The 1953 ADAC 1000 Kilometer-Rennen Nürburgring took place on 30 August, on the Nürburgring Nordschleife (West Germany). It was also the fifth round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship.
The Eifelrennen had been introduced in 1922 by ADAC as a Targa Florio-like event on Eifel mountain roads and through villages. This soon was impractical, and the Nürburgring was built in the mid-1920s to get away from public roads to a purpose built race track. It is still the world's longest. Sportscar races were part of the early Eifelrennen tradition, but it also hosted motorcycles, Grand Prix cars, and after WW2 Formula 2. There was no event yet that focussed on very long endurance sportscars races only.
1952 was the 25th anniversary of the race track, and a 10 lap sports car race dubbed the XV. Großer Preis von Deutschland – Großer Jubiläumspreis vom Nürburgring für Sportwagen 1952 was run as support for the 1952 German Grand Prix (which was run with Formula 2 cars). The sprint race was won 1-2-3-4 by Mercedes-Benz W194 300 SL Spyders after 1:46 hours, without the driver changes and pits stops of endurance races.
With a World Sportscar Championship being introduced for 1953, the ADAC organized a 1000 km event, the shortest in the calendar, with the 1953 RAC Tourist Trophy being run over more than 1200 km. With Mercedes having discontinued the 1952 sportscar success to focus on a 1954 Formula 1 entry, and other brands like Borgward and Porsche having only small 1500cc cars, no domestic brand could challenge the Italian and British cars in 1953. Attendance was rather low. The 1000 km was not resumed in 1954 as public interest was drawn to the success of the new Mercedes Silver Arrows. International sportscar racing was back in the focus in 1955 when the Mercedes-Benz 300SLR was introduced, but the Le Mans tragedy caused cancellation of many races, Nürburgring events like the 31 July 1955 German Grand Prix and the 28 August 1955 1000 km was among them. It took place as a smaller event for 500 km and 1500cc though.https://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Nurburgring-1955-08-28.html
The ADAC resumed with the 1956 1000 km of Nürburgring.
Report
Entry
A grand total of 66 racing cars were registered for this event, of which 54 arrived for practice and qualifying. Scuderia Ferrari, under the name of Automobili Ferrari, arrived with three 375 MMs for the all-Italian pairings of Giuseppe Farina / Alberto Ascari and Umberto Maglioli / Piero Carini, with the third car for Luigi Villoresi and Mike Hawthorn. Scuderia Lancia entered two D24s, the first driven by Juan Manuel Fangio, who had switched from Alfa Romeo, and Felice Bonetto, and the second driven by Robert Manzon and Piero Taruffi. Lancia also entered an older D20 driven by Giovanni Bracco and Eugenio Castellotti. Also from Italy came three works Maserati A6GCSs.
Qualifying
The Lancia D24 of Juan Manuel Fangio took pole position, averaging a speed of 83.714 mph around the 14.167 mile circuit. However, following engine problems, the Ferrari 375 MM of Mike Hawthorn and Luigi Villoresi was withdrawn from the meeting and their engine used by the lead car of Alberto Ascari and Giuseppe Farina. The team's third entry was also withdrawn from the meeting.
Race
A lead Lancias fell out of contention by lap 15, but then the factory efforts and the bigger privateers began to run into trouble. Although two of the three works Ferraris were withdrawn prior to the start of the race, Scuderia victory was never seriously threatened despite the first three cars were all being one same lap as the race winners, Ascari / Farina.
For the second round running, the Scottish Ecurie Ecosse finished second overall. The pairing of Ian Stewart and Roy Salvadori were over 15 minutes behind the Ferrari, but still won their class by three laps. Almost 30 minutes behind the winner, Adolf Brudes and Franz Eugen Hammernick reached the finish in their Borgward Hansa 1500RS in third place overall. The other works Borgward of Karl Guenther Bechem / Theo Helfrich had taken the car up to third place before retiring with an engine failure. The last two classified finishers were two Gutbrod Superiors with a 700cc two-stroke engine. They were seven laps behind the Ferrari.
The winning partnership of Ascari/Farina won in a time of 8hr 20:44.0mins., averaging a speed of 74.694 mph. They covered a distance of 2,281.182 miles. The race did not end when the overall winner crossed the finishing line, but continued for another hour to allow the other classes to try and complete the full 1000 km.
