1946 Turin Grand Prix
Race details
Date 1 September 1946
Official name III Gran Premio del Valentino
Location Valentino Park
Turin, Italy
Course Street circuit
Course length 4.489 km (2.789 miles)
Distance 60 laps, 269.926 km (167.724 miles)
Weather Light rain from lap 30, turning to heavy rain before the finish[1]
Pole position
Driver Alfa Romeo
Time 2:18.6
Fastest lap
Driver France Jean-Pierre Wimille Alfa Romeo
Time 2:22.1
Podium
First Alfa Romeo
Second Alfa Romeo
Third Maserati
Second place finisher Jean-Pierre Wimille in front of winner Achille Varzi

The 1946 Turin Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Valentino Park on 1 September 1946. It is claimed to be the first ever Formula One race, as the race regulations anticipated the official introduction of the new formula on 1 January 1947.

The race was attended by 120,000-200,000 spectators.[1][2]

Technical regulations

The race was ran to the 1947 Grand Prix Formula technical regulations, which allowed for either 1500cc supercharged engines or 4500cc naturally-aspirated engines.[3] The regulations, while not in force, had been proposed by the Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI) as late as March 1946[4] and was approved by the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR) on 24 June 1946, in the same meeting that officially changed their name to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).[5] These regulations would remain unchanged throughout the inaugural season of the Formula One World Championship in 1950.

It was widely regarded by contemporary sources that the race would be a test of the new regulations.[3] All the cars that qualified for the race met the 1500cc supercharged specification except for Eugène Chaboud's Delahaye, which ran a 3500cc naturally-aspirated engine in the 4500cc class.[1]

Race report

Background

The 1946 Turin Grand Prix was the first Grand Prix to be held in Italy in the post-war era. Given the recentness of the Second World War, the vast majority of the cars on the grid were pre-war voiturette-class racing cars. With the absence of the German manufacturers that dominated the pre-war Grand Prix circuit, the field was instead dominated by the rivalry between fellow Italian manufacturers Alfa Romeo and Maserati.[1]

The Grand Prix was also the motor racing debut of Turin-based Cisitalia, who, despite not qualifying for the race itself, would go on to win the accompanying Coppa Brezzi at the same venue the following Tuesday, with founder Piero Dusio behind the wheel.[6]

Race

Almost instantly after the start of the race, polesitter Farina experienced an irreparable transmission failure, while Whitehead managed to get into the lead before problems with his supercharger led to him dropping down the order. This left the Alfas to break away from the pack. Maserati's challenge was not aided by team leader Nuvolari, who, seeming to be suffering from suspension problems from the start, lost one of his rear wheels on lap 10. Thankfully, he managed to bring the car to a stop without further incident, though the wheel itself ended up in the Po. The race, typical for the time, was one of high attrition; half of the field had retired by the mid-point when the rain began.[1] In the end, the front-runners consisted of Wimille in first and Varzi in second, but still in hot pursuit. It seemed as though Wimille would be able to keep the lead until the end of the race, until lap 50 when the Alfa Romeo team held out a pit board for Wimille reading "1. Varzi; 2. Wimille", dictating the desired finishing order. Wimille then allowed Varzi past to give him the victory.[7][8] Sommer crossed the line two laps down to take third, and the crowd was very impressed with Chaboud's drive, having started last and finishing fourth, albeit five laps down to the leaders.[1]

While Maserati would go on to win the majority of Grands Prix in 1946, the dominance of Alfa Romeo under the new formula regulations would prove itself consistent as the team would go on to dominate the following years, ultimately resulting in their car winning the first two seasons of the Formula One Championship in an equally dominant fashion.

Classification

Qualifying

Qualifying took place over the course of the two practice sessions on 30-31 August 1946. Due to a deal with Lotteria della Solidarietà Nazionale, in which 20 lottery tickets would be issued, with the accompanying winning driver earning the ticket-holder the jackpot of one million Lira, the 20 fastest drivers would qualify for the race.[3]

