12 "Williams"
William Grover
Bugatti T35B

18 Georges Bouriano
G. Bouriano
Bugatti T35C

34 Rudolf Caracciola
R. Caracciola
Mercedes-Benz SSK

Williams victorious at the first Monaco Grand Prix

The exotic Monaco Grand Prix was the first major event of the year. Held for the first time, the organizers invited 20 drivers and 16 of them participated in an entertaining race over 100 laps through the twisting roads of Monte Carlo. The first half of the race saw a battle between Williams nimble 2300 Bugatti and Caracciola's huge Mercedes-Benz SSK sports car in race trim. Bouriano and Philippe in Bugattis held the next positions. Williams maintained the lead almost throughout the race but Caracciola twice moved into first place, at lap 30 and again at lap 50. After his troubled pit stop for fuel and new tires the German fell to fourth place. Only then was Williams able to build a safe lead while Caracciola could only regain third position behind Williams and Bouriano. The Bugattis of Philippe, Dreyfus and Etancelin were the remaining finishers. Three Alfa Romeos, two Maseratis, a 1927 Delage and a La Licorne failed to make any impression against the eight Bugattis.

The Monaco Grand Prix was the first important race of 1929 and has also been quoted as the opening event the 1929 racing season. This is not entirely true because four smaller races for grand prix cars were held earlier. The first was the March-24 Tripoli Grand Prix in Lybia, which was won by Brilli Peri in a 1500 cc Talbot, followed by the April-1 Antibes Grand Prix at Garoupe where Lepori in a 2000 cc Bugatti was victorious, then the April-7 Riviera Circuit near Cannes which was won by Bret with his 2000 cc Bugatti while on the same day Lehoux was the victor at the Algerian Grand Prix on the Staouéli circuit also with Bugatti.       It was the idea of Antony Noghes, President of the A.C. de Monaco to hold an international race through the streets of the principality of Monaco. At the AIACR October 13, 1928 meeting in Paris the Monaco Grand Prix was approved to take place on April 14, 1929, organized by l'Automobile Club de Monaco. The race Director was Charles Faroux. The race was held along 3.18 km of the streets through the principality of Monaco, and had to be lapped 100 times in clockwise direction, a total of 318 km. Only the driver was allowed in the car but he could be relieved at the end of one lap. The race would end 30 minutes after the winner passed the finish.       The course began at the harbor in front of the grandstands on Boulevard Albert Premier; then followed through the right turn at the little church of St. Dévote up the hill towards the Casino between the curbstones and electricity poles, across the tram tracks, past the terraces of the hotels and around the colorful flower beds at the Casino. From here the course went downhill, past the Casino gardens, down to the narrow hairpin at the train station surrounded on the outside by a wall of sandbags, followed through a downhill right turn to the sea front. Here another right, then the course passed through the tunnel, which was brightly lit by electrical arc lamps, towards the harbor. There followed the only more or less straight stretch along the quay through the chicane, most of it heavily protected with sandbags. At its end loomed the challenging left hand Tabac Corner with the stone steps to the right side which were protected by a solid wooden fence. From here the track led towards the back of the pits on the right, then a bit further around the right turn Gasometer hairpin with the tram tacks, leading back towards the front of the pits with the start and finish area. The roads had been repaired at great expense and resurfaced for the greater part of the circuit, so that the course was in near perfect condition. The race circuit and side streets were strictly barricaded during the race with hoardings and sandbags. With ten real corners per lap, it was a true test for brakes and engines. Dangers lurked everywhere. Just feet from the circuit's curbs were house walls, concrete posts, tunnel walls and the cliff edge above the sea. All dangerous sections were protected with sand bags to avoid serious accidents and the Tabac corner received wooden fencing on both sides.       The ACM decided not to run the race according to the 1929 fuel consumption formula. The overall victor was to be presented with the valuable Prince de Monaco gold trophy and 100,000 francs, second place 30,000, third 20,000, fourth 15,000 and fifth 10,000 francs. The driver who established the fastest lap would receive 3,000 francs. The leader on every tenth lap was offered a 1,000 francs prize.

Entries: Participation was only by invitation. The list of entries closed on April 5 with 20 nominations from eight countries. The German Caracciola headed that list, enjoying factory support for the large 7.1-liter white Mercedes-Benz SSK stripped sports car. His name was followed by the Austrian Stuck with an Austro Daimler. Hans Stuck actually was German but Austro Daimler was an Austrian company. The Belgian Bouriano in a yellow Bugatti (probably enjoying factory assistance) was listed third, followed by nine entries from France, Dauvergne (Bugatti), Doré (La Licorne), Dreyfus, Etancelin, Lamy, Lehoux and "Philippe" all with Bugattis, Perrot in an Alfa Romeo and de Rovin (1927 grand prix Delage). "Philippe" was the pseudonym for Baron Philippe de Rothschild who was to team together with his friend Guy Bouriat as a private team. The fifth nation was Great Britain, represented by "Williams" in a green Bugatti. The pseudonym "Williams" concealed the English driver William Grover who lived in France and he certainly had full support from the Molsheim factory. There followed five Italian entries, headed by Ghersi, Rigal and Zehender in Alfa Romeos while Sandri and the Marquis de Sterlich from Teramo drove Maseratis. An entry from Poland named Bychawski (Bugatti) and one Swiss entry from Lepori (Bugatti) completed the list of invitations. Thus the 20 car field comprised ten Bugattis against four Alfas, two Maseratis and one each Mercedes, Austro Daimler, La Licorne and Delage.       Stuck seriously damaged his Austro Daimler during practice for the Antibes GP and was unable to start. When Lamy, Bychawski and Ghersi also failed to start (damaged during practice and Bychawski crashed on his way from Paris), the field was down to 16 cars. A particularly interesting absence was that of Louis Chiron, the only Monegasque driver of note who decided not to participate in the Principality's inaugural race. He had elected to race with a Delage at Indianapolis instead. This must have been very disappointing for the local spectators and a snub to the royal family. The race numbers were decided by casting lots. Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung (Berlin) wrote, because the circuit was so short, only 15 entrants would be allowed to take part. However, this could not be confirmed elsewhere.

Practice: Thursday was the first day of practice and started at 5:30 in the morning until 7:00 AM. No need for an alarm clock! Thereafter the roads were reopened so that normal daily traffic could resume and the tramway, which had been stopped, was working again. Practice times were of less importance because the positions for the start would be decided by the race numbers. All drivers had to get acquainted with the new circuit and had to find the best transmission ratios. Despite the trolley rails the drivers praised the good condition of the road surface.       Friday practice took place again early in the morning but constant rain on the slippery circuit slowed the times, which were taken for the first time. The author Christian Moity stated in his Monaco Grand Prix book some practice times for Bouriano of 2m45s while Lepori was stopped at 2m48s. Etancelin with the old Bugatti reached 2m49s and Zehender in the 1750 Alfa and Caracciola with the large Mercedes were both timed at 2m52s. German periodicals knew better and reported that Caracciola made the best practice times but provided no figures. Caracciola knew the two worst corners for his large car were the one at the end of the harbor at the Gasometer and the other at the station of Monte Carlo. He could utilize his supercharger power only up the hill to the Casino. His biggest problem time wise would be when he had to refuel and change tires. "Williams" had not yet arrived for Friday practice.       Saturday was a quiet day for the racing community but early on this morning, shortly after 5:00 AM, a lone Bugatti chased around the circuit. It was Williams who had arrived late and made his first few laps around the new circuit. MOTOR reported that he actually wanted to start in a race in Italy but then opted at the last moment for the Monaco Grand Prix. He must have been given special permission to practice, probably because it was obligatory to do some laps, despite the fact that Saturday was quiet day.

Race: After a rained out Saturday, the next morning opened with a beautiful blue sky and warm April sunshine. The wonderful Sunday weather helped crowds of people pouring into the circuit. They had come to watch this wild race through the middle of a town. The mountain slopes were lined with colorful clusters of spectators. In the various grandstands and on the terraces and roofs of the palatial buildings which lined the race circuit throngs of spectators had assembled to watch this spectacle. Every hotel room window and every balcony was filled with spectators.       At 13.00 Hrs. the racecars began to assemble on the starting grid in front of the filled grandstand. Some of the cars went for a warm-up lap around the circuit. Dauvergne, Bouriano and Lepori had spare wheels fitted to their Bugattis while Rigal and Perrot carried spares on the back of their Alfas. The drawing of lots before practice had a 16-car starting grid published by the organizers and arranged in order of the race numbers. The true grid, as the cars had assembled on the day of the race, looked slightly different since in row two Sandri and Philippe had traded places. The cars of row four and five were bunched close together to be able to easily get past de Rovin's already troubled 1927 Delage. Race Director Charles Faroux drove a lap around the circuit on board of Dreyfus' car. At 13.25 Hrs. Prince Pierre of Monaco at the wheel of his Voisin officially opened the circuit.

8 Lehoux Bugatti 6 Dauvergne Bugatti 4 Etancelin Bugatti 10 Sandri Maserati 12 "Williams" Bugatti 14 "Philippe" Bugatti 22 de Rovin Delage 18 Bouriano Bugatti 16 Zehender Alfa Romeo 28 Dreyfus Bugatti 26 de Sterlich Maserati 24 Rigal Alfa Romeo 34 Caracciola Mercedes-Benz 32 Dore La Licorne 30 Lepori Bugatti 36 Perrot Alfa Romeo

At 1:30 PM the starter waved the yellow flag for the 16 cars and Lehoux jumped into the lead, followed by Etancelin and Williams. The Delage of de Rovin did not get off the line, though eventually he managed to start but was always near the end of the field. Right from the beginning the green Bugatti of Williams pulled away. Caracciola in the white Mercedes started in the second to last row and was determined to catch up with the leaders.       At the end of the first lap it was Williams in the lead ahead of Lehoux, Etancelin, de Sterlich, Philippe and Caracciola in sixth place, who had already passed ten cars on the first lap. De Rovin somehow damaged the engine of his Delage which impeded his further progress. It was also stated that his car had the wrong gear ratios.       On lap two Williams had a lead of about 300 meters ahead of Caracciola who was steadily reducing William's advantage. After the exit of the tunnel at the chicane, Lehoux lost his Bugatti and slid into the waterside sand bags where his car came to rest with three broken wheels. During the following laps Lehoux walked to the pits picked up three wheels, rolled them to his stranded car, fitted them and after having fallen 11 laps behind, resumed the race for a few laps to retire with a transmission problem. De Sterlich brought his Maserati into his pit.       On lap three Philippe in third place was passed by Bouriano's yellow Bugatti. There were no further changes reported. On lap seven, Perrot in the 1500 Alfa Romeo was lapped by the leading Bugatti of Williams.       After ten laps, Williams in the lead had covered 31.8 km in 23m42s. His average lap time for the first ten laps was 2m22.2s. Lehoux was still stranded on the circuit busy replacing his broken wheels and was not shown on the timing sheets. According to the times given below it appeared that a trio of drivers, Dauvergne, De Sterlich and Lepori possibly had a lot of fun battling each other and passing the finish line within one second if the time given is correct. The cars came past the finish after 10 laps in the following order: 1. Williams (Bugatti) 23m42s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 23m46s 3. Bouriano (Bugatti) 24m22s 4. Philippe (Bugatti) 24m54s 5. Zehender (Alfa Romeo) 25m37s 6. Dauvergne (Bugatti) 25m52s 7. De Sterlich (Maserati) 25m52s 8. Lepori (Bugatti) 25m52s 9. Doré (La Licorne) 25m56s 10. Etancelin (Bugatti) 25m57s 11. Sandri (Maserati) 26m00s 12. Dreyfus (Bugatti) 26m13s 1 lap behind 13. Rigal (Alfa Romeo) 26m17s 1 lap behind 14. Perrot (Alfa Romeo) 27m31s 1 lap behind 15. De Rovin (Delage) 32m24s 2 laps behind 16. Lehoux (Bugatti) ? 9 laps behind On lap 13 Lehoux had repaired his car at the track side. The Motor reported that when William's Bugatti passed the grandstand, the Mercedes was not to be seen. But then the German arrived, having fallen behind a few hundred meters. The reason was an exciting spin at the station hairpin. After several stops and after replacing plugs on his Maserati, De Sterlich retired on lap 17. Perrot retired his Alfa Romeo on lap 18 after an accident. The Autocar reported that Perrot broke down at the harbor side and tried to push his car to the pits. After Lehoux had also retired, the field was down to 13 cars. Williams' average lap time for lap 11 to lap 20 had slowed to 2m24.8s. After 20 laps the order was as follows: 1. Williams (Bugatti)     47m10s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz)     47m20s 3. Bouriano (Bugatti)     48m05s 4. Philippe (Bugatti)     49m19s 5. Lepori (Bugatti)     50m33s 1 lap behind 6. Etancelin (Bugatti)     50m56s 1 lap behind 7. Sandri (Maserati)     51m29s 1 lap behind 8. Dreyfus (Bugatti)     51m32s 1 lap behind 9. Rigal (Alfa Romeo)     51m56s 2 laps behind 10. De Rovin (Delage)     55m52s 3 laps behind 11. Doré (La Licorne)     59m02s 5 laps behind 12. Dauvergne (Bugatti) 1h02m19s 6 laps behind 13. Zehender (Alfa Romeo) 1h25m28s L'AUTO reported that some time before after Zehender stopped, he walked to the pits to look for tools. L'Éclaireur de Nice commented that on lap 23 Doré collided with a balustrade resulting in nothing more than a flat tire. The Autocar reported that Doré came in with a wobbling rear wheel as a result of an encounter with a sandbag, but did not state at which time in the race this had happened. This appeared to have been one and the same incident. Sandri stopped at the pits to change spark plugs on his Maserati. Interestingly, although Bouriano in third place was almost a minute behind Williams, the two had almost identical lap times. The average lap time had come down to 2m20.3s. Caracciola had worked himself closer to Williams and passed him on lap 30 when the order at the end was: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h10m33s 2. Williams (Bugatti) 1h10m35s 3. Bouriano (Bugatti) 1h11m32s 4. Philippe (Bugatti) 1h13m13s 1 lap behind 5. Lepori (Bugatti) 1h14m38s 1 lap behind 6. Etancelin (Bugatti) 1h15m38s 2 laps behind 7. Dreyfus (Bugatti) 1h16m52s 2 laps behind 8. Rigal (Alfa Romeo) 1h17m32s 2 laps behind 9. De Rovin (Delage) 1h22m33s 3 laps behind 10. Doré (La Licorne) 1h28m33s 7 laps behind 11. Sandri (Maserati) 1h30m54s 8 laps behind 12. Zehender (Alfa Romeo) 13. Dauvergne (Bugatti) L’AUTO reported that Zehender, who had repaired his car on the track, rejoined the race but was now many laps behind. Williams attacked Caracciola on lap 34 at the exit of the tunnel but was not able to pass. On lap 36 Williams finally succeeded to regain the lead. His average lap time was now 2m18.5s after 40 laps when the order was: 1. Williams (Bugatti) 