User:Owdeou/Caen Grand Prix

Caen Grand Prix

Formula 1
Venue	Circuit de la Prairie
Location	Caen, France
First race	1952
First F1 race	1954
Last race	1958

The Caen Grand Prix was a non-Championship Formula 1 race held at the Circuit de la Prairie in Caen,France. The first edition took place in 1952, the last Caen Grand Prix was held in 1958, in 1955 the race was not held due to the 1955 Le Mans disaster.

History

The 1952 Caen Grand Prix was not the first time it provided the stage for automobile races, in the early years of the century the Coupe de Normandie was held for three consecutive years(1908-1910) on a circuit of over 50 kilometres (31 mi) long, starting and ending just outside the city.

The first edition of the Caen Grand Prix took place on July 27 1952, the race was 75 laps of 4.121 kilometres (2.561 mi) long, bringing the total distance to 309.075 kilometres (192.050 mi). Due to concerns over the paucity of Formula One cars available, the 1952 Formula 1 season was run to Formula 2 regulations. The 1952 race was won by Maurice Trintignant in a Gordini T16.

In 1953 the race was not part of the 1953 Formula 1 season but was run as a sportscar race. It was won by Pierre Chancel in a Panhard X85.

The 1954 edition of the race had a length of 60 laps of 3.523 kilometres (2.189 mi), making for a total racing distance of 211 kilometres (131 mi). It was the first time it was run with Formula 1 cars, only ten cars entered, of which nine qualified after Roberto Mieres suffered severe burns when his engine exploded and he got sprayed with burning fuel in practice. In qualification Maurice Trintignant in his Ferrari 625 was four tenths of a second quicker than Stirling Moss in his Maserati 250F.

After the 1955 Le Mans disaster the 1955 edition was cancelled.

The 1956 edition of the Grand Prix de Caen was held in appalling weather conditions, despite the weather 30,000 people spectated the event. The race was won by Harry Schell in a Scuderia Centro Sud Maserati 250F followed by André Simon in a Gordini 16.

In 1957 the Caen Grand Prix was scheduled one week after the British Grand Prix and one week before the German Grand Prix, because of that a very exciting entry was not expected. Nevertheless Jean Behra entered with a BRM P25 he lend from Owen Racing Organisation because Scuderia Maserati were busy with preparations for the German Grand Prix. The race was won by Behra, despite him having problems with his gearbox and not switching gears for the last part of the race. Roy Salvadori finished second 12.2 seconds behind Behra. Harry Schell retired on lap 44 with a broken engine after being in a close battle with Behra for most of the race.

Sunday 20 july 1958 would be the sixth and final time the Caen Grand Prix was run. The British Grand Prix was held in the same weekend on saturday, this meant it would be hard for drivers to compete in both races. Nevertheless 12 drivers entered, 7 of which also competed in the British Grand Prix one day earlier. Just like the year before Jean Behra and Harry Schell both entered with a BRM P25 from Owen Racing Organisation. Other entries include Stirling Moss with a Cooper T45, Jo Bonnier and Bruce Halford both with a Maserati 250F and Maurice Trintignant with a Cooper T43.