1955 RAC Tourist Trophy

The 1955 RAC Tourist Trophy took place on 18 September, on the roads around Dundrod, (County Antrim, Northern Ireland). It was also the fifth round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship, however it was the first championship race following the horrendous tragedy at Le Mans. It was also the Golden Jubilee year for the Tourist Trophy. Going into the race, Ferrari were leading the Manufacturers Championship by four points from Jaguar. Victory for the Italian marque would put them in a strong position to win a third successive title.

Report

Entry

A grand total of 64 racing cars were registered for this event, of which 55 arrived for practice and qualifying. Scuderia Ferrari entered a pair of Ferrari 857 Monzas for regulars Eugenio Castellotti and Piero Taruffi, and Umberto Maglioli and Maurice Trintignant, alongside a 750 Monza for the partnership of Olivier Gendebien and Masten Gregory. Their closest championship rivals, Jaguar, brought just one D-Type to Northern Ireland for Mike Hawthorn and Desmond Titterington. Hoping to keep the championship alive, Officine Alfieri Maserati sent two of their 300S and a A6GCS over. Amongst their line-up were Jean Behra and Luigi Musso.^[1]

From West Germany, Daimler-Benz AG entered three of their Mercedes-Benz 300SLRs to tackle the 7.41 mile circuit. The car were to be driven by Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling, Stirling Moss and John Fitch, and André Simon joined by team newcomer Wolfgang von Trips. With works entries also from the likes of Aston Martin and Porsche, an incredible fifteen manufactures were represented in the field.^[2][3]

Qualifying

In qualifying, the number 10 Mercedes-Benz of Moss and Fitch would emerge with the fastest lap, and would start from pole position. Alongside them was the Hawthorn/Titterington Jaguar. A Ferrari was in third place, driven by Gendebien and Gregory, followed by Fangio/Kling. The third Mercedes, of von Trips and Simon, would start the race from seventh.^[4]

Race

Following an accident in practice, the Ferrari 857 Monza of Gendebien and Gregory did not start.^[5]

A Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, similar to that driven by Moss/Fitch

The race was held over 84 laps of the 7.416 miles Dundrod Circuit, giving a distance of 622.936 miles. To make matter worse, the race started in warm conditions, but it would not remain dry. Despite this, the German marque would finish in the first three places.^[6]

As the flag dropped, it was Moss who would lead the incredible array of cars around the County Antrim countryside. As there was an obvious threat of rain, this motivated the drivers to push a little harder at the beginning of the race than normal for a seven-hour event. But with so many cars, on such a tight and dangerous circuit, racing at high speed, on par with Le Mans, the TT was balancing between safety and catastrophic danger. There was no margin for error. Mercedes driver John Fitch had already publicly criticized the safety of the Dundrod circuit.^[7]

While everyone was looking forward to a Mercedes/Jaguar duel, the Tourist Trophy would be marred by tragedy, within the first few laps of the lap. The Cooper-Climax T39 of Jim Mayers, who was sharing the car with Jack Brabham, would hit a concrete pillar and the car immediately burst into a ball of flame. Mayers would have been killed instantly. This explosion caught out the approaching William Smith, at the wheel of a Connaught AL/SR. Smith would plow straight into Mayers and would eventually perish just a little while later. After the event horrible events at Le Mans, two more death would only add to the numbness for many.^[8][9]

Meanwhile, Moss was strong right from the start, as was Hawthorn. Hawthorn would push his Jaguar D-Type as hard as he had when he won at Le Mans. He would set the fastest lap of the race, averaging a speed of nearly 95 mph.^[10]

With a lead of one and a half minutes, the right rear tyre on Moss’s 300 SLR began to throw its tread and tore through the rear-end bodywork. Incredibly, Moss managed to bring the car back to the pits, even with the damaged bodywork and shredded tyre. The mechanics set to work changing the tyre and pulling away some of the dangling bodywork. Having lost a lot of time, Moss and his co-driver, Fitch would drive flat-out in an effort to catch up with Hawthorn, and with it a shot at the win.^[11]

As the rain began to fall on the Irish countryside, the accidents would keep on coming. In the first two laps, a total of nine cars were eliminated due to accidents. Of course, two of those were fatal, but then on lap 35, Richard Manwaring would lose control of his Elva-Climax Mk I and crash off the track. As a result of this crash, a third driver would lose his life. It was clear that the cars of that day were out-pacing the roads upon which they were competing. Incredibly dangerous, the combination of fast cars and narrow lanes were still making for some entertaining action. And, despite the deaths, the crowd would remain, watching Hawthorn and Titterington trying the hold off Moss and Fitch.^[12]