1h33m40s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h33m42s 3. Bouriano (Bugatti) 1h34m54s 4. Philippe (Bugatti) 1h37m04s 1 lap behind 5. Dreyfus (Bugatti) 1h42m02s 3 laps behind 6. Etancelin (Bugatti) 1h42m54s 4 laps behind 7. Rigal (Alfa Romeo) 1h43m25s 4 laps behind 8. Lepori (Bugatti) 1h46m00s 5 laps behind 9. De Rovin (Delage) 1h47m47s 6 laps behind 10. Doré (La Licorne) 1h56m30s 10 laps behind 11. Zehender (Alfa Romeo) 12. Dauvergne (Bugatti) 13. Sandri (Maserati) When the leading Bugatti of Williams stopped on lap 49 to refuel in 1m30s, Caracciola regained first place with Bouriat second. The German made a second sideslip, realizing that his tires no longer provided sufficient grip on the fresh tarred surface, which had been softened by the sun. Sandri's Maserati had retired on lap 42. On lap 47 Dauvergne retired his Bugatti with ignition problems. After 50 laps, the halfway point in the race, the order was as follows: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h57m07s 2. Bouriano (Bugatti) 1h58m10s 3. Williams (Bugatti) 1h58m36s 4. Philippe (Bugatti) 2h01m10s 1 lap behind 5. Dreyfus (Bugatti) 2h06m55s 4 laps behind 6. Etancelin (Bugatti) 2h08m52s 5 laps behind 7. Rigal (Alfa Romeo) 2h09m12s 5 laps behind 8. Lepori (Bugatti) 2h10m06s 5 laps behind 9. De Rovin (Delage) 2h12m31s 6 laps behind 10. Doré (La Licorne) 11. Zehender (Alfa Romeo) Caracciola made his refueling stop on lap 51, dumping four large milk cans filled with fuel into the large Mercedes tank. Since the tire thread had been worn away by sliding through the many corners, his mechanic changed the bad right rear wheel when the jack slipped off the tram rail on which the car had come to a stop. The jack could lift up only one side of the car. Then they changed also the left rear wheel and had to jack up the car again. A copper hammer was used to remove and replace the knock-on hubcaps. Unfortunately for Caracciola, the handle of the hammer broke during the pitstop. The entire stop took a valuable 4m30s enabling Williams not only to regain the lead but also put Caracciola a lap and a quarter down. Bouriano, who drove at a brisk and steady race speed, took only 1m20s for his fuel stop. Williams passed Bouriano when the latter was in the pits. Shortly thereafter the German stopped once more for 25 seconds and followed Philippe who was in third placed. From this moment on the race turned into a procession. Zehender retired on lap 56. After 60 laps the order was: 1. Williams (Bugatti) 2h21m59s 2. Bouriano (Bugatti) 2h24m02s 3. Philippe (Bugatti) 2h25m00s 1 lap behind 4. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2h25m35s 1 lap behind 5. Dreyfus (Bugatti) 2h31m38s 4 laps behind 6. Etancelin (Bugatti) 2h33m15s 5 laps behind 7. Lepori (Bugatti) 2h34m10s 5 laps behind 8. Rigal (Alfa Romeo) 2h34m56s 5 laps behind 9. De Rovin (Delage) 2h37m21s 6 laps behind 10. Doré (La Licorne) After 70 laps Caracciola had regained third place. Williams was 1m52s ahead of Bouriano and 3m28s ahead of Caracciola, 5m13s ahead of Philippe, 10m47s ahead of Dreyfus and at the end in the distance trailed Rigal and de Rovin. Everyone except Bouriano was lapped. Rigal and de Rovin must have suffered that indignity on six or more occasions. The order after 70 laps: 1. Williams (Bugatti) 2h45m29s 2. Bouriano (Bugatti) 2h47m12s 3. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2h48m05s 1 lap behind 4. Philippe (Bugatti) 2h50m42s 2 laps behind 5. Dreyfus (Bugatti) 2h56m18s 4 laps behind 6. Etancelin (Bugatti) 2h57m50s 5 laps behind 7. Lepori (Bugatti) ? 8. Rigal (Alfa Romeo) 3h00m55s 6 laps behind 9. De Rovin (Delage) 3h01m17s 6 laps behind 10. Doré (La Licorne) ? De Rovin in last place, on lap 80, hit the sandbags at the chicane. The car spun off and damaged its wheels, ending its race. This was similar to Lehoux's accident. Williams average lap time over the last ten laps was 2m20.8s. After 80 laps the order was as follows: 1. Williams (Bugatti) 3h08m57s 2. Bouriano (Bugatti) 3h10m43s 3. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 3h12m14s 1 lap behind 4. Philippe (Bugatti) 3h14m20s 2 laps behind 5. Dreyfus (Bugatti) 3h20m55s 5 laps behind 6. Etancelin (Bugatti) 3h24m59s 6 laps behind 7. De Rovin (Delage) 3h25m18s 6 laps behind 8. Rigal (Alfa Romeo) 3h28m55s 8 laps behind 9. Lepori (Bugatti) 3h40m39s 15 laps behind Williams maintained the lead with an average lap time of 2m20.5s. The classification for the first six remained the same after 90 laps: 1. Williams (Bugatti) 3h32m22s 2. Bouriano (Bugatti) 3h34m03s 3. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 3h35m29s 1 lap behind 4. Philippe (Bugatti) 3h37m29s 2 laps behind 5. Dreyfus (Bugatti) 3h45m58s 5 laps behind 6. Etancelin (Bugatti) ? 7. Lepori (Bugatti) ? After 100 laps, Faroux waved the checkered flag when the victorious Williams crossed the finish line to enormous applause from the large crowd. Bouriano followed 1m17.8s behind in second position with Caracciola 2m22.6s behind in third place. Philippe who had been lapped once, Dreyfus three times and Etancelin four times, all had to carry on driving to complete the 100 laps to be classified. René Dreyfus wrote in his book that there was a separate classification for 1500 cc cars which he won with the little Bugatti. Lepori, Doré and Rigal were many laps behind and would exceed the maximum time allowed for stragglers. They were still driving but were flagged off 30 minutes after Williams had passed the finish line. Since they did not complete the full distance they were not classified. The Autocar reported that Rigal returned to the pits with the Mercedes, having abandoned his Alfa Romeo on the circuit.

