1948 South American Grand Prix

The 1948 South American Grand Prix (Spanish: Gran Premio de la América del Sur del Turismo Carretera), also known as Buenos Aires–Caracas, was a motor race held as part of the 1948 Turismo Carretera championship.[1]

1948 South American Grand Prix
Gran Premio de la América del Sur del Turismo Carretera
Round 8 of 9 in the 1948 Turismo Carretera
Race route
Host country Argentina
 Bolivia
 Colombia
 Ecuador
 Peru
 Venezuela
Dates run20 October 8 November
Start locationBuenos Aires, Argentina
Finish locationCaracas, Venezuela
Stages14 (9,576 km; 5,950 miles)
Stage surfaceAsphalt, Dirt/Gravel
Results
Overall winnerArgentina Domingo Marimón
Argentina Pedro Duhalde
Chevrolet Master
118 hours, 37 minutes, 18 seconds
Crews registered141
Crews138 at start, 44 at finish

Entry list

No. Driver Co-Driver Marque
1 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Argentina Daniel Urrutia Chevrolet
2 Uruguay Héctor Suppici Sedes Uruguay Silvestre Calache Ford
3 Argentina Oscar Alfredo Gálvez Argentina Federico Herrero Ford
4 Argentina Ernesto Hilario Blanco Argentina Atilio Plini Ford
5 Argentina Arturo Kruuse Argentina Juan J. Otero Plymouth
6 Argentina Ricardo Leopoldo Risatti Argentina F. Hugerza Chevrolet
7 Argentina Emilio Karstulović Argentina Raúl Cestac Ford
8 Argentina Pablo Guille Argentina Juan Stroppiana Chevrolet
9 Argentina Juan Gálvez Argentina Desiderio Avila Ford
10 Argentina Daniel Musso Argentina Ricardo Grattier Ford
11 Peru Arnaldo Alvarado Degregori Peru G. Rivadeneira Ford
12 Argentina Domingo Marimón Argentina Pedro Duhalde Chevrolet
13 Argentina Luciano Murro Argentina Enrique Costa Chevrolet
14 Argentina Eusebio Marcilla Argentina Miguel Salem Chevrolet
15 Argentina Tadeo Taddía Argentina Cayetano Cosimano Chevrolet
16 Argentina Fernando Nery Argentina D.J. Renaud Chevrolet
17 Argentina Victor García Argentina Hilario Martínez Ford
18 Peru Henry Bradley Peru Roberto Gómez Nash
19 Argentina Ricardo López Argentina R.J. Fernández Ford
20 Argentina Rosendo Hernández Argentina Juan A. Grillo Chevrolet
21 Argentina Angel Luis Pascuali Argentina E. Callegari Ford
22 Argentina Jorge Rodrigo Daly Argentina Juan Tenaglia Dodge
23 Bolivia Alberto del Caprio Bolivia R. Argandona Lincoln
24 Chile Lorenzo G. Varoli Chile Lorenzo Carlos Varoli Ford
25 Peru Luis Astengo A. Peru J. Salinas Vera Ford
26 Argentina Félix A. Peduzzi Argentina Alberto Gómez Chevrolet
27 Argentina Jordán Senes Argentina Humberto Senes Ford
28 Argentina Miguel Beltrame Argentina V. Rodríguez Ford
29 Argentina Vicente Tirabasso Argentina A. Matías Ford
30 Argentina M. Beltrán Soulé Argentina J. Vilarino Chevrolet
31 Argentina Antonio Gauthier Argentina Juan A. Tenor Chevrolet
32 Argentina Atilio Patrignani Argentina G. Patrigani Chevrolet
33 Chile Eduardo Della Magiora Chile A. Etchegoyen Ford
34 Argentina Luis F. González Argentina A. Panatti Ford
35 Argentina Francisco Neumayer Argentina J.T. Fasci Ford
36 Argentina José Froilán González Argentina Bernardo Pérez Chevrolet
37 Argentina José F. Cafiero Argentina Alberto Luchesi Ford
38 Argentina Carlos Lagorio Argentina M. Bonacorsi Chevrolet
39 Argentina José Muñiz Argentina Gabino García Ford
40 Argentina Aurelio Spinetto Argentina José A. Petrone Nash
41 Argentina Manuel Merino Argentina Remo Gamalero Ford
42 Argentina Adolfo F. Fernández Argentina H. Gutíerrez Ford
43 Peru Román Balta A. Peru Román Balta A. Chevrolet
44 Argentina Benedicto Campos Argentina Andres Papaleo Ford
45 Argentina Mercurio Guiliano Argentina José R. Pereira Ford
46 Argentina Eduardo Orcola Argentina Guido Aggazani Chevrolet
47 Bolivia Raúl Jauregui Bolivia F.A. Quiroga Mercury
48 Venezuela Atilio Cagnasso Venezuela G. Gelardi Buick
49 Argentina Esteban Sokol Argentina E. Cimardi Chevrolet
50 Argentina E. Sabbione Daly Argentina J.C. Mijailides Lincoln
51 Argentina Octavio Moretti Argentina G.E. González Chevrolet
52 Argentina M.C. de Vasconcellos Argentina José Arias Ford
53 Chile Joaquín Salas F. Chile Jorge Sosa V. Ford
54 Argentina Rene Nicolás Faure Argentina Max E. Metzler Chevrolet
55 Argentina Ramón A. Gallo Argentina ? Chevrolet
56 Argentina Julián Q. Elguea Argentina Heriberto Román Ford
57 Argentina Guillermo Martín Argentina Carlos Jacobs Chevrolet
58 Bolivia Hermo Orihuela Bolivia Alberto Orihuela Ford
59 Argentina Eduardo de Lelis Argentina E. Guerrero Plymouth
60 Argentina Américo Giménez Argentina Luis Tollerutti Ford
61 Peru Enrique Forno Peru Víctor Cornejo Ford
62 Argentina Esteban Zamora Argentina Juan del Regno Chevrolet
63 Argentina Oreste C. Casaroli Argentina Florián Ujhelyi Chevrolet
64 Argentina Darío D. Ramonda Argentina E.P. Suárez Chevrolet
65 Argentina Juan Carlos Copello Argentina J. Mario Mungari Ford
66 Argentina A. Zarantonello Argentina E. Martínez Ford
67 Argentina "Ampacama" Argentina A. Spampinato Chevrolet
68 Argentina Juan Carlos Gómez Argentina R.J. Morega Chevrolet
69 Argentina Domingo D'Angelo Argentina Salvador Figlioli Chevrolet
70 Argentina Daimo Bojanich Argentina H.H. Piassalle Ford
71 Argentina Luis Santos Argentina Pascual Bosio Ford
72 Peru Herminio Magaracci Peru José Racchumi Ford
73 Argentina José A. Rapetti Argentina José P. Morelli Ford
74 Argentina Félix Palacios Argentina Ruben Adámoli Mercury
75 Argentina Manuel Cobas Argentina Rafael Melen Ford
76 Chile Alberto Fouiloux Chile A.M. Fernández Ford
77 Argentina José L. Rodríguez Argentina M.C. Ortiz Ford
78 Bolivia Rafael Leizán Bolivia F.J. Leizán Chevrolet
79 Argentina M. Vinardell Molinero Argentina ? Ford
80 Argentina Carlos R. Alisal Argentina Jacinto Manso Ford
81 Argentina Vicente Alfonsaro Argentina Rodolfo Carro Chevrolet
82 Argentina Salvador V. Turano Argentina Balbino Roldán Chevrolet
83 Argentina Angel R. Castano Argentina Angel Molinari Ford
84 Argentina José Rubiol Roca Argentina ? Ford
85 Argentina José R. Naves Argentina Emilio Tabares DeSoto
86 Argentina Ernesto Baronio Argentina Dionisio Castelo Ford
87 Argentina José Laberguere Argentina Oscar Carrero Plymouth
88 Argentina Pablo Trincavelli Argentina Carlos Grosso Chevrolet
89 Argentina Florentino Castellani Argentina Ernesto Segura Ford
90 Peru Julio Huasasquiche Peru A. Samaniego Chevrolet
