The 1948 Swiss Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Circuit Bremgarten, near Bern, on 4 July 1948. Despite racing for nearly two hours, at the finishing line Frenchman Jean-Pierre Wimille was only 0.2 seconds behind the race winner, the Italian driver Carlo Felice Trossi. Trossi's compatriot Luigi Villoresi finished over two and a half minutes behind the pair, in third place.
This race proved to be one of the darkest post-WWII Grands Prix ever run. Pre-World War II star driver Achille Varzi was killed when he crashed during practice. Five hours after Varzi's crash, reigning 500cc European motorcycle champion Omobono Tenni died after hitting a tree during practice for a support motorcycle race. Wealthy Swiss privateer Christian Kautz died in an accident during the race. Maurice Trintignant also had a serious accident during a support race in which he was ejected from his car and thrown in the air, landing in the middle of the race track. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, but he survived, woke up after a week-long coma, and returned to racing in 1949.
Classification Pos. No. Driver Car Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 26 Carlo Felice Trossi Alfa Romeo 158 40 1:59:17.3 4 2 30 Jean-Pierre Wimille Alfa Romeo 158 40 + 0.2 s 1 3 34 Luigi Villoresi Maserati 4CLT/48 40 + 2:37.3 3 4 56 Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo 158 39 + 1 lap 6 5 32 Alberto Ascari Maserati 4CLT/48 39 + 1 lap 5 6 4 Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago T26 38 + 2 laps 8 7 8 Charles Pozzi Talbot-Lago T26SS 37 + 3 laps 10 8 54 Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago T150C 36 + 4 laps 20 9 42 Igor Troubetzkoy Ferrari 166SC 35 + 5 laps 18 Ret 40 Clemente Biondetti Ferrari 166C 31 Overheating 15 Ret 46 Luigi Fagioli Maserati 4CL 28 Engine 17 Ret 38 Giuseppe Farina Maserati 4CLT 28 Engine 2 Ret 24 Raymond Mays ERA B-Type 23 Drive shaft 9 Ret 52 B. Bira Maserati 4CL 10 Gearbox 16 Ret 18 Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago T26C 10 Oil leak 14 Ret 48 Emmanuel de Graffenried Maserati 4CL 10 Collision 13 Ret 36 Gianfranco Comotti Talbot-Lago T26C 7 Oil leak 19 Ret 10 Raymond Sommer Gordini T15 5 Engine 7 Ret 20 George Abecassis Alta GP 4 Accident 12 Ret 50 Christian Kautz Maserati 4CL 2 Fatal accident 11 DNQ 44 Clemar Bucci Maserati 4CL DNQ 22 Bob Gerard ERA B-Type DNS 28 Achille Varzi Alfa Romeo 158 Fatal accident
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