von Hoff.

Entrants

• First pole for B.C.M.A..
• First entry for Ecurie Ecosse.
• Final entry for Trod von Hoff Racing and Scuderia Australasia.

Lap leaders

• Robert Manzon: 95 laps (1-3, 10-101)
• Stirling Moss: 6 laps (4-9)

Records broken

Drivers

• Most career entries: Maurice Trintignant (46)

Constructors

• Most total starts: Ferrari (224)
• Most races started: Alfa Romeo (48)
• Most races entered: Ferrari, Alfa Romeo (48)

Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Alberto Ascari	13
2	Peter Collins	12
3	Robert Manzon	10
4	Desmond Titterington	10
5	Tony Brooks	10

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Gordini	21
2	B.C.M.A.	18
3	Alfa Romeo	17
4	Phoenix-O.S.C.A.	13
5	Lancia	10

Pos	Driver	Points
1	/ Alexander Racing Team-Gordini	21
2	British Commonwealth Motorsport Association	18
3	Phoenix Racing Organisation	13
4	Alfa Romeo SpA	10
5	Irish Racing Cars	10

• Only the top five positions are listed.

Previous race: 1955 British Grand Prix	Alternate Formula 1 World Championship 1955 Season	Next race: 1955 Soviet Grand Prix
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