One Hit Wonders: The Story of One Off Grand Prix Winners

Preface

There are many people who have dreamt of being a Formula One World Champion. To date only 32 people have made that dream a reality. Many more have won Grand Prix and more still have had the ability to be privileged enough to take part in a World Championship Grand Prix motor race.

For some, it's all about the records. We all know about the recent performances of Michel Schumacher and the early record setting career of Juan Manuel Fangio. There are many books and magazine column inches devoted to the stories of Alan Prost, Niki Lauda, Jim Clark and so on.

But what about the people who managed to take the top step of the podium just once? The drivers who risked life and limb and by luck, good fortune or other circumstances managed to win one solitary Grand Prix?

Well this is their story.

I started this looking back over 50 years of the Formula One World Championship, although that term in itself is something of a contradiction. The original World Championship, which started in 1950, was for drivers and for 10 years included the Indianapolis 500 (even though the event was not run to Formula One regulations). Throughout different points of the 1950's and even in the 1960's various 'World Championship' Grand Prix were run to Formula Two regulations, especially when at one point Ferrari were the only team committed to make a car to F1 specifications.

As such, it seamed only fair that these Indianapolis 500 and Formula Two events are also covered, as their stories still form part of the World Championship record book.

Alongside the drivers, I have also included the chassis manufactures that have scored a singular victory. I feel that their story is just as important as the drivers. In same cases it highlighted to potential of the driver who would go on to greater achievements, in other cases the potential of the package was finally realised, yet never for it to happen again.

I hope this provides you with an insight of the background and circumstances behind the Grand Prix One Hit Wonders.

Lloyd Bonson

December 2011

The Fifties

Five years after the end of World War Two, the World Championship for drivers commenced. The rules of the new racing series were formed three years previously and many Grand Prix had been run, albeit without championship status.

On Saturday 13th May 1950, 22 drivers lined up on the starting grid at Silverstone for the first round of the newly inaugurated World Championship. The Alfa Romeo’s which had been designed for pre-war voiturette racing were dominant. Their drivers won all but one World Championship race during that first championship year. The one that got away was the race which very few European based teams or drivers took part in, the Indianapolis 500.

Between 1950 and 1960 the Indianapolis 500 counted towards the Drivers World Championship and so the results are also included in all the Formula One record books, although it did not run to Formula One regulations (incidentally for a large period of the 1950's and for some of the 1960's the World Championship was actually run to Formula Two regulations). Peugeot and Mercedes had entered the race in the 1920's, Maserati raced there in the 1940s, claiming victory in the 1940 event, with Ferrari being the next European team to race at the ‘Brickyard’ in 1952. Because of this, there are a number of one-hit wonders from the 1950’s who are only included because of this unique race.

One other uniqueness of this period of racing was ability for drivers to ‘share’ cars with their teammates. This would often occur when the teams lead driver suffered a mechanical failure and his lesser teammate was told to relinquish his vehicle for the greater good of the team.

There were 12 drivers and one constructor who scored their one and only grand prix win during this decade.

Tuesday 30th May, 1950

Indianapolis 500

Winning Driver: Johnnie Parsons

Winning Constructor: Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser

Our first one hit wonder comes from the third race to count towards the World Championship. Johnnie Parsons was born in Los Angeles, USA in 1918. His interest in racing started when he was young, as his uncle leased garage space to two legendary Dirt Track racers, Fred Lecklider and Frank Lockhart. He started his racing career along the West Coast of the States, taking part in many midget races, pledging to emulate his hero Bob Swanson. In 1942 he won 18 races in a shortened racing season, taking the United Midget Association champions as a result.

In 1948, with the horrors of the Second World War left behind, Parsons went back to racing. He first took part in the Indy 500 in 1949, starting from 12th on the grid and finishing a worthy second. This was also the year he won the US National Driving Championship taking five victories in Midget cars along the way.

Using the ubiquitous Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser combination for 1950, Parsons was certainly considered a favourite for a good result, especially given his previous form.

The race started with dry conditions, with Walt Faulkner leading the field from Pole Position. Parsons had qualified in 5th, but knew from experience that this was a not a race that was won in the first corner. Changing weather conditions caused many of drivers to crash and it was no surprise that the chequered flag came out after 184 of the planned 200 laps had been run, as heavy rain was falling at the time. By driving carefully, Johnnie had done enough to ensure he won the biggest prize in motor sport at that time.

