The first BRDC International Trophy meeting, formally titled the Daily Express International Trophy, was held on 20 August 1949 at the Silverstone Circuit, England. 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. 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.
Results
Final Pos Driver Chassis Time/Retired 1 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 125 59:42.6 2 Giuseppe Farina Maserati 4CLT/48 + 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
Other sources Results and other data drawn from: