1956 Italian Grand Prix

The 1956 Italian Grand Prix was the ninth race of the 1956 Formula One World Championship and was held in Monza on October 28th 1956. Jack Brabham started from pole position and had the opportunity to secure his second world championship over Desmond Titterington, but both retired from the race and ensured the fight would continue to the season-ending 1956 Thai Grand Prix. Instead, Mike Hawthorn scored his first and only career victory in the B.C.M.A., his only points that season, in a photo finish ahead of Ottorino Volonterio and José Froilán González's O.S.C.A. duo who finished less than a second behind. Stirling Moss finished fourth, keeping himself in the title fight as well.

Background

In Silverstone, Jack Brabham took advantage of an uncharacteristic mistake from Desmond Titterington to win his third race of the season and take the championship lead, despite a very tough challenge by the very surprising Umberto Maglioli. With two races remaining, he now has a decisive advantage in the title race, with only five other drivers able to take the title away from the defending champion.

The Australian has a five-point lead over Desmond Titterington, eight points over Stirling Moss, 11 over Bira, 14 over Sanesi and 17 over Collins. Brabham can seal the title in Monza like he did last year, but his rivals won't make it easy for him. Speaking of rivals, he'll have 42 of them here, as 43 men and women have arrived in Monza to compete this weekend.

• After skipping the British Grand Prix, Federico Hernandez and Gilberte Thirion are back in Monza, hoping to take advantage of the large grid to score a good result.
• Despite the horrendous début in Germany, DB have not been deterred and have arrived in Italy. With Thirion now driving for Hernandez, René Bonnet has taken matters into his own hands, deciding to drive the car himself.
• Redmond Gallagher has been benched by Gordini after tricking the team and the race organisers into believing he was fit to drive, resulting in his disqualification from the British Grand Prix. As a result, only four cars have been entered by the leading French team, for Brabham, Sanesi, Castellotti and Bonnier.
• Following a string of disappointing performances, Juan Manuel Fangio has been demoted from the Ferrari squad in a straight swap with Reatherson's Giulio Cabianca, who will make his first appearance for a top team.
• The new Scuderia Guastalla outfit, after honing their craft in sportscars and non-championship races, make their first championship appearance here in Monza. With regular driver Gerino Gerini contracted by Adriatica, the team have instead hired rookies Piero Scotti and Giorgio Becucci to drive the ex-Ferrari machinery.
• BRM planned to enter Luigi Piotti as third driver alongside Frère and Flockhart. However, they did not realise he was unavailable, and will once again have to cancel one of their entries.
• Robert Manzon has finally recovered from his early-season accident, and as this is the home race for O.S.C.A., he will join Volonterio, Moss, González and Ruttman in an exceptional five-car team.
• Unhappy at not finding a drive anywhere for his home race, Cesare Perdisa decided to scrape some money together and rent an old Ferrari to enter under his own name.
• Independent constructor Arzani-Volpini make their first foray into the world championship. Unable to bring their own car, they've also decided to rent an old AAC, which will be driven by the aforementioned Luigi Piotti.
• Thanks to their partnership with Cooper, BRUNEL have secured a Cooper-Climax combination to enter into this race, still driven by de Filippis.
• With travel costs mounting, Irish Racing Cars have downsized their operation to two cars for Titterington and Hamilton, with the third car loaned to Scuderia Centro Sud.
• Centro Sud, returning to the scene for their home race, will enter the experienced pairing of Jean Behra and Luigi Musso in an O.S.C.A. and the IRC Lancia respectively.
• After deliberately missing the British rounds for financial reasons, Maserati will attend their home race, on their last legs, hoping for a good result against all odds.
• 47-year-old German sportscar driver Helm Glöckler has decided to persuade old collaborators Equipe Anglaise to enter a customer Cooper-Climax for this race, figuring that he might as well give it a go.
• Similarly, the perennially underrated 42-year-old Elie Bayol, whose only F1 experience amounts to a DNPQ at the '54 French Grand Prix, has decided to give F1 one last go before calling it quits, driving the old Gordini driven by Gallagher in Silverstone.
• Local Italian sportscar driver Berardo Taraschi will also be making his début, following up on some non-championship results that aren't extremely encouraging. He'll be driving an odd O.S.C.A.-AAC combination.

With 43 entries and 34 spots on the grid, there will be no prequalifying session, but 9 drivers will fail to make the grid.

Race weekend

Qualifying

Considering the huge buffer of privateers entering, there aren't any real surprises regarding the drivers failing to make the grid, but it's still a rare occasiona when the likes of Guelfi, Salvadori, Behra, Bianchi or Gerini make a race grid. While Brabham takes his sixth career pole position, Mike Hawthorn and Stirling Moss surprise the crowd by completing the front row. Brabham is now in a perfect position to seal a second world title as Desmond Titterington is stranded in elventh place.

Race

From the very beginning, it was clear that this would be a race of attrition, as Fangio and Guelfi's clutches failed on the grid. Moss got the best start and led the first lap from Bira, Brabham, Volonterio, Hawthorn and Gaze, whose terrific start gained him seven positions. Gordini's day was ended in a weird incident in which Sanesi, Bonnier and Castellotti all pulled into the pits with overheating issues, apparently caused by fallen leaves entering the cars! On lap 4, Robert Manzon's engine caught fire in spectacular fashion on the front straight, prompting Duncan Hamilton to spin out on the oil, reducing the field to 27 drivers. On the fifth lap, Brabham took the lead from Moss, retaking the upper hand in the title fight just as Stuart Lewis-Evans retired from the race with another engine failure.

A fight for the lead developed between Brabham, Hawthorn, Volonterio and Moss, with Titterington catching up and Gaze just behind. On lap 10, another string of retirements occurred, with Gregory suffering from similar heat issues to the Gordinis, Jim Russell from a gearbox failure and Gilberte Thirion from an oil leak. On lap 14, though, the entire course of the race (and indeed the championship) changed, as Jack Brabham's front-right suspension snapped at Lesmo, temporarily leaving an O.S.C.A. 1-2-3, Volonterio leading González and Moss, with Hawthorn in fourth place. Tony Gaze, in contention for points, pulled up by the trackside with a clutch failure.

Volonterio kept the lead as González, Hawthorn and Moss fought over second place. Hawthorn won that fight and began to attack Volonterio's lead. Further back, Bira's transmission failed, as did Gerini's gearbox. Hawthorn took the lead on lap 24. That same lap, Davison and de Filippis also retired due to leaf-based overheating, while Dorino Serafini had a serious accident, spinning at Curva Grande and getting pitched into a barrell-roll. He was thrown out of the car and was taken to hospital, conscious. On the next lap, Bianchi retired, having run out of fuel due to a leak.

Crucially for the championship race, Titterington's engine failed on lap 26, leaving Moss as the only credible contender still in the running, in fifth position. Salvadori also retired with a puncture. Cabianca's gearbox failed on the following lap, leaving just 12 drivers in the race. They were reduced to ten as Collins and Maglioli had simultaneous engine failures just five laps from the end! Hawthorn, despite his best defensive efforts, capitulated to Volonterio and González with two laps remaining, but managed to get a good run in the final lap. He powered past González at the exit of the oval section and passed Volonterio at Lesmo. Volonterio got a tow and retook the lead on the run to Vialone, but Hawthorn then got the slipstream. He positioned his car expertly in the Parabolica, getting the better exit and barely edging Volonterio to take his first F1 victory.

Volonterio held on for his second podium, with González third. Moss came fourth to keep his championship hopes theoretically alive. Troy Ruttman, in a safe fifth position, had a stupid spin on the final lap, but was still classified in fifth. Luigi Musso was free to come home in sixth position to score the first point for Scuderia Centro Sud. Marimón, Hampshire, Behra and Perdisa completed the finishers.

Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Jack Brabham	27
2	Desmond Titterington	22
3	Stirling Moss	22
4	B. Bira	16
5	Consalvo Sanesi	13

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Gordini	38
2	O.S.C.A.	37
3	B.C.M.A.	31
4	Lancia	26
5	Lotus-B.C.M.A.	19

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Alexander Racing Team-Gordini	38
2	Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili	37
3	British Commonwealth Motorsport Association	31
4	Irish Racing Cars	26
5	Team Lotus	19

• Only the top five positions are listed.

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