4 Achille Varzi
A. Varzi
Alfa Romeo P2

54 Baconin Borzacchini
Officine Alfieri Maserati
Maserati 26R

30 Ernesto Maserati
Officine Alfieri Maserati
Maserati 26B

Varzi victorious with Alfa Romeo at Pietro Bordino Circuit

By winning the Circuito Bordino at Alessandria, Achille Varzi captured his first victory of the season in his Alfa Romeo without serious opposition. He led from start to finish, while Borzacchini (Maserati) held second place in the early laps. From lap four till lap seven Brilli Peri (1500 Talbot) was second until he met bad luck when his car broke down on the last lap. Ernesto Maserati (Maserati) finished third ahead of Arrigo Sartorio and Ghersi with Alfa Romeos, Ruggeri (Maserati), Pugno/Alloatti and Zanelli in Bugattis, Bona (Alfa Romeo) and in tenth place Fagioli (Maserati). From 33 cars at the start, 15 finished the race.

The Alessandria race had been held annually since 1924 and this was the sixth in the series, held on the circuit Alessandria - Valenza Po - San Salvatore - Castelletto - Alessandria. The drivers had to cover the winding 32 km stretch of dirt road eight times, a total of 256 km. After the March 24 Tripoli Grand Prix, this was the second race counting towards the Italian Automobile Championship. The popular race was a prelude to the upcoming Targa Florio and was held on Easter Sunday, one week after the Mille Miglia. The prize money was 150,000 Lire.       The Automobile Club di Alessandria organized the event in memory of Pietro Bordino, one of Italy's greatest race drivers, and gave it the title of the Circuito Pietro Bordino race. Bordino with his mechanic, Pietro Lasagni, had died here on Sunday, April 15, 1928, near the mill of the San Michele settlement near Alessandria during practice for the following Sunday's Circuito di Alessandria. Bordino drove at a speed of about 70 km/h when a large Alsatian dog ran into his car, jamming the Bugatti's steering mechanism. Despite desperate attempts, the driver lost control of the car. He spun off the road and tumbled down a ravine into one of the deep unnamed tributary channels of the Tanaro River, which ran along the course. During the fall, Bordino was ejected from his seat and swept away by the current of the rivulet for a short stretch. He was found lifeless while his mechanic, trapped in the car, died a short time thereafter as a result of a fractured skull. In honor of this great Italian driver, the Alessandria race became known thereafter the Coppa Pietro Bordino.

Entries: While other countries had trouble attracting as many as 20 competitors for their race, in sports oriented Italy over 48 entries signed up for the Alessandria starter. A complete list of 48 numbered entries is shown above, comprising 22 numbered entries in Category 1 over 1100 cc, 11 in Category 2 for cars up to 1100 cc and 15 drivers did not appear at the start. An additional ten drivers were mentioned as entries in the various sources but they did not appear.       Baconin Borzacchini's Maserati 26R, an 8-cylinder, 1700 cc type, was equipped for this race with a slab tank at the back, surmounted by a spare wheel in place of a streamlined tail. Umberto Pugno, President of the A.C. Alessandria, who had organized this event, shared his 1500 Bugatti with Giovanni Alloatti. Also entered was the Italo-American Giuseppe Bonadeo with a Miller racecar. It was reported that he had participated in races at Beverly and Indianapolis but this could not be verified. It seems more likely that it was the car that raced in USA, not Bonadeo. Varzi in the P2 Alfa Romeo was one of the favorites likewise Brilli Peri , Borzacchini, Nuvolari and possibly Arcangeli with the 1500 Talbot.

Race: On Sunday the weather was beautiful. Tazio Nuvolari did not start because he had an accident with the car during practice. Since the dry dirt roads for the most part were narrow and dusty which made passing difficult, an individual start was advocated instead of a mass start. The 33 cars were lined up at the start according to their race numbers in rows of three.

14 Ruggeri Maserati 12 Fagioli Maserati 4 Varzi Alfa Romeo 26 E. Ferrari Alfa Romeo 18 Bona Alfa Romeo 16 Valpreda Delage 36 A.Sartorio Alfa Romeo 32 Degioanni Alfa Romeo 30 E.Maserati Maserati 46 Teagno Alfa Romeo 44 Brilli Peri Talbot 42 G.Nenzioni Bugatti 76 Cortese Bugatti 70 Pugno/Alloatti Bugatti 54 Borzacchini Maserati 84 Ghersi Alfa Romeo 82 C. Nenzion Maserati 80 Aymini Delage 90 Zanelli Bugatti 88 Viola Bugatti 86 Mazzacurati Bugatti 6 Cattaneo Amilcar 2 G. Ferrari Lombard 94 Arcangeli Talbot 40 Pistarino Salmson 20 F.Sartorio Amilcar 8 Strobino Lombard 72 Bianchi Lombard 66 Agnelli Lombard 56 Moresco Lombard 96 Contardo Lombard 78 Bisighin Lombard 74 Castelbarco Amilcar

Varzi started first, followed 30 seconds later by Fagioli and every 30 seconds by the driver with the next following race number. The number 70 Bugatti was driven by Umberto Pugno, who would drive only two laps before handing over to Alloatti. The last car began the race less than a minute and a half before Varzi completed his first lap.       At the end of the first lap Varzi was leading with a lap in 17m24.4s, an average speed of 110.260 km/h, which was also the fastest lap of the race and a new lap record, beating Nuvolari's record set with the Bugatti the previous year in 17m56.6s at 107.003 km/h average speed. Although his record lap was with a standing start, Varzi could not improve on it because from the second lap onwards he no longer had a clear dust-free road ahead. While lapping other cars, he had to deal with the dust problem which as a result might have caused his diminished pace. Borzacchini was second fastest followed by Brilli Peri and Mazzacurati who stopped his Bugatti at the pits. Due to a punctured tire Ernesto Maserati headed for his pit to have one wheel changed. Looking at the times, it appeared that Ruggeri and Valpreda had a nice battle going since they had almost the same time but they had started at 30 second intervals and would not have been aware of those close times and were certainly not driving wheel to wheel. The same applied to Ernesto Maserati and Zanelli or Alloatti and Aymini. As always with these starting interval races, the drivers had to press on as best they could and just hope that they would not be beaten by cars that they might never see during the entirety of the race. The order was as follows: 1. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 17m24s 2. Borzacchini (Maserati) 18m01s 3. Brilli Peri (Talbot) 18m18s 4. Mazzacurati (Bugatti) 18m48s 5. Ruggeri (Maserati) 19m00s 6. Valpreda (Delage) 19m01s 7. E. Ferrari (Alfa Romeo) 19m05s 8. E. Maserati (Maserati) 19m09s 9. Zanelli (Bugatti) 19m10s 10. A. Sartorio (Alfa Romeo) 19m13s 11. Cortese (Bugatti) 19m19s 12. Ghersi (Alfa Romeo) 19m26s 13. Pugno (Bugatti) 19m34s 14. Aymini (Delage) 19m35s 15. Arcangeli (Talbot) 19m41s 16. Bona (Alfa Romeo) 20m11s 17. Teagno (Alfa Romeo) 20m52s 18. Fagioli (Maserati) 23m23s 19. Viola (Diatto) 23m36s 20. C. Nenzioni (Maserati) 31m16s 21. Degioanni (Alfa Romeo) ? 22. G. Nenzioni (Bugatti) ? In the 1100 cc category after the first lap Cattaneo was leading ahead of Castelbarco, Pistarino, G. Ferrari, Bisighin and Moresco who stopped his Lombard at the pits while Filippo Sartorio (Salmson) retired at the end of the first lap when the order was as follows: 1. Cattaneo (Amilcar) 20m04s 2. Castelbarco (Amilcar) 20m50s 3. Agnelli (Lombard) 21m32s 4. Pistarino (Salmson) 21m38s 5. G. Ferrari (Lombard) 21m55s 6. Bisighin (Lombard) 22m29s 7. Moresco (Lombard) 22m54s 8. Strobino (Lombard) 23m57s 9. Bianchi (Lombard) 24m02s 10. Contardo (Lombard) 24m04s On lap two Varzi had increased his advantage over Borzacchini in second place. Brilli Peri in third position had slightly fallen behind, followed by Ruggeri's Maserati and Ferrari's Alfa. The field was spreading out. When Mazzacurati (Bugatti), Viola (Diatto) and Giampietro Nenzioni (Bugatti) retired on lap two, the large car field was down to 19 cars. After the second lap the order was: 1. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 35m03s 2. Borzacchini (Maserati) 36m05s 3. Brilli Peri (Talbot) 36m38s 4. Ruggeri (Maserati) 37m54s 5. E. Ferrari (Alfa Romeo) 37m58s 6. Valpreda (Delage) 38m03s 7. Ghersi (Alfa Romeo) ? 8. Zanelli (Bugatti) 38m21s 9. A. Sartorio (Alfa Romeo) 38m26s 10. Cortese (Bugatti) 38m39s 11. Arcangeli (Talbot) 38m46s 12. E. Maserati (Maserati) 38m58s 13. Aymini (Delage) 39m08s 14. Pugno (Bugatti) 39m15s 15. Bona (Alfa Romeo) 40m06s 16. Degioanni (Alfa Romeo) 40m22s 17. Teagno (Alfa Romeo) ? 