1949 BRDC International Trophy

The first BRDC International Trophy meeting, formally titled the Daily Express International Trophy, was held on 20 August 1949 at the Silverstone Circuit, England.[1] It was the first race meeting to only use the former airfield's perimeter roadways, rather than the main runways. The event was held over two heats of 20 laps and one final of 30 laps of the Grand Prix circuit. The final was won by Italian Alberto Ascari, who would go on to win the World Championship of Drivers twice. In addition to the main Formula One-regulation competition, the meeting also contained events for 500 cc racing cars and production cars.[2] The race meeting was attended by over 100,000 people, but was marred by the death of St. John Horsfall in an accident on the 13th lap of the final race.[3]

1949 BRDC International Trophy
Race details
Date	20 August 1949
Official name	Daily Express International Trophy
Location	Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.649 km (2.889 mi)
Pole position
Driver	Alberto Ascari (Heat 1) Emmanuel de Graffenried (Heat 2)	Ferrari Maserati
Time	1:56.0 (Heat 1) 1:55.0 (Heat 2)
Podium
First	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari
Second	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari
Third	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari

Results

Final

Pos	Driver	Chassis	Time/Retired
1	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari 125	59:42.6
2	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari 125	+ 1.8 s
3	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari 125	+ 36.4 s
4	Emmanuel de Graffenried	Maserati 4CLT	+ 36.4 s
5	Peter Walker	ERA E-type	+ 1:24.2
6	B. Bira	Maserati 4CLT	+ 2:15.8
7	Bob Gerard	ERA B-type	+ 1 lap
8	Fred Ashmore	Maserati 4CLT	+ 1 lap
9	Cuth Harrison	ERA B-type	+ 2 laps
10	Tony Rolt	Alfa Romeo Aitken	+ 2 laps
11	David Hampshire	ERA C-type	+ 2 laps
12	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago T26C	+ 3 laps
13	Pierre Levegh	Talbot-Lago T26C	+ 3 laps
14	Gordon Watson	Alta 69	+ 3 laps
15	Joe Fry	Maserati 4CL	+ 3 laps
16	George Nixon	ERA A-type	+ 3 laps
17	Roy Salvadori	Maserati 4CL	+ 3 laps
18	David Murray	Maserati 4CL	+ 4 laps
19	Joe Kelly	Maserati 6CM	+ 4 laps
20	Geoffrey Crossley	Alta GP	+ 4 laps
21	Geoff Richardson	RRA	+ 9 laps
Ret	St John Horsfall	ERA B-type	Fatal accident

Heats

Heat 1 Pos Driver Time/Retired 1 B. Bira 39:00.2 2 Alberto Ascari + 0.8 s 3 Reg Parnell + 43.8 s 4 Bob Gerard +1:56.2 5 Cuth Harrison + 1 lap 6 St John Horsfall + 1 lap 7 Philippe Étancelin + 1 lap 8 Joe Fry + 2 laps 9 Johnny Claes + 2 laps 10 David Murray + 2 laps 11 Anthony Baring + 2 laps 12 Geoffrey Crossley + 2 laps 13 Richard Habershon + 3 laps 14 Brian Shawe-Taylor + 9 laps Ret Peter Whitehead valve Ret Duncan Hamilton oil pipe Ret Graham Whitehead ? Ret Michael Chorlton oil pipe Pole position: Alberto Ascari – 1:56.0

Heat 2 Pos Driver Time/Retired 1 Giuseppe Farina 39:44.4 2 Luigi Villoresi + 5.2 s 3 Emmanuel de Graffenried + 27.6 s 4 Peter Walker +1:44.8 5 Roy Salvadori + 1 lap 6 Tony Rolt + 1 lap 7 Fred Ashmore + 1 lap 8 David Hampshire + 1 lap 9 Pierre Levegh + 1 lap 10 Geoff Richardson + 2 laps 11 Gordon Watson + 2 laps 12 George Nixon + 2 laps 13 Joe Kelly + 2 laps 14 Geoff Ansell + 2 laps Ret Leslie Brooke ? Ret John Gordon Oil pump Ret Louis Chiron Cylinder head gasket DNS Raymond Mays Pole position: Emmanuel de Graffenried – 1:55.0

References

Citations

1. "Motor Racing Gala at Silverstone". The Motor. 96 (2485): 3–4. 1949.
2. "Racing at Silverstone". The Austin Magazine. 22: 624–625. July 1949.
3. "In the World of Sport: Athletics, Car Racing, Golf and Angling". The Illustrated London News. 215 (5750–5762). August 27, 1949. p. 304.

Other sources

Results and other data drawn from:

• "1949 BRDC International Trophy". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
• "I BRDC International Trophy". GEL Motorsport Information Page. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
• "International Trophy, 1949". oldracingcars.com. Retrieved 2017-12-24.
• "1949 International Trophy". MotorSport. Retrieved 2017-12-24.