1951 Belgian A1 Grand Prix

The 1951 Belgian A1 Grand Prix was the eighth round of the 1951 season.

Qualifying

Pos	No.	Driver	Time	Gap
1	2	Juan Manuel Fangio	2:41.255	Leader
2	7	Hans Stuck	2:41.646	+0.391
3	22	Juan Jover	2:41.829	+0.574
4	15	Robert Nelleman	2:41.868	+0.613
5	1	Luigi Villoresi	2:41.890	+0.635
6	28	David Murray	2:42.207	+0.952
7	9	B. Bira	2:42.250	+0.995
8	8	Stirling Moss	2:42.264	+1.009
9	20	Jack Tutton	2:42.292	+1.037
10	11	Tony Gaze	2:42.292	+1.037
11	24	Hal Robson	2:42.305	+1.050
12	10	Joe Kelly	2:42.359	+1.104
13	13	Porfirio Rubirosa	2:42.367	+1.112
14	25	S.P.J. Keinänen	2:42.427	+1.172
15	16	Paul Greifzu	2:42.437	+1.182
16	4	Toulo de Graffenried	2:42.497	+1.242
17	3	André Simon	2:42.557	+1.302
18	14	Jaroslav Netušil	2:42.625	+1.370
19	12	Dries van der Lof	2:42.645	+1.390
20	34	Fernando Mascarenhas	2:42.657	+1.402
21	23	Desmond Titterington	2:42.808	+1.553
22	5	Louis Chiron	2:42.870	+1.615
23	21	Charles Headland	2:42.919	+1.664
24	26	Eitel Cantoni	2:42.976	+1.721
25	35	Antonio Asturias Hall	2:43.129	+1.974
26	17	Johnnie Parsons	2:43.280	+2.025
27	6	Gino Bianco	2:43.946	+2.691
28	27	Erik Lundgren	2:44.265	+3.010
29	18	Johnny Claes	2:44.583	+3.328
30	30	Mikhail Metelev	2:44.848	+3.593
31	31	Gabriele Herrera	2:45.811	+4.556
32	32	Lopez Chávez	2:46.421	+5.166
33	33	Luis Asteñgo Albizuri	2:48.896	+7.641
34	19	Ernest Geering	2:48.968	+7.713
35	29	Attilio Cagnasso	2:49.838	+8.583
36	36	Raúl Jaras	No Time

Race

Fangio lead the first stint but a bad first pit stop then damaging his car put him out of contention. Stuck lead the middle portion and looked a lock for victory till mechanical problems struck, putting him a lap down. Murray would have been the beneficiary had he not needlessly tripped over Metelev who had to start the race a lap down.

This left Gaze and Robson battling for the win with Robson taking the lead with two to go when Gaze briefly ran off the track. Meaning that Canada took a surprise maiden victory!

Two injuries, first was Antonio Asturias Hall who suffered a fractured right ankle after the first lap pile up. He will be unable to race at Monza.

Then, Luigi Villoresi suffered a large crash on lap three at Blanchemont, when he struck the barrier and flipped his car several times. Similar to Barth's fatal crash last time out, the Italian's car was launched high into the air but fortunately he landed upright and managed to get away with a fractured vertebra. He will be out for the rest of the season.

Despite his misfortunes, Fangio finished fourth and extended Argentina's lead to 39 points over England, the only other nation still in the championship hunt. Therefore Argentina only need a top five to secure the title at Monza.

Race Classification

Pos	Grid	No.	Driver	Laps	Behind	Points
1	11	24	Hal Robson	28	1:29:36.331	25
2	10	11	Tony Gaze	28	+2.365	20
3	6	28	David Murray	28	+1:25.074	16
4	1	2	Juan Manuel Fangio	27	+1 lap	13
5	2	7	Hans Stuck	27	+1 lap	11
6	22	5	Louis Chiron	26	+2 laps	10
7	17	3	André Simon	26	+2 laps	9
8	30	30	Mikhail Metelev	26	+2 laps	8
Ret	13	13	Porfirio Rubirosa	18	Engine
Ret	9	20	Jack Tutton	16	Accident
Ret	8	8	Stirling Moss	15	Piston
Ret	12	10	Joe Kelly	12	Collision Damage, Keinänen
Ret	14	25	S.P.J. Keinänen	11	Collision, Kelly
Ret	7	9	B. Bira	9	Accident
Ret	4	15	Robert Nelleman	3	Accident
Ret	5	1	Luigi Villoresi	2	Accident
Ret	3	22	Juan Jover	1	Engine
Ret	16	4	Toulo de Graffenried	1	Collision Damage
Ret	21	23	Desmond Titterington	1	Collision Damage
Ret	20	34	Fernando Mascarenhas	1	Collision Damage
Ret	15	16	Paul Greifzu	1	Collision Damage
Ret	19	12	Dries van der Lof	1	Collision Damage
Ret	18	14	Jaroslav Netušil	1	Collision Damage
Ret	24	26	Eitel Cantoni	0	Collision, Headland, Hall
Ret	23	21	Charles Headland	0	Collision, Cantoni, Hall
Ret	26	17	Johnnie Parsons	0	Collision, de Graffenried
Ret	25	35	Antonio Asturias Hall	0	Collision, Headland, Cantoni
Ret	28	27	Erik Lundgren	0	Collision, Chavez
Ret	32	32	Lopez Chávez	0	Collision, Netusil, Lundgren
Ret	27	6	Gino Bianco	0	Collision, Claes, Hall, Geering
Ret	34	19	Ernest Geering	0	Collison, Hall, Claes, Bianco
Ret	29	18	Johnny Claes	0	Collision, Hall, Geering, Bianco
Ret	36	36	Raúl Jaras	0	Collison, Herrera
Ret	31	31	Gabriele Herrera	0	Collision, Jaras
Ret	33	33	Luis Asteñgo Albizuri	0	Collision, Hall
Ret	35	29	Attilio Cagnasso	0	Accident

Penalty Report

No.	Driver	Lap	Penalty	Reason
14	Jaroslav Netušil	1	3 points	Causing an avoidable collision with cars 3 and 4.
26	Eitel Cantoni	1	5 points	Causing injury via avoidable collision with cars 21 and 35.
33	Luis Asteñgo Albizuri	1	3 points	Causing accident by failing to yield during yellow flag.
28	David Murray	9	2 points	Causing an avoidable collision with car 30.
10	Joe Kelly	11	3 points	Causing an avoidable collision with car 25.

Reject of the Race

ROTR - Eitel Cantoni. Idiotic move on Headland at the start takes out many cars.