91 Argentina Alberto Provera Argentina Pablo Arata Chevrolet
92 Argentina Alberto Mascarell Argentina M. Somerville Chevrolet
93 Argentina "Mumiteite" Argentina "Teitemumi" Chevrolet
94 Venezuela Adolfo Mujica Venezuela Angel Bertello Ford
95 Argentina Carlos Benedetti Argentina E. San Pietro  ?
96 Argentina Hugo Lanteri Argentina Humberto Jofre Chevrolet
97 Argentina F. Fernández Walker Argentina Luis A. Ferraris Ford
98 Argentina Domingo Sanguinetti Argentina Donato Panza Chevrolet
99 Argentina Almendor Maiharro Argentina José Francia Chevrolet
100 Argentina Juacinto Moss Argentina Domingo Fancio Ford
101 Argentina Domingo Candela Argentina Antonio Magoia Chevrolet
102 Argentina Hugo de Simone Argentina Ernesto Morales Chevrolet
103 Argentina Guido A. Maineri Argentina E. Giovanini Ford
104 Argentina Eugenio Bría Argentina Pedro Collazos Ford
105 Argentina Enrique Quaglia Argentina Rafael Espejo Chevrolet
106 Argentina Alfredo Denita Argentina Alfredo Rozón Ford
107 Argentina Germán Rivera Argentina Enzo O. Ferro Chevrolet
108 Argentina "Paradavalla" Argentina "Mañaz" Ford
109 Argentina Jose Manuel López Argentina A. Talavera Chevrolet
110 Bolivia Juan Rodríguez Vera Bolivia Silvano Ojalvo Chevrolet
111 Argentina José Sciarpelletti Argentina Manuel Arrouge Chevrolet
112 Argentina Eleuterio Schvemier Argentina José A. Sanari Chevrolet
113 Argentina Italo V. Bizio Argentina Luis Repossi Chevrolet
114 Argentina Américo Berta Argentina E. Bioderbost Chevrolet
115 Argentina José Lorenzetti Argentina Juan H. Hermida Ford
116 Argentina Manuel Cubillos Argentina "Tito" Cubillos Chevrolet
117 Argentina Juan Marchini Argentina Hernando Gallo Ford
118 Argentina C. Solveyra Tomkinson Argentina ? Chevrolet
119 Argentina Bartolomé Ortiz Sanz Argentina Julio Castellani Ford
120 Argentina René Roux Argentina Oscar Otermín Ford
121 Argentina Roberto Matassi Argentina Marcos Ciani Chevrolet
122 Argentina Alberto T. Palacios Argentina N. Giachetta Ford
123 Argentina José Balcarce Argentina V.P. Quevedo Chevrolet
124 Argentina Manuel Montes Argentina Raúl Márquez Chevrolet
125 Venezuela Rafael Staccioli Venezuela D. Zappacosta Ford
126 Argentina Pablo Mesples Argentina D.A. Braga Ford
127 Argentina Martín Berasategui Argentina J. Schnarwiller Buick
128 Argentina Alberto Fava Argentina Gaitán Morello Ford
129 Argentina René Nelly Pfister Argentina René Barbani Chevrolet
130 Argentina Francisco Hernández Argentina Juan R. Lucca Ford
131 Argentina Salvador Ataguile Argentina P.M. Gutierrez Ford
132 Argentina Victor O. Roudé Argentina Pedro Mazzoni Ford
133 Peru Manuel Balta A. Peru R. Gutierrez Chevrolet
134 Argentina Francisco Remondino Argentina Luis Zamora Ford
135 Argentina Manuel R. Lastra Argentina Ernesto Cáceres Chevrolet
136 Argentina Eduardo de Lusarreta Argentina José Dema Chevrolet
137 Argentina Ricardo Harriague Argentina M.J. Bergeretti Ford
138 Argentina Adolfo Perazzo Argentina M. García Rey Chevrolet
139 Argentina Ernesto Petrini Argentina Jesús Henry Ford
140 Argentina Luis Echevarría Argentina Carlos Rancales Chevrolet
141 Argentina Guillermo Marenghini Argentina E. Semperena Chevrolet
Source:[2]

