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| 1955 Mille Miglia http://forums.ctzcc.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8776 |
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| Author: | Frank T [ Mon Sep 07, 2015 2:20 pm ] |
| Post subject: | 1955 Mille Miglia |
One of racing history's top stories is the incredible achievement of Sir Stirling Moss, winning the 1955 1,000 mile race (Mille Miglia) around Italy in his Mercedes Benz 300SLR. Moss was a budding young 26 yr old driver who showed particular promise, but he was born into the height of 44 yr old Juan Manuel Fangio's success. Hardly anyone could beat "El Maestro" during his 24-year racing career. Moss had driven the Mille Miglia (MM) four times before, but he was an Englishman and the Italians were far more familiar with the course. It was simply not possible for someone to remember 1,000 miles of twists and turns thru the blind mountain passes, especially when you only got to practice the course once a year. Moss wanted a co-driver/pilot to help him remember the turns. He chose Denis Jenkinson ("Jenks") who was a well-known racing enthusiast, motorcycle sidecar "monkey" and master freelance sports writer for several British news agencies. Jenks studied the problem and devised his own solution: an 18ft long dash-mounted rolling scroll-map which he could turn manually as they raced along, telling them both what waited over the next rise or around the next turn. It was an innovative idea at the time; nobody had ever thought of doing that before. Jenks would turn the scroll as they sped along, calling out or using hand signals to indicate the next turn and road surface. Moss, having full confidence in Jenks, flung his car around blind turns at full speed. The 300SLR was capable of reaching 170mph with both men in it, and it was usually at that speed. It was frequently airborne, too, much to Jenks' horror. Because of Jenks' splendid idea, Moss was able to keep his foot buried on the floor for most of the race. His primary opponent, Fangio, developed engine trouble (fouled plugs and later a broken injector) which slowed him and allowed Moss/Jenks to establish and hold a 32 minute lead over the reigning World Champion. Moss won the race outright, the first foreigner ever to do so, and established a MM record of less than 10hrs/8min which shattered all records and was never broken. Their 300SLR MBenz numbered 722 (for 07:22am, the time they began their timed race) was retired and restored. It exists today in the exact form in which it was raced 60 years ago. It appeared at LRP this weekend to accompany Stirling Moss' first visit here since 1954. Jenks' unique idea for a rolling scroll map morphed into the next decade's Halda Speed Pilot Rallye meter and others which operated on the same concept, all of which led to your GPS today. Jenks became the 1960s' leading race writer for several world-wide magazines including Sports Car Graphic and Motor Sport magazines. He signed each of his articles as "Yr Fthful Srvnt" or "DSJ". He was my all-time favorite writer. His rendition of the experience of flying in Moss' 300SLR at 170mph made him a household name, and catapulted Moss into the world's eye. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955_Mille_Miglia http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archi ... lle-miglia https://youtu.be/J3OP4lVRvLQ |
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| Author: | FM6 [ Mon Sep 07, 2015 4:08 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: 1955 Mille Miglia |
Likewise
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| Author: | Frank T [ Mon Sep 07, 2015 4:55 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: 1955 Mille Miglia |
Thank you, Karl! 
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