1957 Venezuelan Grand Prix

The 1957 Gran Premio de Venezuela took place on 3 November, through a park and along the autostrada leading to Caracas. Although this was the fourth running of the race, it was the first time as a round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship. The previous year’s race, won by Stirling Moss, and the organiser, Touring Club Automovil de Venezuela dealt with it so well, albeit at a loss, the F.I.A. promoted the race to full World Championship status.

General Marcos Pérez Jiménez, the President of Venezuela, brought sports car racing to his country in 1955, which Juan Manuel Fangio won, but the organiser lost over $100,000, because no one collected the admission charges from the thousand who lined the street circuit, whilst the grandstands were empty but for officials and friends of the government. When Moss won the following season, taking home a solid gold cup, the Auto Club again made big losses. The 1957 event had to pay its own way or else.

A grand total of 41 racing cars were registered for this event, of which 37 arrived for practice and 34 qualified for the race. Although this was the last round of the championship, there were only two manufacturers who could take the world title, namely Ferrari and Maserati. As a result, the entry list for this race was almost entirely Italian. Both teams were represented by four cars in the race. Ferrari send a pair of Ferrari 335Ss and a pair of Ferrari 250 TRs for their squad of eight drivers, while Eqiupo Maserati was represented by a pair of Maserati 450S, supported by a 300S and a 350S and their squad of eight pilots. They were backed up by a privateer entry belong to Temple Buell. If Maserati could win, they would take the manufacturers crown away from Ferrari, who had been champions since its inception, except for the brief Mercedes-Benz interlude in 1955. The only ray of hope from outside of Italy, were a works Porsche 718RSK.

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