1956 New Zealand Grand Prix

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.

1956 New Zealand Grand Prix
4th New Zealand Grand Prix
Race details
Date	7 January 1956
Location	Ardmore Circuit, Auckland, New Zealand
Course	Temporary racing facility
Course length	3.2 km (2.0 miles)
Distance	100 laps, 338 km (186 miles)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Stirling Moss	Maserati 250F
Time	1:29.0
Fastest lap
Driver	Stirling Moss	Maserati 250F
Time	1:28.0
Podium
First	Stirling Moss	Maserati 250F
Second	Tony Gaze	Ferrari 500/750S
Third	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 500/750S

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
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