The 1952 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 22 June 1952 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It was race 3 of 8 in the 1952 World Championship of Drivers, in which each Grand Prix was run to Formula Two rules rather than the Formula One regulations normally used.
Maserati’s new A6GCM was still not ready, and, to compound this, their lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio had suffered back injuries at the non-championship Monza Grand Prix. This meant that Ferrari were once again favoured for success in the race, with their driver lineup consisting of Alberto Ascari (in place of André Simon), Nino Farina and Piero Taruffi. There were also two privateer Ferrari entries: local driver Charles de Tornaco of Ecurie Francorchamps, and Louis Rosier.
After qualifying, the front row was an all-Ferrari affair with the 500s of Alberto Ascari, Giuseppe Farina and Piero Taruffi. Fourth fastest was Robert Manzon in the Gordini, no less than 15 seconds off the pace of the pole man. The early stages of the race produced a moment of glory for Jean Behra who, in his Gordini, managed to get the better of all the Ferraris, with the exception of Ascari and then also had to give best to Farina. By lap 13, Piero Taruffi also managed to catch Behra, attacking him to take third. However, not long after, Taruffi spun at Malmedy and Behra was powerless to avoid hitting him square on. Thus a top three finish for Ferrari evaporated, but Alberto Ascari won by 1.55.2 from Giuseppe Farina and almost a lap ahead of Manzon. It was Alberto Ascari’s third win and Ferrari fifth, as well as the third one-two finish in its still very early days.
Alberto Ascari’s win (with fastest lap), and Piero Taruffi’s retirement, meant that the two now shared the lead of the Championship, on nine points each. Indianapolis 500 winner Troy Ruttman was in third, while Farina’s second-place finish raised him to fourth in the standings, three points adrift of the joint Championship leaders.
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