1957 1000km of Nürburgring

The 3. Internationales ADAC 1000 Kilometer Rennen auf dem Nürburgring took place on 26 May 1957, on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, (West Germany). It was also the fourth round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship. This would the first championship since the dreadful events in the Mille Miglia, Italy just a fortnight ago, where Alfonso de Portago crashed killing himself, his co-driver and nine spectators.^[1]

Nürburgring Nordschleife

Report[]

Entry[]

A grand total 79 racing cars were registered for this event, of which 74 arrived for practice and qualifying. Fresh from their sad domination on the Mille Miglia, came two work teams of Scuderia Ferrari, and Officine Alfieri Maserati. The team from Maranello arrived with two cars, a Ferrari 335 S and a Ferrari 315 S. The former was to be driven by Peter Collins and Olivier Gendebien with the older car for Mike Hawthorn and Maurice Trintignant. In the Grand Touring class, one of the works driver, Wolfgang von Trips had an accident in the challenging Breidscheid section, following a change in a pedal layout in his Ferrari 250 GT. He was admitted to hospital with cuts and bruises and was unable to participate in the race.^[2]

Their Modenese rivals, who were just 2 points behind Ferrari going into the meeting, arrived with three cars, two 450Ss, plus a 300s. Their stars drivers, included Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss. With Porsche KG send two car to chase one of the less classes, it was left the semi-works Jaguar D-Types from Ecurie Ecosse and David Brown's Aston Martin DBR1/300 to challenge the Italian marques.^[3]

Qualifying[]

Qualifying was held over three sessions for a total of 1,590 minutes over the three days prior to the race. The Maserati 450S of Fangio took pole position, averaging a speed of 87.446 mph around the 14.173 mile circuit. The '53 and '56 pole winner was on pole yet again, having given everyone a lesson on how to drive the 174 corners of the 'Ring. When the session had finished, Maserati had secured the first two places. The Aston Martin of Tony Brooks, secured third ahead of the Scuderia Ferraris.^[4]

Race[]

Aston Martin DBR1 - similar to the car driven to victory by Brooks/Cunningham-Reid

The day of the race would be warm and dry, but windy, with a crowd of approximately 120,000 in attendance. Although the Maserati 450S's had been expected to dominate, Brooks led from the start until passed by Moss after 8 laps who then led until on the 10th lap his 450S lost a rear wheel. The team then switched both Moss and Fangio into Harry Schell's car, leaving Hans Herrmann without a drive, but this car had an oil leak which caused it to make a premature stop and retire by lap 19. Francisco Godia-Sales then offered his older 300S to the works team, who placed both Moss and Fangio in the car and with him and his regular co-driver Horace Gould brought the car home in fifth place, securing Maserati two championship points.^[5]

As for victory in the race, this did not go to Scuderia Ferrari, as they were beaten by more than four minutes by the Aston Martin DBR1/300 of Brooks and Noël Cunningham-Reid who gained the marque their first points of the season and their first World Championship victory since the Tourist Trophy of 1953. The partnership, won in a time of 7hr 33:38.2 mins., averaging a speed of 82.485mph. The margin of triumph over the Ferrari of Collins/Gendebien was 4 min 13.7s, who were followed home by their team-mates Hawthorn/Trintignant who were a further 1 min 35.3s adrift. Porsche snatched fourth place with Umberto Maglioli/Edgar Barth, but their 550A RS finished almost 17 minutes adrift of the winners. The Aston's pace was so quick that it lapped even the fifth placed Maserati 300S of Moss/Fangio/Godia-Sales/Gould. The race did not end when Brooks crossed the finishing line, but continued for another hour to allow the other classes/division to try and complete the full 1000 km.^[6][7][8][9]

Official Classification[]

Class Winners are in Bold text.

