1953 Carrera Panamericana Explained

The 1953 Carrera Panamericana was the fourth running of the Carrera Panamericana Mexican sports car racing event, and the first edition as a part of the World Sportscar Championship. The race took place from 19–23 November, and was run from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, over 8 stages and 3077km (1,912miles).^[1] 182 cars started the race, and 60 finished all 8 stages.^[2]

Pre-race

For the 1953 race, the existing Sports and Stock classes were both subdivided into Large and Small groups, giving four categories in which to compete. These were split by engine capacity; sports cars were divided under and over 1600 cc (98 ci), and stock cars under and over 3500 cc (213.5 ci). This was to accommodate the huge number of participants and the diverse breeds of cars within the race.^[3]

Going into the race, Ferrari had a slender championship lead of just two points over Jaguar. Although neither manufacturer had sent work entries to Mexico, the title could still be snatched by the Coventry marque, despite the Italian marque having more cars in the event.

Race

Both Lancia and Lincoln came to the race highly organized and both factories swept 1–2–3 finishes in their respective categories. The Europeans dominated the sports categories, and the Americans the stock. Large Sports Cars was won by Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina and Gino Bronzoni of Italy in a Lancia D24 Pinin Farina, Small Sports Cars by José Herrarte Ariano and Carlos González from Guatemala in a Porsche 550 Coupé. Large Stock Cars was won by Chuck Stevenson and Clay Smith of the United States in a Lincoln Capri and Small Stock Cars by C.D. Evans and Walter Krause, Jr., also of the U.S., in a six-cylinder Chevrolet 210. Stevenson has the distinction of being the only person to ever win twice in the original race.

The race was marred by the death of a number of competitors. The co-driver and pacenote systems championed by the Mercedes-Benz teams of the previous year were vindicated by the failure of an alternative system used by some other works drivers, notably those of Lancia. During pre-race runs of the route at much safer speeds, Felice Bonetto and Piero Taruffi, winner of the 1951 edition of the race, painted warning signals on the road to remind themselves of particular hazards. This resulted in the death of Bonetto who, leading the race under pressure from Taruffi, missed his own warning signs. Entering the village of Silao, he encountered rough pavement at excessive speed and impacted a building, killing him instantly.^[4]

As a result of Guido Mancini and Fabrizio Serena di Lapigio finishing in fourth place, in their Ferrari 375 MM Pinin Farina Berlinetta, they secured three points for Ferrari, thereby increasing the Maranello marque points lead over Jaguar, giving them the 1953 World Championship for Manufacturer title.^[5]

The race was held over eight stages over a total distance of 1,912 miles. Fangio and Bronzoni won in their works-entered Lancia D24 Pinin Farina. The pair finished the race in 18 hours and 11 minutes, averaging 169.221km/h. Second place went to their teammates, Piero Taruffi and Luigi Maggio, in their D24, just 7:51 minutes behind. The podium was complete by another of the Scuderia Lancia cars that of Eugenio Castellotti, with his co-driver, Carlo Luoni, in their Lancia D23, over 6:01 minutes adrift.^{[6] [7] [8]}

Official Classification

Class Winners are in Bold text.