Aside from the Indy 500, Parsons was one of the American drivers to travel to Italy for the 'Race of Two Worlds' which took place at Monza in 1957. The event was planned to put the best ten drivers of Europe against the best ten of America and was run on the Monza baking in an anti-clockwise direction, just as they do at Indianapolis. The 'Monzanpolis' event, as it became called, was widely shunned by many of the European drivers, mainly due to a lack of competitive cars. In fact the only real European competition came in the form of Jaguar D-Types, fresh from winning the Le Mans 24 Hours. Parson was declared third overall, behind two other World Championship one-hit wonders, Jimmy Bryan and Troy Ruttman.

Parsons’ last Indy 500 was in 1958. Shortly after which he retired from racing and became a Chief Steward for the United States Auto Club’s West Coast Midget division.

He became the new record holder for three records, Youngest Grand Prix Race Winner, Youngest Driver to Set Fastest Lap and Youngest Driver to Lead a Lap. He also holds the distinction of being the only driver to have his name misspelt on the Indianapolis 500 Winners Trophy; the engravers spelt it as 'Johnny' with a 'y' instead of 'ie'. This was corrected when the trophy was recreated in 1991.

At the end of his World Championship career, Parsons had competed in nine races, wining one and gaining one further podium position. He had scored 12 World Championship points.

Wednesday 30th May, 1951

Indianapolis 500

Winning Driver: Lee Wallard

Winning Constructor: Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser

Born in New York in 1910, Lee Wallard’s World Championship carrier was short lived considering his result. Of the four Indy 500’s in which he completed, only two counted towards the World Championship. Officially, Wallard won 50% of the World Championship races he entered, a strike rate which many drivers would be envious of, and this gives him the best start: win ratio of any World Championship driver.

His career at Indianapolis started in 1948 driving a Meyer-Offenhauser. Wallard did not qualify well, starting 28th on the grid. He was, however, able to finish on the same lap as the leader in a creditable 7th place.

In 1949, driving a Maserati, Wallard took the lead of the Indy 500 on the 36th lap, but unfortunately did not finish. In 1950, he erased the disappointment of the previous year. Having qualified his Moore-Offenhauser in 23rd position on the starting grid, he moved through the field to be classified in the 6th place come the chequered flag.

Wallard switched from a Moore chassis to a Kurtis Kraft for the 1951 race. This design was becoming de rigueur at the ‘Brickyard’, although Wallard’s supercharged engine was smaller than those in the other normally aspirated cars, he managed to qualify second behind Duke Nalon. The first part of the race was a tight battle but he was able to take control at about half distance and went to win.

Two weeks later Wallard was seriously injured in a sprint car crash and suffered severe burns, the treatment of which would require 27 skin grafts. He attempted a comeback, but the scarring from the burns left him unable to perspire and forced his retirement.

Not one to suffer disappointment lightly, Wallard then used his experiences to promote driving safety in high schools, before his death in November 1963.

At the end of his World Championship carrier, Lee Wallard had competed in two races, scoring 9 World Championship points.

Sunday 1st July, 1951

French Grand Prix, Reims

Winning Driver: Luigi Fagioli

Winning Constructor: Alfa Romeo

The first one hit wonder away from the Indy 500 was born in the small city of Osimo, Ancona Province in the Marche region of central Italy on the 9th June 1898. Luigi Fagioli was fascinated from a young age by the relatively new invention of the automobile, and the racing that soon followed. Blessed with great natural driving instincts, a young Fagioli spent several years participating in hill climbing and sports car races before entering Grand Prix racing in 1926.

By 1930, his racing success led to an opportunity to join the Maserati team on the Grand Prix motor racing circuit. He immediately made his presence felt, winning the Coppa Ciano and Circuit of Avellino. In April of the following year he went head to head with Louis Chiron and his Bugatti Type 51 at the Monaco Grand Prix. In what is one of racing's most famous battles, Chiron eventually won but Fagioli showed how skilled he was in a car geared for great speed on long stretches, rather than the tight twists and short runs of Monte Carlo. Fagioli went on to take the victory at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy beating Chiron as well as fellow Italian greats, Achille Varzi and Tazio Nuvolari.

In 1932, Fagioli won the Grand Prix of Rome driving for Maserati but for the 1933 season he was signed by the Alfa Romeo