1954 RAC Tourist Trophy

The 1954 RAC Tourist Trophy was a motor race for Sports Cars which took place on 11 September 1954 on the roads around Dundrod, (County Antrim, Northern Ireland). It was the 21st RAC Tourist Trophy and the fifth race of the 1954 World Sportscar Championship. The Tourist Trophy was awarded to handicap winners Paul Armagnac and Gérard Laureau driving a D.B. HBR Panhard however the overall race win for championship points was attained by Mike Hawthorn and Maurice Trintignant driving a Ferrari 750 Monza.

Going into the race, Ferrari was leading the World Sportscar Championship by eight points from Lancia. Victory by the Italian marque gave it the title for the second season running.

Report

Entry

A grand total of 56 racing cars were registered for this event, of which 52 arrived for practice and qualifying. Unlike 1953, many of the top European teams travelled to Northern Ireland from mainland Europe. Scuderia Ferrari, who could win the World Championship on the streets of County Antrim, entered two Ferrari 750 Monzas for the Le Mans winners José Froilán González and Maurice Trintignant, back-up by Mike Hawthorn and Umberto Maglioli. Hoping the keep the championship alive, Scuderia Lancia sent two of their D24s and two D25s (re-bodied D24s) over. Amongst their line-up was Juan Manuel Fangio and Alberto Ascari. From England, the two work teams of Jaguar Cars Ltd. and Aston Martin. The team from Coventry arrived with three cars, Jaguar D-Types for the all British pairings of Tony Rolt/Duncan Hamilton; Stirling Moss/Peter Walker and Peter Whitehead/Ken Wharton. David Brown also brought along three of his team’s DB3S, with Reg Parnell pairing up alongside Roy Salvadori. Graham Whitehead/Dennis Poore and winners of last year’s RAC Tourist Trophy, Peter Collins/Pat Griffith made up the crew of the other two Astons. Also from England came works entries from Automobiles Frazer Nash, Lotus Engineering, HWM and Kieft Cars. There were joined manufactures teams from Maserati, Osca and Deutsch et Bonnet.^[1]

Race

Following an accident in practice, the Ferrari 750 Monza of González, did not start and Trintignant was transferred into the remaining car of Hawthorn. This resulted in Maglioli also missing out.^[2]

A Ferrari 750 Monza, similar to that driven by Hawthorn/Trintignant

The race was held over 84 laps of the 7.416 miles Dundrod Circuit, giving a distance of 622.944 miles. To make matter worse, the race was held in drying conditions, but rain returned during the race. Despite this, the Italian teams would finish in the first three places. Car number 15 (Scuderia Ferrari), driven by Mike Hawthorn and Maurice Trintignant took an impressive victory, winning in a time of 7hrs 14:13 mins., averaging a speed of 90.703 mph. Second place went to the Lancia of Piero Taruffi and Juan Manuel Fangio their D24, just 2:16 minutes behind. The podium was complete by the another Lancia, that of Robert Manzon and Eugenio Castellotti, two laps adrift. Meanwhile, the HWM Jaguar 108 of George Abecassis and Jim Mayers were the best of the English entrants, finishing in fourth place, with the best of the works-Jaguars further behind in sixth.^[3]^[4]^[5]

This year’s Tourist Trophy could come up with a sport historical particularity. Similar to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the handicap index rating was extended in the TT. In this rating, power and engine capacity of the vehicle in relation to the weight were set. This led to a handicap for large-displacement vehicles. This index score was extended parallel to the overall rating. Although the overall standings was used for the World Sportscar Championship, the index score was used to the decide the outcome of the Tourist Trophy. Thus this was won by the small D.B. HBR Panhard by Paul Armagnac and Gérard Laureau , who finished only 21st place in the overall standings.

Having won the scratch race, Ferrari gained the necessary points advance over Lancia to take the World Championship for Manufacturers title for the second season in a row, with one round remaining in Mexico. Should Ferrari win the 1954 Carrera Panamericana, they would have the maximum score available due to have the points are awarded, as only the best 4 results out of the 7 races could be retained by each manufacturer.

Official Classification

Scratch Race (for Championship points)

Class Winners are in Bold text.

