STORY OF THE DAY: Fastest Pace, but Only Three Hours of Racing

Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi brought the unique number 62 Ferrari 250 S Vignale Berlinetta to the 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ascari demonstrated its speed and set the fastest lap, but clutch failure ended the car’s race after approximately three hours. Mercedes-Benz ultimately finished first and second, while Ferrari’s promising new three-litre prototype remained unclassified.

The contrast between outright pace and endurance was the day’s defining lesson. Ascari could exploit the Ferrari’s performance around the long Circuit de la Sarthe, yet the clutch could not sustain the repeated starts, shifts and high-speed load of the opening phase. A car that had won the Mille Miglia weeks earlier thus left Le Mans before darkness.

The 250 S was a one-off development powered by a front-mounted, three-litre Colombo V12 in a tubular chassis. Vignale’s closed berlinetta body reduced drag on the Mulsanne Straight and offered better protection than a barchetta. Its compact engine and balanced dimensions worked brilliantly on varied roads, but Le Mans revealed that its transmission systems still required development for continuous twenty-four-hour use.

Ascari and Villoresi were Italians, close friends and leading Ferrari works drivers. Ascari would win the 1952 and 1953 Formula One world championships, becoming Ferrari’s first champion. Villoresi, the older mentor, brought extensive pre-war and endurance experience. Their pairing gave the experimental 250 S exceptional speed, even though reliability denied them a representative finish.