Once the repairs had been made to the number 10 300SLR, Moss and Fitch would manage to bring the car up to second place overall behind the sole works Jaguar D-Type. Still, Hawthorn and Titterington would manage to hold off Mercedes off, turning some truly fast laps around the Dundrod circuit.^[13]

With the finish in sight, the Jaguar remained in the lead ahead of the Mercedes, despite everything that Moss and Fitch could do, the Jaguar was just too far out of reach. But, all of a sudden, Hawthorn would come to a screeching halt, just a few miles from the finish line. The Jaguar’s engine would seize leaving the Coventry marque without any hope of winning the race, or even finishing. Although slowed by the damage and weather conditions, Moss and Fitch had been unable to close down the gap enough to be able to challenge for the lead, it was clear that Mercedes were ‘gifted’ the race.

As a result, car number 10 (Daimler-Benz AG), took an impressive victory, winning in a time of 7hrs 03:11 mins., averaging a speed of 88.321 mph. The retirement of the Jaguar would lead to Mercedes being able to take a sweep of the top three positions. Second place went to Fangio, for the second year in a row, and Kling, one lap down. The podium was complete by the other 300SLR, that of von Trips and Simon, two laps adrift. Meanwhile, the Aston Martin DB3S of Peter Walker and Dennis Poore were the best of the English entrants, finishing in fourth place, with the best of the works-Maserati further behind in fifth.^[14][15][16]

One of the outstanding drives of the race, came from Peter Collins, who’s Aston Martin DB3S was left stranded at the start due to a seized starter motor. Once the mechanics got the engine started, a furious Collins set off after the pack, after what must have been an astonishing first lap, he had climbed up to 14th. By lap 31, Collins had caught and passed Fangio for third before handing the car over to Tony Brooks, who was only able to complete a few laps before the Aston’s engine expired.^[17]

Official Classification

Class Winners are in Bold text.

