1958 Targa Florio

The 42° Targa Florio took place on 11 May, on the Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie, (Sicily, Italy). It was the third round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship, which was running to new regulations introduced at the beginning of the season. The most influential of these regulations changes would be the 3.0 litre engine size limit. The event returned to the championship for the first time since 1955, following the demise of the Mille Miglia and the ban on road racing on mainland Italy. But such outcry did not deter Vincenzo Florio from holding his event on the traditional 45 mile mountainous circuit.

Report

Entry

A massive total of 65 racing cars were registered for this event, of which 53 arrived for practice. Only these, only 38 started the long distance race on the public roads of Sicily. This, the 42nd edition of the event, saw a change on the nature of the race. Two drivers would be permitted now and the limit set so no driver would drive more than seven laps out of the total race distance of 14. So, it ensured no single driver would be able to complete the whole race.[1][2]

The first two events of the season, the 1000 km Buenos Aires and 12 Hours of Sebring ended with victory for Phil Hill and Peter Collins, for Scuderia Ferrari. As Hill and Collins also won the last race of the previous season, the Venezuelan Grand Prix they’ve now won three races in a row for the Scuderia. With these new rules, and Maserati on the brink of financial crisis, Scuderia Ferrari would head the Italian challenge. Ferrari had four works 250 TRs in Sicily, Hill/Collins, Mike Hawthorn/Wolfgang von Trips, Luigi Musso/Olivier Gendebien and Gino Munaron/Wolfgang Seidel. Opposition would no longer come from Maserati… but from Porsche and Aston Martin.[3][4]

David Brown sent just one Aston Martin DBR1 over from England for Stirling Moss/Tony Brooks, while Porsche arrived with three different cars, a 356A Carrera, a 550 RS and a 718 RSK, for their squad of drivers led by Jean Behra and Giorgio Scarlatti. They were joined by a fleet of privateer drivers in their Alfa Romeos, Oscas and other mainline sportscars.[5][6][7]

Qualifying

Prior to the race, there was no formal practice held, but Sergio Der Stephanian was killed in a pre-race accident, following a collision with a sand-laden lorry. He died shortly after in hospital.[8]

Race

Ferrari 250 TR 58, similar to that driven by Musso and Gendebien

With each lap 45 miles in length, the race covered a total of 14 laps, or 630 miles, the Targa Florio is unlike any other sports car race. Littered with switchback turns, blind corners and a straight nearly four miles longer than Circuit de la Sarthe’s Mulsanne, the Targa was a fearsome thing to behold.

Day of the race would be sunny and warm, with the first of the cars leaving the small village of Cerda, one-by-one, at 40 seconds intervals. It was clear right at the start that something was amiss for most of the competitors, as more than a few would be off the pace, while other would be off the road, in verges trying to repair their cars and get back into the race. Jean Behra would spin his Porsche 718 RSK. Moss would damage a wheel when he went off the road. Meanwhile, von Trips damaged his Ferrari heavily and returned to the pits dragging bit of his car along the ground. It seemed that everyone was struggling over the mountain roads, except one, Musso.[9]

Musso was setting an incredibly pace. He started last of the big works entrants, but at the end of the first lap, he would be first. Being in the lead, he set about performing an error-free drive. Moss would be on the hunt in his Aston, ever-impressive sliding around the corners, kicking up gravel everywhere and carrying on without any trouble whatsoever, following that earlier incident. He would break the lap record, lapping more than a minute faster than Musso. But the Italian had already done all of his head work. He led and held steady before handing the car over to Gendebien.[10][11]

With Gendebien now the car, Moss would take his Aston even faster, but it came at a price. After five laps, the gearbox gave up and Moss was out of the race, before Brooks had a chance to race. Despite the retirement of the sole Aston Martin, the circuit maintained the pressure on the factory efforts. Hill would end up in a ditch, losing valuable time trying to get out and back on his way. As for the Belgian, he was driving smartly, keeping the car on the road, and in the lead. He was just a few laps before returning the car back to Musso. This was the only Ferrari not under heavy pressure from Behra. The nimble little RSK was providing its self on the winding roads, and joining the battle for a spot in the top three.[12][13]

Musso held a commanding lead, despite the advances of Behra. But Musso was not immune to trouble. Only three laps from the end, there was trouble. He appeared to be off the pace, lapping four minutes slower than previously. He was happy to make it back to the pits, as the brake fluid had leaked out of its reservoir. He had no brakes. It was reported that he completed the descent out of the mountains by staying in low gear. In any other race, this would have spelled the end, however, Musso and Gendebien had controlled the race right from the start. Such was their lead, the Ferrari mechanics repaired the car, Gendebien got back in the car for the remaining laps, still with a three-minute lead.[14]

Now the leaders were out of trouble, their team-mates von Trips and Hawthorn were not. They were in second place, but with Behra back in the Porsche and absolutely flying. Following a pitshop, the margin between the Ferrari and Porsche would be practically nothing. There was no stopping Behra, and he continued to up his pace and Hawthorn could not response. Starting the 14th and last lap, Behra’s pace had meant he was now ahead.[15][16]

Out in front, Gendebien brought the 250 TR home, to record a brilliant victory. Though Moss had set a new lap record in his Aston, the race had been dominated from the very beginning by Musso. Car number 106, took an impressive victory, winning in a time 10hr 37:58.1, averaging a speed of 59.251 mph. Second place went to the Porsche of Behra and Giorgio Scarlatti, albeit over 5½ minutes adrift. The podium was complete by second Scuderia Ferrari of von Trips and Hawthorn, who were 54 secs behind in third.[17][18][19][20]

Official Classification

Class Winners are in Bold text.

Pos No Class Driver Entrant Chassis Laps Reason Out
1st 106 S3.0 Italy Luigi Musso Belgium Olivier Gendebien Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 250 TR 58 10hr 37:58.1, 14
2nd 68 S1.5 France Jean Behra Italy Giorgio Scarlatti Porsche KG Porsche 718 RSK 10hr 43:37.9, 14
3rd 102 S3.0 West Germany Wolfgang von Trips United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 250 TR 58 10hr 44:29.3, 14
4th 98 S3.0 United Kingdom Peter Collins United States Phil Hill Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 250 TR 58 11hr 10:01.4, 14
5th 72 S1.5 Italy Giulio Cabianca Italy Franco Bordoni Osca S1500 TN 11hr 25:35.7, 14
6th 26 GT1.6 Italy Antonio Pucci West Germany Huschke von Hanstein Porsche KG Porsche 356A Carrera 1500 GS 11hr 54:04.6, 14
7th 90 S2.0 Italy Gaetano Starrabba Italy Franco Cortese Ferrari 500 TRC 12hr 04:20.8, 14
8th 24 GT1.3 Italy Nini Todaro Italy “Nessuno” Alfa Romeo Giuletta Spider Veloce 12hr 08:39.4, 14
9th 8 GT1.3 Italy Carlo Maria Abate Italy Gianni Balzarini Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint Veloce 12hr 10:02.5, 14
10th 96 S2.0 Italy Bernardo Cammarota Italy Domenico Tramontana Ferrari 500 TRC 12hr 33:18.0, 14
11th 58 S1.1 Italy Antonio di Salvo Italy Domenico Minneci Raor-Fiat 1100 Special 12hr 36:42.4, 14
12th 6 GT1.3 Italy Casimiro Toselli Italy Armando Filippa Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint Veloce 12hr 42:32.9, 14
13th 42 GT2.6 Italy Rosario Montalbano Italy Gaspare Bologna Fiat 8V 12hr 57:20.9, 14
14th 60 S1.1 Italy Gaspare Cavaliere Italy Salvatore Sirchia Fiat 1100/103 TV 14
15th 14 GT1.3 Italy Ada Pace Italy Carlo Peroglio Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint Veloce 14
DNF 40 GT2.6 Italy Raimondo Gangitano Italy Gianfernando Tomaselli Lancia Aurelia 13 did not finish
DNF 80 S1.5 Italy Giorgio Scarlatti East Germany Edgar Barth Porsche KG Porsche 550 RS 13 did not finish
DNF 104 S3.0 Italy Gino Munaron West Germany Wolfgang Seidel Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 250 TR 58 13 Off course
DNF 16 GT1.3 Italy Vincenzo Arena
Italy Luigi Arena		 Italy Diego Pagano Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint Veloce 12 did not finish
DNF 28 GT2.6 Italy Franco Dari Italy Giuseppe Cucchiarelli Fiat 8V 12 did not finish
DNF 2 GT1.3 Italy Sergio Mantia Italy Giuseppe Ramirez Fiat 1100/103 TV did not finish
DNF 4 GT1.3 Italy Baldassare Taormina Italy Pasquale Tacci Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint Veloce did not finish
DNF 12 GT1.3 Italy Ettore Marconi Italy Piero Frescobaldi Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint Veloce did not finish
DNF 18 GT1.3 Italy Domenico Lo Coco Italy Roberto Gugielmini Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint Veloce did not finish
DNF 20 GT1.3 Italy Sergio Bettoja Italy P. Feroldi Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint Veloce did not finish
DNF 30 GT2.6 Italy Nino Vaccarella Italy Enrico Giaccone Lancia Aurelia B20 did not finish
DNF 34 GT2.6 Italy Giuseppe Parla Italy Umberto Lo Pinto Lancia Aurelia B20 did not finish
DNF 38 GT2.6 Italy Alfonso Vella Italy Pietro Termini Fiat 8V did not finish
DNF 48 GT3.0 Italy Guido Cestelli-Guidi Italy Giuseppe Musso Mercedes-Benz 300 SL did not finish
DNF 52 GT3.0 Italy Pietro Ferraro Italy Paolo Ferraro Ferrari 250 GT LWB did not finish
DNF 54 S1.1 Italy Guido Garufi Italy Lorenzo Melarosa Osca MT4 1100 did not finish
DNF 64 S1.1 Italy Giuseppe Rossi Italy Enzo Buzzetti Osca MT4 1100 did not finish
DNF 66 S1.1 Italy Domenico Rotolo Italy Luigi di Pasquale Osca S1100 did not finish
DNF 70 S1.5 United Kingdom Colin Davis Argentina Alejandro de Tomaso Automobili Osca Osca S1500 TN 2 Accident damage
DNF 74 S1.5 Italy Luciano Mantovani Italy Ludovico Scarfiotti Automobili Osca Osca S1500 TN 2/3 Gearbox/Accident damage
DNF 84 S2.0 Italy Mennaro Boffa Italy Odoardo Govoni Maserati Maserati 200S I 0 Clutch (at start)
DNF 88 S2.0 Italy Anna Maria Peduzzi Italy Francesco Siracusa Ferrari 500 TR did not finish
DNF 100 S3.0 United Kingdom Stirling Moss United Kingdom Tony Brooks David Brown Racing Department Aston Martin DBR1/300 4 Gearbox
DNS 10 GT1.3 Italy Nicoly Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint Veloce did not start
DNS 22 GT1.3 Italy Giuseppe Pizzo Italy Emanuele Trapani Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint Veloce did not start
DNS 32 GT2.6 Italy Giuseppe Conigliaro Italy Mario Conigliaro Lancia Aurelia B24 did not start
DNS 36 GT2.6 Italy Carol Fabi Italy Gianfranco Fabbri Fiat 8V did not start
DNS 44 GT3.0 Italy Armando Zampiero Italy Zampiero Villotti Ferrari 250 GT did not start
DNS 46 GT3.0 Italy Arnaldo Bongiasca Italy Mario Bongiasca Mercedes-Benz 300 SL did not start
DNS 50 GT3.0 Italy Sergio Der Stephanian Italy Adolfo Macchieraldo Ferrari 250 GT LWB did not start
(Fatal accident in practice – Stephanian)
DNS 56 S1.1 Italy Francesco La Mattina Osca MT4 1100 did not start
DNS 62 S1.1 Italy Francesco Paolo D’Agostino
Italy Vincenzo Sorrentino		 Italy Silvio Boffa Osca MT4 1100 did not start
DNS 76 S1.5 Italy Alfonso Thiele Porsche 356 Carrera did not start
DNS 82 S2.0 Italy Guido Perrella Italy Guiliano Giovanardi Maserati 200S I did not start
DNS 86 S2.0 Italy Elio Pandolfo
Italy Mario Pandolfo		 Italy Claudio Faranda Ferrari 500 TR did not start
DNS 92 S2.0 Italy Giuseppe Alotta Maserati A6GCS/53 did not start
DNS 94 S2.0 Italy Enzo Lopez Italy Mario Bornigia Maserati 200S I did not start

[21][22][23]

Class Winners

Class Winners
Sports 3000 106 Ferrari 250 TR 58 Musso / Gendebien
Sports 2000 90 Ferrari 500 TRC Starrabba / Cortesse
Sports 1500 68 Porsche 718 RSK Behra / Scarlatti
Sports 1100 58 Raor-Fiat 1100 Special di Salvo / Minneci
Grand Touring 3000 no classified finishers
Grand Touring 2600 42 Fiat 8V Montalbano / Bologna
Grand Touring 1600 26 Porsche 356A Carrera 1500 GS Pucci / von Hanstein
Grand Touring 1300 24 Alfa Romeo Giuletta Sprint Veloce Todaro / “Nessuno”

[26]

Standings after the race

Pos Championship Points
1 Italy Ferrari 24
2 West Germany Porsche 14
3 United Kingdom Lotus 3
4 Italy Osca 2

Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1, excepting the RAC Tourist Trophy, for which points were awarded on a 4-3-2-1 for the first four places. 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

  1. ↑ http://www.conceptcarz.com/a9246/1958-Targa-Florio-Musso-Commands-the-Heights.aspx
  2. ↑ http://www.racingsportscars.com/race/Targa_Florio-1958-05-11.html
  3. ↑ http://www.racingsportscars.com/entry/ Targa_Florio-1958-05-11.html
  4. ↑ http://www.targaflorio.info/42.htm
  5. ↑ http://www.racingsportscars.com/entry/ Targa_Florio-1958-05-11.html
  6. ↑ http://www.targaflorio.info/42.htm
  7. ↑ http://www.conceptcarz.com/a9246/1958-Targa-Florio-Musso-Commands-the-Heights.aspx
  8. ↑ http://www.racingsportscars.com/entry/Sebring-1958-03-22.html
  9. ↑ http://www.conceptcarz.com/a9246/1958-Targa-Florio-Musso-Commands-the-Heights.aspx
  10. ↑ http://www.targaflorio.info/42.htm
  11. ↑ http://www.conceptcarz.com/a9246/1958-Targa-Florio-Musso-Commands-the-Heights.aspx
  12. ↑ http://www.targaflorio.info/42.htm
  13. ↑ http://www.conceptcarz.com/a9246/1958-Targa-Florio-Musso-Commands-the-Heights.aspx
  14. ↑ http://www.conceptcarz.com/a9246/1958-Targa-Florio-Musso-Commands-the-Heights.aspx
  15. ↑ http://www.targaflorio.info/42.htm
  16. ↑ http://www.conceptcarz.com/a9246/1958-Targa-Florio-Musso-Commands-the-Heights.aspx
  17. ↑ http://www.targapedia.com/targa-florio/1950s/targa-florio-1958
  18. ↑ http://www.conceptcarz.com/a9246/1958-Targa-Florio-Musso-Commands-the-Heights.aspx
  19. ↑ http://www.teamdan.com/archive/wsc/1958/58tf.html
  20. ↑ http://www.formula2.net/Targe58.htm
  21. ↑ http://www.formula2.net/Targa58.htm
  22. ↑ http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Targa_Florio-1958-05-11.html
  23. ↑ http://www.teamdan.com/archive/wsc/1958/58tf.html
  24. ↑ http://www.formula2.net/Targa58.htm
  25. ↑ http://www.racingsportscars.com/race/Targa_Florio-1958-05-11.html
  26. ↑ http://www.racingsportscars.com/race/Targa_Florio-1958-05-11.html

Further reading

World Sportscar Championship
Previous race:
12 Hours of Sebring		 1958 season Next race:
1000 km Nürburgring
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