II Bruxelles Grand Prix

A Ridiculous Event

BRUXELLES, April 9th

ONCE again the R.A.C. of Belgium and the newspaper Les Sports organised a Grand Prix on the Heysel circuit just to the north of the city near the Atomium. Last year’s race was for F.2 cars and this year it was upgraded to F.1, though with the new Grand Prix Formula starting this year it meant the cars were still 1 1/2-litres, and many of the entry were the same as last year. In general layout the circuit was unchanged though one could not guarantee some of the corners to be identical as they were marked by straw bales and there might have been a slight deviation a foot or so either way. A full description of the circuit was given in the 1960 report in the May MOTOR SPORT so there is no point in repeating it. Although in status the race was only a run-of-the-mill Grand Prix, it attracted an entry list almost worthy of a Grande Epreuve, only notable absentees being Ferrari and B.R.M. and as the entry was limited to 19 there was little room for private owners. The Equipe National Belge entered Gendebien, Bianchi and Mairesse on Emerysons, Brabham entered his own 1961 Cooper, McLaren was entered on C. T. Atkins’ 1961 Cooper and Surtees and Salvadori with the 1961 Coopers of Yeoman Credit. Allison and Henry Taylor had the U.D.T.-Laystall team Lotuses while Ireland and Clark had the Team Lotus works cars from Pau. Moss was driving a Rob Walker Lotus and Pilette was in Tim Parnell’s Lotus. Camoradi entered Masten Gregory but at the last minute changed it to Burgess with a Lotus and Seidel entered himself and Trintignant on his two white Lotus cars. Factory Porsches were entered for Bonnier and Gurney and Marsh completed the entry with his Lotus-Special. As reserves Schlesser, Campbell-Jones, Shane Summers and Lewis were encouraged to practise but no matter how fast they were they were only promised an entry if one of the 19 dropped out.

First practice was due on Friday afternoon and all Friday morning a steady downpour of rain fell, easing off slightly just before practice began at 2.30 p.m. The Equipe National BeIge had a mixture of Emeryson cars, a brand new one with Maserati engine and Colotti gearbox, a similar one that Gendebien had bent slightly at Pau, and Paul Emery’s own car that had been rushed over from Goodwood and sprayed yellow to replace the one Bianchi bent severely at Pau, this works car having a Climax engine and Colotti gearbox. To start with Gendebien took the new car, Bianchi took the slightly bent one and Mairesse took the Climax-engined car but during the afternoon all three drivers rung the changes on the three cars, though Gendebien’s did not go for long as the transfer gears between engine and gearbox stripped.

C. T. Atkins had his 1961 Cooper with Climax engine and Colotti gearbox which Bruce McLaren was driving, and it was painted light green with a white stripe on the tail, and was being carried in an ex-B.R.M. transporter suitably tidied up and painted, the whole set up being very business-like for a private owner. McLaren was very happy with the car, especially the Colotti gearbox, and this was its first race with a 1 1/2-litre engine, it previously having been driven by Brabham at Snetterton and McLaren at Goodwood fitted with a 2 1/2-litre Climax engine. The Yeoman Credit Coopers, looked after by Reg Parnell and a group of ex-Aston Martin mechanics, were a model of spit and polish in their dark green with red stripe and both cars really sounded right, these also being 1961 Coopers. Surtees was not using an anti-roll bar on the rear suspension, whereas Salvadori was, this being a question of personal taste as regards handling. The set-up of Ken Gregory and ” Pa ” Moss who ran Yeoman Credit last year were now present with U.D.T.-Laystall, retaining their same team of mechanics and their same sickly green colour for their cars, which were normal Lotus-Climax models similar to the 1960 Team Lotus cars. They had three cars at the pits, the two drivers, Allison and Henry Taylor, taking turns to try the spare one. All three cars carried a strip of tartan on the nose as the main force in United Dominions Trust is the Gibson-Jarvie family of Scottish descent. Rob Walker sent one of his 1960 Lotus cars fitted with a 1 1/2-litre Climax engine, but not the car used at Goodwood, although that car less engine was in the transporter as a spare, it being the one with a Colotti gearbox. whereas the one they were using had the normal Lotus gearbox. Team Lotus had the same two cars as at Pau, Ireland driving the one Trevor Taylor had used, and Taylor was acting as a mechanic as there were only two works entries. Clark was going well enough but Ireland’s car was having carburetter troubles. A quite standard F.2 Lotus-Climax from last year was loaned by Tim Parnell to Andre Pilette and a very non-standard Lotus-Climax was being driven by Tony Marsh. This he had modified by fitting a 1960 Cooper gearbox, splined half shafts and a top strut to the suspension on each side at the rear, forming a top wishbone in effect. At the front he had fitted stronger steering arms and coupled the antl-roll bar to the lower wishbone by a long link in place of the normal rather vague fitting where the roll bar merely sits in an eye on top of the king-post. The result of all these modifications seas a car that weighed more than standard but had a much greater safety-factor.

