1955 Singapore Grand Prix
The 1955 Grand Prix de Rouen-les-Essarts was a non-championship Formula One race held at Rouen-les-Essarts on 9 April 1955. Ran concurrently with the 1955 Grand Prix de Rouen-les-Essarts, the race was the scene of the first F1 appearances by the B.C.M.A. and Escuderia Hernandez teams. Although Consalvo Sanesi was the fastest driver of the weekend in a Gordini, but a commanding performance in the race yielded a popular victory for Alberto Ascari, the first for the Phoenix team.
Race report
Ascari made a brilliant start, taking the race lead from Sanesi and Godia, while Karl Kling also made a great getaway, gaining three spots in the first lap. However, on the very next lap, Ascari put a wheel on the grass at the exit of turn one. He avoided a spin but lost a lot of speed and dropped to fourth place behind Godia, now leading, Sanesi and Serafini. Not one to be outdone, he took third place again on the next lap, but couldn't get past Sanesi. The complete débutants at Ambrosiana were already fifth and sixth, Carvalho leading Laurel. On lap 2, Claes' engine failed, as did Woods' transmission, leaving 18 drivers.
On lap 5, Schell passes Laurel and took sixth place again. Kling promptly retired from 15th place with a suspension failure. On the very next lap, Serafini began to quickly lose gears in his Alfa Romeo, preferring to retire from fourth place than continue with one gear. Further back, Poore, Maglioli, Moss and Loyer were involved in a spirited fight for eighth place. Ecclestone dropped back into the pack and the battle was now for seventh. On lap 12, Laurel passed Schell once more for fifth place, but on the very next lap, the American repassed the Filipino. On lap 14, Ascari caught and passed Consalvo Sanesi for second place behind the surprising Paco Godia, who was in a comfortable lead.
But not comfortable enough, as on lap 17, Ascari caught him and launched a desperate move, which worked, muscling through into the race lead for Phoenix. That same lap, Ecclestone made a similar move on Wharton for seventh place, then Umberto Maglioli passed an astonishing four different drivers in the space of a single lap. On lap 20, Castellotti's Porsche engine expired and Pat Moss span out on the oil it left behind. 14 drivers were left at the race's halfway point. Ascari led from Godia, Sanesi, Carvalho, Schell, Laurel, Ecclestone, Wharton, Maglioli, Poore, Loyer, Stillwell, Perdisa and Bucci. On the next lap, Sanesi finally passed teammate Godia for second place, and one lap later, Schell passed Carvalho for fourth place.
Godia's race didn't last much longer. On lap 26, his transmission gave up. He was in third place. This elevated Schell to that spot, with Carvalho and Laurel now fourth and fifth and Umberto Maglioli inheriting sixth place. Carvalho's engine then expired from fourth place, elevating Ken Wharton to the points. The midfield battle continued to rage, then on lap 38, three drivers retired simultaneously, Arsenio Laurel, gearbox seized, Bib Stillwell, blown engine and Cesare Perdisa, steering failure!
Ascari eventually scored Phoenix's first victory, albeit non-championship, while Sanesi came home second with the fastest lap. Schell was third for SAI ahead of Maglioli's B.C.M.A., Roger Loyer and Ken Wharton in the Reatherson Ferrari. After good performance early in the race, Dennis Poore eventually fell back behind Ecclestone's Mercedes, but he had shown the promise of the Vanwall.