Pos	Class	No.	Entrant	Driver(s)	Car	Stages	Time
1	S+1.6	36	Scuderia Lancia	Juan Manuel Fangio Gino Bronzoni	Lancia D24 Pinin Farina	8	18:11:00
2	S+1.6	22				8	18:18:51
3	S+1.6	38				8	18:24:52
4	S+1.6	26	Scuderia Guastalla			8	19:40:29
5	S+1.6	6	Club Francia Amigos de la Panamericana			8	20:11:22
6	S+1.6	23	Scuderia Guastalla			8	20:16:28
7	T	52	Bob Estes	Chuck Stevenson Clay Smith	Lincoln Capri	8	20:31:32
8	T	53	Bob Estes			8	20:32:55
9	T	95	Ronald Ferguson			8	20:33:07
10	T	51	Bob Estes			8	20:33:30
11	S+1.6	5	Efraín Ruiz Echeverría			8	20:48:29
12	T	66	A. B. Poe			8	21:21:19
13	T	67	Knox Converse			8	21:34:26
14	S+1.6	11	Akton Miller			8	22:07:36
15	T	60				8	22:18:44
16	T	79	Jorge Descote			8	22:27:01
17	T	64	E. N. de Milo			8	22:28:36
18	T	59	Douglas Ehlinger			8	22:34:40
19	T	72	Thomas A. Deal			8	22:40:30
20	T	93	Pat Zoccano			8	22:42:21
21	T	55	Union de Choferes			8	22:45:02
22	T	101	Arturo Alvarez Tostado			8	22:50:59
23	T	118	James Rice			8	22:51:28
24	T	113	Ricardo Ramirez			8	23:01:10
25	S+1.6	25	Guillermo Girón			8	23:01:49
26	T	102	Juan de Aguinaco			8	23:02:47
27	T	70	Al Rogers			8	23:13:45
28	T	88	Ernest C. Hall			8	23:14:35
29	T	87	Luis Rafael Garzon			8	23:28:15
30	T	114	Hector Rivapalacio			8	23:28:20
31	T	82	Gilberto Julian Riega			8	23:55:50
32	S1.6	152	José Herrarte Ariano	José Sala Herrarte Ariano Carlos A. González	Porsche 550 Coupé	8	23:57:04
33	S1.6	158				8	24:18:25
34	TS	217	C. D. Evans	C. D. Evans Walter Krause, Jr.	Chevrolet 210	8	24:48:21
35	TS	207	Norman Patterson			8	24:58:55
36	TS	209	Oscar Cabalen			8	25:03:48
37	TS	259	Scott F. Yantis			8	25:09:51
38	TS	235	Malcolm Eckart			8	25:17:05
39	TS	238	Humberto Maneglia			8	25:34:27
40	TS	222	Hector Ortiz Palacios			8	25:53:31
41	TS	204	Segurs Chapultepec			8	25:59:48
42	TS	225	Enrique Paredes			8	26:00:42
43	TS	245	Tadeo Taddia			8	26:01:53
44	TS	268	Miguel Vinardell			8	26:03:33
45	TS	256	Baltazar Alaimo			8	26:04:08
46	T	147	Clemente Aspe			8	26:05:44
47	TS	282	Rafael Larocca			8	26:06:05
48	TS	210	Morelos			8	26:10:36
49	TS	228	Luis Maria Martorani			8	26:11:56
50	TS	244	Guillermo G. Airaldi			8	26:25:21
51	TS	258	Domingo B. Lombardi			8	26:27:41
52	TS	277	Robert E. Barckimer			8	26:40:39
53	TS	215	Leones Doroles Club, Hidalgo			8	26:54:23
54	TS	272	Carlos Fortunati Firpo			8	27:00:50
55	TS	276	Oscar Martorani			8	27:01:13
56	TS	248	Carlos Pfeffer			8	28:07:55
57	TS	278	Carlos Battilana Olazabal			8	28:14:19
58	TS	255	Guillermo Marenghini			8	28:24:41
59	TS	227	Sebastian Gonzalez			8	28:27:21
60	TS	257	Omar Nestor Bide White			8	30:53:14
61 NC	S1.6	155	Hans Hugo Hartmann			8	Over time limit
62 DNF	S1.6	154	Jaroslav Juhan			7	Mechanical
63 DNF	S1.6	162	Manfredo Lippmann			7	Mechanical
64 DNF	TS	218	Remo Gamalero			7	Mechanical
65 DNF	TS	269	Mario Reibaldi			7	Over time limit
66 DNF	TS	271	Jorge Daponte			7	Mechanical
67 DNF	T	63	Liga Nacional del Transporte			6	Over time limit
68 DNF	TS	233	Andres Ferreno Barreiro			6	DNF
69 DNF	TS	262	Agustin Aguaviva			6	DNF
70 DNF	S+1.6	9	O'Farrill			5	DNF
71 DNF	T	57				5	Over time limit
72 DNF	S1.6	151	Calzado Canada			5	Engine
73 DNF	TS	212	Douglas Marimon			5	DNF
74 DNF	TS	240	Vincente Tirabasso			5	DNF
75 DNF	TS	254	Angel Lovalvo			5	DNF
76 DNF	S+1.6	7	Club Francia Amigos de la Panamericana			4	Accident
77 DNF	S+1.6	8	Club Francia Amigos de la Panamericana			4	Over time limit
78 DNF	S+1.6	12	Scuderia Guastalla			4	Lost wheel, accident
79 DNF	S1.6	153	Guillermo Suhr			4	Over time limit (Accident)
80 DNF	TS	280	Jose Brea			4	DNF
81 DNF	S+1.6	34				3	Fatal accident
82 DNF	S+1.6	50				3	Accident
83 DNF	T	61	Philips Radio Mexico			3	Engine
84 DNF	T	80	Hayes/McNamamra			3	DNF
85 DNF	T	149				3	Engine
86 DNF	TS	221	Manuel Hidalgo			3	DNF
87 DNF	TS	223	Jose Rubiol Roca			3	Engine
88 DNF	TS	239	Daniel Musso			3	DNF
89 DNF	TS	241	Manuel Cobas			3	DNF
