1952 24 Hours Of Le Mans
The 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 20th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 14–15 June 1952 at Circuit de la Sarthe. After 22 years away, Mercedes-Benz returned in triumph, scoring a 1–2 victory with their new gull-wing Mercedes-Benz W194 which was equipped with a 3.0L S6 engine that had less power than the road car sold two years later. Aston Martin, with their Aston Martin DB3, DB3, joined Ferrari, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, and Cunningham in the top-level sports prototype game, setting the stage for the rivalries that provided so much drama during the rest of the decade. This race was notable in that Pierre Levegh attempted to drive the entire 24 Hours by himself – and almost won. With just over an hour to go however, the connecting rod of Levegh's car broke, taking it out of the race. Regulations This year the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) decreed that mudguards now had to be integral with the bodywork, unlike the pre-war style of cycle-type mudguards. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Duncan Hamilton (racing Driver)
James Duncan Hamilton (30 April 1920 – 13 May 1994) was a British racing driver. He was known for his colourful and extroverted personality. After fighting in the Second World War, he took up motorsport. Although adept in single-seaters, he was more successful in sportscars, winning the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans, two Coupe de Paris events, and the 12 heures internationals Reims race in 1956. He retired in 1958 and ran a garage in Byfleet, Surrey for many years. He died of lung cancer in 1994. Early years Born in County Cork, Hamilton was brought up in relative obscurity. During the Second World War, he flew Lysanders in the Fleet Air Arm. After the war ended, he opened a car garage. During the years between the war ending and the start of the 1950s, Hamilton started racing in local events. He began racing in such cars as the MG R-type and the Bugatti Type 35B. After racing a Maserati 6CM in 1948, Hamilton began driving a Talbot-Lago Grand Prix car. Formula One career ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Maurice Trintignant
Maurice Bienvenu Jean Paul Trintignant (; 30 October 1917 – 13 February 2005) was a French racing driver and winemaker, who competed in Formula One from to . Trintignant won two Formula One Grands Prix across 15 seasons. In endurance racing, Trintignant won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in with Ferrari. Trintignant competed in Formula One for 11 teams, winning two Grands Prix across 15 seasons. He finished fourth in the and World Drivers' Championships with Ferrari. He entered 15 editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans from to , winning in alongside José Froilán González, driving the Ferrari 375 Plus, and finished runner-up in . After retiring from motor racing, Trintignant moved into the winemaking trade, owning a vineyard in Languedoc-Roussillon, where he named his vintage ''Le Petoulet''. Trintignant's nephew, Jean-Louis, was a highly successful actor in post-World War II France. Racing career He began racing in 1938, and won the 1939 Grand Prix des Frontières, bu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Louis Rosier
Louis Claude Rosier (; 5 November 1905 – 29 October 1956) was a French racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing, Rosier won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in in a privateer Talbot-Lago T26C-GS. Rosier competed in Formula One under his own Écurie Rosier banner, making privateer entries in machinery from Talbot-Lago, Ferrari, and Maserati; he also competed for the works teams of Talbot and Maserati, the former of which he scored back-to-back podium finishes with at the Swiss and Belgian Grands Prix in . Rosier competed in nine editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans between and , winning in alongside his son Jean-Louis Rosier, which remains the only father-and-son victory in Le Mans history. In October 1956, Rosier died as a result of injuries sustained whilst sportscar racing in a Ferrari 750 Monza at Montlhéry. Career highlights Louis Claude Rosier was born on 5 November 1905 in Chapdes-Beaufort, Puy-de-Dôme, France. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tom Cole (racing Driver)
Thomas Lionel Howard Cole, Jr. (11 June 1922 – 14 June 1953), also known as Tom Cole or Tommy Cole, was a British-American racing driver and co-creator of the Cadillac-Allard sports car. Afflicted by childhood polio, he served in non-combat roles in World War II, and then took up rallying, hillclimbing, and sports car racing full-time after the war. He died, aged 31, in a crash while driving in the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans. Early life Cole was born in Llandaff, in South Glamorgan, Wales, U.K. on 11 June 1922. He contracted polio in childhood, and largely recovered, but the illness left him with minor disabilities, for the rest of his life. His family emigrated to America when he was seventeen arriving in New York City on 28 August 1939. He attended Harvard University for a year, served in the U.S. Merchant Marine and then drove an ambulance for the American Field Service. Upon returning from the war, he began to volunteer for Bill Frick and Phil Walters' famed Frick-Tappet ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Luigi Villoresi
Luigi "Gigi" Villoresi (16 May 1909 – 24 August 1997) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Villoresi contested 34 Formula One Grands Prix across seven seasons for Italian teams Ferrari, Maserati, Lancia, and Centro Sud. He achieved eight podiums and one fastest lap, finishing fifth in the and World Drivers' Championships with Ferrari. Biography Born in Milan, Lombardy, and nicknamed "Gigi", Villoresi was the older brother of race car driver Emilio Villoresi, and co-piloted with him in several races at the beginning of their careers. From a prosperous family, Villoresi could afford to buy a car and began competing in local rallies at the age of twenty-two with a Lancia Lambda and a few years later acquired a Fiat Balilla with which he and his brother Emilio competed in the Mille Miglia. In 1935, he raced in the Coppa Ciano, finishing third and went on to capture the Italian driving championship in the 1100cc sports car class. The follow ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alberto Ascari
Alberto Ascari (13 July 1918 – 26 May 1955) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Ascari won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with Ferrari, and won 13 Grands Prix across six seasons. In endurance racing, Ascari won the Mille Miglia in 1954 with Lancia. Noted for careful precision and finely-judged accuracy, Ascari was a multitalented racer who competed in motorcycle racing before switching to cars. He won consecutive Formula One world titles in and for Scuderia Ferrari, becoming the first Ferrari-powered World Champion and breaking several records across both seasons. He remains the last Italian to win the World Drivers' Championship, . This was sandwiched by an appearance in the 1952 Indianapolis 500, and winning the 1954 Mille Miglia. As of 2024, Ascari and Michael Schumacher are Ferrari's only back-to-back World Champions, and Ascari remains Ferrari's sole Italian champion. As the first driver to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts :it:Franco Mazzotti, Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi. It took place in Italy 24 times from 1927 to 1957 (13 times before World War II, and 11 times from 1947). Like the older Targa Florio and later the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico, the ''MM'' made grand tourers like Alfa Romeo, BMW, Ferrari, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche famous. The race brought out an estimated 5 million spectators. From 1953 until 1957, the Mille Miglia was also a round of the World Sports Car Championship. Since 1977, the "Mille Miglia" has been reborn as a regularity race for Classic car, classic and vintage cars. Participation is limited to cars, produced no later than 1957, which had attended (or were registered to) the original race. The route (Brescia–Rome round trip) is similar to that of the original race, maintaining the point of depa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Luigi Chinetti
Luigi Chinetti (July 17, 1901 – August 17, 1994) was an Italian-born racecar driver, who emigrated to the United States during World War II. He drove in 12 consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans races, taking three outright wins there and taking two more at the Spa 24 Hours race. Chinetti owned the North American Racing Team, which successfully ran privateer Ferraris in sports car and Formula One races. For many years he was the exclusive American importer of Ferrari automobiles to the United States. Biography Chinetti was born in Jerago con Orago, a little north of Milan. The son of a gunsmith, he apprenticed in his father's workshop where he earned a lathe operator's certificate at age 12 and qualified as a mechanic at age 14. In 1917, at age 16, he went to work for Alfa Romeo as a mechanic, where he met another young hire named Enzo Ferrari. The rise to power of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party in his native country prompted a move to Paris where he worked for Alfa Romeo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1952-06-14 Le Mans Ferrari 225 0152EL Cole
Year 195 ( CXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Scrapula and Clemens (or, less frequently, year 948 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 195 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus has the Roman Senate deify the previous emperor Commodus, in an attempt to gain favor with the family of Marcus Aurelius. * King Vologases V and other eastern princes support the claims of Pescennius Niger. The Roman province of Mesopotamia rises in revolt with Parthian support. Severus marches to Mesopotamia to battle the Parthians. * The Roman province of Syria is divided and the role of Antioch is diminished. The Romans annex the Syrian cities of Edessa and Nisibis. Severus re-establishes his headquarters and the colonies the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robert Manzon
Robert Jean Joseph Manzon (12 April 1917 – 19 January 2015) was a French racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Manzon participated in 29 Grands Prix, debuting at the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix. He achieved two podiums, and scored a total of 16 championship points, driving for Gordini, Rosier, and Ferrari. At the time of his death, Manzon was the last surviving driver to have taken part in the first Formula One World Championship in 1950. Career Robert Jean Joseph Manzon was born on 12 April 1917 in Marseille, France. Manzon began his career as a mechanic and after World War II he started racing, initially with a Cisitalia D46. Earning a contract with the Gordini team for 1948, Manzon won some minor races although his machinery was not always reliable. He continued with Gordini into the new Formula One era, scoring points at the 1950 French Grand Prix, and finishing sixth in the World Drivers' Championship in 1952, taking third place in the 1952 Belgian Gra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jean Behra
Jean Marie Behra (16 February 1921 – 1 August 1959) was a French racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Behra contested 54 Formula One Grands Prix across eight seasons for Gordini, Maserati, BRM, Ferrari, and Behra-Porsche. He achieved nine podiums and one fastest lap, finishing fourth in the World Drivers' Championships with Maserati. Appearance and personality Behra was small in stature, stocky, and weighed 178 pounds.''Behra Arrives To Drive In $14,500 U.S. Grand Prix'', Los Angeles Times, 10 October 1958, Page C1. Behra had big shoulders and was scarred from 12 crashes. In 1955 he had an ear torn off from a collision. He sometimes drove magnificently, while at other times he drove with a lack of enthusiasm. Behra was known for being hard-charging and temperamental, which led to confrontations with Ferrari team managers after being accused of overstressing engines at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Reims Grand Prix race in 1959. He was dismissed from ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |