 Only Scuderia Ferrari and Porsche KG sent works cars from Europe.The Italian marque had entered three of the stunning Ferrari 250 TR 59/60 for Richie Ginther/Wolfgang von Trips, Phil Hill/Cliff Allison and Ludovico Scarfiotti/José Froilán González.As for Porsche, they also entered three cars, their 718 RSK were piloted by Jo Bonnier/Graham Hill, Olivier Gendebien/Edgar Barth and Maurice Trintignant/Hans Herrmann 

After a three hour qualifying session held on the three days prior to the race, it was Phil Hill who took pole position for Scuderia Ferrari in their 250 TR.