Official Classification
Class Winners are in Bold text.
Pos No ClassDriver Entrant Chassis Laps Reason Out 1st 1 S+2.0 Alberto Ascari Giuseppe Farina Automobili Ferrari Ferrari 375 MM Vignale Spyder 8hrs 20:44.000, 44 2nd 53 ser.S+2.0 Ian Stewart Roy Salvadori Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar C-Type 8hrs 35:49.000, 44 3rd37 S1.5 Adolf Brudes Franz Hammernick Borgward GmbH Borgward Hansa 1500 RS 8hrs 50:33.000, 44 4th 39 S1.5 Richard Trenkel Walter Schlüter Richard Trenkel Glöckler-Porsche Nr.5 43 5th 26 S2.0 Wolfgang Seidel Josef Peters Wolfgang Seidel Veritas Comet RS 9hrs 25:17.000, 43 6th 54 ser.S+2.0 Jimmy Stewart Jock LawrenceEcurie Ecosse Jaguar C-Type 41 7th 33 S1.5 Gaetano Sani Piero Carini San Giorgio Osca MT4 1100 42 8th 34 S1.5 Armando François Erwin Bauer San Giorgio Osca MT4 1100 41 9th 50 ser.S+2.0 Riccardo Vignolo Maurice Gatsonides Roberto Rossellini Ferrari 212 Inter 40 10th 52T ser.S+2.0 James Scott Douglas Ninian Sanderson Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar XK120 40 11th 67 ser.S2.0 Mike Currie Don Beauman Michael L. Currie Fraser Nash Le Mans Replica 9hrs 53:39.000, 44 12th 61 ser.S2.0 Paul Metternich Wittigo Einsiedel Gustav Wirth Porsche 356 1500 10hrs 01:59.000, 44 13th 80 ser.S1.3 Hans Leo von Hoesch Werner Engel Hans Leo von Hoesch Porsche 356 1100 10hrs 01:19.000, 44 14th 86 ser.S1.3 Rolf-Friedrich Gőtze William Godsey Rolf-Friedrich Gőtze Porsche 356 1100 10hrs 02:14.000, 44 15th62ser.S2.0 Mathieu Hezemans Jacques van der Meulen NAV Porsche 356 1500 10hrs 00:37.000, 44 16th 23 S2.0 Alan Brown José M. Faraoni Equipe Anglaise Cooper-Bristol T20 Sports 40 17th 85 ser.S1.3 Ernst van Husen Walter Scheube Ernst van Husen Porsche 356 1100 43 18th 87 ser.S1.3 Fernand Georges “Chenevoy” Fernand Georges Porsche 356 1100 42 19th 32 S1.5 Jim Mayers Pat Griffith Monkey Stable Keift-MG 41 20th 56ser.S+2.0 Kasimir Olislaegers Charles de Keerle Kasimir Olislaegers Jaguar C-Type 35 21st 92 ser.S750 Helmut Glöckler Hendrik Beckers Helmut Glöckler Renault 4CV/1063 10hrs 29:05.000, 41 22nd 90 ser.S750 Georges Trouis Jacques Blanchet Georges Trouis Panhard Dyna Junior 41 23rd 43 S750 Walter Komossa Kurt Arnold Rosterg Scampolo – DKW 10hrs 32:49.000, 40 24th 66 ser.S2.0 Bruno Martignoni Sergio Mantovani Bruno Marignoli Alfa Romeo 1900 35 25th 93 ser.S750 Erich Kramwinkel Klaus Krämer Kramwinkel Gutbrod Special 37 26th 94 ser.S750 Heinz Lindermann Hein Krings Heinz Lindermann Gutbrod Special 37 NC 41 S750 Louis Bizeray Mme. Bizeray Nantes Renault 4CV Special 36 DNF 20 S2.0 Emilio Giletti Onofre Marimón Scuderia Maserati Maserati A6GCS 41 Engine DNF 6 S+2.0 Robert Manzon Piero Tariffi Scuderia Lancia Lancia D24 15 Battery DNF 5 S+2.0 Juan Manuel Fangio Felice Bonetto Scuderia Lancia Lancia D24 9 Fuel Pump DNF 60 ser.S2.0 Richard von Frankenberg Walter Ringgenberg Walter Ringgenberg Porsche 356 1500 2 Accident DNF 7 S+2.0 Giovanni Bracco Eugenio Castellotti Scuderia Lancia Lancia D20 