The Porsche factory entered two identical cars, being air-cooled flat-fours like they used in 1960 but with the addition of crash bars welded on to the chassis behind the driver’s head and starters and batteries. However, the gear-change mechanism had been altered since last year and whereas a long and rather willowy tube joined the lever to the selectors at the back of the gearbox there was now an intermediate mechanism of selectors and forks between the driving seat and the engine; also the intakes of the down-draught Weber carburetters were not fitted with a box that sealed them from the engine compartment. As it was wet both cars were fitted with standard German Dunlop SP tyres, that have Michelin ” X” characteristics and which were so good in the rain at Nurburgring last year. Gurney was in great form and was storming round even in the wet and held fastest time of the day under all the various conditions that prevailed from torrential rain to bright sunshine. However, Bonnier was in dire trouble with his gear-change linkage and most of the afternoon was spent fiddling with it, until he finally had to borrow Gurney’s car in order to do any serious practice. Just before practice finished Bonnier’s car was fitted with a pair of Weber carburetters without the heat shields, but it was too late to do enough laps to prove very much.

To complete the activity two of the reserves, Schlesser and Lewis were doing a few laps’ practice, but altogether the weather ruined the afternoon and little in the way of conclusions could be drawn, though Clark got in a fastish lap as the roads began to dry, which put him second to Gurney, and he was followed by Surtees, McLaren, Henry Taylor, Marsh and the rest. Slowest of all was Moss who was in dire trouble with an engine that would not keep going on four cylinders for very long. Although his mechanics spent most of the afternoon fiddling with it and checking everything they could find nothing obviously wrong; but equally could make no improvement.