90 DNF	TS	247	Ricardo Julian Manrique			3	DNF
91 DNF	TS	252	Fernando Tirabasso			3	DNF
92 DNF	TS	253	Hugo Servetto			3	DNF
93 DNF	TS	286	Ruben J. Joly			3	DNF
94 DNF	TS	288	Eugenio Veicier			3	Accident
95 DNF	TS	300	Anza Hermanos			3	Accident
96 DNF	S+1.6	4	Allen Guiberson			2	Accident
97 DNF	S+1.6	21				2	Over time limit (Electrical)
98 DNF	S+1.6	45	Scuderia Guastalla			2	Over time limit (Engine)
99 DNF	T	89	Universidad Militar			2	DNF
100 DNF	T	97	Mario Andreini			2	Over time limit
101 DNF	T	150	Charles Royal			2	DNF
102 DNF	S1.6	159				2	Drive shaft
103 DNF	S1.6	160				2	Steering arm, accident
104 DNF	S1.6	165	William Doheny			2	DNF
105 DNF	TS	219	Juan Fernando Piersanti			2	DNF
106 DNF	TS	243	Osvaldo Jose Mantega			2	DNF
107 DNF	TS	251	Arnaldo de Tomas			2	DNF
108 DNF	S+1.6	1	Robredo		Chrysler New Yorker Special	1	Engine
109 DNF	S+1.6	10	José Antonio Solana			1	DNF
110 DNF	S+1.6	13	Javier Razo Maciel			1	Over time limit
111 DNF	S+1.6	14	Fernando Dujan Mejia			1	Over time limit
112 DNF	S+1.6	16			Chrysler New Yorker Special	1	Over time limit
113 DNF	S+1.6	35	Jose Ham Gunam		Ham Special	1	Over time limit
114 DNF	T	54	Fernando Carriles Pagaza			1	Over time limit
115 DNF	T	56				1	DNF
116 DNF	T	58	Vinilsa			1	Over time limit
117 DNF	T	69	H. W. Dietrich			1	Accident
118 DNF	T	92	Edward Stringer			1	DNF
119 DNF	T	96	Arquimedes A. del Saz			1	Over time limit
120 DNF	T	99	William Toia			1	DNF
121 DNF	T	103	Juan Jose Courtney			1	DNF
122 DNF	T	121	Alianza Camioneres de Mexico			1	DNF
123 DNF	S1.6	199	Joaquin Castillo de la Fuente			1	Over time limit
124 DNF	S1.6	200	Jacqueline Evans de López			1	Over time limit
125 DNF	TS	201	Carlos Rogelio Anza			1	DNF
126 DNF	TS	202	Bonos del Ahorro Nacional			1	DNF
127 DNF	TS	205	Jose Antonio Marin			1	DNF
128 DNF	TS	208	A. B. Poe			1	DNF
129 DNF	TS	211	Dario Ramonda			1	Over time limit
130 DNF	TS	214	Chiapas			1	DNF
131 DNF	TS	229				1	DNF
132 DNF	TS	236	Roberto Salmon Corona			1	DNF
133 DNF	TS	249	Pedro Beamonte			1	DNF
134 DNF	TS	250	Kaiser Mexico		Kaiser Manhattan	1	DNF
135 DNF	TS	261	Carlos Maria Silva Ferrer			1	DNF
136 DNF	TS	265	Ramon Enrique Bauzada			1	DNF
137 DNF	TS	273	Marcelo Alos Vercher			1	DNF
138 DNF	TS	279	Constante Luis Mundo			1	DNF
139 DNF	TS	295	Benito Flores Estavillo			1	Over time limit
140 DNF	TS	296	Carlos Buenaventura Perez			1	DNF
141 DNF	S+1.6	3	Owen Gray		Chrysler New Yorker Special	0	Mechanical
142 DNF	S+1.6	15	Scuderia Guastalla			0	Fatal accident
143 DNF	S+1.6	17	Jack Ensley			0	Out of fuel
144 DNF	S+1.6	18	Francisco Ibarra			0	DNF
145 DNF	S+1.6	19	Jorge Moctezuma			0	Accident
146 DNF	S+1.6	20			Chrysler New Yorker Special	0	Accident
147 DNF	T	65	Hilton Motors			0	Gearbox
148 DNF	T	74	Raimundo Corona Illescas			0	Accident
149 DNF	T	75	Aldredo Macias			0	Mechanical
150 DNF	T	83	Rudolph Ryans			0	Fire
151 DNF	T	85	Jacobo Muniele Falick			0	Mechanical
152 DNF	T	148	Hugo Aspe			0	Accident
153 DNF	S1.6	156	Adolf Brudes			0	Accident
154 DNF	S1.6	157	Jacques Péron		O.S.C.A. MT4 1100	0	Tyres
155 DNF	TS	203	Morelos			0	Accident
156 DNF	TS	213	Alfonso Cesar Franc—o			0	Accident
157 DNF	TS	216	Antonio Adrian Zarantonello			0	Accident
158 DNF	TS	220	Ramiro Aguilar, Jr.			0	Accident
159 DNF	TS	224	Surroz Ford			0	Accident
160 DNF	TS	226	Alberto August			0	Accident
161 DNF	TS	230	Ernesto Nanni			0	Mechanical
162 DNF	TS	232	Alfredo Cogorno			0	Mechanical
163 DNF	TS	234	Radio 620			0	Accident
164 DNF	TS	242	Nestor Luis Lafage			0	Mechanical
165 DNF	TS	246	Adolfo Sogolo			0	Mechanical
166 DNF	TS	266	Mario Jorge de Poli			0	Mechanical
167 DNF	TS	267	Jorge Pedro Castellano			0	Mechanical
168 DNF	TS	270	Radio 620			0	Mechanical
169 DNF	TS	275	Miguel Gustavo Molinero			0	Mechanical
170 DNF	TS	285	Francisco Casuscelli			0	Mechanical
181 DNF	TS	290	Federico Herrero			0	Mechanical
182 DSQ	T	73	Richard D. Doane			8	21:16:47/Illegal heads

