The 1956 New Zealand Grand Prix was a motor race held at the Ardmore Circuit on 7 January 1956. This was the fourth running of the marquee event and was run to Formula Libre regulations.
Stirling Moss entered the weekend as the favourite and would deliver with a commanding victory, with the fastest lap to boot. Tony Gaze and Peter Whitehead completed the podium for the second year running.
Race report Stirling Moss was heavily favoured for victory heading into the weekend. He would be driving a Maserati 250S fitted with Dunlop alloy wheels and the latest state-of-the-art Dunlop disc brakes in place of the large Maserati drums. However, there were some other names of interest in the entry list. Both Tony Gaze and Peter Whitehead came armed with a pair of Ferrari 500's that had been tuned to run on methanol, providing them with a notable power advantage compared to the previous years cars. As well as this, the 625 motors had been replaced with 750S's. Reg Parnell had also initially entered the race with an Aston Martin 2.5-litre single seater. However, the engine blew during testing and was consigned to race a Cooper T38 instead. The last of the British contingent was Leslie Marr who entered a Connaught B Type with a Jaguar D-Type engine.
A shipping debacle that saw cars being sent to Wellington instead of Auckland almost curtailed the weekend for multiple drivers including Moss. This, coupled with the cars being loaded well down into the ship and the wild weather that delayed unloading, meant that the cars had to be flown up to Auckland at late notice and the cars would have to be assembled and run without adequate practice. Spare parts for all cars had also gone missing although most were recovered in time for the race. During practice itself, Moss set the pace - and by a significant margin too. Before the race start, a young Jack Brabham's gearbox failed and was forced to withdraw from the race.
Gaze initially lead the race off the starting line, but would be passed soon after by Moss, who thereafter enjoyed a largely trouble-free race to the flag. However, at around half-race distance, Moss began to feel what he thought was raindrops on his visor. Instead, it was petrol courtesy of a broken fuel lead which was spraying fuel back into the cockpit. He slowed speed considerably and eventually made a pitstop for repairs just eight laps from home. Despite this, the lead was such that the Ferrari's of Gaze and Whitehead could not hope to challenge for a potential victory.
Classification Pos No. Driver Car Laps Time Grid 1 7 Stirling Moss Maserati 250F / Maserati 2497cc 6cyl 100 2hr 32min 23.1sec 1 2 4 Tony Gaze Ferrari 500/750S / Ferrari 2968cc 4cyl 100 + 43.6 3 3 3 Peter Whitehead Ferrari 500/750S / Ferrari 2968cc 4cyl 99 + 1 lap 2 4 2 Leslie Marr Connaught B Type / Jaguar 3442cc 6cyl 99 + 1 lap 20 5 6 Reg Parnell Cooper T38 / Jaguar 3442cc 6cyl 98 + 2 laps 6 6 19 Ron Roycroft Bugatti Type 35A / Jaguar 3442cc 6cyl 5 7 Syd Jensen Cooper Mk IX / Norton 530cc 1cyl 7 8 22 Tom Clark Maserati 8CM / Maserati 2992cc 8cyl s/c 8 9 10 Frank Kleinig Porsche Spyder 550 / Porsche 1498cc 4cyl 11 10 Reg McCutcheon Normac Special / Chevrolet 3870cc 6cyl 14 11 Frank Shuter Cadillac Special / Cadillac 5200cc V8 22 12 12 Fred Zambucka Maserati 8CLT-50 / Maserati 2984cc 8cyl s/c 9 13 Arnold Stafford Cooper Mk IX / Norton 530cc 1cyl 16 14 John McMillan Alfa Romeo Tipo B / Alfa 2905cc 8cyl s/c 18 15 Des McDonagh Thomas-Mercury / Mercury 4100cc V8 19 Ret Rob Hugill Cooper Mk VIII / Norton 498cc 1cyl Retired 25 Ret 15 Ron Frost Cooper Mk IX / Norton 530cc 1cyl Retired 12 Ret 39 David McKay Aston Martin DB3S / Aston 2996cc 6cyl Retired 10 Ret Tom Sulman Aston Martin DB3S / Aston 2996cc 6cyl Retired 15 Ret Morrie Stanton Stanton Special / de Havilland 6124cc 4cyl Retired 13 Ret 20 Ross Jensen Austin-Healey 100S / Austin 2660cc 4cyl 15 Crankshaft 17 Ret Fred Crowther Alfa Romeo Tipo B / Alfa 2905cc 8cyl s/c 7 Retired 24 Ret Lionel Bulcraig Northland Special / Mercury 4100cc V8 5 Engine 23 Ret Alec Mildren Cooper T23 / Bristol 1971cc 6cyl 0 Head Gasket 21 DNS Jack Brabham Cooper T40 / Bristol 1971cc 6cyl 0 Gearbox 4 DNQ George Smith GeeCeeEss / Mercury 4071cc V8 Did Not Qualify DNQ Roly Crowther Maserati 6CM / Maserati 1493cc 6cyl s/c Did Not Qualify DNQ Harley Beckett Maserati 8CLT-50 / Maserati 2984cc 8cyl s/c Did Not Qualify DNQ Allan Freeman Talbot-Lago T26C / Talbot 4485cc 6cyl Did Not Qualify DNQ Len Gilbert Cooper Mk VI / Norton 498cc 1cyl Did Not Qualify DNQ Gordon Brown Buckler Mk VI / Ford 1172cc 4cyl s/c Did Not Qualify DNQ Ronnie Moore Cooper Mk V / Vincent 998c V2 Did Not Qualify DNQ Les Moore Kieft C50 / Vincent 998cc V2 s/c Did Not Qualify DNQ Snow Petersen Cooper Mk IV / JAP 497cc 1cyl Did Not Qualify DNQ Bruce Wood Staride 52 / JAP 497cc 1cyl Did Not Qualify DNQ Terry Nixon Cooper Mk VIII / Norton 498cc 1cyl Did Not Qualify DNQ 36 Ted Bristed Triumph TR2 / Standard 2088cc 4cyl Did Not Qualify DNQ Bruce Webster Cooper Mk VII / JAP 497cc 1cyl Did Not Qualify DNQ Ray Drew Cooper Mk IX / Norton 498cc 1cyl Did Not Qualify DNA Dave Caldwell Alfa Romeo Tipo B / Alfa 2905cc 8cyl s/c Did Not Arrive DNA Stan Jones Maybach Special / Maybach 4640cc 6cyl Did Not Arrive DNA Paul England Ausca / Holden 2350cc 6cyl Did Not Arrive DNA George Palmer Cooper T20 / Bristol 1971cc 6cyl Did Not Arrive DNA 16 John Seabrook Austin-Healey 100M / Austin 2660cc 4cyl Did Not Arrive DNA 17 Phil Neill Austin-Healey 100/4 / Austin 2660cc 4cyl Did Not Arrive DNA 19 Bruce McLaren Austin-Healey 100/4 / Austin 2660cc 4cyl Did Not Arrive DNA Ray Archibald Jaguar XK120 / Jaguar 3442cc 6cyl Did Not Arrive Source:
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