1955 Mille Miglia


The 22. edizione Mille Miglia was a motor race held on a 992.332 mile course made up entirely of public roads around Italy, mostly on the outer parts of the country on April 30-May 1, 1955. The route was based on a round trip between Brescia and Rome, with start/finish, in Brescia. It was the 3rd round of the 1955 World Sportscar Championship and for the Coppa Franco Mazzotti.
As in previous years, the event this not strictly a race against each other, this is race against the clock, as the cars are released at one-minute intervals with the larger professional class cars going before the slower cars, in the Mille Miglia, however the smaller displacement slower cars started first. Each car number related to their allocated start time. For example, Luigi Musso’s car had the number 651, he left Brescia at 6:51am, while the first cars had started late in the evening on the previous day. Some drivers went with navigators, others didn't; a number of local Italian drivers had knowledge of the routes being used and felt confident enough that they wouldn't need one.
This race was won by Mercedes-Benz factory driver Stirling Moss with the aid of his navigator Denis Jenkinson. They completed the 992-mile distance in 10 hours, 7 minutes and 48 seconds- an average speed of 99 mph. The two Englishmen finished 32 minutes in front of their second-placed teammate, Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio.

Report

Entry

A total of 661 cars were entered for the event, across 12 classes based on engine sizes, ranging from up to 750cc to over 2.0-litre, for Grand Touring Cars, Touring Cars and Sport Cars. Of these, 534 cars started the event.
For this year's Mille Miglia, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Maserati and Aston Martin all came to Brescia wanting to win. Scuderia Ferrari brought cars for Umberto Maglioli, Sergio Sighinolfi, Paolo Marzotto and Piero Taruffi, Aston Martin had a DB3S for Peter Collins and DB2/4s for Paul Frère and Tommy Wisdom; and Maserati only had one 300S for Cesare Perdisa. Daimler Benz AG, who were making their Championship debut in this event, had probably the strongest line-up: Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Hans Herrmann and Karl Kling in their Mercedes-Benz 300 SLRs. Lancia decided to put all their efforts into Grand Prix and did not attend the race.

Race

Moss and Jenkinson were the favourites to win, although they had no knowledge of the local roads despite this being Moss’s fifth attempt at the Mille Miglia. Moss was relying entirely on Jenkinson's pace notes that they had spent months compiling. Jenkinson's innovative pace notes were written on a home-made roller scroll.
Initially the race wasn't in favor of the Mercedes duo, as Eugenio Castellotti streaked away from the field in his privately entered Ferrari 735 LM. With its massively powerful 4.4-litre engine, he had sufficient speed to do the job, but he was trying the extract more than the car had to offer. By the time the fastest cars reached the town of Ravenna on the Adriatic Sea, he was two minutes ahead of Moss/Jenkinson, but Castellotti was driving like a madman as he slid his Ferrari through the corners, his tyres leaving large black streaks on the road and enveloping itself in a cloud of dust. However, as the cars streaked down the coastline towards Pescara, Castellotti had simply been pushing too hard, and he ended up breaking his Ferrari. His teammate, Marzotto had a promising start but disaster struck when a tyre threw a tread as he was traveling at 174 mph. He was able to keep the car on the road but as he stopped to grab the spare, he noticed that it was a different size from the others, so he was forced into retirement.
Moss surged into the lead as the fastest Ferrari expired, but there was still opposition to be dealt with – this time from the Scuderia Ferrari driver, Piero Taruffi. Taruffi had averaged a stunning 130 mph on the sprint down to Pescara, leaving all previous Mille Miglia records shattered in the dust of his 376 S. At this time, only a wafer-thin margin now separated the lead two cars as they refuelled, with Moss snatching the advantage thanks to a quicker stop. Fangio at this stage began to develop engine problems.
The next checkpoint was in the town of L’Aquila. In order to get there, a 62.5 mile route through the mountains had to be bypassed. By the time Moss and Jenkinson reached this town, they were leading by 35 seconds, followed by Herrmann, Taruffi, Fangio and Kling - All the Mercedes cars entered were running 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th.
By this time, Jenkinson’s map-rolling device was paying off well. Moss’s supreme confidence in his co-driver allowed him to slam over blind brows in absolute confidence at around 170 mph; on occasion the Mercedes actually flew for about 200 feet before crashing back on the tarmac. In that 28 second stop at Pescara, the 300SLR was quickly topped with 18 gallons of fuel, sufficient to reach its main stop in Rome.
in the Mercedes-Benz Museum
The next checkpoint was the Italian capital of Rome, which was the halfway point. Moss had taken 1 hour and 6 minutes to reach Rome from L’Aquila and he had extended his lead to 1 minute and 15 seconds over Taruffi. Kling crashed just outside the city and was now out of the race. His Mercedes was up against a tree, as he crashed avoiding some spectators; luckily he only suffered broken ribs. Meanwhile, Fangio was still struggling with engine problems; his complaints were ignored by Mercedes pit personnel in Rome. Moss buckled down to tackle the most challenging and demanding section of the route. Constantly on his mind was a fierce desire to disprove one of the old sayings – ‘He who leads at Rome never finishes’.
The mountainous 140 mile route from Rome to the next time control in Siena was a race of attrition. Perdisa and Taruffi both retired, and by the time he reached Siena, Moss had extended his lead to 5 minutes and 40 seconds over Herrmann - he had extended 1 minute and 36 seconds on Herrmann on this section alone. At this point, 690 mi of distance had been covered in 6 hours, 51 minutes and 16 seconds by Moss and Jenkinson.
The next stage was from Siena to Florence, 44 mi long. Moss had pulled out only 8 seconds over Herrmann, who was pushing hard. Fangio's engine began to make unhealthy noises, and when the mechanics checked the engine, one of the very advanced fuel injection pipes had broken; the engine in Fangio's car was now running on 7 cylinders.
on the 2012 Mille Miglia
After Florence was Bologna, 65 miles away, through the fearsome Futa Pass in Tuscany - one of the most difficult parts of this race. Bologna was nearby Modena, which was home to the headquarters of both Ferrari and Maserati. Herrmann crashed on this stage and was out; Moss was at his best, out to shatter the one-hour bogey, and he was now 27 minutes and 38 seconds ahead of Fangio, and was fastest on this section, 4½ minutes ahead of Magiloli.
By the time Moss and Jenkinson had reached the town of Cremona, they had extended their lead over Fangio to 30 minutes. They were once again fastest over this 115 mile stage.
Now Moss and Jenkinson were on the final stage from Cremona to Brescia, however there was no letting up as Moss would bring the Mercedes up to 170 mph for a quick finale. At the finish, fêted by the Italian fans and surrounded by their team, the Englishmen discovered just how successful they had been. They had won the Mille Miglia, and had left all records shattered in the wake of their victorious 300SLR. In second place came Fangio driving alone in the only other 300SLR to finish 32 minutes behind. Third was the Ferrari 376 S of Umberto Maglioli/Gino Monetferrario and fourth Francesco Giardini’s 2-litre Maserati A6GCS. Moss and Jenkinson reached Brescia at 17:29; 10 hours and 7 minutes after they left Brescia at 07:22. Moss became the first and only Briton and one of the few non-Italians to win the Mille Miglia. As if that was not enough, Moss also won the Index of Performance, normally preserved for the smaller capacity cars.

Classification

Official Results

Of the 521 starters, 281 were classified as finishers. Therefore, only a selection of notably racers has been listed below.
Class Winners are in Bold text.
Pos.No.ClassDriverNavigatorEntrantCar - EngineTimeReason Out
1st722S+2.0 Stirling Moss Denis JenkinsonDaimler Benz AGMercedes-Benz 300 SLR10hr 07:48
2nd658S+2.0 Juan Manuel FangioDaimler Benz AGMercedes-Benz 300 SLR10hr 39:33
3rd705S+2.0 Umberto Maglioli Luciano MonteferrarioScuderia FerrariFerrari 376 S Scaglietti10hr 52:47
4th621S2.0 Francesco GiardiniMaserati A6GCS/5311hr 15:32
5th417GT+1.3 John Fitch Kurt GesellMercedes-Benz 300 SL11hr 29:21
6th724S+2.0 Sergio SighinolfiScuderia FerrariFerrari 750 Monza11hr 33:27
7th428GT+1.3 Olivier Gendebien Jacques WasherMercedes-Benz 300 SL11hr 36:00
8th541S1.5 Wolfgang Seidel Helmut GlöcklerPorsche KGPorsche 550 Spyder12hr 08:17
9th646S2.0 Luigi BellucciMaserati A6 GCS12hr 09:10
10th445GT1.1 Salvatore CasellaMercedes-Benz 300 SL12hr 55:08
11th700S+2.0 George AbecassisAustin-Healey 100S12hr 11:15
12th631S2.0 Siro SbraciMaserati A6GCS12hr 24:31
13th408GT+1.3 Carlo Castelbarco Angelo SavorettiFiat 8V Zagato12hr 24:43
14th542S1.5 Luc Descollanges Robert NicolOsca MT4 150012hr 29:56
15th717S+2.0 “Kammamuri”Ferrari 250 Monza12hr 40:42
16th441GT+1.3 Hermano da Silva Ramos Jean-Charles VidillesAston Martin DB2/412hr 43:50
17th650S2.0 Enrico Sterzi Vittoriano ViganoMaserati A6GCS12hr 49:04
18th411GT+1.3 Carlo CroceLancia Aurelia12hr 52:29
19th451GT+1.3 V. Vanini Ivo BadaraccoAlfa Romeo 1900 SS Zagato12hr 56:11
20th647S2.0 Luigi OlivariMaserati A6GCS12hr 57:31
21st244GT1.3 Richard von Frankenberg Peter OberndorfPorsche 356 1300 Super12hr 58:39
22nd354GT+1.3 Rainer GünzlerPorsche 356 1300 Super12hr 58:46
23rd548S1.5 Ernst Lautenschlager Rudi SchollPorsche 550 Spyder12hr 59:52
24th518S1.1 Claude Bourillot Osca MT4 110013hr 01:21
25th238GT1.3 Wolfgang von TripsPorsche 356 1300 Super13hr 02:55
26th416GT+1.3 Vladimiro Galluzzi “Ippocampo”Alfa Romeo 1900 SS Zagato13hr 13:08
27th720S+2.0 Enzo PinzeroE. PinzeroFerrari 750 Monza13hr 14:01
28th334T+1.3 Guido Cestelli-Guidi Giuseppe MussoAlfa Romeo 1900 TI13hr 14:05
29th638S2.0 Pietro PagliariniMaserati A6GCS13hr 14:07
30th344T+1.3 Giancarlo Sala Manuel ViglianiAlfa Romeo 1900 TI13hr 14:57
33rd533S1.1 Arnaldo Colantoni Raffaele FogliaOsca MT4 110013hr 18:27
34th532S1.1 Luigi Nobile Luigi BettiolOsca MT4 110013hr 18:38
35th021S750 Claude StorezD.B. HBR Panhard13hr 19:03
36th708S+2.0 Lance MacklinAustin-Healey 100S13hr 19:55
37th501GT+1.3 Salvatore Leto di Priolo Massimo Leto di PrioloFiat 8V Zagato13hr 21:36
46th614S2.0 Franco Cortese Achille StazziFiat 8V Zagato13hr 35:25
55th118T1.3 Ersilio Mandrini Luigi BertassiFiat 1100/103 TV13hr 48:12
56th243GT1.3 Oscar Cabalén Ottavio GuarducciAlfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint13hr 49:04
57th554S1.5 Gilberte Thirion Nadège FerrierThirion/BousquetGordini T15S13hr 52:18
59th611S2.0 Leslie Brooke David LampeTriumph TR213hr 54:52
62nd026S750 Vincenzo AuricchioVincenzo AuricchioStanguellini 750 Sport13hr 55:22
65th041S750 Louis NavarroPanhard Dyna13hr 58:01
67th022S750 Élie BayolD.B. HBR Panhard13hr 58:45
74th2254TN1.1 Olinto MorolliFiat 1100/10314hr 14:43
83rd203GT1.1 Ferrante ViolaFiat 1100/103 TV14hr 32:50
93rd93T750 Juillet Galtier Maurice MichyRenault 4CV Allemano14hr 44:58
100th325T+1.3 Giovanna Maria Cornaggia Medici Luigi GrassiAlfa Romeo 1900 TI14hr 50:42
108th84T750 Jean Rédélé Louis PonsAlpine-Renault A106 MM15hr 01:43
201st04D Helmut Retter Wolfgang LarcherMercedes-Benz 180D16hr 52:25
215th09D Karl Reinhardt Wulf WsnewskiMercedes-Benz 180D17hr 12:14
273rd2211T750 Osvaldo Pieri Luigi VilloresiFiat 60020hr 51:18
DNF045S750 Jean LucasD. B. HBR PanhardDNF
DNF346T+1.3 Jo Bonnier B. BoscenAlfa Romeo 1900 TIDNF
DNF418GT+1.3 Paul Frére Louis KlementasAston Martin LtdAston Martin DB2/4Clutch
DNF436GT+1.3 Tommy Wisdom Peter BoltonAston Martin DB2/4Clutch
DNF615S2.0 Giorgio ScarlattiMaserati A6GCS5hr 55:06DNF
DNF620S2.0 Maria Teresa de FilippisMaserati A6GCS6hr 04:29DNF
DNF628S2.0 Luigi TaramazzoFerrari 500 Mondial5hr 52:07DNF
DNF651S2.0 Luigi MussoMaserait A6GCS5hr 36:41DNF
DNF701S+2.0 Karl KlingDaimler Benz AGMercedes-Benz 300 SLR5hr 13:20Accident
DNF702S+2.0 Peter CollinsAston Martin LtdAston Martin DB3SCon rod
DNF704S+2.0 Hans Herrmann Hermann EgerDaimler Benz AGMercedes-Benz 300 SLR5hr 07:06Accident
DNF706S+2.0 Luigi Piotti Luigi ZanniniFerrari 750 MonzaDNF
DNF709S+2.0 Ron FlockhartAustin-Healey 100SAccident
DNF712S+2.0 Donald Healey Jim CashmoreAustin-Healey 100S8hr 43:27DNF
DNF714S+2.0 Piero CariniFerrari 750 MonzaDNF
DNF718S+2.0 Piero ScottiFerrari 375 MMDNF
DNF718S+2.0 Eugenio Castellottipriv.Ferrari 735 LM ScagliettiTyres
DNF725S+2.0 Paolo MarzottoScuderia FerrariFerrari 376 S ScagliettiTyres/accident
DNF727S+2.0 Cesare PerdisaOfficine Alfieri MaseratiMaserati 300s Fantuzzi5hr 19:01DNF
DNF728S+2.0 Piero TaruffiScuderia FerrariFerrari 376 S Scaglietti5hr 04:54Oil

Class Winners

ClassWinners
Sport oltre 2000722Mercedes-Benz 300 SLRMoss / Jenkinson
Sports 2000621Maserati A6GCS/53Giardini
Sports 1500541Porsche 550 SpyderSeidel / Glöckler
Sports 1100518Osca MT4 1100Bourillot
Sports 750021D.B. HBR PanhardStorez
Gran Turismo oltre 1300417Mercedes-Benz 300 SLFitch / Gesell
Gran Turismo 1300244Porsche 356 1300 Supervon Frankenberg / Oberndorf
Gran Turismo 1100203Fiat 1100/103 TVViola
Turismo serie speciale +1300334Alfa Romeo 1900 TICestelli-Guidi / Musso
Turismo serie speciale 1300118Fiat 1100/103 TVMandrini / Bertassi
Turismo di serie speciale 75093Renault 4CV AllemanoGaltier / Michy
Gruppo Diesel04Mercedes-Benz 180DRetter / Larcher

Standings after the race

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.