1951 British A1 Grand Prix

The 1951 British A1 Grand Prix was the fourth round of the 1951 season.

Race


Parade Lap: Peter Whitehead's clutch fails bringing an end to the home teams race before it even begins.

Lap 1: Raul Jaras is spun into the pit wall by Gabriel Herrera. He is able to continue but not before a pitstop to repair the damage and he rejoins a lap down.

Lap 2: Luis Albizuri crashes out at Druids. Lap 3: Robert Nelleman tags Prince Bira coming out of Shell Oil Corner spinning Bira into the inside barrier. Bira manages to rejoin at the back.

Lap 8: Chico Landi brakes way too late into Shell Oil Corner and runs off the circuit releasing Fangio into 2nd. The Brazilian rejoins outside the top ten with some damage on his car. He eventually has to make an extra pitstop for repairs.

Lap 10: While being lapped by Robert Manzon, Jaras looses control coming out of Old Hall corner and tags the side of Manzon's car sending both into the outside wall. Jaras is out but amazingly Manzon is able to struggle back to the pits. Unfortunately his slow speed catches out Vaclav Bobek through Island Bend and the Frenchman is hit once more while the Czechoslovakian spins around and collects Tony Gaze and Joe Kelly. Somehow, Bobek and Kelly got away with little damage and continued having lost only a little time, while Gaze had to join Manzon in the pits for extensive repairs.

Lap 18: Louis Chiron who had climbed up to 12th suffers a puncture and has to spend nearly an entire lap recovering to the pits, this puts him a lap down.

Lap 20: Attilio Cagnasso spins off at Cascades, beaching his car in the gravel.

Lap 33: Nelleman suffers an electrical fault forcing an extra stop after which he'd spend the rest of the race well off the pace.

Lap 42: Fangio gets past Villoresi for the lead after the Italian is boxed in by Herrera.

Lap 57: Fernando Mascarenhas suffers a gearbox issue forcing a pitstop and costing him over a lap.

Lap 70: Manzon holds up David Murray long enough to allow Paco Godia past the Scot for 7th.

Race Classification
Fastest Lap: Juan Manuel Fangio 1:20.089 Lap 31

Penalty Report
Drivers receive points on their race licence if they are deemed by the stewards to be driving in an 'unsporting manner'. Points are usually given for causing avoidable collisions, pitlane infractions or impeding fastest cars while being lapped. If a driver collects 12 points throughout the season then they are given a three month ban from racing in the series. Points are reset to zero after each season. Fines can also be given.