^{[6] [7] [8]}

Class Winners

Class	Winners
Sport Internacional	36	Lancia D24 Pinin Farina	Fangio / Bronzoni
Tourismo Internacional	52	Lincoln Capri	Stevenson / Smith
Sport hasta 1600 cc	152	Porsche 550 Coupé	Gonzalez / Herrarte Arinao
Tourismo Especial	217	Chevrolet 210	Evans / Krause, Jr.

^[6]

Standings after the race

Pos	Championship	Points
1	Ferrari	27 (30)
2	Jaguar	24 (28)
3	Aston Martin	16
4=	Cunningham	12
4=	Lancia	12

• 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.

Further reading

• John Pickworth. Carrera Panamericana. John Morton Pickworth. .
• Daryl E. Murphy. Carrera Panamericana: History of the Mexican Prad Race, 1950-54. iUniverse, Inc.
• Johnny Tipler. La Carrera Panamericana: The World’s Greatest Road Race. Authors Online Ltd.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Krejci . Martin . World Sportscar Championship 1953 – Carrera Panamericana . World Sports Racing Prototypes . 9 July 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110718173019/http://www.wsrp.ic.cz/wsc1953.html#7 . 2011-07-18 . dead .
2. Web site: Carrera Panamericana 1953 – Race Results . Racing Sports Cars . 9 July 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130922091513/http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Carrera_Panamericana-1953-11-23.html . 22 September 2013 . live .
3. Web site: 50th Anniversary of the Carrera Panamericana . Classics.com . 6 May 2000 . 9 July 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110708163346/http://www.classics.com/panam50.html . 8 July 2011 . live .
4. Web site: Dietrich . Nanni . Felice Bonetto . Motorsport Memorial . 9 July 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190708145405/http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/focus.php?db=ct&n=81 . 8 July 2019 . live .
5. Web site: World Championship - final positions and tables . Classicscars.com . 2000-06-16 . 2014-08-08.
6. Web site: Carrera Panamericana 1953 . Racing Sports Cars . 1953-11-23 . 2014-08-08.
7. Web site: 1953 Carrera Panamericana . Teamdan.com . 1953-11-23 . 2014-08-08 . 2016-12-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161207182118/http://www.teamdan.com/archive/wsc/1953/53carrer.html . dead .
8. Web site: SPAM protection / Ochrana proti SPAMu . Wsrp.ic.cz . 2014-08-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140809231047/http://www.wsrp.ic.cz/wsc1953.html#7 . 2014-08-09 . dead .