Report

Stage 1

Two entrants withdrew prior to the race starting – Ernesto Hilario Blanco with illness, and Esteban Sokol having crashed his car before the departure.

The first stage was also the longest; just over 1,000 mi from Buenos Aires to Salta. José Froilán González took the start in a Chevrolet, but withdrew not long after as he allegedly didn't realise the race was going all the way to Caracas and didn't believe such a journey could be done – calling his rivals "crazy". Oscar Alfredo Gálvez and Juan Manuel Fangio led the way, but Fangio's charge was halted with differential problems and the Balcarceño lost four hours repairing it. Gálvez thereafter remained unchallenged to the stage finish, with Fangio's Chevrolet stablemate Domingo Marimón finishing second and Gálvez' brother Juan third.

As soon as the race had started however, problems were already emerging. Large crowds thronged the roads outside of Buenos Aires, resulting in two spectator fatalities – one when Octavio Moretti lost control of his Chevrolet and ran over a group of bystanders, and another when an allegedly drunken man crossed the road in front of Daniel Musso's Ford. A distressed Musso abandoned the race at the end of the stage.

Stage 2

Stage 2 took the crews from Salta to the Argentine border town of La Quiaca. Oscar Gálvez claimed his second successive stage victory on the gravel country roads, but Uruguayan star Héctor Suppici Sedes crashed in Maimará and immediately withdrew – returning home to Montevideo.

Stage 3

94 crews crossed the La Quiaca River into Bolivia to recommence the race from Villazón. The 460 km route to Potosí was treacherous at over 3,000m above sea level, and ultimately claimed the lives of Ford team Julián Elguea and Heriberto Román – they failed to negotiate a hairpin outside the town of Culpina and fell 200m into a ravine. Elguea's brother-in-law Domingo Fancio was competing as co-driver to Juancito Moss and the crew immediately withdrew from the race. Oscar Gálvez extended his lead with a third-straight stage win, ahead of Pablo Gulle in second and Marimón third.

Stage 4

Juan Gálvez claimed his first stage win on the road from Potosí to the Bolivian capital La Paz as his brother Oscar struck trouble. The #3 Ford hit a rock and required repairs to the steering rack, but he retained the overall lead heading into a rest day.

Stage 5

Fangio had recovered to 40th after his first stage woes, and went on the attack on the fifth stage over the Peruvian border into Arequipa. The Gálvez brothers consolidated the pace across the Altiplano, but Fangio passed 30 cars over the Andes to claim his first stage win and the first for Chevrolet.

Stage 6

The second-longest stage of the race saw competitors descend to the Pacific coast into the Peruvian capital Lima. Fangio – now inside the top-30 overall – continued to press on until a rollover near Nazca forced him to back off, finishing the stage 23rd and still sitting over 6 hours behind leader Oscar Gálvez, who claimed his fourth stage win. The 25,000-strong crowd that gathered in the capital to see the spectacle were rewarded for their support when local driver Arnaldo Alvarado Degregori came home third.

Stage 7

Thursday October 28 was scheduled as a rest day, however the start of Stage 7 was brought forward from 5am on Friday to 10pm that night due to a coup d'état in Peru that resulted in the installation of Manuel Odría as President. Sleep-deprived crews were ill-prepared for the change of plans, with misty coastal roads adding to the challenge of the last 1,000 km+ stage.

Still recovering lost ground, Fangio was pushing hard – so much so that he and co-driver Daniel Urrutia missed a refuelling point and had to backtrack. Just outside of Huanchaco, on the northern outskirts of Trujillo, Fangio lost control on a left-hand bend and rolled down an embankment at 140kph. Co-driver Urrutia was ejected from the car through the windscreen in the incident, and landed heavily in scrubland. Oscar Gálvez, who had been battling Fangio earlier in the stage, witnessed the accident and stopped to help – much to the objection of Fangio, who wanted the race leader to continue. Having found a badly injured Urrutia, Eusebio Marcilla and Luciano Murro then stopped to help transport Fangio and Urrutia respectively to a hospital in Chocope. Urrutia became the events' fifth fatality having suffered cervical and basal skull fractures, whilst Fangio also suffered neck injuries but these were not life-threatening.

Despite many wanting to withdraw from the race after the incident, Fangio urged his rivals to continue. Juan Gálvez eventually led 53 crews to the end of Stage 7 and the halfway point of the event in the Peruvian border town of Tumbes. Fangio's crash was not the only terminal one in the stage, with four other crews – including the hero of Lima, Arnaldo Alvarado Degregori – forced to retire.

Stage 8

A ship then carried the competitors to the Ecuadorian port of Guayaquil, where the race resumed en route to Quito. Juan Gálvez made it back-to-back stage wins to reduce his brothers' lead to 1h11m. Pablo Gulle retired from 8th overall with a mechanical failure.

Stage 9

Upon arrival in Quito, the field faced significant economic problems. In order to ensure the race continued, Argentine President Juan Perón personally decreed a donation of AR$100,000 to competitors. Oscar Gálvez led brother Juan over the border into the Colombian town of Pasto to finish 1–2 for Ford. There were further spectator problems in the final kilometres – Víctor García crashed into a crowd killing one and injuring four others, whilst a wooden platform overlooking the finish collapsed and seriously injured multiple.

Stage 10

The tenth stage to Cali proved the races' slowest, with stage winner Juan Gálvez traversing the mountainous route at an average of just under 62kph.

Stage 11

The Gálvez brothers continued their dominance of the race into the Colombian capital Bogotá, race leader Oscar this time leading Juan through the low-altitude Andes passes.

Stage 12

Following a rest day in Bogotá, crews travelled through the mountains to Cúcuta on the border with Venezuela – Juan Gálvez claiming his fifth stage win.

Stage 13

The penultimate stage crossed the border into Venezuela and onto the town of Valera. Oscar Gálvez claimed his seventh stage win as brother Juan went off the road and into an embankment, but recovered to finish the stage having lost two hours to be 2h25m behind his brother in the overall classification. Salvador Ataguille finished the stage in a surprise second and consolidated his place inside the top 10, but still sat a long way behind third-placed Domingo Marimón – Marimón remained some 5h off the lead.

Stage 14

The final stage into the Venezuelan capital Caracas proved dramatic. Juan Gálvez, undaunted by the seemingly insurmountable margin to his brother, pushed his way to the lead of the stage. At the halfway mark entering San Rafael de Onoto, Gálvez misjudged his speed over a series of speed humps – crashing into a ditch and breaking his differential. Organisers had put up signs to warn the drivers of the speed humps the day before the race, but spectators had removed them. Marimón was next on the scene and blocked the road in order to force his competitors to help. Víctor García, who had nearly withdrawn after his crash into Pasto about a week earlier, avoided the incident zone and drove on to win the stage – and became only the fourth entry to win a stage.

"There are regulations, and the commissioners say that they were not complied with."

Juan Perón on Oscar Gálvez' disqualification.

Oscar had helped to retrieve his brother, but put excessive wear on his engine in the process and later broke his crankshaft in the village of Los Guayos just 60 km from the finish. He was pushed to the finish line by a spectator in a Buick, resulting in the disqualification of the race-long leader as he failed to cross the finish line under his own power. Gálvez appealed to none other than Juan Perón to have the decision overturned, but Perón insisted in a telegram that the organisers upheld the regulations. As a result, Domingo Marimón and co-driver Pedro Duhalde – despite having not won a single stage – were crowned the winners, finishing with a time of 118 hours, 37 minutes and 18 seconds. Marimón's team-mate Eusebio Marcilla was classified second just 12 minutes behind, followed by Juan Gálvez in third – who lost 3 hours in his final-day drama to finish half an hour behind Marimón.[3][4]

