The Racing Scene Pictures from a racing MGTD in Venezuela, from 1952 Miscellaneous Racing Pictures

A look at the racing scene during the production of the MGTD.

Pictures from a racing MGTD in Venezuela, from 1952

My late father, Eduardo Muñoz Sanchez-Monge used to race an MGTD in Venezuela, in the early 1950's. He was Subchampion in the 1500 cc. category in 1953. He raced against other MGTD, Singers and Porsche speedster 1500. I do not have much information on the car, other that it was a special order from the factory, it had a high compression engine and beefed suspension, according to a friend of my father, Francisco Mastropaolo, who had a similar car.

1953 was the first year that a regular car racing championship was organized in Venezuela. There were several categories, and my father raced in the 1500 cc sports car categories. The rivals were Singers, other MG TD's and Porsche 1500 cc. Speedsters. The racing was done in street circuits that were closed to traffic and in open roads, also closed to traffic. There were no road circuits on that time in Venezuela. I am attaching photos from two races: A - Los Proceres circuit, near Fuerte Tiuna Military base, in Caracas, in 12-Apr-53. This circuit was used later with several modifications in three Grand Prix of Venezuela races for Sport Cars were held in 1955, 1956 and 1957 (but that is another story). In that race my father arrived second to a Porsche 1500 cc. (Photos 1,2,3,4,5,6) B- Tanaguarena street circuit in the Vargas State, near the La Guaira Seaport, in 08-Nov-1953. This area suffered extensive damage in the mud slides of December 1999. (Photo 7)

La Vuelta de Aragua Road Circuit: More pictures from the MG TD that my father raced in 1953. These are from the road race held in the Aragua State in Venezuela in 14 June, 1953, the race was called the "Vuelta de Aragua" (Race Around Aragua), it was three loops of an 80 Km road race. In this race my father arrived 10 in the general position and third in the 1500 cc class, behind two Porsche 1500.

For the record, here is the general qualification of that race:

1. Atilio Cagnasso, Hudson Hornet , 1hr, 59 min, 13 sec, average of 120.78 km/hr.
2. Leopoldo Garmendia, Hudson Hornet, 1hr, 59 min, 49 sec.
3. Fernando Segovia, Chevrolet, 2hr, 00 min, 59 sec.
4. Julio Pola, Hudson Sport, 2hr, 01 min, 53 sec.
5. Abelardo Diaz Gonzalez, Hudson Hornet, 2hr, 03min, 07 sec
6. Landino Moran, Ford, 2hr, 03 min, 11 sec
7. Rezende Dos Santos, Porsche 1500, 2hr, 06 min, 14 sec.
8. Pedro J. Puertas, Ford, 2hr, 06 min, 36 sec.
9. Reina Morales, Porsche 1500, 2hr, 08 min, 37 sec.
10. Eduardo Muñoz, MG-TD, 2hr, 9 min, 25 sec

Cars placed 1 to 6 and 8 were the equivalent of modified American Stock Cars, with big in-line 6 cylinder and maybe flathead V8 engines (Ford)! Eduardo Muñoz and the MG-TD placed just 48 seconds behind the Porsche 1500 that arrived in 9 place.

This set of pictures courtesy of Eduardo Antonio Muñoz Pecchio of Venezuela.

Photo 1	Photo 2	Photo 3	Photo 4
Photo 5	Photo 6	Photo 7	Photo 8
Photo 9

Description of Pictures

1. 7-sep-1952, from Los Proceres street race track, in Caracas, Venezuela. (My father won that race.)
2. A newspaper clipping of the same race race.
3. Another newspaper clippings of the same race.
4. 12-Apr-1953, MG TD Los Proceres: In hot pursuit of the first place Porsche 1500, driven by Rezende Dos Santos.
5. MG TD at Los Proceres pits. Before the race, my father working at the car. Please notice the dashboard details.
6. MG TD at Los Proceres: Another photo before the race
7. 08-Nov-1953: Tanaguarena street circuit in the Vargas State, near the La Guaira Seaport. My father won that race. This is a very nice picture, scanned at 300 Dpi, from a large size picture. The original is a little blurry.
8. 10 place in general MG-TD , passing through one of the small towns in the Aragua State.
9. Watch how close the crowds were !!

Miscellaneous Racing Pictures

Various pictures of MGTD's in racing events during the period.

Photo 1

Description of Pictures

1. (Photo by John George Robitschakj, ran in "MotoRacing" Feb 5-12, 1960, contributed by Bill Watkins)

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