Saturday was fine and dry, if somewhat cool, and before practice was begun at 3 p.m. there was an attempt to weigh the cars. I say ” attempt ” for two weighing machines were used, on to which the front wheels were placed and readings taken, then the car was wheeled forward until the back wheels were on the scales and two more readings were taken, the total of the four presumably giving the total weight. As the machines were of the type used for weighing 10-tons coal lorries the indicators only read to the nearest to kilogrammes, although it was possible to estimate to 5 kilogrammes. However, with four readings this meant a minimum error of 20 kilogrammes and a maximum of 40 kilogrammes, assuming no human error in adjusting the spirit levels. With ears weighing 452 or 453 kilogrammes and a Formula limit of 450 kilogrammes this method of weighing was perfectly ludicrous and there was no point in taking further interest in the results, but there were better things to follow. At five minutes to three Gendebien, Brabham and Moss were queueing up to get out and practise, Brabham in particular as bad weather had held up his private aeroplane and he had arrived yesterday just as practice finished, albeit with a set of German SP tyres in the boot of his taxi! With dry roads Porsche were back on normal racing Dunlops, like everyone else, and the moment the circuit was opened cars streamed off to practise furiously in case it rained late for the sky was still heavy with cloud, Bonnier and Gurney were really going, with their Porsche engines sounding really hard as they went down the straights at 8,600 r.p.m., but Moss was still in trouble, his Climax engine misfiring continually so that, he had to spend most of his time at the pits while his mechanics tried to find the trouble. All the ears from yesterday were out again, with the addition of Brabham in his private Cooper, already mentioned, Trintignant with the Lotus-Climax that Bonnier had driven at Pau, Burgess and his Camoradi Lotus-Climax, Seidel in his Lotus-Climax, Campbell-Jones in an old F.2 Cooper-Climax and Shane Summers its Bartram’s brand new 1961 Cooper-Climax. As Ireland was feeling unwell Trevor Taylor donned his crash-hat and put in some laps in the works Lotus, and with Mairesse in Le Mans for Ferrari testing, Mauro Bianchi drove the Emeryson-Climax. Poor Trintignant had hardly begun to learn about the Lotus before the crown-wheel and pinion chewed itself up for the simple reason that the German mechanic had forgotten to put any oil in the transmission! The two Porsches were approaching times of 2 min. 05 sec., while most of the other drivers were still around 2 min. 10 sec., though Marsh and Surtees were well below this figure, the Lotus-Climax and both Yeoman Credit Coopers sounding really good. Brabham was making steady progress but his exhaust note was not clean, having a slight ploppling in the note at peak revs. U.D.T.-Laystall were using all three of their cars and the E.N.B. were still ringing the changes on their three Emeryson’s that were not looking as stable on the corners as the Coopers were, giving a bit of a twitch as they went into the corner. The Atkins car was going really well and McLaren was more than satisfied with it, reducing his times steadily. The Team Lotus were having very little joy, for though Ireland eventually felt well enough to drive he was not going fast and Clark’s car was suffering from a suspected head-gasket failure. In fact, apart from Tony Marsh and his Lotus special the Cheshunt cars were right out of the picture, which was most unusual, and Moss was despairing of ever getting his car going properly and borrowed the U.D.T.Laystall spare car to do a few laps but even so could only just break 2 min. 10 sec., whereas by this time Gurney was down to 2 min. 64.8 sec. and Bonnier was down to 2 min. 05.6 sec. All hope for the English had not gone, for Surtees was down to 2 min. 05.6 sec. and Brabham and McLaren were hot far behind. Porsche removed the front anti-roll bar from Gurney’s car and increased the front tyre pressures and he found the handling more to his liking, though Bonnier retained the normal set-up, and with practice beginning to draw to a close the Swedish driver began to pile on the speed, doing a lap in 2 min. 03.7 sec. which left the Coopers way behind, Gurney did 2 min. 04.7 sec. and with a quarter of an hour of practice left Bonnier put in a series of really fast laps which solved everyone’s problems, starting at 2 min. 63.8 sec., then 2 min. 03.3 sec., 2 min. 03.1 sec. and finally a shattering 2 min. 02.7 sec; which was the fastest ever recorded on the Heysel circuit. Even so the Coopers were not giving up and McLaren and Brabham were going round in close company, knocking at the 2 min. 05.9 sec. mark. One of the Emerysons was going into the bend after the pits when its radiator cap came off and a vast cloud of steam enveloped the car as it stopped hurriedly; at this point Brabham and McLaren came rushing down the straight and went straight-on up the escape road in unison, seeing the disturbance round the corner, which was a good example of quick thinking by two first-class drivers. They restarted and went on together, eventually recording 2 min. 05.0 sec. and then Brabham ran out of petrol and stopped out on the circuit, while McLaren went on and just as practice finished recorded 2 min. 04.4 sec. which just pipped Gurney for second fastest time. The New Zealander came to the pits and collected a 2-gallon can of petrol and went off to look for Brabham, but meanwhile the Australian had borrowed a screwdriver from an ambulance man, changed his fuel lines over to a reserve tank and motored back to the pits.

