1955 Targa Florio: Two Brits Run Wild Over the Sicilian Countryside
By: Jeremy McMullen
The 1955 season for Mercedes-Benz had been filled with great joy, but it would also be muted by great tragedy. Now, with one final race to run, a pair of British drivers prepared to take on an impressive array of cars and drivers. Talented and young, these two would face an experienced field and a formidable course. They would certainly be battered over the course of the race. The question would be if they could rise above it all to stand at the top.Founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Florio, the Targa Florio would be the oldest sports car event and would be celebrating its more than 50 years of existence when it would finally be included as part of the World Sportscar Championship in 1955.
The 1955 season had been a very bittersweet one for Mercedes-Benz. Aided by journalist Dennis Jenkinson, Stirling Moss would romp to victory in the Mille Miglia. The elation achieved by this British pairing in the German car would be quickly subdued at Le Mans a month later when Pierre Levegh's 300SLR would be launched into the air and into the crowd along the start/finish straight in the early hours of the endurance race killing more than 80 spectators and injuring scores more. Mercedes-Benz would withdraw from the race late and would soon make the announcement they would be withdrawing from motor racing altogether at the end of the season.
This difficult decision would be made a little easier when Stirling Moss and John Fitch co-drove to victory at Dundrod in the Tourist Trophy race. The victory put Mercedes-Benz back in the hunt for the championship. The last race of the season, the Targa Florio, would be incredibly important to the team.
Because the race would be so important to Mercedes-Benz, the team would assemble the best possible driver lineups for their cars. They already had a couple of aces in Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss, but to give the team the best chances possible these two needed to be in their own cars with talented co-drivers to help share the load. Karl Kling would be partnered with Fangio. John Fitch and Desmond Titterington would partner in another 300SLR. Then there was Stirling Moss and his car.
Moss wasn't just going to be doing battle against the Ferraris and Maseratis. He would also be doing battle against the other Mercs. He wanted to help the team win the championship, but he also wanted to win the race as well. Therefore, he needed a talented driver that was as fast as himself, especially behind the wheel of a sportscar.
Peter Collins had only taken part in his first sportscar race in 1951 at the age of 20. The following year, he would already have a victory in the Goodwood 9 Hour as well as a 2nd place result in the same race the year after that. Another important highlight in Collins' short and impressive career would be an overall victory in the Tourist Trophy race at Dundrod in September of '53. Therefore, Collins certainly appeared to be the man for the job. And at the age of just 23, Collins helped Moss make up one of the youngest driver lineups in the Targa Florio field.
The car of Moss and Collins would certainly have the speed as they would have youth on their side, but the Targa Florio would be about perseverance and resilience as much as it would be about sheer speed. This meant Moss and Collins would certainly be in a fight with the other Mercedes of Fangio and Kling as those two had experience in spades. They knew resilience and patience, as well as, when to take chances.
If the competition didn't pose enough of a challenge then the Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie would certainly add to the tension. Initially, the Targa Florio consisted of a single tour around a 90 mile course. This would be severely increased in 1912 when the event consisted of a single lap, but around the whole of the island covering a total of more than 600 miles. It was further increased in the years following the Second World War covering nearly 700 miles in a single circuit. However, by the time the race joined the World Sportscar Championship in 1955 the circuit, and the format, had changed dramatically. Instead of a single lap, the race would be broken into a number of laps around a 45 mile course.
In 1955, the 45 mile course would pass through such locations as Cerda, Caltavuturo, Collesano and Campofelice. The circuit would boast of some long straights that enabled cars to really stretch their legs. However, the circuit also boasted of some long mountainous sections where the road constantly twisted back and forth upon itself. It was true road racing and a supreme test, even in its shortened form.
The first car, an Alfa Romeo 1900 TI would roll off at 7 o'clock with subsequent cars leaving at 30 second intervals after that. The first of the main competitors, the Ferrari 750 Monza driven by Luigi Piotti and Franco Cornacchia would leave at 7:24:30. Then, at 7:25:30, the Mercedes of Moss and Collins would leave with a roar.
On the eve of the race, Moss would go over the Mercedes very carefully, even implementing some changes that would help his chances over the course of the race. Paired with the fast Collins, Mercedes 104 certainly would be strong in pace.
Very quickly, these two Brits would be on the pace and would be pushing hard in each of the 13 laps. Moss' skill in a sportscar was well known and he wouldn't disappoint averaging more than 62mph over the length of the race. However, Collins would prove to be a strong co-driver in his own right as he would average over 57mph when he was behind the wheel.
The weather was hot and sunny and these conditions made it difficult for both man and machine. Racing down tight side alleys at speed it was very easy to dent fenders and rip off portions of bodywork. But this was certainly one race that was not a beauty contest. The contest included the ability to remain reliable despite being punished. The Mercedes of Moss and Collins would certainly have its fair share of obvious moments scattered all around the car's body. Still, the car was going, and very fast. The area around the headlights were badly damaged, nearly the right and left front corners of the car were stripped away. And side panels, at least on the right side of the car looked as though they had had a number of encounters with buildings and other objects along the way as Moss and Collins pushed the 300SLR hard.
Damage to the cars over the course of the race could be expected by even the most experienced of drivers behind the wheel, so the damage wasn't a sign of either Moss or Collins hanging it out beyond their limits. Nevertheless, there would be moments for both when they would have a bit of providence on their side. One such moment would come when Moss was behind the wheel. He would push it a little too hard at one point and would go careening off the side of the course. The car would avoid heavy damage, and, with the help of some local spectators, Moss would rejoin the race, still in the lead.
The 300SLR was known for its ruggedness and it was showing it on this day as Moss would go on to earn the highest sustained average speed over the course of the race. Backed by a good performance by the rather inexperienced Collins, Mercedes 104 continued to show itself well and was out in front of them all as the race neared its conclusion.
It would be a really strong performance by Collins especially. Certainly Moss had the speed, but Peter was still rather inexperienced. He had been brought on because of his obvious talents over long distance endurance races and those talents were on strong display as he backed Moss beautifully to help carry the day.
The two Brits would storm through the Sicilian countryside. There wouldn't be another challenger that could touch the combination over the course of the day's racing. Averaging nearly 60mph together, Moss and Collins would storm to victory. In spite of the vastly more experienced Mercedes driven by Fangio and Kling, both Moss and Collins would combine intelligence with their speed on this day and would come home victorious with nearly five minutes in hand over the veteran crew in Mercedes 112. It would be a great day for Mercedes-Benz. Not only would they score a one-two, but the pairing of John Fitch and Desmond Titterington would finish in 4th place less than twelve minutes behind the winners.
Moss was already a proven entity in sportscar racing having won the Mille Miglia and the Tourist Trophy in 1955, as well as a number of other events in the few years prior. Collins was really the only unknown piece in the equation. He had shown himself to be a talented driver having scored wins himself at Dundrod, at Goodwood and at a number of other important races, but still, he had only stepped up to the upper formulas of racing four years earlier.
Collins would prove himself equal to the task as he would drive a mature race combining speed with intelligence. Collins would prove himself that day, so much so that it would be this performance, and the suggestion of his friend Mike Hawthorn, that would lead him to signing with Scuderia Ferrari for 1956. The 1955 Targa Florio would certainly take Collins' career to new heights. But as the evening dawned on that 16th day in October in 1955, Collins wouldn't be aware of what the future beheld. All he knew was that he had had some fun storming around the Sicilian countryside.
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