18. Fagioli (Maserati) ? 19. C. Nenzioni (Maserati) ? In the 1100 cc category Cattaneo had further distanced himself from Castelbarco and was now just over two minutes ahead. Pistarino held third place ahead of Bisighin, Bianchi, Strobino, G. Ferrari, Agnelli, Morescoc and Strabino. The Lombards were clearly no match for the two leading Amilcars. After Contardo retired on the second lap the small car field was down to nine cars in the following order: 1. Cattaneo (Amilcar) 39m41s 2. Castelbarco (Amilcar) 41m44s 3. Pistarino (Salmson) 43m17s 4. Bisighin (Lombard) 44m44s 5. Bianchi (Lombard) 46m49s 6. Strobino (Lombard) 47m18s 7. G. Ferrari (Lombard) 48m44s 8. Agnelli (Lombard) ? 9. Moresco (Lombard) ? After three laps Varzi maintained his domination over his rivals. On the first lap he had gained 30 seconds on Borzacchini's Maserati, after the second lap he doubled that and after three laps he had gained over two minutes. Not only was Borzacchini's Maserati not fast enough, he also encountered spark plug problems which slowed his pace, while Brilli Peri, who picked up speed, loomed just 15 seconds behind in time but 2m15 seconds on the road. Pugno stopped at the pits to hand his Bugatti over to Alloatti who was supposed to drive the remaining laps. Cortese and Aymini had the same time, yet they were apart on the road since they had started at different times. Fagioli was reported to have stopped at the pits to change tires when the order was: 1. Varzi (Alfa Romeo)     52m28s 2. Borzacchini (Maserati)     54m29s 3. Brilli Peri (Talbot)     54m44s 4. Ruggeri (Maserati)     56m50s 5. Valpreda (Delage)     57m08s 6. E. Ferrari (Alfa Romeo)     57m18s 7. Ghersi (Alfa Romeo)     57m22s 8. Zanelli (Bugatti)     57m32s 9. A. Sartorio (Alfa Romeo)     57m43s 10. Arcangeli (Talbot)     57m45s 11. E. Maserati (Maserati)     57m59s 12. Pugno/Alloatti (Bugatti)     59m11s 13. Bona (Alfa Romeo)     59m38s 14. Cortese (Bugatti) 1h00m32s 15. Aymini (Delage) 1h00m32s 16. Teagno (Alfa Romeo) 1h01m53s 17. Fagioli (Maserati) 1h04m12s 18. Degioanni (Alfa Romeo) 1h05m27s In the 1100 category after three laps Castelbarco had moved his Amilcar into the lead while Cattaneo had fallen from first place and was no longer listed. When Gerolamo Ferrari retired his Lombard on lap three, the 1100 cc field was down to eight cars. After lap three the order was as follows: 1. Castelbarco (Amilcar) 1h02m15s 2. Agnelli (Lombard) 1h03m43s 3. Pistarino (Salmson) 1h05m15s 4. Bianchi (Lombard) 1h09m05s 5. Bisighin (Lombard) ? 6. Strobino (Lombard) ? 7. Moresco (Lombard) ? 8. Cattaneo (Amilcar) ? After four laps Varzi still dominated with a time of 1h09m57s. Brilli Peri had passed Borzacchini, who had eased up due to his plug problem. Brilli Peri attempted to reduce Varzi's advantage of 2m30s but would he succeed? When Arcangeli retired his Talbot, the field was down to 17 cars in the following order: 1. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 1h09m57s 2. Brilli Peri (Talbot) 1h12m27s 3. Borzacchini (Maserati) 1h12m36s 4. Ruggeri (Maserati) 1h16m12s 5. E. Ferrari (Alfa Romeo) 1h16m17s 6. Ghersi (Alfa Romeo) 1h16m22s 7. Zanelli (Bugatti) 1h16m26s 8. E. Maserati (Maserati) 1h16m35s 9. A.Sartorio (Alfa Romeo) 1h16m45s 10. Cortese (Bugatti) 1h19m19s 11. Bona (Alfa Romeo) 1h19m24s 12. Pugno/Alloatti (Bugatti) 1h20m10s 13. Teagno (Alfa Romeo) 1h22m10s 14. Fagioli (Maserati) 1h23m53s 15. Degioanni (Alfa Romeo) 1h26m33s 16. Aymini (Delage) 1h31m19s 17. Valpreda (Delage) ? In the 1100 category after lap four Castelbarco held the lead ahead of Agnelli, Pistarino and Bianchi. When Cattaneo retired his Amilcar, the field was reduced to just seven cars in the following order: 1. Castelbarco (Amilcar) 1h22m45s 2. Agnelli (Lombard) 1h24m31s 3. Pistarino (Salmson) 1h26m38s 4. Bianchi (Lombard) 1h36m47s 5. Bisighin (Lombard) ? 6. Strobino (Lombard) ? 7. Moresco (Lombard) ? After five laps Varzi maintained his perfect rhythm and kept the lead. Brilli Peri drove an even faster lap than before and reduced Varzi's advantage to 2m16s. Borzacchini was not able to keep up with the faster Talbot. Ghersi, Ferrari and Zanelli had very close times but since they had started minutes apart, they did not have what appeared to be a close battle on the road. After Aymini and Valpreda retired their Delages, the field was down to 15 cars. The order was: 1. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 1h27m57s 2. Brilli Peri (Talbot) 1h30m13s 3. Borzacchini (Maserati) 1h30m46s 4. Ghersi (Alfa Romeo) 1h35m16s 5. E. Ferrari (Alfa Romeo) 1h35m17s 6. Zanelli (Bugatti) 1h35m17s 7. E. Maserati (Maserati) 1h35m20s 8. Ruggeri (Maserati) 1h35m46s 9. A. Sartorio (Alfa Romeo) 1h35m52s 10. Cortese (Bugatti) 1h38m07s 11. Bona (Alfa Romeo) 1h38m47s 12. Pugno/Alloatti (Bugatti) 1h39m08s 13. Fagioli (Maserati) ? 14. Teagno (Alfa Romeo) 1h42m23s 15. Degioanni (Alfa Romeo) 1h47m15s After lap five the 1100 category was reduced to three cars when the Lombards of Moresco, Strobino, Bisighin and Agnelli crashed out of the race. Assumedly these were all separate incidents as the cars were probably miles apart. However, it is a huge coincidence that all four should crash on the same lap as was reported, a somewhat dubious situation. The survivors were in the following order: 1. Castelbarco (Amilcar) 1h41m46s 2. Pistarino (Salmson) 1h47m43s 3. Bianchi (Lombard) 1h54m42s After six laps Varzi's advantage over Brilli Peri had increased from 2m13s to 2m34s. Everybody else was settled in their place, much like a procession like in a motorcade. Nonetheless Maserati had advanced to fourth place, after passing Zanelli's Bugatti and the Alfa Romeos of Ferrari and Ghersi. 1. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 1h45m12s 2. Brilli Peri (Talbot) 1h47m46s 3. Borzacchini (Maserati) 1h48m53s 4. E. Maserati (Maserati) 1h53m52s 5. Ghersi (Alfa Romeo) 1h54m26s 6. A. Sartorio (Alfa Romeo) 1h54m57s 7. Ruggeri (Maserati) 1h55m08s 8. Zanelli (Bugatti) 1h56m25s 9. Cortese (Bugatti) 1h56m42s 10. Pugno/Alloatti (Bugatti) 1h57m22s 11. Bona (Alfa Romeo) 1h58m16s 12. Fagioli (Maserati) 2h01m51s 13. Teagno (Alfa Romeo) 2h02m53s 14. Degioanni (Alfa Romeo) 2h07m38s 15. E. Ferrari (Alfa Romeo) ? In the 1100 category after lap six Castelbarco maintained his advantage over Pistarino with Bianchi further behind in third place. 1. Castelbarco (Amilcar) 2h02m54s 2. Pistarino (Salmson) 2h08m47s 3. Bianchi (Lombard) ? After seven laps Varzi's lead over Brilli Peri had increased to almost three minutes. There were no changes amongst the following Borzacchini, Maserati, Ghersi, A. Sartorio, Ruggeri and Zanelli in eighth position. While holding ninth place, Cortese in the small Bugatti left the road at San Salvatore when he tried to pass another car that had flung a stone smashing half his goggles. Cortese no longer saw the turn and drove straight ahead for about six meters when the Bugatti overturned. He broke an arm but his condition was not serious. After Enzo Ferrari also retired, the field was down to 13 cars. The order was now: 1. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 2h02m44s 2. Brilli Peri (Talbot) 2h05m39s 3. Borzacchini (Maserati) 2h06m46s 4. E. Maserati (Maserati) 2h12m32s 5. Ghersi (Alfa Romeo) 2h13m38s 6. A. Sartorio (Alfa Romeo) 2h13m57s 7. Ruggeri (Maserati) 2h14m29s 8. Zanelli (Bugatti) 2h15m38s 9. Pugno/Alloatti (Bugatti) 2h15m48s 10. Bona (Alfa Romeo) 2h17m42s 11. Fagioli (Maserati) 2h20m58s 12. Teagno (Alfa Romeo) 2h23m42s 13. Degioanni (Alfa Romeo) 2h28m57s The 1100 category after lap seven had remained in the same order: 1. Castelbarco (Amilcar) 2h22m49s 2. Pistarino (Salmson) 2h35m49s 3. Bianchi (Lombard) ? Varzi completed the eight laps in a new record time of 2h20m40.6s at an average speed of 109.186 km/h which beat Nuvolari's record from the previous year with the Bugatti in 2h32m18s at 101.520 km/h average speed. Borzacchini finished second ahead of Ernesto Maserati who was delayed with tire and spark plug changes. Brilli Peri had to stop on the last lap less than two kilometers from the finish with a seized gearbox, caused by complete loss of oil. Eventually he arrived at the finish, pushing his car, having fallen from second place to 13th. Arrigo Sartorio finished fifth followed by Ghersi who had encountered brake problems, Ruggeri in the 1500 Maserati, Aloatti in Pugno's Bugatti, Zanelli, Bona who had to deal with brake problems and Fagioli in tenth place who encountered tire and plug problems. Pistarino in the 1100 cc Salmson retired on lap eight.       Varzi's fastest lap in the Alfa Romeo P2 was 17m24.8s. Brilli Peri's fastest lap with the 1500 Talbot was 17m33s, his average lap was 17m52s, while Borzacchini's fastest lap with the 1700 Maserati was 17m53s, his average laps were about 18m22s.