The starting grid for Sunday was decided by these practice times and McLaren was in the front row with Atkins Cooper between the two works Porsches, with Brabham and Surtees in the second row. With everyone in good health none of the four reserves were going to get a start, even though Lewis had done 2 min. 07.5 sec., which put him ninth overall, and Summers had done 2 min. 99.5 sec., placing him 14th, the other two were slower, but even so Campbell-Jones was still nominated as first reserve, with his old F.2 Cooper, should anyone drop out, even though Lewis was much faster and had a new 1961 Cooper, which seemed a strange decision on the part of the organisation, but they were capable of making some very strange decisions, as everyone was to find out. Sunday was fine and dry, though hazy, but the sun did its best to shine and conditions were good. As the racing cars began to assemble at the pits they were all once more weighed on the same absurd system of scales, and then everyone discovered that they had been allotted entirely different racing numbers to those they had been given originally, so that whereas Brabham had been number 2 he was now number 8 and Gendebien who had been number 2 was now number 34, and so on, The reason given for this little comedy was that it prevented anyone seeing the numbers in practice from printing ” pirate ” programmes, the official ones only being released an hour or so before the start. Indeed a poor reflection on Belgium. As if there wasn’t enough to do in the way of preparation before the race, old numbers had to be scraped off and new ones put on, with the result that many cars appeared at the start with pretty rough-looking numbers.

The event was arranged to be run in three heats of 22 laps each, or 100 km., and the startinggrid for the first Heat was according to practice times. For Heat 2 the cars were to line up according to the finishing order in Heat 1, and for Heat 3 according to the finishing order in Heat 2. In each of the Heats drivers scored points according to where they finished, i.e., 1 point for first place or 10 points for 10th place, and the lowest score at the end provided the winner. Before the cars went to the grid Paul Frere led a procession round the circuit in the works E-type Jaguar coupé 9600HP, followed by 19 open Porsches each carrying one of the drivers. While this was going on there was a mild panic in the pits because the organisers decided to ban all Press and photographers from the pit area, in spite of having issued everyone with passes. While the ears were being assembled on the grid Trimignant withdrew his German-owned Lotus, it being unserviceable after its practice trouble, and Campbell-Jones was hurriedly substituted, and the Emerysons were still being weighed on the coal-scales. U.D.T.-Laystall were in a quandary as Allison’s Lotus kept wetting the two rear plugs of its Climax engine, and at the last moment they discovered that the fuel pump, driven from the end of the inlet camshaft, was leaking petrol into the cambox and it was running down the valve guides. Some frantic work saw a new fuel pump fitted and Allison reached the line with a few seconds to spare. Lined up as below, Heat 1 was ready to start, and Brabham and McLaren were all set to have a go at the Porsches. The start was given very precisely and correctly, and McLaren led away, with Brabham forcing through from the second row, but Bonnier soon took the lead and as they appeared on full song down the back straight Bonnier, McLaren and Gurney were nose to tail, Porsche, Cooper, Porsche, while Clark and Surtees had both passed Brabham. By the end of the lap the two Porsches were in command, with cars following each other in a fast and steady procession, but before the end of the second lap Clark had stopped by the side of the road, the Lotus having broken its gearbox input shaft, and on the very next lap Gurney stopped out on the circuit, his Porsche having broken a small lever in its war-change transfer-mechanism. On this lap Bonnier had set a fastest time with 2 min. 04.3 sec. and soon drew away from the Coopers of McLaren, Surtees and Brabham, who were going hard in close company trying to keep up. On lap five Brabham got by Surtees and began closing on McLaren by sheer driving, for the three Coopers were perfectly evenly matched down the straight. Already they had left the rest behind, Salvadori leading the remainder of the field, with Marsh going extremely well just behind the dark green Yeoman Credit car. Poor Moss was lying seventh, doing his best with an engine that was popping and banging and running on three cylinders more often than on four. First he was passed by Ireland, then by Henry Taylor. then by Mairesse in the leading Emeryson, and then by Allison, and after that, on lap 10, he stopped at his pits for a quick consultation. Meanwhile Bonnier was steadily increasing his lead but Brabham was now in second position, just ahead of McLaren and Surtees and Salvadori was still a lonely but steady fourth. At the end of the field Burgess had stopped at his pit for a time with the Camoradi Lotus, Gendebien had bent the front of his Emeryson and was in the pits, and Seidel had come in to retire.

On lap nine Surtees took third place from McLaren but then the gear-lever of his Cooper broke off at the base and he dropped right back to sixth place while he tried to change gear with the selector rod. By 10 laps Bonnier had a 10-sec. lead over Brabham, who still had McLaren right on his tail, and on this lap Mairesse went by with the Emeryson-Climax popping and banging. Although well in the lead, Bonnier put in a lap at 2 Min, 03.6 sec. and followed it up with one in 2 min. 03.4 sec. while Pilette retired Tim Parnell’s Lotus-Climax on lap is with defective gear-selector mechanism, and on lap 12 Mairesse and Suttees drew into the pits, the former to sort out his misfining and the latter to try and do something about the broken gear-lever. On lap 13 Moss was in the pits again and his mechanics started work to fit another magneto.

The organisation now announced that Brabham, McLaren and Mairesse were being penalised a minute for jumping the start! This was really too much. The Belgians were taking on as pompous an air as some English racing clubs, and at a Continental Grand Prix of all places. This sort of pettiness may be all right for amateurs at a B.A.R.C. meeting but was a bit out of place when dealing with a field worthy of a World Championship event and anyway none of the cars concerned had completely crossed the start line before the flag fell. Judicious ” creeping ‘ at the start by a Grand Prix driver has been an accepted part of big-time racing since way back and there seems little reason for trying to stop it. The next thing will be to try and stop the top drivers using the grass verges when making a lap record, or carving each other up when the going gets tough. To return to the race, Brabham had only 45 sec. lead over Salvadori, who was in fourth place, so Salvadori was in reality second, but team-manager Reg Parnell was not exactly overjoyed at this absurd state of affairs and began to wonder if he was at a Grand Prix or a children’s Sunday school treat. On lap 18 Henry Taylor came into the pits with the right-hand front wheel of his pale green U.D.T.-Laystall leaning at a funny angle due to the lower wishbone mounting having torn away from the chassis frame, some of the welding having come unstuck. Surtees had rejoined the race and so did Moss just before the end, in order to be classified; and Bonnier was flagged home an easy winner, followed by Brabham, McLaren, Salvadori, Marsh, Ireland, and the rest a lap or more in arrears. However, the official results read as follows :—

HEAT 1-22 Laps-100.144 Kilometres

1st: J. Bonnier (Porsche) 45 min. 40.6 sec. — 131.547 k.p.h.

2nd: R. Salvadori (Cooper-Climax) 46 min. 52.3 sec.

3rd: J. Brabham (Cooper-Climax) 47 min. 00.7 sec.

4th: B. McLaren (Cooper-Climax) 47 min. 01.5 sec. 

5th: A.E. Marsh (Lotus-Climax) 47 min. 15.4 sec.

6th: I. Ireland (Lotus-Climax) 47 min. 35.0 sec.

7th: C. Allison (Lotus-Climax) 1 lap behind

8th: L. Bianchi (Emeryson-Maserati) 1 lap behind

9th: J. Campbell-Jones (Cooper-Climax) 1 lap behind

10th: J. Surtees (Cooper-Climax) 2 laps behind

11th: I. Burgess (Lotus-Climax) 3 laps behind

12th: O. Gendebien (Emeryson-Maserati) 4 laps behind

13th: W. Mairesse (Emeryson-Climax) 4 laps behind

14th: S. Moss (Lotus-Climax) 7 laps behind

Fastest lap : J. Bonnier (Porsche), 2 min. 03.4 sec.–132,797 k.p.h.

Retired : J. Clark (Lotus-Climax), lap 2; D. Gurney (Porsche), lap 3; ) W. Seidel (Lotus-Climax), lap 6; A. Pilette (Lotus-Climax), lap 11; H. Taylor (Lotus-Climax), lap 18.

