Difference between revisions of "1956 Scottish Grand Prix"

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1956 Scottish Grand Prix

Race 7 of 10 in the 1956 Alternate Formula One season
Date	September 30, 1956
Official Name	II Scottish Grand Prix
Location	Holyroodhouse Street Circuit, Edinburgh, Scotland
Course	Temporary street circuit 10.0541 km (6.2473 mi)
Distance	35 laps, 351.8935 km (218.6555 mi)
Weather	Rain
Pole Position
Driver	Jack Brabham	Gordini
Time	4:32.81
Fastest Lap
Driver	B. Bira	Lotus-B.C.M.A.
Time	4:56.84
Podium
First	Stirling Moss	O.S.C.A.
Second	B. Bira	Lotus-B.C.M.A.
Third	Desmond Titterington	Lancia

The 1956 Scottish Grand Prix was the seventh race of the 1956 Formula One World Championship and was held at the Holyroodhouse Street Circuit in Edinburgh on September 30th 1956. This race was the second and last Scottish Grand Prix held as part of the World Championship, and the only race held on the 10-kilometre layout of the circuit. Heavy rain and an unfamiliar and unsafe circuit lead to numerous severe accidents, two of which proved fatal and resulted in the deaths of Tony Brooks and Paco Godia. The race was won by Stirling Moss, the Englishman's first victory as well as that of O.S.C.A.. B. Bira finished second and scored the fastest lap for the second time of the season, while Desmond Titterington's third place gave him a three-point championship lead.

Background

The inaugural world championship Irish Grand Prix proved to be a success. Fears over track safety were ultimately unfounded, and while there were a few incidents leading to injuries, Bettehausen and Leston will have recovered by the start of next season. There was also a thrilling race at the front, with Stirling Moss leading at first, Peter Collins and Tony Brooks then taking the position, leading to a terrific (but ultimately unsuccessful) comeback drive from Moss. In the end, though, it was 24-year-old Tony Brooks who scored his maiden Grand Prix victory. In the championship, joint leaders Jack Brabham and Desmond Titterington both retired, leaving the title fight in a deadlock with four rounds remaining.

The seventh race out of this ten-race season is the third Scottish Grand Prix, and the second to be held both in Edinburgh and as a World Championship race. Last year, Robert Manzon won his fourth Grand Prix here. However, as he is injured, someone else must take the win, and the dominant Gordini is certainly the odds-on favourite to do so. 41 drivers will be competing this weekend.

• After skipping the Irish Grand Prix due to admin reasons, Ecurie Maghreb return to the paddock with André Guelfi behind the wheel of the O.S.C.A.
• Similarly, Scuderia Adriatica missed Wicklow due to a mix-up regarding the period of entries. Gerini and Serafini are back in Holyroodhouse, though.
• For the British rounds, despite heavy financial issues, Bruce Halford has managed to secure a free Bentley engine from Connaught to be used by local driver Paul Emery in the second car.
• Bristolian garage owner and regular non-championship contender Horace Gould has finally decided to make the jump to the World Championship, sourcing the unused Hernandez chassis and a spare Vanwall engine from Cathal Byrne's garden shed. Best of luck to him.
• Following the injury of Vanwall driver Les Leston, Tony Vandervell, rather than employing Cliff Allison once more, has resorted to hiring British Formula Three champion Jim Russell for the job.
• After a disappointing performance in Wicklow, Ecurie Ecosse founder David Murray decided to call it a day on his F1 career and instead hand the drive in Edinburgh to Scottish driver and sportscar ace Ninian Sanderson, who makes his Formula One début.
• Once again, O.S.C.A. have been affected by injuries, as Tony Bettenhausen was injured in his first race with the team. Faced with only one week to find a replacement, they managed to secure the services of Troy Ruttman, who, without any racing in America, happened to be attending the race weekend.
• Undoubtedly the big story this week is the arrival of the newly-announced Soviet GAZ, widely suspected to be a stolen Ferrari, to Edinburgh, to be driven by Vasiliy Kuznetzov, who finished fourth (and last) in Rostock. This entry is widely expected to be a failure, but the Soviet government have been bolstered by Kuznetzov's supposed performance, testing the waters before a rumoured full-time entry by Volga from next season.
• After a brief return in Wicklow, Reatherson have not appeared in Edinburgh, for unknown reasons.
• In one of the more surreal incidents in Formula One, Asso di Fiori have appeared to the paddock...in Wicklow. Evidently thinking the Irish Grand Prix was happening this weekend, they have therefore missed both Wicklow and Edinburgh. They won't be making that mistake again!

With 34 cars on the grid, 7 drivers will fail to qualify for this race. Like in Wicklow, the qualifying session will have drivers set multiple laps, with a maximum of ten.