Electrics DNF 21 S2.0 Hans Herrmann Jack McAfee Scuderia Maserati Maserati A6GCS Coupé Oil line DNF 22 S2.0 Gianni Bertoni Herrmann Lang Scuderia Maserati Maserati A6GCS Engine DNF 25 S2.0 Johannes Westhof Klaas Barendragt Johannes Westhof Veritas Scorpion Starter DNF 29 S Hanns Roth Fritz Kasper Hanns Roth AFM 49 Intertyp Küchen Engine DNF 30 S1.5 Mike Keen Michael Pope Monkey Stable Keift-MG Hub DNF 31 S1.5 Tommy Line Mike Llewellyn Monkey Stable Keift-MG Engine DNF 35 S1.5 Francesco Giardini Heinrich Sauter San Giorgio Osca MT4 1100 Gearbox DNF 36 S1.5 David Blakely Lionel Leonard Lionel Leonard Leonard-MG Steering arm DNF 38 S1.5 Karl-Günther Bechem Theo Helfrich Borgward GmbH Borgward Hansa 1500 RS Engine DNF 51 ser.S+2.0 Toni Ulmen Herman Roosdorp Herman Roosdorp Jaguar C-Type Accident DNF 55 ser.S+2.0 Olivier Gendebien Roger Laurent Ecurie Francorchamps Jaguar C-Type Piston DISQ 63 ser.S1.5 Elyane Imbert Simone des Forest Elyane Imbert Porsche 356 1500 Assistance DNF 64 ser.S1.5 Arthur Heuberger Ernst Seiler Arthur Heuberger Porsche 356 1500 Accident DISQ 65 ser.S1.5 Heinz Friederichs Horst Lauprecht Heinz Friedrichs Porsche 356 1500 Assistance DNF 68 ser.S1.5 Kurt Zeller Walter Zeller Kurt Zeller Ferrari 166 MM Out of fuel DNF 81 ser.S1.3 Adolf Vianden Harry Merkel Adolf Vianden Porsche 356 1100 Engine DNF 83 ser.S1.3 Albrecht W. Mantzel Rolf Madaus Albrecht W. Mantzel Porsche 356 1100 Engine DNF 84 ser.S1.3 Franz Eugen Kesselstatt Bernt Spiegel Walter Glöckler Porsche 356 1100 Accident DNS 2 S+2.0 Mike Hawthorn Giuseppe Farina Alberto Ascari Automobili Ferrari Ferrari 375 MM Vignale Spyder Engine to car no.1 DNS 3 S+2.0 Umberto Maglioli Piero Carini Automobili Ferrari Ferrari 375 MM Vignale Spyder Withdrawn DNS25 S2.0 Ernst Lautenschlager Heinz Fischer Ernst Lautenschlager Veritas Comet RS DNS 52 ser.S+2.0 James Scott Douglas Ninian Sanderson Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar C-Type Accident
Fastest Lap: Robert Manzon, 10:23.000secs (81.866 mph)
Class Winners
Class Winners Sports +2.0 1 Ferrari 375 MM Vignale Spyder Ascari / Farina Sports 2.0 26 Veritas Comet RS Seidel / Peters Sports 1.5 37 Borgward Hansa 1500 RS Brudes / Hammernick Sports 750 43 Scampolo-DKW Komossa / Arnold Serie Sports +2.0 53 Jaguar C-Type Stewart / Salvadori Serie Sports 2.0 67 Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica Currie / Beauman Serie Sports 1.3 80 Porsche 356 1100 von Hoesch / Engel Serie Sports 750 92 Renault 4CV/1063 Glöckler / Beckers
Standings after the race Pos Championship Points 1 Ferrari 26 (27) 2 Jaguar 24 3 Cunningham 12 4 Aston Martin 8 5 Alfa Romeo 6
Note: Only the top five positions are included in this set of standings. Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only awarded points for their highest finishing car with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. Only the best 4 results out of the 7 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the above table.
References