1954 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 22 24 - hour race at Le Mans, the 22e Grand Prix d' Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans, held from 12 to June 13, 1954 held at the Circuit des 24 Heures.

The race

The 24 -hour race of 1954 developed as the year before to a duel of the factory cars from Jaguar and Ferrari. In the new Jaguar D-Type made ​​its official racing. The three works cars were piloted by the teams Duncan Hamilton / Tony Rolt, Peter Whitehead / Ken Wharton and Stirling Moss / Peter Walker.

Ferrari launched the new 375 plus in the Sarthe, which on the long Mulsanne straight was indeed slower than the Jaguar, but due to better weight distribution on the whole round achieved faster lap times. In addition to the 375 plus that were driven only by the works drivers of the Scuderia, were also 375MM at the start, which were used by Briggs Cunningham. The American completed his racing team with the proven Cunningham C4 -R. In Aston Martin DB3 you relied on the coupe, with the police car by Carroll Shelby and Paul Frère was a Stars and Strips Lackierug. Lancia had not appeared for the race. The Italian racing team had won the Lancia D24, the Mille Miglia and reached the 12 Hours of Sebring race second overall, but opted not to take part in Le Mans.

In the smaller classes also Renault engines came into the DB HBR of German & Bonnet next to the Panhard engines first used. Maserati made ​​his Le Mans debut, and the Porsche 550 Spyder came to the Sarthe.

In the first hour of racing a Ferrari triple lead formed: José González led Froilán before Robert Manzon and Paolo Marzotto. Best Jaguar pilot was Tony Rolt at the fourth position. During the night a violent storm arose, and the field began to thin out. In addition to various accidents, many factory cars fell out with technical defects. Until just before closing the Gonzales / Trintignant Ferrari and the Rolt / Hamilton Jaguar delivered a fierce battle for the overall lead as the final pit stop of the 375 Plus Gonzales no longer leapt because of a wet ignition. 12 minutes passed before the Argentines again was back on the track. In the end, he saved a lead of 4 km in goal. It was the second win for Ferrari at Le Mans and the first for the factory team.

Results

Pilot after Nations

  • Elder drivers: France Yves Giraud - Cabantous (50 years)
  • Youngest Driver: United Kingdom Peter Collins (23 years)

Final ranking

1 not started 2 to late for scrutineering published 3 4 withdrawn withdrawn

Only in the message list

Here are the teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the competition, but it did not participate for various reasons.

Class winner

Race data

  • Reported: 88
  • Starter: 57
  • Weather during the race weekend: rain on Sunday
  • Distance: 13.492 km
  • Honorary starter of the race: Bernhard of Lippe - Biesterfeld, Prince of the Netherlands
  • Distance of the winning team: 4061.150 km
  • Winners section: 169.215 km / h
  • Fastest race lap: José González Froilán - Ferrari 375 Plus ( # 4) and Paolo Marzotto - Ferrari 375 Plus ( # 3) - 4.16.800 = 189.139 km / h
  • Race series: 4th round of the World Sportscar Championship
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