Race weekend

Qualifying

Jack Brabham scores his fourth career pole position, while the front half of the grid doesn't have very many surprises. Troy Ruttman will start in the top 15 in his first race back in Formula One. Gilberte Thirion reaches new heights in the Hernandez, starting the race in 22nd place, while Hampshire, Gould and Emery set good times to make the grid from a good position. The two drivers who may have surprisingly failed to qualify are Roy Salvadori and Ninian Sanderson, both of them being unable to set representative lap times due to recurring technical issues.

Race

Collins led the rainy start and took advantage of the spray to pull away a short lead at the end of the first lap, ahead of Sanesi, González, Brabham and Titterington. But the race was soon to be marred by another heavy accident. On the second lap, Paco Godia attempted to pass Troy Ruttman in Holyroodhouse Park, but the American closed the door, surprised by a suddenly slowing Joe Flynn. The Ferrari driver lost control and span into the trackside trees, getting thrown from the car. Godia was taken to a nearby hospital, unconscious. Gilberte Thirion, who witnessed the accident, pulled into the pits, claiming a gearbox failure that the Hernandez mechanics would never find.

On lap 3, Colin Chapman misjudged a move on Ruttman and crashed close to where Godia did, and in a very similar fashion. He was also taken to hospital, though he was conscious. Simultaneously, Horace Gould span off, potentially from a puncture caused by debris. The race kept on getting worse when Tony Brooks span off trying to pass Hawthorn. He collided with a lamp post, and was also taken to hospital, unconscious. On that same lap, Maurice Trintignant crashed while trying to pass Flynn, and Stuart Lewis-Evans took out not one but both Adriatica cars. Eight retirements, three of them in serious accidents, and only four laps had been completed.

Eugenio Castellotti pulled into the pits at this point, citing steering issues. On lap 10, Volonterio retired with gearbox failure, closely followed by Reg Parnell, whose engine expired. On the following lap, an already tragic race for B.C.M.A. ended on an even deeper low, Peter Collins' engine expiring from the race lead and Mike Hawthorn spinning out. This left Consalvo Sanesi to take the race lead ahead of the hard-charging O.S.C.A.s of Moss and González. Sanesi soon cracked under pressure, and at the start of lap 12, he made a mistake, allowing Moss through into the race lead. Further back de Filippis ruined a fine drive in 13th place when she desperately tried to block Jo Bonnier, losing a wheel in the process. The car, now out of control, bounced back onto the racing line. Joe Flynn tried to avoid it, but his rear wheel tagged one of the O.S.C.A.'s wheels, pitching the Lancia into a roll. The car landed on its wheels and Flynn exited the wreck on his own, although in visible pain. At this point, the rain stopped.

But the water didn't disappear by any means. Redmond Gallagher followed his countryman onto the sidelines, spinning out under the bridge. Troy Ruttman's engine expired a bit later, leaving just half the field still racing. On lap 19, Brabham attempted to pass teammate Consalvo Sanesi, trying a move on the inside line, but Sanesi clipped Brabham's rear tyre, spinning the Australian into the trackside hay. David Hampshire subsequently pulled into the pits with an oil leak. On the very next lap, Jim Russell's promising début was ended when his engine failed out of eleventh position. Then, Sanesi's race ended when he span out trying to pass González, eliminating both front-running Gordinis in just two laps. This left a battle for second place involving Titterington and González, with Bira catching up. At this point, Tony Gaze crashed out at the slowest point of the circuit, while Stuart Lewis-Evans completed his hat trick by spinning Harry Schell out of the race. André Guelfi followed them on the sidelines soon thereafter, spinning out as well. Umberto Maglioli also retired, with a gearbox failure.

On lap 29, Bira pulled off a brilliant move to pass both González and Titterington and reach second place. Simultaneously, the gallant hard-trying Paul Emery pulled into the pits with a clutch failure, leaving only eight cars running. Crucially, this was reduced to seven when José Froilán González pulled into the pits with a steering failure. This left Moss in a comfortable lead, with a charging B. Bira in a nevertheless distant second. The order would no longer change, and Desmond Titterington finished the race in third place, taking the championship lead by three points from Moss. Duncan Hamilton finished fourth, having passed Juan Manuel Fangio with a handful of laps remaining. Jo Bonnier, sole remaining Gordini driver, finished sixth in the 1953 car, while Stuart Lewis-Evans finished seventh and last, not having made any friends throughout the race.