After a short interval, during which time Yeoman Credit borrowed a gear-lever from Bartram’s Cooper and fitted it to Surtees’ car, the Porsche team searched in vain for a welding plant to mend Gurney’s car, Brabham changed the chokes in his Weber carburetters and the Equipe National Beige did some straightening out. The line-up for Heat 2 began to take place as follows :

This time all the drivers were ” good boys ” and no-one was penalised at the start, and down the back straight roared Bonnier in the silver Porsche with a row of Coopers giving chase and as they all went past the pits the order was Bonnier, McLaren, Brabham, Salvadori, Marsh, Surtees, Ireland and Moss, while Campbell-Jones stopped at the pits with a leaking head gasket. On lap two Surtees got by Marsh and on the next lap McLaren, Brabham, Salvadori and Surtees were nose-to-tail behind the flying Bonnier. On lap four Surtees passed his team-mate and took fourth place, on lap five he set up a new lap record in 2 min. 03.0 sec., and on the next lap he passed Brabham. Another lap record in 2 min. 02.6 sec. and he was past McLaren and then left the other Cooper, and with the ” bit ” really between his teeth he fairly flew after Bonnier. By lap 10 he was only 2 sec. behind the Porsche, but neither Bonnier nor the Porsche pit were unduly worried for due to the odd business of having three races and scoring points, Bonnier’s score stood at 1 and Surtees had 10, so they could afford to let the motorcycle Champion win this Heat if he really wanted to. Had Brabham or McLaren been challenging Bonnier it would have been a different story, so once more there was an absurd and artificial situation of the leader of a race not being worried about losing the lead.

However, things did not turn out that way for as Bonnier started his 12th lap Surtees was right up his exhaust pipe and they disappeared round the left-hand bend practically touching. Just after the narrow bit between the houses Bonnier went into a left-hand bend and the nose of Surtees’ Cooper touched the back of the Porsche and next instant both cars were spinning, giving each other a clout with their rear wheels as they spun, and this put them both out with rear suspension damage, and Brabham came round in the lead, followed by McLaren and Salvadori, but only for one lap as the second Yeoman Credit car then came into the pits and retired as a tappet had broken in the Climax engine, so the whole event had suddenly turned into a Brabham/ McLaren benefit. Moss was still in trouble with misfiring and had even been passed by Burgess and Gendebien had retired with a split radiator having first bumped Campbell-Jones and then Bianchi, the second bump causing the leading Emeryson’s exhaust pipe to pierce his radiator. Moss had a moment of excitement when he found someone with a car that was sicker than his, this being the Emeryson of Mairesse, and by a great effort he overtook it! Brabham romped home an easy winner.

HEAT 2 — 22 Laps—100.144 Kilometres

1st: J. Brabham (Cooper-Climax) 46 min. 04.2 sec.–130.423 k.p.h.

2nd: B. McLaren (Cooper-Climax) 46 min. 13.9 sec.

3rd: A.E. Marsh (Lotus-Climax) 47 min. 38.7 sec.

4th: I. Ireland (Lotus-Climax) 48 min. 00.4 sec.

5th: L. Bianchi (Emeryson-Maserati) 48 min. 19.6 sec.

6th: C. Allison (Lotus-Climax) 1 lap behind

7th: I. Burgess (Lotus-Climax) 1 lap behind

8th: S. Moss (Lotus-Climax) 1 lap behind

9th: W. Mairesse (Emeryson-Maserati) 5 laps behind

10th: J. Campbell-Jones (Cooper-Climax) 10 laps behind

Fastest lap : J. Surtees (Cooper-Climax), in 2 min. 02.6 sec.-133.663 k.p.h.

Retired: J. Surtees (Cooper-Climax), lap 12; J. Bonnier (Porsche), lap 12; O. Gendebien (Emeryson-Maserati), lap 12; R. Salvadori (Cooper-Climax), lap 13.

