1948 Swiss Grand Prix
Race details
Date 4 July 1948
Official name Grand Prix d'Europe
Location Bern
Course Circuit Bremgarten
Course length 7.262 km (4.512 miles)
Distance 40 laps, 290.48 km (180.50 miles)
Pole position
Driver
Alfa Romeo
Time 2:54.2
Fastest lap
Driver France Jean-Pierre Wimille Alfa Romeo
Time 2:51.0
Podium
First
Alfa Romeo
Second
Alfa Romeo
Third
Maserati

The 1948 Swiss Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Circuit Bremgarten, near Bern, on 4 July 1948.[1][2] Despite racing for nearly two hours, at the finishing line Frenchman Jean-Pierre Wimille was only 0.2 seconds behind the race winner, the Italian driver Carlo Felice Trossi.[3] Trossi's compatriot Luigi Villoresi finished over two and a half minutes behind the pair, in third place.

This race proved to be one of the darkest post-WWII Grands Prix ever run. Pre-World War II star driver Achille Varzi was killed when he crashed during practice.[4] Five hours after Varzi's crash, reigning 500cc European motorcycle champion Omobono Tenni died after hitting a tree during practice for a support motorcycle race.[5] Wealthy Swiss privateer Christian Kautz died in an accident during the race.[6] Maurice Trintignant also had a serious accident during a support race in which he was ejected from his car and thrown in the air, landing in the middle of the race track. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, but he survived, woke up after a week-long coma, and returned to racing in 1949.[7]

Classification

Pos. No. Driver Car Laps Time/Retired Grid
1 26 Italy Carlo Felice Trossi Alfa Romeo 158 40 1:59:17.3 4
2 30 France Jean-Pierre Wimille Alfa Romeo 158 40 + 0.2 s 1
3 34 Italy Luigi Villoresi Maserati 4CLT/48 40 + 2:37.3 3
4 56 Italy Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo 158 39 + 1 lap 6
5 32 Italy Alberto Ascari Maserati 4CLT/48 39 + 1 lap 5
6 4 Monaco Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago T26 38 + 2 laps 8
7 8 France Charles Pozzi Talbot-Lago T26SS 37 + 3 laps 10
8 54 France Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago T150C 36 + 4 laps 20
9 42 France Igor Troubetzkoy Ferrari 166SC 35 + 5 laps 18
Ret 40 Italy Clemente Biondetti Ferrari 166C 31 Overheating 15
Ret 46 Italy Luigi Fagioli Maserati 4CL 28 Engine 17
Ret 38 Italy Giuseppe Farina Maserati 4CLT 28 Engine 2
Ret 24 United Kingdom Raymond Mays ERA B-Type 23 Drive shaft 9
Ret 52 Thailand B. Bira Maserati 4CL 10 Gearbox 16
Ret 18 France Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago T26C 10 Oil leak 14
Ret 48 Switzerland Emmanuel de Graffenried Maserati 4CL 10 Collision 13
Ret 36 Italy Gianfranco Comotti Talbot-Lago T26C 7 Oil leak 19
Ret 10 France Raymond Sommer Gordini T15 5 Engine 7
Ret 20 United Kingdom George Abecassis Alta GP 4 Accident 12
Ret 50 Switzerland Christian Kautz Maserati 4CL 2 Fatal accident 11
DNQ 44 Argentina Clemar Bucci Maserati 4CL
DNQ 22 United Kingdom Bob Gerard ERA B-Type
DNS 28 Italy Achille Varzi Alfa Romeo 158 Fatal accident

References

  1. ↑ "1948 Grands Prix". GEL Motorsport Information. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  2. ↑ "04-07-1948 • Grosser Preis der Schweiz • Bern". F1-Images.de. Retrieved 2010-08-02. (German)
  3. ↑ "VIII Grand Prix de Suisse • STATS F1".
  4. ↑ "Motorsport Memorial -". www.motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  5. ↑ "Motorsport Memorial -". www.motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  6. ↑ "Motorsport Memorial -". www.motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  7. ↑ "Motorsport Memorial -". www.motorsportmemorial.org. Retrieved 2023-12-16.


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