Portuguese GP 1959

Portuguese GP, 1959

The Cooper-Climax was becoming increasingly competitive as the season developed and in qualifying for the Portuguese GP around Lisbon's Monsanto Park Stirling Moss was fastest in his Rob Walker Cooper with the factory cars of Jack Brabham and Masten Gregory second and third. Fourth on the grid was Rob Walker's second car with Maurice Trintignant driving. Jo Bonnier was the fastest non-Cooper runner in fifth place in his BRM. Ferrari was struggling with Dan Gurney sixth and Phil Hill seventh while Tony Brooks was 10th.

In the race Moss took the lead during the first lap with Brabham, McLaren, Gregory and Gurney chasing him. Ferrari lost Phil Hill early on when he spun and pitted when he rejoined his namesake Graham Hill spun his Lotus into the path of the Ferrari, severely damaging both cars. Moss continued without drama but second-placed Brabham spun avoiding the twice-lapped Mario Cabral and hit a telegraph pole. This launched the car back onto the track and Brabham was thrown out. He landed in the middle of the road and was narrowly missed by Gregory when he arrived on the scene. The accident promoted McLaren to third but he suffered a transmission failure and so third place went to Gurney.

POS	NO	DRIVER	ENTRANT	LAPS	TIME/RETIREMENT	QUAL POS
1	4	Stirling Moss	Cooper-Climax T51	62	2h11m55.410s	1
2	2	Masten Gregory	Cooper-Climax T51	61		3
3	16	Dan Gurney	Ferrari D246	61		6
4	5	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper-Climax T51	60		4
5	6	Harry Schell	BRM P25	59		9
6	10	Roy Salvadori	Aston Martin DBR4	59		12
7	8	Ron Flockhart	BRM P25	59		11
8	9	Carroll Shelby	Aston Martin DBR4	58		13
9	14	Tony Brooks	Ferrari D246	57		10
10	18	Mario Araujo de Cabral	Cooper-Maserati T51	56		14
r	3	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax T51	38	Transmission	8
r	1	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax T51	23	Accident	2
r	7	Jo Bonnier	BRM P25	10	Engine	5
r	15	Phil Hill	Ferrari D246	5	Accident	7
r	11	Graham Hill	Lotus-Climax 16	5	Accident	15
r	12	Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax 16	3	Gearbox	16