Classification

Entry list

No	Driver	Entrant	Chassis	Engine
1	Gilberte Thirion	Escuderia Hernandez	O.S.C.A. F156A	Hernandez H258/A 2.5 L8
2	André Guelfi	Écurie Maghreb	O.S.C.A. F156A	O.S.C.A. 156 1.5 L6s
3	Jack Fairman	Owen Racing Organisation	O.S.C.A. F156A	BRM P25 2.5 L4
4	Gerino Gerini	Scuderia Adriatica	Ferrari R560	Ferrari RS560 2.5 L4
5	Dorino Serafini		Ferrari R560	Ferrari RS560 2.5 L4
6	Desmond Titterington	Irish Racing Cars	Lancia D50	Lancia DS50 2.5 V8
7	Duncan Hamilton		Lancia D50	Lancia DS50 2.5 V8
8	Joe Flynn		Lancia D50	Lancia DS50 2.5 V8
9	Bruce Halford	Halford Auto Racing Team	Vanwall VW56	Bentley 16VL-1 3.0 V16
10	Paul Emery		Vanwall VW55	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4
11	Ron Flockhart	British Racing Motors	BRM P25	BRM P25 2.5 L4
n/a*	Paul Frère		AAC 555	AAC 555 2.5 L4
12	Jack Brabham	Alexander Racing Team-Gordini	Gordini Type 56	Gordini G258/A 2.5 L8
14	Eugenio Castellotti		Gordini Type 56	Gordini G258/A 2.5 L8
15	Consalvo Sanesi		Gordini Type 56	Gordini G258/A 2.5 L8
16	Redmond Gallagher		Gordini Type 56	Gordini G258/A 2.5 L8
17	Jo Bonnier		Gordini G-953	Gordini ART-004 3.0 V6
18	Horace Gould	Horace Gould	Hernandez Tipo 56	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4
19	Jim Russell	Vanwall	Vanwall VW56	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4
20	Ninian Sanderson	Ecurie Ecosse	Cooper T41	Climax FPF IV 2.0 L4
21	Juan Manuel Fangio	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari R560	Ferrari RS560 2.5 L4
22	Paco Godia		Ferrari R560	Ferrari RS560 2.5 L4
23	Tony Gaze		Ferrari R560	Ferrari RS560 2.5 L4
24	Umberto Maglioli		Ferrari R560	Ferrari RS560 2.5 L4
25	Reg Parnell	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T41	Climax FPF IV 2.0 L4
26	Harry Schell		Cooper T41	Maserati 56A 2.5 V8
27	Stuart Lewis-Evans	Connaught Engineering	Connaught Type B	Climax FPF IV 2.0 L4
28	Bob Gerard		Connaught Type B	Climax FPF IV 2.0 L4
29	B. Bira	Team Lotus	Lotus 10	B.C.M.A. A/AS Griffin 2.5 L6
30	Colin Chapman		Lotus 10	B.C.M.A. A/AS Griffin 2.5 L6
31	Maurice Trintignant		Lotus 10	B.C.M.A. A/AS Griffin 2.5 L6
32	Maria Teresa de Filippis	Brits Under No European Legislation	O.S.C.A. F154	Porsche 755 1.5 L4
33	Ottorino Volonterio	Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili	O.S.C.A. F156A	O.S.C.A. 1500S-56 1.5 L6s
34	Stirling Moss		O.S.C.A. F156A	O.S.C.A. 1500S-56 1.5 L6s
35	José Froilán González		O.S.C.A. F156A	O.S.C.A. 1500S-56 1.5 L6s
36	Troy Ruttman		O.S.C.A. F156A	O.S.C.A. 1500S-56 1.5 L6s
37	Vasiliy Kuznetzov	State Committee for Sports and Body Culture of USSR	GAZ OK01	GAZ M650 2.5 L4
38	Peter Collins	British Commonwealth Motorsport Association	B.C.M.A. C-01	B.C.M.A. A/AS Griffin 2.5 L6
39	Tony Brooks		B.C.M.A. C-01	B.C.M.A. A/AS Griffin 2.5 L6
40	Mike Hawthorn		B.C.M.A. C-01	B.C.M.A. A/AS Griffin 2.5 L6
41	David Hampshire	Hampshire Racing Alliance	Vanwall VW56	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4
42	Roy Salvadori		Vanwall VW56	O.S.C.A. 1500S-56 1.5 L6s

• Frère's entry was missed due to an administrative error.

Qualifying

Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Desmond Titterington	22
2	Stirling Moss	19
3	Jack Brabham	18
4	B. Bira	14
5	Consalvo Sanesi	13

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	O.S.C.A.	31
2	Gordini	29
3	Lancia	22
4	B.C.M.A.	18
5	Lotus-B.C.M.A.	17

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili	31
2	Alexander Racing Team-Gordini	29
3	Irish Racing Cars	22
4	British Commonwealth Motorsport Association	18
5	Team Lotus	17

• Only the top five positions are listed.