primotipo…

Max Staub’s painting depicts the battle between the first and second placed Ferrari 375 Plus and Jaguar D Type at Le Mans on 12/13 June 1954…

There was a lap between the cars at the end of the race, Froilan Gonzalez shared his Ferrari with fellow GP driver Maurice Trintignant and Duncan Hamilton the ‘D’ with Tony Rolt. The Brits won the race in an XK ‘C Type’ the year before.

In one of the most exciting events at Le Mans to that point the large lead of the Ferrari was diminished to about 1.5 minutes when the Fazz refused to fire at a pitstop with about 2 hours to go. Eventually a flooded magneto head was diagnosed and rectified, the Ferrari sped on to win a famous victory despite the efforts of Hamilton in the final stint.

Fantastic shot taken at about 9pm in the evening, at that time on Saturday night competitors lights had to be turned on and remain operational all night. (Yves Debraine)

Here is a longer 1950’s Le Mans Article with a Ron Flockhart twist for those with an interest in this period…

https://primotipo.com/2015/01/17/le-mans-1957-d-type-jaguar-rout-ron-flockhart-racer-and-aviator/

Credits…Max Staub, Yves Debraine, Charles Avalon