Pos No Driver Team Car Time
1 8 Italy Giuseppe Farina Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 158 2:18.6
2 52 France Jean-Pierre Wimille Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 158 2:19.0
3 54 Italy Carlo Felice Trossi Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 158 2:20.6
4 46 Italy Achille Varzi Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 158 2:20.8
5 22 Italy Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 158 2:22.4
6 48 Italy Tazio Nuvolari Private entry Maserati 4CL 2:24.6
7 68 Monaco Louis Chiron Private entry Maserati 4CL 2:28.2
8 16 Italy Giorgio Pelassa Private entry Maserati 4CL 2:28.8
9 24 France Raymond Sommer Private entry Maserati 4CL 2:29.6
10 58 Italy Franco Cortese Private entry Maserati 4CL 2:30.6
11 28 Italy Arialdo Ruggieri Private entry Maserati 4CL 2:30.8
12 40 Switzerland Enrico Platé Scuderia Enrico Platé Maserati 4CL 2:31.4
13 42 United Kingdom Reg Parnell Private entry ERA C 2:31.8
14 44 Italy Ferdinando Barbieri Private entry Maserati 4CL 2:33.2
15 50 United Kingdom Peter Whitehead Private entry ERA E 2:34.2
16 36 France Henri Louveau Scuderia Automovilistica Milan Maserati 4CL 2:35.0
17 4 Italy Discoride Lanza Private entry Maserati 4CM 2:36.6
18 64 Italy Emilio Romano Private entry Maserati 4CL 2:36.6
19 18 United Kingdom Leslie Brooke ERA ERA B 2:38.2
20 10 France Eugène Chaboud Ecurie France Delahaye 135S 2:39.2
DNQ 2 France "Raph" Ecurie Naphtra Course Maserati 4CL 2:39.4
DNQ 56 Switzerland Ciro Basadonna Private entry Maserati 4CL 2:44.2
DNQ 34 Italy Piero Dusio Compagnia Industriale Sportiva Italia Cisitalia D46 2:45.4
DNQ 6 United States Harry Schell Ecurie Lucy O'Reilly Schell Maserati 6CM 2:46.8
DNQ Italy Piero Taruffi Compagnia Industriale Sportiva Italia Cisitalia D46 2:48.6
DNQ 12 France Georges Grignard Ecurie France Delahaye 135 2:49.2
DNQ 62 Switzerland Luigi "Gigi" Platé Private entry Talbot-Darracq 700 3:00.2

[3][9][10]

Final

Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid
1 46 Italy Achille Varzi Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 158 60 2:35:45.8 4
2 52 France Jean-Pierre Wimille Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 158 60 +0.8 2
3 22 France Raymond Sommer Private entry Maserati 4CL 58 +2 Laps 9
4 10 France Eugène Chaboud Ecurie France Delahaye 135S 55 +5 Laps 20
5 26 Switzerland Enrico Platé Scuderia Enrico Platé Maserati 4CL 55 +5 Laps 12
6 54 Italy Carlo Felice Trossi Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 158 51 +9 Laps 3
7 56 Monaco Louis Chiron Private entry Maserati 4CL 50 +10 Laps 7
8 18 United Kingdom Leslie Brooke ERA ERA B 50 +10 Laps 19
Ret 4 Italy Discoride Lanza Private entry Maserati 4CM 37 17
Ret 32 Switzerland Christian Kautz Private entry Maserati 4CL 32 Engine ?
Ret 50 United Kingdom Peter Whitehead Private entry ERA E 30 Gearbox 15
Ret 36 France Henri Louveau Scuderia Automovilistica Milan Maserati 4CL 25 Collision 16
Ret 40 Italy Franco Cortese Private entry Maserati 4CL 16 Magneto 10
Ret 28 Italy Arialdo Ruggieri Private entry Maserati 4CL 11 Supercharger 11
Ret 48 Italy Tazio Nuvolari Private entry Maserati 4CL 9 Lost wheel 6
Ret 16 Italy Giorgio Pelassa Private entry Maserati 4CL 8 Lost wheel 8
Ret 24 Italy Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 158 6 Ignition 5
Ret 64 Italy Emilio Romano Private entry Maserati 4CL 2 Ignition 18
Ret 42 United Kingdom Reg Parnell Private entry ERA C 1 Gearbox 13
Ret 8 Italy Giuseppe Farina Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 158 0 Differential 1

[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Farinelli, Aldo (3 September 1946). "I vincitori dei milioni e della corsa". La Nuova Stampa (in Italian) (206): 3. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  2. "Turin G.P." Motor Sport. 22 (10): 8. October 1946.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Farinelli, Aldo (1 September 1946). "Motori e milioni al Circuito del Valentino" [Cars and Millions at the Valentino Circuit]. La Nuova Stampa (in Italian). p. 3. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  4. Henry, Maurice (2 March 1946). "La Formule De Course 1938-1939 Reste Applicable". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  5. Henry, Maurice (26 June 1946). "Le vicomte de Rohan réélu président de l'AIACR". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  6. Henry, Maurice (4 September 1946). "Les Debuts Victorieux De Cisitalia". L'Équipe (in French). pp. 1–2. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  7. 1 2 Henry, Maurice (2 September 1946). "Wimille Avait Course Gagnée A Turin". L'Équipe (in French). pp. 1–2. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  8. Henry, Maurice (4 September 1946). "Jean-Pierre Wimille espère qu'une prochaine fois Alfa-Romeo lui permettra de jouer le premier rôle". L'Équipe (in French). p. 2. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  9. Farinelli, Aldo (31 August 1946). "Fra i primi venti biglietti estratti". La Nuova Stampa (in Italian). p. 2. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  10. Henry, Maurice (31 August 1946). "Le Grand Prix De Turin". L'Équipe (in French). pp. 1–2. Retrieved 2 January 2024.


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