1952 Belgian Grand Prix

1952 Belgian Grand Prix
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Race details
Date	22 June 1952
Official name	XIV Grote Prijs Van Belgie
Location	Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Belgium
Course	Grand Prix Circuit
Course length	14.12 km (8.774 miles)
Distance	36 laps, 508.320 km (315.864 miles)
Weather	Rain
Pole position
Driver	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari
Time	4:37.0
Fastest lap
Driver	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari
Time	4:54.0
Podium
First	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari
Second	Nino Farina	Ferrari
Third	Robert Manzon	Gordini
Lap leaders

The 1952 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 22 June 1952 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It was race 3 of 8 in the 1952 World Championship of Drivers, in which each Grand Prix was run to Formula Two rules rather than the Formula One regulations normally used.

Report

Maserati's new A6GCM was still not ready, and, to compound this, their lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio had suffered back injuries at the non-championship Monza Grand Prix. This meant that Ferrari were once again favoured for success in the race, with their driver lineup consisting of Alberto Ascari (in place of André Simon), Nino Farina and Piero Taruffi. There were also two privateer Ferrari entries: local driver Charles de Tornaco of Ecurie Francorchamps, and Louis Rosier. The Gordini team expanded their lineup to include Belgian driver Johnny Claes, alongside Behra, Manzon and Bira. American Robert O'Brien also drove a Simca-Gordini for this race. HWM also recruited a pair of Belgian drivers — Paul Frère and Roger Laurent — who raced alongside regular drivers Peter Collins and Lance Macklin. Stirling Moss switched from HWM to ERA for this race. A handful of other privateer entrants also took part, including future World Champion Mike Hawthorn, who made his debut in a Cooper-Bristol.

Ascari headed an all-Ferrari front row, with teammates Farina and Taruffi in second and third, respectively. The Gordinis of Manzon and Behra made up row two, while the third row consisted of Hawthorn, Ken Wharton (in a Frazer-Nash), and Frère, who was the highest qualifier of the five Belgian drivers on the grid.

Taruffi started badly in the rain, dropping to ninth by the end of the first lap, while Behra overhauled the two leading Ferraris to take the lead of the race. Moss also started well, before his car broke down halfway through the first lap. Behra's lead was short-lived, as both Ascari and Farina overtook him on the second lap, subsequently holding first and second for the remainder of the race. Behra dropped to fourth when the recovering Taruffi passed him on lap 13. On the following lap Taruffi spun at Malmédy and Behra hit him, causing both to retire. Manzon overtook Hawthorn to assume what was now third place. Despite suffering from fuel leakage problems, Hawthorn was able to maintain fourth place until the end of the race. His fellow debutant Paul Frère also finished in the points, in fifth.

Ascari's win (with fastest lap), and Taruffi's retirement, meant that the two now shared the lead of the Championship, on nine points each. Indianapolis 500 winner Troy Ruttman was in third, while Farina's second-place finish raised him to fourth in the standings, three points adrift of the joint Championship leaders.

Entries

No	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre
2	Nino Farina	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	Ferrari 500	Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4	P
4	Alberto Ascari		Ferrari	Ferrari 500	Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4	P
6	Piero Taruffi		Ferrari	Ferrari 500	Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4	P
8	Mike Hawthorn	Leslie D. Hawthorn	Cooper-Bristol	Cooper T20	Bristol BS1 2.0 L6	D
10	Alan Brown	Ecurie Richmond	Cooper-Bristol	Cooper T20	Bristol BS1 2.0 L6	D
12	Eric Brandon		Cooper-Bristol	Cooper T20	Bristol BS1 2.0 L6	D
14	Robert Manzon	Equipe Gordini	Gordini	Gordini T16	Gordini 20 2.0 L6	E
16	Jean Behra		Gordini	Gordini T16	Gordini 20 2.0 L6	E
18	Johnny Claes		Gordini	Gordini T16	Gordini 20 2.0 L6	E
20	Prince Bira		Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Gordini 1500 1.5 L4	E
22	Louis Rosier	Ecurie Rosier	Ferrari	Ferrari 500	Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4	D
24	Lance Macklin	HW Motors	HWM-Alta	HWM 52	Alta F2 2.0 L4	D
26	Peter Collins		HWM-Alta	HWM 52	Alta F2 2.0 L4	D
28	Paul Frère		HWM-Alta	HWM 52	Alta F2 2.0 L4	D
30	Roger Laurent		HWM-Alta	HWM 52	Alta F2 2.0 L4	D
32	Stirling Moss	English Racing Automobiles Ltd.	ERA-Bristol	ERA G	Bristol BS1 2.0 L6	D
34	Charles de Tornaco	Ecurie Francorchamps	Ferrari	Ferrari 500	Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4	E
36	Ken Wharton	Scuderia Franera	Frazer Nash-Bristol	Frazer Nash FN48	Bristol BS1 2.0 L6	D
38	Arthur Legat	Arthur Legat	Veritas	Veritas Meteor	Veritas 2.0 L6	E
40	Robin Montgomerie-Charrington	Robin Montgomerie-Charrington	Aston Butterworth	Aston NB41	Aston Butterworth F4 2.0 L6	D
42	Tony Gaze	Tony Gaze	HWM-Alta	HWM 51	Alta F2 2.0 L4	D
44	Robert O'Brien	Robert O'Brien	Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Gordini 1500 1.5 L4	E
Sources:

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	4	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	4:37.0	–
2	2	Nino Farina	Ferrari	4:40.0	+ 3.0
3	6	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari	4:46.0	+ 9.0
4	14	Robert Manzon	Gordini	4:52.0	+ 15.0
5	16	Jean Behra	Gordini	4:56.0	+ 19.0
6	8	Mike Hawthorn	Cooper-Bristol	4:58.0	+ 21.0
7	36	Ken Wharton	Frazer Nash-Bristol	5:01.0	+ 24.0
8	28	Paul Frère	HWM-Alta	5:05.0	+ 28.0
9	10	Alan Brown	Cooper-Bristol	5:07.0	+ 30.0
10	32	Stirling Moss	ERA-Bristol	5:07.6	+ 30.6
11	26	Peter Collins	HWM-Alta	5:09.0	+ 32.0
12	12	Eric Brandon	Cooper-Bristol	5:11.0	+ 34.0
13	34	Charles de Tornaco	Ferrari	5:14.5	+ 37.5
14	24	Lance Macklin	HWM-Alta	5:17.1	+ 40.1
15	40	Robin Montgomerie-Charrington	Aston Butterworth	5:19.3	+ 42.3
16	42	Tony Gaze	HWM-Alta	5:22.8	+ 45.8
17	22	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	5:25.7	+ 48.7
18	20	Prince Bira	Simca-Gordini-Gordini	5:28.4	+ 51.4
19	18	Johnny Claes	Gordini	5:31.1	+ 54.1
20	30	Roger Laurent	HWM-Alta	5:37.9	+ 60.9
21	38	Arthur Legat	Veritas	5:45.0	+ 68.0
22	44	Robert O'Brien	Simca-Gordini-Gordini	5:51.0	+ 74.0

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	4	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	36	3:03:46.3	1	91
2	2	Nino Farina	Ferrari	36	+1:55.2	2	6
3	14	Robert Manzon	Gordini	36	+4:28.4	4	4
4	8	Mike Hawthorn	Cooper-Bristol	35	+1 lap	6	3
5	28	Paul Frère	HWM-Alta	34	+2 laps	8	2
6	10	Alan Brown	Cooper-Bristol	34	+2 laps	9
7	34	Charles de Tornaco	Ferrari	33	+3 laps	13
8	18	Johnny Claes	Gordini	33	+3 laps	19
9	12	Eric Brandon	Cooper-Bristol	33	+3 laps	12
10	20	Prince Bira	Simca-Gordini-Gordini	32	+4 laps	18
11	24	Lance Macklin	HWM-Alta	32	+4 laps	14
12	30	Roger Laurent	HWM-Alta	32	+4 laps	20
13	38	Arthur Legat	Veritas	31	+5 laps	21
14	44	Robert O'Brien	Simca-Gordini-Gordini	30	+6 laps	22
15	42	Tony Gaze	HWM-Alta	30	+6 laps	16
Ret	40	Robin Montgomerie-Charrington	Aston Butterworth	17	Engine	15
Ret	6	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari	13	Accident	3
Ret	16	Jean Behra	Gordini	13	Accident	5
Ret	36	Ken Wharton	Frazer-Nash-Bristol	10	Spun off	7
Ret	22	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	6	Transmission	17
Ret	26	Peter Collins	HWM-Alta	3	Halfshaft	11
Ret	32	Stirling Moss	ERA-Bristol	0	Engine	10
Source:

Notes

• ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Piero Taruffi	9
41	2	Alberto Ascari	9
1	3	Troy Ruttman	8
26	4	Nino Farina	6
2	5	Rudi Fischer	6
Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship.