1955 London Trophy

1955 London Trophy
1955 London Trophy
Non-championship race in the 1955 Formula One season
Race details
Date	30 July 1955
Official name	III London Trophy
Location	Crystal Palace Circuit, London
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	2.240 km (1.390 miles)
Distance	15 (final) laps, 32.457 km (20.235 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Mike Hawthorn;
Fastest lap
Driver	Mike Hawthorn
Time	1:03.4
Podium
First	Mike Hawthorn;
Second	Harry Schell;
Third	Roy Salvadori;

The 3rd London Trophy was a motor race, run to Formula One rules, held on 30 July 1955 at Crystal Palace Circuit, London. The race was run over two heats of 10 laps and a final of 15 laps, and was won by British driver Mike Hawthorn in a Maserati 250F. Hawthorn started from pole position in Heat 1 and set fastest lap in the heat, and also in the final. Vanwall driver Harry Schell started from pole position in Heat 2 and set fastest lap in that heat. Schell was second in the final and Roy Salvadori in a Maserati 250F was third.^[1]

Despite most Internet sources describing this race as the London Trophy, it really should be called the International Trophy (not to be confused with the BRDC International Trophy). The actual London Trophy was a Formula Libre race also held at Crystal Palace on 30 May 1955 and was won by Peter Collins in a Maserati 250F.^[2]

Entries

No.	Driver	Entrant	Car
1	Jack Fairman	R.R.C. Walker Racing Team	Connaught Type B-Alta
2	Harry Schell	Vandervell Products Ltd.	Vanwall VW2
3	Horace Gould	Gould's Garage (Bristol)	Maserati 250F
5	Tony Brooks	Equipe Endeavour	Connaught Type A-Lea Francis
6	Michael Young	Roebuck Engineering	Connaught Type A-Alta
7	Mike Hawthorn	Stirling Moss Ltd.	Maserati 250F
8	Charles Boulton	Ecurie Ane	Connaught Type A-Lea Francis
9	Roy Salvadori	Gilby Engineering	Maserati 250F
10	Bill Holt	E.W. Holt	Connaught Type A-Lea Francis
11	Tony Crook	T.A.D. Crook	Cooper T24-Bristol
12	John Young	J.A. Young	Connaught Type A-Lea Francis
15	Mike Keen	R.J. Chase	Cooper T23-Alta
16	Bob Gerard	F.R. Gerard	Cooper T23-Bristol
17	Paul Emery	Emeryson Cars	Emeryson Mk.1-Alta
18	Tom Kyffin	Equipe Devone	Cooper T23-Bristol
19	Alastair Birrell	A.W. Birrell	Cooper T20-Bristol
20	Jack Brabham	Cooper Car Company	Cooper T40-Bristol
21	Keith Hall	Border Reivers	Cooper T20-Bristol
23	Bruce Halford	Equipe Devone	Cooper T23-Bristol
24	John Webb	J.H. Webb	Turner-Lea Francis
4¹	Kenneth McAlpine	Connaught Engineering	Connaught Type B-Alta
14¹	Dick Gibson	R. Gibson	Connaught Type A-Lea Francis
22¹	David Hewitt	D.A. Hewitt	Cooper T23-Alta

¹Numbers 4, 14 and 22 DNA

Results

Heats

Heat 1

Pos	Driver	Car	Time/Ret.
1	Mike Hawthorn	Maserati	11:00.6, 75.75mph
2	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	+1.6s
3	Horace Gould	Maserati	+14.4s
4	Jack Fairman	Connaught-Alta	+17.8s
5	Tony Brooks	Connaught-Lea Francis
6	Keith Hall	Cooper-Bristol	+1:12.0
7	Mike Keen	Cooper-Alta
Ret	Bruce Halford	Cooper-Bristol	5 laps
Ret	Alastair Birrell	Cooper-Bristol
Ret	Tony Crook	Cooper-Bristol

Heat 2

Pos	Driver	Car	Time/Ret.
1	Harry Schell	Vanwall	11:04.4, 75.33mph
2	Paul Emery	Emeryson-Alta	+5.4s
3	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Alta	+54.2s
4	Michael Young	Connaught-Alta	+55.6s
5	Tom Kyffin	Cooper-Bristol	+56.2s
6	Bill Holt	Connaught-Lea Francis	+57.2s
7	John Webb	Turner-Lea Francis	+1 lap
Ret	John Young	Connaught-Lea Francis	7 laps, valve
Ret	Charles Boulton	Connaught-Lea Francis	1 lap, crash
Ret	Bob Gerard	Cooper-Bristol	0 laps, half-shaft

Final

Grid positions for the final were determined by the drivers' finishing times in the heats. Only the top six drivers from each heat qualified for the final.

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time/Retired	Grid
1	Mike Hawthorn	Maserati	16:10.0, 77.30mph	1
2	Harry Schell	Vanwall	+1.4s	3
3	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	+32.8s	2
4	Tony Brooks	Connaught-Lea Francis	+53.0s	6
5	Paul Emery	Emeryson-Alta	+1 lap	7
6	Michael Young	Connaught-Alta	+1 lap	9
7	Keith Hall	Cooper-Bristol	+1 lap	12
8	Bill Holt	Connaught-Lea Francis		11
Ret	Horace Gould	Maserati	10 laps, transmission	4
DNS	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Bristol		8
DNS	Jack Fairman	Connaught-Alta		5
DNS	Tom Kyffin	Cooper-Bristol		10

References

^ "1955 Non-World Championship Grands Prix". silhouet.com. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
^ "1955 London Trophy (or not)". Atlas F1:The Nostalgia Forum. Retrieved 2022-05-03.

Previous race: 1955 Cornwall MRC Formula 1 Race	Formula One non-championship races 1955 season	Next race: 1955 Daily Record Trophy
Previous race: 1954 London Trophy	London Trophy	Next race: —

[1] "1955 Non-World Championship Grands Prix". silhouet.com. Retrieved 2022-05-03.

[2] "1955 London Trophy (or not)". Atlas F1:The Nostalgia Forum. Retrieved 2022-05-03.

[1]

[2]