1954 Pau Grand Prix
The 1954 Pau Grand Prix was a non-championship Formula One race, held at the Circuit de Pau on April 26, 1954. Like the Syracuse Grand Prix held concurrently, it was noted for a large amount of accidents, which would presage the high quantity of wrecks over the following three seasons of Formula 1. The race was won by eventual 1954 champion B. Bira.
Race report
From the front row, Manzon got the best start and led the first lap from Bira and Collins, while Ecclestone and Anne Hall made the best overall starts. Collins was clearly lacking pace and was already down in seventh position by the end of the second lap. Gonzalez and Ecclestone were third and fourth at that point, followed by Dries van der Lof. On lap 5, Brabham and Chiron tangled for seventh place and both of them retired on the spot. Meanwhile, Roger Laurent was climbing up the standings from 11th on the grid, up to fifth place by lap 6.
On the following lap, Gonzalez took the lead at the first corner with a brilliant move on Bira, while Wojciechowski retired with a blown engine out of 16th place. Dries van der Lof also came to life, passing both Laurent and Ecclestone in the same brilliant move, followed by Fitch, who took advantage of the "hole" created by the Dutchman. A couple of laps later, Robert Manzon took second place from Bira, while Hermann Roosdorp retired from last place with a gearbox failure, having occupied last place for the entire race. At the same time, Mieres retired while defending from Loyer and Herrmann also span out while trying to pass Vukovich, leaving 14 drivers. On the very next lap, the field was reduced to 13 when Bernie Ecclestone lost control of his Mercedes at Lycée while trying to pass Roger Laurent on the outside, and to 12 when Geoff Richardson punted Paco Godia out of 11th place!
On the very next lap, the crash-fest continued as Peter Collins threw his Gordini into the wall while attempting to overtake Anne Hall... But meanwhile, Dries van der Lof consecutively passes Robert Manzon and Gonzalez to take the race lead. Bira also passed Manzon for third place on lap 15. On the following lap, Manzon passed Bira again while Gonzalez took the lead from van der Lof, who took it back on lap 18. On the next lap, the Argentine took the lead again while Bira passed Manzon for third place. Van der Lof continued to trade the lead with Gonzalez from then on until lap 23, when Bira passed both of them in one fell swoop. On the next lap, Anne Hall nerfed Roger Laurent out of sixth position, leaving just ten drivers with 50 laps still to go...
On lap 31, Manzon passed Gonzalez for third place. On the following lap, the field was reduced to 9 as Adolfo Schwelm-Cruz threw his car off the road. Manzon and Gonzalez nearly did the same a lap later, but twas little more than a brush. Then, Dries van der Lof once again took the lead from Bira! Meanwhile, the remaining spec car drivers were having a nice scrap until Geoff Richardson left the track in a big way, leaving just 8 drivers on track. On lap 38, Bira took the lead once again, showing some of the fire that made him World Champion two years ago. Five laps later, Gonzalez passed Manzon for third place and van der Lof took the lead again on the following lap.
The Dutchman and the Siamese prince would continue to swap the lead. On lap 52, John Fitch span off at the Chicane, reducing the field to just seven drivers. By lap 56, Bira was well in the lead, and while van der Lof was close, he just couldn't find a way through. Just behind, Robert Manzon finally found a way past Gonzalez on lap 60, and the Argentine tried too hard to make it through again, spinning off on the next lap, ending a great performance by an embarrassing event. The positions stayed pretty much the same from then on. On lap 68, Bill Vukovich finally caught and passed Roger Loyer after spending the better part of the race in last place, before having an engine failure on the very next lap. Manzon attempted to catch van der Lof, but came a lap short. Anne Hall and Roger Loyer were the remaining finishers.
Classification
Entry list
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Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 |  Peter Collins
|
Gordini | 1:34.24 | - |
| 2 | 2 |  Maurice Trintignant
|
Aston Martin-Jaguar | 1:34.64 | + 0.40 |
| 3 | 30 |  B. Bira
|
Aston Martin-Jaguar | 1:34.95 | + 0.71 |
| 4 | 26 | Robert Manzon
|
Gordini | 1:35.38 | + 1.14 |
| 5 | 4 |  Dries van der Lof
|
Aston Martin-Jaguar | 1:35.96 | + 1.72 |
| 6 | 14 |  José Froilán González
|
O.S.C.A. | 1:37.18 | + 2.94 |
| 7 | 8 |  Jack Brabham
|
Ferrari | 1:37.36 | + 4.19 |
| 8 | 22 |  Louis Chiron
|
Leader-O.S.C.A. | 1:39.20 | + 4.96 |
| 9 | 16 | Bernie Ecclestone
|
Mercedes | 1:40.37 | + 6.13 |
| 10 | 20 |  John Fitch
|
Leader-Jaguar | 1:41.03 | + 6.79 |
| 11 | 32 | Roberto Mieres
|
Aston Martin-Jaguar | 1:41.26 | + 7.02 |
| 12 | 18 |  Roger Laurent
|
Maserati | 1:41.44 | + 7.20 |
| 13 | 10 | Anne Hall
|
Bentley | 1:41.92 | + 7.68 |
| 14 | 6 |  Hans Herrmann
|
EMW-Mercedes | 1:42.32 | + 8.08 |
| 15 | 56 |  Paco Godia
|
HWM-Alta | 1:42.49 | + 8.25 |
| 16 | 60 | Adolfo Schwelm-Cruz
|
HWM-Alta | 1:42.51 | + 8.27 |
| 17 | 56 | Duncan Hamilton
|
HWM-Alta | 1:42.65 | + 8.41 |
| 18 | 50 | Bill Vukovich
|
HWM-Alta | 1:42.77 | + 8.53 |
| 19 | 48 | Vladimir Wojciechowski
|
HWM-Alta | 1:43.24 | + 9.00 |
| 20 | 40 | Roger Loyer
|
HWM-Alta | 1:43.33 | + 9.09 |
| 21 | 36 | Geoff Richardson
|
HWM-Alta | 1:43.41 | + 9.17 |
| 22 | 44 | Herman Roosdorp
|
HWM-Alta | 1:43.51 | + 9.27 |
| 23 | 58 | Juan Jover
|
HWM-Alta | 1:43.54 | + 9.30 |
| 24 | 52 | Simone des Forest
|
HWM-Alta | 1:43.99 | + 9.75 |
| 25 | 34 |  Ottorino Volonterio
|
HWM-Alta | 1:44.05 | + 9.81 |
| 26 | 42 | Alan Brown
|
HWM-Alta | 1:44.09 | + 9.85 |
| 27 | 46 | Dennis Poore
|
HWM-Alta | 1:44.13 | + 9.89 |
| 28 | 54 |  Francesco Severi
|
HWM-Alta | 1:44.94 | + 10.70 |
| 29 | 12 | Ron Flockhart
|
Maserati | No time | - |
| 30 | 24 | Stan Jones
|
Alfa Romeo-Balkan Lion | No time | - |
