12 Hours of Casablanca

The 12 Hours of Casablanca was a sports car endurance race organised on the route of the future Ain-Diab Circuit in Morocco. Only two editions were held in 1952 and 1953, before the race was replaced by the Moroccan Grand Prix in Agadir for the 1954 season.[1]

History

The race was held on a road circuit, partially on the main road from Casablanca, that was initially 4.2 kilometers long in 1952. By 1953, the route was changed to 3.26 kilometers. The competition was intended for sports racing cars and for passenger cars as well. The starting grid was of a 'Le Mans start'-type.[2][1]

1952
Talbot-Lago T26GS

In December 1952, the first edition of the 12 Hours of Casablanca race was held.[3] 24 entrants had started the race, but only 14 of them finished and were classified.[4][1][5]

Pos. No. Drivers Car Laps
1st 22 France Charles Pozzi
France Lucien Vincent		 Talbot-Lago T26GS 264
2nd 25 France Jean Lucas
France Jacques Péron		 Ferrari 225 S berlinetta[6] 263
3rd 16 France Georges de Tudert
Morocco Robert La Caze		 Delahaye 135S 250

1953
Ferrari 375 MM spyder

The second edition of the endurance race was held in 1953. This time 17 cars finished the race. Casimiro de Oliveira and Alberto Ascari had crashed during practice in their Ferrari 375 MM and had to change teams and cars.[7] Luckily for Ascari, he joined Luigi Villoresi in the Ferrari 500 Mondial and arrived second at the finish line in the actual race.[8] The 500 Mondial that won its class, was based on a Ferrari 625 TF berlinetta chassis that was destroyed in a fire, rebodied by Scaglietti and equipped with a 2.0-litre engine.[9] Charles Pozzi, who won the first edition with his Talbot-Lago T26GS, failed to arrive for the race.[10][1][11]

Pos. Pos. Class No. Drivers Car
1st 1st S+2.0 2 Italy Giuseppe Farina
Italy Piero Scotti		 Ferrari 375 MM spyder[12]
2nd 1st S2.0 20 Italy Luigi Villoresi
Italy Alberto Ascari		 Ferrari 500 Mondial spyder
3rd 2nd S+2.0 6 France Pierre Levegh
France Philippe Etancelin		 Talbot-Lago T26GS
4th 3rd S+2.0 8 United Kingdom Roy Salvadori
France "Mike Sparken"		 Aston Martin DB3 coupé
5th 4th S+2.0 7 United Kingdom Graham Whitehead
United Kingdom Peter Whitehead		 Aston Martin DB3
6th 2nd S2.0 25 France Jean-Louis Armengaud
France Élie Bayol		 Osca MT4 1100 coupé
Class No. Drivers Car DNF reason
S+2.0 3 Italy Luigi Piotti
Italy Clemente Biondetti		 Ferrari 250 MM Transmission
S+2.0 5 France Georges Grignard
Venezuela Lino Fayen		 Talbot-Lago T26GS Out of fuel
S+2.0 9 France Jean Behra
France André Guelfi		 Gordini T15S Holed fuel tank
S+2.0 10 France John Simone
France Armand Roboly		 Jaguar C-Type Fuel feed

Demise

Between 1954 and 1956, no motor racing was organized on this dangerous road circuit and the racing was moved to the Agadir area. Ain-Diab was more suited for the bicycle races. In 1957, the race route was refitted and increased to 7.618 kilometers thanks to the Royal Automobile Club of Morocco. The new track was named Ain-Diab Circuit and hosted the first official Moroccan Grand Prix in 1957.[13]

References
  1. "AIN DIAB". jbbassibey.free.fr (in French). Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  2. "Tracks - Ain Diab". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  3. "12 h Casablanca 1952". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  4. "12 h Casablanca 1952 - Race Results". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  5. "Non Championship Races 1952". classicscars.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  6. "225 S s/n 0164ED". barchetta.cc. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  7. "375 MM s/n 0366AM". barchetta.cc. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  8. "12 h Casablanca 1953". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  9. "625 TF s/n 0302TF". barchetta.cc. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  10. "12 h Casablanca 1953 - Race Results". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  11. "Non Championship Races 1953". classicscars.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  12. "375 MM s/n 0360AM". barchetta.cc. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  13. "History: When Morocco had its own Grand Prix". yabiladi.com. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
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