At the end of this Heat there were five cars on the same lap and another six in various states of disrepair, so another short interval saw more feverish activity in the pits, from which the Belgian Gendarmerie once more did their best to keep the Press and photographers. The nose on Brabham’s Cooper was beginning to split so this had to be repaired, Moss had another fuel pump fitted to his Climax engine, Bianchi had the exhaust system off Gendebien’s car fitted to his own, and there was some shuffling of the crumpled bodywork, and this time only 10 cars lined up for the start of Heat 3, in the order :

It was Ireland who led this time, and he was still in the lead at the end of the opening lap, but it did not last, for he spun in a big way out on the autobahn and severely damaged the rear suspension of the Lotus against various banks. This left Brabham and McLaren on their own, followed by Marsh and Moss, and suddenly the Rob Walker Lotus started to go properly, the new fuel pump seemingly effecting a cure, so that Moss whipped past Marsh and then past McLaren, but it was of no interest to either of them in the overall picture as they were far ahead on points. To Moss it was important as it enabled him to gain some lost prestige and to improve his position in the General Classification from near the end to somewhere not-so-near the end.

Campbell-Jones was creeping round trying to cover just sufficient laps to qualify, and by lap seven Moss was with Brabham, not that it could make any difference to the World Champion in the results. However, racing of any sort is racing to Brabham so, rather than tour round on his own, he engaged in a little private scrap with Moss, lapping at 2 min. 06 sec., and the two of them passed and re-passed and put on a good show that roused a rather sleepy public. A long way behind them Allison and Bianchi were having a much more serious dice for the outcome of this Heat was going to decide which of them was going to be fourth in the final addition of points. The Belgian boy was driving his Emeryson-Maserati very well and keeping ahead of the pale green Lotus, but he could not let up at all for there was a vital single point at stake.

The Moss/Brabham duel went on for the remainder or the 22 laps, Moss actually leading across the line on lap 21, but Brabham got the lead again going into the last corners and they crossed the line almost side-by-side with the Cooper just ahead. McLaren had settled for third place as his car was jumping out of bottom gear and anyway he was certain of second place overall, and Marsh was running steadily behind him. This rather false and farcical event finally finished and one could look forward to a proper Grand Prix race at Siracuse on April 25th, an event where the winner would have to win and the car be reliable for a full 300 kilometres.—D. S. J.

HEAT 3 — 22 Laps—100.144 Kilometres

1st: J. Brabham (Cooper-Climax) 46 min. 16.9 sec.–129.826 k.p.h.

2nd: S. Moss (Lotus-Climax) 46 min. 17.0 sec.

3rd: B. McLaren (Cooper-Climax) 47 min. 13.2 sec.

4th: A. E. Marsh (Lotus-Climax) 47 min. 36.0 sec.

5th: L. Bianchi (Emeryson-Maserati) 47 min. 41.0 sec.

6th: C. Allison (Lotus-Climax) 47 min. 47.6 sec.

7th: I. Burgess (Lotus-Climax) 1 lap behind

8th: W. Mairesse (Emeryson-Climax) 2 laps behind

9th: J. Campbell-Jones (Cooper-Climax) 16 laps behind

Fastest lap : J. Surtees (Lotus-Climax), in 2 min. 04.7 sec.-131.412 k.p.h.

Retired: I. Ireland (Cooper-Climax), lap 2.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1st: J. Brabham (Cooper-Climax)  3 + 1 + 1 = 5 points

2nd: B. McLaren (Cooper-Climax) 4 + 2 + 3 = 9 points

3rd: A.E. Marsh (Lotus-Climax)     5 + 3 + 4 = 12 points

4th: L. Bianchi (Emeryson-Maserati) 8 + 5 + 5 = 18 points        

5th: C. Allison (Lotus-Climax) 7 + 6 + 6 = 19 points

6th: S. Moss (Lotus-Climax) 14 + 7 + 2 = 23 points

7th: I. Burgess (Lotus-Climax) 11 + 8 + 7 = 26 points

8th: J. Campbell-Jones (Cooper-Climax) 9 + 10+ 9 = 28 points

9th: W. Mairesse (Emeryson-Maserati) 13 + 9 + 8 = 30 points