Results

Stage winners

Stage Start Finish Date Winning crew Winning car Stage time Distance
1 Argentina Buenos Aires Argentina Salta October 20–21 Argentina Oscar Alfredo Gálvez
Argentina Federico Herrero
Ford 13h52m47s 1,692 km
2 Argentina Salta Argentina La Quiaca October 22 Argentina Oscar Alfredo Gálvez
Argentina Federico Herrero
Ford 4h47m21s 380.1 km
3 Bolivia Villazón Bolivia Potosí October 23 Argentina Oscar Alfredo Gálvez
Argentina Federico Herrero
Ford 7h12m15s 459.8 km
4 Bolivia Potosí Bolivia La Paz October 24 Argentina Juan Gálvez
Argentina Desiderio Avila
Ford 6h44m10s 543.4 km
5 Bolivia La Paz Peru Arequipa October 26 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio
Argentina Daniel Urrutia
Chevrolet 7h01m09s 546.2 km
6 Peru Arequipa Peru Lima October 27 Argentina Oscar Alfredo Gálvez
Argentina Federico Herrero
Ford 9h43m36s 1,092 km
7 Peru Lima Peru Tumbes October 28–29 Argentina Juan Gálvez
Argentina Desiderio Avila
Ford 11h49m42s 1,322 km
8 Ecuador Guayaquil Ecuador Quito November 1 Argentina Juan Gálvez
Argentina Desiderio Avila
Ford 5h56m14s 421 km
9 Ecuador Quito Colombia Pasto November 2 Argentina Oscar Alfredo Gálvez
Argentina Federico Herrero
Ford 5h56m59s 392 km
10 Colombia Pasto Colombia Cali November 3 Argentina Juan Gálvez
Argentina Desiderio Avila
Ford 7h06m20s 440 km
11 Colombia Cali Colombia Bogotá November 4 Argentina Oscar Alfredo Gálvez
Argentina Federico Herrero
Ford 7h26m23s 527 km
12 Colombia Bogotá Colombia Cúcuta November 6 Argentina Juan Gálvez
Argentina Desiderio Avila
Ford 8h46m53s 599 km
13 Colombia Cúcuta Venezuela Valera November 7 Argentina Oscar Alfredo Gálvez
Argentina Federico Herrero
Ford 8h24m00s 484 km
14 Venezuela Valera Venezuela Caracas November 8 Argentina Víctor García
Argentina Hilario Martínez
Ford 7h46m56s 677 km
Source:

Outright

Final standings (positions 1–10)
Pos Driver Co-Driver Car Overall time Difference
1 Argentina Domingo Marimón Argentina Pedro Duhalde Chevrolet 118h37m18s
2 Argentina Eusebio Marcilla Argentina Miguel Salem Chevrolet 118h49m59s +12m41s
3 Argentina Juan Gálvez Argentina Desiderio Avila Ford 119h07m59s +30m41s
4 Argentina Salvador Ataguille Argentina P.M. Gutierrez Ford 122h21m45s +3h44m27s
5 Argentina Daimo Bojanich Argentina H.H. Piassalle Ford 122h30m58s +3h53m40s
6 Argentina Manuel Merino Argentina Remo Gamalero Ford 123h58m47s +5h21m29s
7 Argentina Víctor García Argentina Hilario Martínez Ford 124h02m00s +5h24m42s
8 Argentina Ricardo López Argentina R.J. Fernández Ford 124h14m58s +5h37m40s
9 Argentina Guido Maineri Argentina E. Giovanini Ford 125h00m32s +6h23m14s
10 Argentina Tadeo Taddía Argentina Cayetano Cosimano Chevrolet 126h01m03s +7h23m45s

References

  1. "Buenos Aires-Caracas: La gran aventura del TC" (in Spanish). SportDigital. 17 April 2020.
  2. "Turismo de Carretera Gran Premio de la América del Sur 1948" (in Spanish). F1-web.ar. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  3. "Daniel Urrutia". Motorsport Memorial. 2 September 2023.
  4. "Crónicas del Automovilismo: Gran Premio de la América del Sur, 1948 (Buenos Aires-Caracas)" (in Spanish). EL LOCO FIERRERO on YouTube. 16 January 2021.
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