Pos	No	Class	Driver		Entrant	Chassis	Laps	Reason Out
1st	15	S3.0	Mike Hawthorn	Maurice Trintignant	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 750 Monza	7hr 14:13, 84
2nd	3	S5.0	Piero Taruffi	Juan Manuel Fangio	Scuderia Lancia	Lancia D24	7hr 16:26, 84
3rd	4	S5.0	Robert Manzon	Eugenio Castellotti	Scuderia Lancia	Lancia D24	7hr 16:27 82
4th	9	S5.0	George Abecassis	Jim Mayers	H. W. Motors	HWM Jaguar 108	79
5th	57	S2.0	Luigi Musso	Sergio Mantovani	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati A6GCS/53	79
6th	6	S3.0	Ken Wharton	Peter Whitehead	Jaguar Car Ltd.	Jaguar D-Type	79
7th	11	S5.0	Jacques Swaters	Roger Laurent	Ecurie Francorchamps	Jaguar C-Type	78
8th	19	S3.0	Graham Whitehead	Dennis Poore	David Brown	Aston Martin DB3S	78
9th	31	S2.0	Bob Said	Masten Gregory	Bob Said	Ferrari 500 Mondial	75
10th	35	S2.0	Alan Brown	Mike Keen	Robert J. Chase	Cooper-Bristol T20 Sports	74
11th	37	S1.5	Redmond Gallagher	Don Beauman	Redmond Gallagher	Gordini T15S	73
12th	32	S2.0	Dick Odlum	Cecil Vard	Automobiles Frazer Nash Ltd.	Frazer Nash Le Mans Replicas Mk II	72
13th	10	S5.0	Joe Flynn	Torrie Large	Joe Kelly	Jaguar C-Type	72
14th	20	S3.0	Stirling Moss	Peter Walker	Jaguar Cars Ltd.	Jaguar D-Type	71
15th	39	S1.5	Ken McAlpine	Jack Fairman	Kenneth McAlpine	Connaught AL/SR	71
16th	45	S1.5	Ian Burgess	Tony Palmer-Morewood	Bob Said	Osca MT4 1350	70
17th	30	S2.0	Brian McCaldin	Charles Eyre-Maunsell	Brian McCaldin	Triumph TR2	69
18th	27	S2.0	John Johnstone	Ian Titterington	J.B. Johnstone	Triumph TR2	69
DNF	1	S5.0	Alberto Ascari	Luigi Villoresi	Scuderia Lancia	Lancia D25	69	Differential
19th	28	S2.0	Ted Lund	Tom Blackburn	Ted Lund	Triumph TR2	68
20th	29	S2.0	Bob Dickson	W. Ken Richardson	Robert Dickson	Triumph TR2	68
21st	52	S750	Paul Armagnac	Gérard Laureau	Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet	D.B. HBR Panhard	67
22nd	25	S2.0	Leslie Brooke	James Scott Douglas	Leslie Brooke	Triumph TR2	67
23rd	38	S1.5	Raymond Flower	Ernie McMillen	Raymond Flower	Porsche 356	66
24th	26	S2.0	Ray Merrick	John Maurice Tew	Ray Merrick	Triumph TR2	65
DISQ	58	S2.0	Cesare Perdisa	Benoît Musy	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati A6GCS	63	Assistance
25th	47	S1.1	Bob Ferguson	Alan Rippon	Kieft Cars Ltd.	Kieft-Climax 1100	60
NC	23	S2.0	Colin Davis	Horace Gould	Gilby Engineering	Maserati A6GCS	60
26th	54	S750	Guy Allegre	Albert Barbey	Marocaine	Panhard Dyna Z	58
DNF	17	S3.0	Reg Parnell	Roy Salvadori	David Brown	Aston Martin DB3S	57	Accident
DISQ	22	S2.0	J. E. Byrnes	Ronnie Adams	J. E. Byrnes	Kieft-Bristol	48	Mechanical
DNF	51	S750	René Bonnet	Élie Bayol	Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet	D.B. HBR Panhard	47	Accident
DNF	46	S1.1	Dick Steed	Peter Scott-Russell	Lotus Engineering	Lotus-MG Mark VIII	46	Wheel
DNF	56	S2.0	Luigi Bellucci	Giorgio Scarlatti	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati A6GCS	37	Cooling system
DNF	5	S5.0	Tony Rolt	Duncan Hamilton	Jaguar Cars Ltd.	Jaguar D-Type	34	Oil pressure
DNF	49	S1.1	Peter Reece	Jackie G. Reece	Giacomo Caprara	Osca MT4 1100	33	Accident
DNF	36	S1.5	Jack Westcott	Tommy Bridger	Kieft Cars Ltd.	Kieft-MG	32	Gearbox
DNF	42	S1.5	Nigel Allen	Mike Anthony	Lotus Engineering	Lotus-MG Mark VIII	20	Track rod
DNF	50	S1.1	Harry Merkel	Luc Buchberger	Harry Merkel	Porsche 550	19	DNF
DNF	18	S3.0	Peter Collins	Pat Griffith	David Brown	Aston Martin DB3S	15	Final drive
DNF	41	S1.5	Colin Chapman	Michael Costin	Lotus Engineering	Lotus-MG Mark VIII	15	Accident
DNF	43	S1.5	Brian Naylor	George Pitt	Brian Naylor	Cooper-MG T29	15	Engine
DNF	55	S750	Pascal Berinstein	Georges Trouis	Franco-Brittanique	D.B. HBR Panhard	14	DNF
DNF	16	S3.0	Joe Kelly	Desmond Titterington	Joe Kelly	Ferrari 750 Monza	13	Gearbox
DNF	53	S750	Jean Lucas	Jean-Pierre Feuz	Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet	D.B. HBR Renault	13	DNF
DNF	2	S5.0	Juan Manuel Fangio	Eugenio Castellotti	Scuderia Lancia	Lancia D25	11	Engine, oil leak
DNF	8	S5.0	Tony Gaze	John Riseley-Prichard	H. W. Motors	HWM Jaguar 105	9	Engine
DNF	21	S2.0	Roberto Sgorbati	Lance Macklin	Automobili Osca	Osca 2000S	9	Ignition
DNF	34	S2.0	Peter Wilson	Tony Brooks	Henry Ohara Moore	Frazer Nash Sebring	9	DNF
DNF	48	S1.1	Don Parker	David Boshier-Jones	Kieft Cars Ltd	Kieft-Climax 1100	6	Suspension
DNF	44	S1.5	Peter Jackson	Peter Lane	Peter Jackson	Cooper-MG T29	5	Engine
DNS	14	S3.0	José Froilán González	Maurice Trintignant	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 750 Monza		Accident in practice