Pos	No	Class	Driver		Entrant	Chassis	Laps	Reason Out
1st	10	S3.0	Stirling Moss	John Fitch	Daimler-Benz AG	Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR	7hr 03:11, 84
2nd	9	S3.0	Juan Manuel Fangio	Karl Kling	Daimler-Benz AG	Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR	83
3rd	11	S3.0	Wolfgang von Trips	André Simon	Daimler-Benz AG	Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR	82
DNF	1	S5.0	Mike Hawthorn	Desmond Titterington	Jaguar Cars Ltd.	Jaguar D-Type	81	Engine
4th	18	S3.0	Peter Walker	Dennis Poore	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin DB3S	81
5th	15	S3.0	Luigi Musso	Franco Bordoni	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati 300S	79
6th	4	S3.0	Eugenio Castellotti	Piero Taruffi	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 875 Monza	79
7th	17	S3.0	Reg Parnell	Roy Salvadori	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin DB3S	78
8th	5	S3.0	Umberto Maglioli	Maurice Trintignant	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 875 Monza	79
9th	28	S1.5	Carroll Shelby	Masten Gregory	Huschke von Hanstein	Porsche 550 Spyder	75
10th	41	S1.1	Mike MacDowel	Ivor Bueb	Cooper Car Co.	Cooper-Climax T39	74
11th	46	S1.1	Colin Chapman	Cliff Allison	Lotus Cars Ltd.	Lotus-Climax Mark IX	74
12th	29	S1.5	Helmut Glöckler	Wolfgang Seidel	Porsche KG	Porsche 550 Spyder	74
13th	7	S3.0	Jacques Swaters	Johnny Claes	Equipe Nationale Belge	Ferrari 750 Monza	73
14th	19	S3.0	Raymond Flower	Mike Llewellyn	Raymond Flower	Austin-Healy 100S	71
15th	47	S1.1	Dick Steed	Peter Scott-Russell	Richard Steed	Lotus-Climax Mark IX	71
16th	30	S1.5	Richard von Frankenberg	Herbert Linge	Porsche KG	Porsche 550 Spyder	70
17th	50	S750	Paul Armagnac	Gérard Laureau	Ecurie Jeudy-Bonnet	D.B. HBR Panhard	70
18th	56	S2.0	André Loëns	Jo Bonnier	André Loëns	Maserati A6GCS	69
19th	49	S750	Louis Cornet	Claude Storez	Ecurie Jeudy-Bonnet	D.B. HBR Panhard	69
20th	35	S1.5	Jack Fairman	Peter Wilson	MG Car Co.	MG EX182	69
21st	23	S2.0	Wilbert Todd	Ian Titterington	Jasper B. Johnstone	Triumph TR2	68
22nd	21	S2.0	Bob Dickson	W. Ken Richardon	Robert Dickson	Triumph TR2 Prototype	67
23rd	26	S2.0	John Maurice Tew	Joe Kelly	J. Maurice Tew	Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica	66
24th	51	S750	Robert Mougin	Guillaume Mercader	Ecurie Jeudy-Bonnet	D.B. HBR Panhard	66
25th	27	S1.5	John Fisher	Ronnie Adams	Kieft Cars Ltd.	Kieft-Bristol	66
26th	37	S1.5	Berwyn Baxter	Max Trimble	Kieft Cars Ltd.	Kieft-BMC	65
DNF	14	S3.0	Jean Behra	Luigi Musso	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati 300S	63	Accident
NC	38	S1.5	John Coombs	Ian Burgess	Lotus Cars Ltd.	Lotus-Connaught Mark VIII	55
DNF	48	S1.1	Cecil Vard	Ken Rudd	Automobiles Fraser Nash Ltd.	DKW Sonderklasse	52	Engine
DNF	22	S2.0	Brian McCaldin	Charles Eyre-Maunsell	Jasper B. Johnstone	Triumph TR2	48	Unknown
DNF	3	S5.0	Peter Whitehead	Graham Whitehead	Peter Whitehead	Cooper-Jaguar T38	43	Chassis
DNF	16	S3.0	Peter Collins	Tony Brooks	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin DB3S	43	Con-rod bolt/Oil leak
DISQ	12	S3.0	Henri de Barry		Ecurie Côte d’Azure	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL	39	Poor driving/too slow
DNF	44	S1.1	Otway Plunkett	Alan Rippon	Kieft Cars Ltd.	Kieft-Climax 1100	38	Accident
DNF	45	S1.1	Robbie MacKenzie-Low	Richard Mainwaring	Elva	Elva-Climax Mk. I	34	Fatal accident (Mainwaring)
DNF	24	S2.0	Luigi Bellucci	Cecil Vard	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati A6GCS	31	Engine
DNF	55	S750	René Philippe Faure	Philippe Duval	Automobili Stanguellini	Stanguellini 750 Sport	29	Unknown
DNF	34	S1.5	Ron Flockhard	John Lockett	MG Car Co.	MG EX182	23	Engine
DNF	54	S750	Pierre Chancel	René Chancel	Pierre Chancel	Panhard X88	22	Gearbox
DNF	36	S1.5	Ted Lund	Dickie Stoop	David Brown	Aston Martin DB3S	15	Final drive
DNF	2	S1.5	Bob Berry	Ninian Sanderson	Jack Broadhurst	Jaguar D-Type	1	Accident
DNF	20	S750	Lance Macklin	John Dalton	John Dalton	Austin-Healey 100S	1	Accident
DNF	25	S1.5	Ken Wharton	Cecil Vard	Automobiles Fraser Nash Ltd.	Fraser Nash Le Mans Replica Mk.II	1	Accident
DNF	31	S1.5	Friedrich Kretschmann Raymond Flower	Ernie McMillen	Raymond Flower	Porsche 550 Spyder	1	Accident
DNF	39	S1.5	William Smith	John Young	Connaught	Connaught AL/SR	1	Fatal accident (Smith)
DNF	40	S1.5	Peter Jopp	Mike Anthony	Lotus Cars Ltd.	Lotus-Climax Mark IX	1	Accident
DNF	42	S1.1	Jim Russell	Dennis Taylor	Cooper Car Co	Cooper-Climax T39	1	Accident
DNF	43	S1.1	Jim Mayers	Jack Brabham	O’Shea Racing	Cooper-Climax T39	1	Fatal accident (Mayers)
DNS	6	S3.0	Olivier Genedebien	Masten Greogry	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 750 Monza		Accident in practice
DNS	8	S3.0	Jean Lucas	Alfonso de Portago	Ecurie Bullfrog	Ferrari 750 Monza

^[18][19][20]

• Fastest Lap: Mike Hawthorn, 4:42.000secs (94.671 mph) ^[21]

Class Winners

^[22]

Standings after the race

Pos	Championship	Points
1	Ferrari	19
2=	Jaguar	16
	Mercedes-Benz	16
4	Maserati	13
5	Aston Martin	9

• Note: Only the top five positions are included in this set of standings.

Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only awarded points for their highest finishing car with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. Only the best 4 results out of the 7 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the above table.

References