Pos	No	Class	Driver		Entrant	Chassis	Laps	Reason Out
1st	14	S+2.0	Tony Brooks		David Brown	Aston Martin DBR1/300	7hr 33:38.2, 44
2nd	5	S+2.0	Peter Collins	Olivier Gendebien	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 335 S	7hr 37:51.9, 44
3rd	6	S+2.0	Mike Hawthorn	Maurice Trintignant	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 315 S	7hr 38:27.2, 44
4th	21	S1.5	Umberto Maglioli	Edgar Barth	Porsche KG	Porsche 550A RS	7hr 47:17.3, 44
5th	4	S+2.0	Francisco Godia-Sales Stirling Moss	Horace Gould Juan Manuel Fangio	Francisco Godia-Sales	Maserati 300S	43
6th	12	S+2.0	Roy Salvadori	Les Leston	David Brown	Aston Martin DBR1/300	43
7th	22	S1.5	Richard von Frankenberg		Porsche KG	Porsche 550A RS	43
8th	10	S+2.0	Ron Flockhart	Jack Fairman	Ecurie Ecosse	Jaguar D-Type	43
9th	15	S+2.0	Peter Whitehead	Graham Whitehead	Peter Whitehead	Aston Martin DB3S	42
10th	7T	S+2.0	Masten Gregory		Scuderia Temple Buell	Ferrari 250 TR	42
11th	9	S+2.0	Ivor Bueb		Ecurie Ecosse	Jaguar D-Type	42
12th	30	S1.5	Heinz Schiller		Ecurie La Meute	Porsche 550 RS	42
13th	19	S2.0	Gotfrid Köchert	Erwin Bauer	Gotfrid Köchert	Ferrari 500 TRC	41
14th	29	S1.5	Carel Godin de Beaufort		Ecurie Maarsbergen	Porsche 550 RS	42
15th	3	S+2.0	Joakim Bonnier Stirling Moss	Giorgio Scarlatti Harry Schell	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati 300S	40
16th	11	S+2.0	Ninian Sanderson		Ecurie Ecosse	Jaguar D-Type	40
17th	31	S1.5			Equipe Nationale Belge	Porsche 550 RS	39
18th	23	S1.5			Fitzwilliam Racing Team	MG A	37
19th	33	S	David Piper		David Piper	Lotus-Climax Eleven	34
20th	46	GT+1.6	Fritz Riess		Fritz Reiss	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL	8hr 27:45.6, 44
21st	40	GT+1.6	Wolfgang Seidel		Wolfgang Seidel	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL	8hr 27:57.2, 44
22nd	43	GT+1.6			Arne Lindberg	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL	8hr 27:58.2, 44
23rd	44	GT+1.6			Bengt O. Martenson	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL	8hr 29:16.4, 44
24th	59	GT1.6			Paul-Ernst Strähle	Porsche 356A Carrera	8hr 30:16.8, 44
25th	55	GT1.6			Rolf-Friedrich Götze	Porsche 356A Carrera	8hr 32:42.2, 44
26th	61	GT1.6		Herbert Linge	Olof Persson	Porsche 356A Carrera	8hr 36:4139, 44
27th	70	GT1.6			Werner Krause	Porsche 356A Carrera	8hr 39:37.0, 44
28th	58	GT1.6			Hans-Georg Plaut	Porsche 356A Carrera	8hr 41:35.4, 44
29th	64	GT1.6			“Max”	Porsche 356A Carrera	43
30th	50	GT1.6			Harald von Suacken	Porsche 356A Carrera	43
31st	62	GT1.6			Ludwig Blendl	Porsche 356A Carrera	42
32nd	66	GT1.6	Richard Trenkel		Richard Trenkel	Porsche 356A Carrera	42
33rd	80	GT1.3	Eberhard Mahle		Eberhard Mahle	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce	8hr 37:24.3, 42
34th	86	GT1.3			Adolf-Werner Lang	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce	8hr 38:12.5, 42
35th	89	GT1.3			Karl Foitek	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce	8hr 48:31.9, 42
36th	82	GT1.3			Ecurie La Meute	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce	41
37th	67	GT1.6			Helmut Duetenberg	Porsche 356A Carrera	40
38th	83	GT1.3			Karl Falk	Porsche 356A Carrera	40
39th	68	GT1.6	Fred Block		Fred Block	Porsche 356A Carrera	39
40th	91	GT1.3			Helmut Felder	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce	39
41st	56	GT1.6			Fitzwilliam Racing Team	MG A	38
42nd	85	GT1.3	Harry Merkel		Harry Merkel	Porsche 356A	38
43rd	92	GT1.3	Mathieu Hezemans		Ecurie Maarsbergen	Porsche 356A	38
DNF	69	GT1.6			Donald R. Dickey	Porsche 356A Carrera	32	DNF
DNF	42	GT+1.6			Sten Bielke	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL	30	DNF
DNF	24	S1.5	Robin Carnegie		Fitzwilliam Racing Team	MG A	28	Dropped valve
DNF	41	GT+1.6			Wolfgang Seidel	Mercedes-Benz 300 SL	28	DNF
DNF	52	GT1.6	Rolf Appel		Rolf Appel	Porsche 356A Carrera	22	DNF
DNF	28	S1.5	Georges Berger		Georges Berger	Maserati 150S	21	DNF
DNF	88	GT1.3		Carlos Menditéguy	Madinina	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce	21	Gearbox
DNF	2	S+2.0	Harry Schell Stirling Moss	Juan Manuel Fangio	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati 450S	19	Oil tank
DNF	81	GT1.3		Heini Walter	Walter Ringgenberg	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce	18	Gearbox
DNF	32	S			Mike P. Anthony	Lotus-Climax Eleven	17	Accident
DNF	26	S1.5	Luigi Piotti		Automibili Osca	Osca S1500	15	DNF
DNF	87	GT1.3			Kurt Zeller	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce	11	DNF
DNF	17	S2.0			António Creus	Ferrari 750 Monza	11	Shock absorber
DNF	53	GT1.6		Ludwig Fischer	Hanns Roth	Porsche 356A Carrera	11	DNF
DNF	1	S+2.0	Stirling Moss	Juan Manuel Fangio	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati 450S	9	Lost rear wheel
DNF	34	S		David Piper	David Piper	Lotus-Climax Eleven	7	Accident
DNF	16	S+2.0	Henry Taylor	Archie Scott Brown	Murkett Bros.	Jaguar D-Type	4	Accident
DNF	45	GT+1.6			Jacques de Maubou	Jaguar XK140	4	DNF
DNF	57	GT1.6	Patsy Burt		Fitzwilliam Racing Team	MG A	4	Oil pump
DNF	65	GT1.6			Bo Elmhorn	MG A	4	DNF
DNF	84	GT1.3			Helmut Busch	MG A	4	DNF
DNF	36	S	Herbert MacKay-Fraser		Dan Marqulies	Lotus-Climax Eleven	3	Rear axle
DISQ	25	S1.5	Sergio Mantovani	Alejandro de Tomaso	Madunina	Osca S1500		Assistance
DISQ	51	GT1.6			Sepp Greger	Porsche 356A Carrera		Assistance
DNS	48	GT+1.6	Olivier Gendebien	Wolfgang von Trips	Equipe Nationale Belge	Ferrari 250 GT LWB Scaglietti		DNS – Accident in practice

^[10][11]

• Fastest Lap: Stirling Moss, 9:49.9secs (86.497 mph) ^[12][13]

Class Winners[]

^[14]

Standings after the race[]

Pos	Championship	Points
1	Ferrari	25
2	Maserati	19
3	Aston Martin	8
4	Jaguar	7
5	Porsche	5

• 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 6 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[]