^[6]^[7]^[8]

Fastest Lap: Mike Hawthorn, 4:49.000secs (92.916 mph) ^[9]

Scratch Race - Class Winners

Class	Winners
Sports 5000	3	Lancia D24	Taruffi / Fangio
Sports 3000	15	Ferrari 750 Monza	Hawthorn / Trintignant
Sports 2000	57	Maserati A6GCS/53	Musso / Mantovani
Sports 1500	37	Gordini T15S	Gallagher / Beauman
Sports 1100	47	Kieft-Climax 1100	Ferguson / Rippon
Sports 750	52	D.B. HBR Panhard	Armagnac / Laureau

^[10]

Overall Positions (Handicap event / adjusted result)

Top Six :

Pos	No	Class	Driver		Entrant	Chassis	Laps
1st	52	S750	Paul Armagnac	Gérard Laureau	Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet	D.B. HBR Panhard	94
2nd	15	S3.0	Mike Hawthorn	Maurice Trintignant	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 750 Monza	90
3rd	57	S2.0	Luigi Musso	Sergio Mantovani	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati A6GCS/53	89
4th	3	S5.0	Piero Taruffi	Juan Manuel Fangio	Scuderia Lancia	Lancia D24	89
5th	6	S3.0	Ken Wharton	Peter Whitehead	Jaguar Car Ltd.	Jaguar D-Type	87
6th	4	S5.0	Robert Manzon	Eugenio Castellotti	Scuderia Lancia	Lancia D24	87

^[11]

Standings after the race

Pos	Championship	Points
1	Ferrari	30
2	Lancia	20
3	Jaguar	10
4	O.S.C.A.	8
5	Maserati	7

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 four results out of the six races could be retained by each manufacturer.

References

World Sportscar Championship
Previous race: 24 hours of Le Mans	1954 season	Next race: 1954 Carrera Panamericana

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