Debutante’s Ball

On a list of the greatest Grand Prix races will be the names of several which will strike a chord for all racing enthusiasts: the German Grand Prix 1957, Monaco 1955, France 1979, Spa 1998. The year 1961 could account for three races on that list…Monaco, Nürburgring and the French Grand Prix at Reims.

Two weeks after Spa, all the teams made their way to another circuit that was bound to suit the power of the Ferrari 156, the flat-out blind and wide open spaces of Reims-Gueux, east of Paris in the champagne country, the sight of some historic battles in the past, many of which featured Ferrari, and had also featured Ferrari fighting Ferrari.