1949 BRDC International Trophy

The first BRDC International Trophy meeting, formally titled the Daily Express International Trophy, was held on 20 August 1949 at the Silverstone Circuit, England.[1] It was the first race meeting to only use the former airfield's perimeter roadways, rather than the main runways. The event was held over two heats of 20 laps and one final of 30 laps of the Grand Prix circuit. The final was won by Italian Alberto Ascari, who would go on to win the World Championship of Drivers twice. In addition to the main Formula One-regulation competition, the meeting also contained events for 500 cc racing cars and production cars.[2] The race meeting was attended by over 100,000 people, but was marred by the death of St. John Horsfall in an accident on the 13th lap of the final race.[3]

1949 BRDC International Trophy
Race details
Date 20 August 1949
Official name Daily Express International Trophy
Location Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.649 km (2.889 miles)
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Maserati
Time 1:56.0 (Heat 1)
1:55.0 (Heat 2)
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Ferrari
Third Ferrari

Results

edit

Final

edit
Pos Driver Chassis Time/Retired
1   Alberto Ascari Ferrari 125 59:42.6
2   Giuseppe Farina Maserati 4CLT/48 + 1.8 s
3   Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 125 + 36.4 s
4   Emmanuel de Graffenried Maserati 4CLT + 36.4 s
5   Peter Walker ERA E-type + 1:24.2
6   B. Bira Maserati 4CLT + 2:15.8
7   Bob Gerard ERA B-type + 1 lap
8   Fred Ashmore Maserati 4CLT + 1 lap
9   Cuth Harrison ERA B-type + 2 laps
10   Tony Rolt Alfa Romeo Aitken + 2 laps
11   David Hampshire ERA C-type + 2 laps
12   Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago T26C + 3 laps
13   Pierre Levegh Talbot-Lago T26C + 3 laps
14   Gordon Watson Alta 69 + 3 laps
15   Joe Fry Maserati 4CL + 3 laps
16   George Nixon ERA A-type + 3 laps
17   Roy Salvadori Maserati 4CL + 3 laps
18   David Murray Maserati 4CL + 4 laps
19   Joe Kelly Maserati 6CM + 4 laps
20   Geoffrey Crossley Alta GP + 4 laps
21   Geoff Richardson RRA + 9 laps
Ret   St John Horsfall ERA B-type Fatal accident

Heats

edit
Heat 1
Pos Driver Time/Retired
1   B. Bira 39:00.2
2   Alberto Ascari + 0.8 s
3   Reg Parnell + 43.8 s
4   Bob Gerard +1:56.2
5   Cuth Harrison + 1 lap
6   St John Horsfall + 1 lap
7   Philippe Étancelin + 1 lap
8   Joe Fry + 2 laps
9   Johnny Claes + 2 laps
10   David Murray + 2 laps
11   Anthony Baring + 2 laps
12   Geoffrey Crossley + 2 laps
13   Richard Habershon + 3 laps
14   Brian Shawe-Taylor + 9 laps
Ret   Peter Whitehead valve
Ret   Duncan Hamilton oil pipe
Ret   Graham Whitehead ?
Ret   Michael Chorlton oil pipe
Heat 2
Pos Driver Time/Retired
1   Giuseppe Farina 39:44.4
2   Luigi Villoresi + 5.2 s
3   Emmanuel de Graffenried + 27.6 s
4   Peter Walker +1:44.8
5   Roy Salvadori + 1 lap
6   Tony Rolt + 1 lap
7   Fred Ashmore + 1 lap
8   David Hampshire + 1 lap
9   Pierre Levegh + 1 lap
10   Geoff Richardson + 2 laps
11   Gordon Watson + 2 laps
12   George Nixon + 2 laps
13   Joe Kelly + 2 laps
14   Geoff Ansell + 2 laps
Ret   Leslie Brooke ?
Ret   John Gordon Oil pump
Ret   Louis Chiron Cylinder head gasket
DNS   Raymond Mays

References

edit

Citations

edit
  1. ^ "Motor Racing Gala at Silverstone". The Motor. 96 (2485): 3–4. 1949.
  2. ^ "Racing at Silverstone". The Austin Magazine. 22: 624–625. July 1949.
  3. ^ "In the World of Sport: Athletics, Car Racing, Golf and Angling". The Illustrated London News. Vol. 215, no. 5750–5762. August 27, 1949. p. 304.

Other sources

edit

Results and other data drawn from: