1953 RAC Tourist Trophy
The 1953 RAC Tourist Trophy took place on 5 September, on the Dundrod Circuit, (County Antrim, Northern Ireland). It was also the sixth round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship, held just six days after the previous round, 1000km of Nürburgring.
Report
Entry
A total 45 cars were registered for this event, of which only 28 arrived for practice and qualifying. None of the leading works teams made the trip across to Northern Ireland from mainland Europe. However, from England, the two works teams of Jaguar Cars Ltd. and Aston Martin took part. The team from Coventry arrived with three cars, Jaguar C-Types for the all British pairings of Tony Rolt/Duncan Hamilton, Stirling Moss/Peter Walker and Peter Whitehead/Ian Stewart. Aston Martin also brought along three of their DB3S, with Reg Parnell pairing up alongside Eric Thompson. Roy Salvadori/Dennis Poore and Peter Collins/Pat Griffith made up the crew of the other two Astons. Also from England came three works entered Frazer Nash Le Mans Mk IIs and Kieft-Bristols.[1]
Going into this round, Ferrari were leading the Manufacturers Championship by just two points from Jaguar. With no representation in the race, Ferrari would be unable score any points, but due to the nature of the scoring system where only the best four results out of the seven races could be retained by each manufacturer, Jaguar would need to finish at least second to score any points, with only one race remaining in the championship- the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico some 2 1/2 months away.
Race
The race was held over 106 laps of the 7.416 miles Dundrod Circuit, giving a distance of 823.166 miles in foggy conditions. Despite this, Aston Martin would finish in first and second places, both cars on the same lap. Car number 20, driven by Collins and Griffith took an impressive victory, winning in a time of 9hrs 37:12 mins., averaging a speed of 81.715mph. Second place went to Parnell and Thompson, in their DB3S, just 3:23 minutes behind. The podium was completed by the winner of the two previous Tourist Trophy races held at Dundrod, Moss, aided by his co-driver, Walker, in their Jaguar C-Type.[2][3][4]
Official Classification
Class Winners are in Bold text.
| Pos | No | Class | Driver | Entrant | Chassis | Laps | Reason Out | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 20 | S3.0 |  Peter Collins |
Pat Griffith |
Aston Martin | Aston Martin DB3S | 9hr 37:12, 106 | |
| 2nd | 18 | S3.0 | Reg Parnell |
Eric Thompson |
Aston Martin | Aston Martin DB3S | 9hr 40:35, 106 | |
| 3rd | 7 | S5.0 | Stirling Moss |
Peter Walker |
Jaguar Cars Ltd. | Jaguar C-Type | 9hr 37:39, 106 | |
| 4th | 22 | S3.0 |  Tony Gaze |
Graham Whitehead |
Graham Whitehead | Aston Martin DB3 | 102 | |
| 5th | 21 | S3.0 | Bob Dickson |
Desmond Titterington |
Bob Dickson | Aston Martin DB3 | 101 | |
| 6th | 25 | S2.0 | Ken Wharton |
C. Ernie Robb |
Frazer Nash Ltd. | Frazer Nash Le Mans MK II | 101 | |
| 7th | 12 | S5.0 |  Joe Kelly |
Jack Fairman |
Joe Kelly | Jaguar C-Type | 98 | |
| 8th | 27 | S2.0 | Bob Gerard |
David Clarke |
Frazer Nash Ltd. | Frazer Nash Le Mans | 95 | |
| 9th | 36 | S1.5 | Pierce Cahill |
Redmond Gallagher |
Redmond Gallagher | Gordini T15S | 86 | |
| 10th | 40 | S1.5 | Peter Jackson |
Peter Lane |
Peter Jackson | Lester-MG T51 | 86 | |
| 11th | 28 | S2.0 | Rodney F. Peacock |
Gerry Ruddock |
Roy Peacock | Fraser Nash Le Mans | 82 | |
| 12th | 44 | S1.5 | Raymond Flower |
George Phillips |
Gregor Grant | MG TD | 81 | |
| 13th | 35 | S1.5 | Peter Reece |
Gil Tyrer |
Peter Reece | Singer SM1500 | 81 | |
| 14th | 49 | S750 |  Georges Trouis |
Alfred Hitchings |
Ecuire Jendy Bonnet | D.B. HBR Panhard | 74 | |
| DNF | 33 | S2.0 | C. P. Hazelhurst |
P. H. Thompson |
Kieft Cars | Kieft-Bristol | 62 | Accident |
| DNF | 50 | S750 | ”Pousse” |
Jeff Sparrowe |
Ecuire Jendy Bonnet | D.B. HBR Panhard | 59 | DNF |
| DNF | 8 | S5.0 | Peter Whitehead |
Ian Stewart |
Jaguar Cars Ltd. | Jaguar C-Type | 51 | Gearbox |
| DNF | 34 | S2.0 | Ian Burgess |
Austen Nurse |
Kieft Cars | Kieft-Bristol | 46 | DNF |
| DNF | 32 | S2.0 |  John Fitch |
Peter Wilson |
Frazer Nash Ltd. | Fraser Nash Le Mans Replica Mk II | 44 | Lost Wheel |
| DNF | 30 | S2.0 | Lawrence Mitchell |
Peter Scott-Russell |
Lawrence Mitchell | Fraser Nash High Speed | 42 | Accident |
| DNF | 19 | S3.0 | Roy Salvadori |
Dennis Poore |
Aston Martin | Aston Martin DB3S | 33 | Accident |
| DNF | 43 | S1.5 | Brian McCaldin |
Charles Manusell |
Brian McCaldin | MG TD | 29 | Bearings |
| DNF | 41 | S1.5 | Ted Lund |
William Robinson |
Ted Lund | Jowett Jupiter | 15 | Suspension |
| DNF | 32 | S2.0 | David J. Calvert |
Richard Green |
Kieft Cars | Kieft-Bristol | 10 | Accident |
| DNF | 6 | S5.0 | Tony Rolt |
Duncan Hamilton |
Jaguar Cars Ltd. | Jaguar C-Type | 5 | Gearbox |
| DNF | 39 | S1.5 | Horace Gould |
I.D. Lewis |
Horace Gould | Cooper-MG T21 | 2 | Steering |
| DNF | 14 | S5.0 |  John Manussis |
Gerry Dunham |
Ecurie Kenya | Jaguar C-Type | 1 | Accident |
| DNS | 17 | S5.0 | George Abecassis |
Lance Macklin |
H W Motors | HWM-Jaguar 108 | Axel shaft | |
- Fastest Lap: Peter Walker, 5:01.000secs (89.213 mph) [5]
Class Winners
| Class | Winners | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Class C – Sports 5000 | 7 | Jaguar C-Type | Moss / Walker |
| Class D - Sports 3000 | 20 | Aston Martin DB3S | Collins / Griffith |
| Class E – Sports 2000 | 25 | Frazer Nash Le Mans Mk II | Wharton / Robb |
| Class F – Sports 1500 | 36 | Gordini T15S | Cahill / Gallagher |
| Class H – Sports 750 | 49 | D.B. HBR Panhard | Trouis / Hitchings |
Standings after the race
| Pos | Championship | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ferrari |
26 (27) |
| 2 | Jaguar |
24 (28) |
| 3 | Aston Martin |
16 |
| 4 | Cunningham |
12 |
| 5 | Alfa Romeo |
6 |
- 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 4 results out of the 7 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the above table.
References
- ↑ "Tourist Trophy 1953 - Entry List". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 2014-07-22.
- 1 2 "Tourist Trophy 1953". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 2014-07-22.
- 1 2 "1953 Tourist Trophy". Teamdan.com. 1953-09-05. Retrieved 2014-07-22.
- ↑ "SPAM protection / Ochrana proti SPAMu". Wsrp.ic.cz. Retrieved 2014-07-22.
- 1 2 "SPAM protection / Ochrana proti SPAMu". Wsrp.ic.cz. Retrieved 2014-07-22.
- ↑ "Tourist Trophy 1953 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars". www.racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
- ↑ "Tourist Trophy". Ultimateracinghistory.com. 1953-09-05. Retrieved 2014-07-22.
| World Sportscar Championship | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous race: 1000km of Nürburgring |
1953 season | Next race: 1953 Carrera Panamericana |