French GP 1952
JULY 6, 1952
French GP, 1952
The World Championship paid its first visit to the magnificent Les Essarts circuit near Rouen for the third round of the 1952 Championship. The previous weekend Jean Behra's Gordini had beaten the Ferraris in the Grand Prix de la Marne at Reims and expectations were high. Ferrari had made progress with some modified engine and lined up three factory cars for Alberto Ascari, Giuseppe Farina and Piero Taruffi. Gordini ran cars for Behra, Robert Manzon (who had an injured arm) and Prince Bira while HWM turned up with cars for Lance Macklin, Peter Collins and Yves Giraud-Cabantous. The new factory Maseratis did not appear but Escuderia Bandeirantes ran one of the cars for Philippe Etancelin.
Ascari was easily quickest in practice with teammates Farina and Taruffi sharing the front row. Behra and Manzon shared the second row with Maurice Trintignant on the third row with an older Simca-Gordini. Then came Bira and Collins. The race was, as expected, a Ferrari affair with Ascari leading Farina from flag to flag. After a brief show by the Gordinis, Taruffi moved to third. Manzon struggled to finish fourth a lap behind while Behra crashed and had to pit for repairs. This left Trintignant to finish fifth, four laps down but still two laps ahead of Collins.
POS | NO | DRIVER | ENTRANT | LAPS | TIME/RETIREMENT | QUAL POS |
1 | 8 | Alberto Ascari | Ferrari 500 | 77 | 3h00m00.000s | 1 |
2 | 10 | Giuseppe Farina | Ferrari 500 | 76 | 2 | |
3 | 12 | Piero Taruffi | Ferrari 500 | 75 | 3 | |
4 | 2 | Robert Manzon | Gordini T16 | 74 | 5 | |
5 | 44 | Maurice Trintignant | Simca Gordini-Gordini T15 | 72 | 6 | |
6 | 22 | Peter Collins | HWM-Alta (52) | 70 | 8 | |
7 | 4 | Jean Behra | Gordini T16 | 70 | 4 | |
8 | 28 | Philippe Etancelin | Maserati A6GCM | 70 | 18 | |
9 | 20 | Lance Macklin | HWM-Alta (52) | 70 | 14 | |
10 | 24 | Yves Giraud-Cabantous | HWM-Alta (52) | 68 | 10 | |
11= | 34 | Rudolf Fischer | Ferrari 212 | 17 | ||
11= | 34 | Peter Hirt | Ferrari 212 | 66 | ||
12 | 38 | Gianfranco Comotti | Ferrari 166 | 63 | 16 | |
r | 6 | Prince Bira | Gordini T16 | 56 | Mechanical | 7 |
r | 42 | Mike Hawthorn | Cooper-Bristol T20 | 51 | Ignition | 15 |
r= | 16 | Emmanuel de Graffenried | Maserati Plat © 4CLT | 12 | ||
r= | 16 | Harry Schell | Maserati Plat © 4CLT | 34 | Brakes | |
r= | 26 | Peter Whitehead | Alta F2 | 26 | Clutch | 13 |
r | 14 | Louis Rosier | Ferrari 500 | 17 | Engine | 9 |
r | 32 | Johnny Claes | Simca Gordini-Gordini T15 | 15 | Engine | 20 |
r | 18 | Harry Schell | Maserati Plat © 4CLT/48 | 7 | Gearbox | 11 |
r | 40 | Piero Carini | Ferrari 166 | 2 | Engine | 19 |