OldRacingCars.com

Belgian Grand Prix

Spa-Francorchamps, 19 Jun 1949

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Louis Rosier Talbot T26C [110 001] 6
#24 Écurie Rosier (see note 1)
35 3h 15'17.7
96.88 mph
2 Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 125 [12C] - s/c V12
#2 Scuderia Ferrari (see note 2)
35 3h 16'06.8
3 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 125 [08C] - s/c V12
#4 Scuderia Ferrari (see note 3)
35 3h 19'28.4
4 Peter Whitehead Ferrari 125 [10C] - s/c V12
#6 P N Whitehead (see note 4)
35 3h 20'35.6
5 Johnny Claes Talbot T26C [110 011] 6
#28 Écurie Belge (see note 5)
34
6 Fred Ashmore Maserati 4CLT-48 [1593] - s/c 4
#14 R Parnell (see note 6)
33
7 Geoffrey Crossley Alta GP [No 2] - s/c 4
#18 G Crossley (see note 7)
30
R Benedicto Campos Maserati 4CLT-48 [1600] - s/c 4
#10 Automovil Club Argentino (see note 8)
21 oil-pump
R Philippe Étancelin Talbot T26C [110 008] 6
#20 P Étancelin (see note 9)
19 gearbox
R Guy Mairesse Talbot T26C [110 002] 6
#26 Écurie France (see note 10)
16 accident
R Pierre Bouillin ("Levegh") Talbot T26C [110 005] 6
#22 P "Levegh" (see note 11)
11 mechanical
R Giuseppe Farina Maserati 4CLT-48 [1602] - s/c 4
#12 G Farina (see note 12)
9 accident
R Reg Parnell Maserati 4CLT-48 [1596] - s/c 4
#16 R Parnell (see note 13)
6 gearbox
R Juan Manuel Fangio Maserati 4CLT-48 [1599] - s/c 4
#8 Automovil Club Argentino (see note 14)
1 piston

All cars are 1.5-litre s/c F1 or 4.5-litre F1 unless noted.

Qualifying
1 Luigi Villoresi (4.5 F1) 1.5-litre Ferrari 125 [12C] - Ferrari s/c V12
2 Juan Manuel Fangio (4.5 F1) 1.5-litre Maserati 4CLT-48 [1599] - Maserati s/c 4
3 Philippe Étancelin (4.5 F1) 4.5-litre Talbot T26C [110 008] - Talbot 6
4 Giuseppe Farina (4.5 F1) 1.5-litre Maserati 4CLT-48 [1602] - Maserati s/c 4
5 Peter Whitehead (4.5 F1) 1.5-litre Ferrari 125 [10C] - Ferrari s/c V12
6 Benedicto Campos (4.5 F1) 1.5-litre Maserati 4CLT-48 [1600] - Maserati s/c 4
7 Louis Rosier (4.5 F1) 4.5-litre Talbot T26C [110 001] - Talbot 6
8 Alberto Ascari (4.5 F1) 1.5-litre Ferrari 125 [08C] - Ferrari s/c V12
9 Fred Ashmore (4.5 F1) 1.5-litre Maserati 4CLT-48 [1593] - Maserati s/c 4
10 Pierre Bouillin ("Levegh") (4.5 F1) 4.5-litre Talbot T26C [110 005] - Talbot 6
11 Guy Mairesse (4.5 F1) 4.5-litre Talbot T26C [110 002] - Talbot 6
12 Johnny Claes (4.5 F1) 4.5-litre Talbot T26C [110 011] - Talbot 6
13 Geoffrey Crossley (4.5 F1) 1.5-litre Alta GP [No 2] - Alta s/c 4
14 Reg Parnell (4.5 F1) 1.5-litre Maserati 4CLT-48 [1596] - Maserati s/c 4

Notes on the cars:

  1. Talbot T26C [110 001] (Louis Rosier): Talbot-Lago T26C chassis '110 001' was raced by Louis Rosier from 1948 to 1950 and then under the Ecurie Rosier banner by Pozzi in 1950; by Henri Louveau and Louis Chiron in 1951; and by Giraud-Cabantous, Chaboud and Mairesse in 1952. It was acquired by the Musée Henri Malatre at Rochetaillé, France, in 1956 and was still on display in 1990.
  2. Ferrari 125 [12C] (Luigi Villoresi): One of two works 125s built for the start of 1949, 12C was also used as a F2 car early in the season. It may be the car used by Sommer in 1950 but as it had been rebodied, it is not possibly to identify. It may be the car renumbered #0104 and sold to Peter Staechelin for 1951.
  3. Ferrari 125 [08C] (Alberto Ascari): This 125 was built for the 1949 season and first appeared as a F2. It was rebodied for 1950 and is therefore hard to identify but may be car raced by Dorino Serafini in 1950. It may then be the car that appeared in Argentina early 1952, possibly renumbered 0108.
  4. Ferrari 125 [10C] (Peter Whitehead): Peter Whitehead bought 10C new for 1949 and used it through 1949 and 1950 before buying a newer ex-works 125. This car was raced by Dobson in 1951 and later sold to David Murray. Whitehead later bought a 1949/50 LWB Tipo 125 renumbered 0114; it is this latter car that spent many years in the Donington Collection.
  5. Talbot T26C [110 011] (Johnny Claes): Talbot-Lago T26C chassis '110 011' was Johnny Claes car in 1948-50 and then sold to Duncan Hamilton (and Fotheringham-Parker) and raced 1951-53. Stored in France until 1955 when Hamilton sold it to Allan Freeman in New Zealand who raced it through to 1961. It was bought by Joe Hepworth in 1963 and returned to England; then via other UK and French owners until sold to Bernie Ecclestone 1996. Retained 2002.
  6. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1593] (Fred Ashmore): Shown in Maserati records as Alberto Ascari's early 1948 car. To Reg Parnell 1949 for Fred Ashmore then raced in 1950 by David Hampshire and others as part of Scuderia Ambrosiana. Then David Murray's car for 1951. Crashed in practice at the Nürburgring for the 1951 German GP and not seen again.
  7. Alta GP [No 2] (Geoffrey Crossley): This car was built for Geoffrey Crossley and raced until 1951. Then broken up to create a special. (Source: Directory of Historic Racing Cars, Jenkinson)
  8. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1600] (Benedicto Campos): Built in 1949 for Automovil Club Argentina and raced by under the ACA's "Scuderia Achille Varzi" banner Malusardi and Benedicto Campos. Raced in 1950 by Jose Froilan Gonzalez and then 1950-52 by other ACA drivers in South America. Reportedly to Venezuela then via US, Japanese and further US owners to 1996. Owned by Jean-Louis Duret from 1996. Retained 2000.
  9. Talbot T26C [110 008] (Philippe Étancelin): Talbot-Lago T26C chassis '110 008' was Philippe Etancelin's car in 1948 and then passed to Jean Achard November 1950. Achard moved to Brazil, taking the car, and sold it there to Pinheiro Pires who raced it in Brazil from 1951 to 1954. Remains to UK via Colin Crabbe in the 1980s and then via other UK owners to Tony Bianchi c1999. Has been raced in historics up to 2005.
  10. Talbot T26C [110 002] (Guy Mairesse): Talbot-Lago T26C chassis '110 002' was raced by 'Raph' and Eugene Chaboud in 1948 and Paul Vallee and Guy Mairesse in 1950. Owned by Mairesse 1950-51; also raced by Giraud-Cabantous 1950; by Jean Blanc and Levegh 1952; and by Etancelin in 1953. In late 1953, Vallee sold the car to Doug Whiteford in Australia to replace his existing chassis '110 007'. Whiteford was surprised to discover that he'd bought an earlier model and it was 1955 before the car raced in Australia. It was sold to Ralph Snodgrass in 1956 but crashed badly at Mt Druitt in 1957. Snodgrass retained the car until 1980 when it was sold to Reg Hunt who restored it for historic events. Retained by Hunt until sold to Ron Towney in 2006.
  11. Talbot T26C [110 005] (Pierre Bouillin ("Levegh")): Talbot-Lago T26C chassis '110 005' was raced by 'Levegh' from 1948 to 1951 and by Grignard once in 1951. Retained by the works until it was sold to Otto Zipper in the US in 1957. Then to the Briggs Cunningham museum via two other US owners to Tony Wang 1988.
  12. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1602] (Giuseppe Farina): Maserati records show this car going to Nino Farina on 15 Jun 1949. Raced by Farina in 1949 and used as a spare car in 1950 Argentine Temporada series. Note that the 1602 chassis plate appears to have been used on 1609.
  13. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1596] (Reg Parnell): Maserati records list this as Reg Parnell's car dated 14 Sep 1948. Raced by Parnell from 1949 to 1951, under the Scuderia Ambrosiana banner in 1950 and 1951, also by Hampshire in 1951. Sold or leased to Bobby Baird mid-1951 and then sometime after 1952 sold to Count Johnny Lurani. Lurani sold it in 1955 to Pat Hoare in New Zealand where it raced until the mid-1960s and then spent many years in the Queenstown Motor Museum. It was sold in 1982 and returned to Europe in 1989. Sold at auction a number of times in the late 1980s and 1990s. Owned by Max Lustenberger (Switzerland) from 1999. Retained 2004.
  14. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1599] (Juan Manuel Fangio): Built in 1949 for Automovil Club Argentina and under the ACA's "Scuderia Achille Varzi" banner raced by Fangio and others. Raced occasionally in Europe 1950 by Fangio then to South America 1950-52 for various ACA drivers. A car with this number discovered in Argentina in 2002. Owned by Daniel Sielecki (Argentina) 2002.

Formula 1 events 1948-1953

The results published here were compiled by David McKinney and Adam Ferrington from a range of sources including Autocourse, Motor Sport and Autosport, as well as the F1 Register's A Record of Grand Prix and Voiturette Racing Volume 5 covering 1950 and 1951. Individual car identities were then meticulously checked against their enormous libraries of books and photographs, notably Talbot-Lago de Course by Pierre Abeillon, Les Gordini by Robert Jarraud, Gordini – Un Sorcier, Une Equipe by Christian Huet and The History of English Racing Automobiles by David Weguelin.

David has also contributed extensively from his notes on car identities compiled over 40 years of research, Michael Müller has contributed immaculately researched histories of all the 1948-1950 Ferrari 125s, and Doug Nye, both through his books and his personal assistance on HWM, has also been of great help.

Please note that since David's sad death in 2014, Adam and Allen have agreed that these pages will remain unaltered from now on, as a lasting testimony to David's expertise.