 
VI GRAND PRIX DE PICARDIE
Péronne (F), 18 May, 1930.
2 hours race on a 9.655 km (6.0 mi) circuit
Max Fourny dominant
by Leif Snellman
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The Picardie Grand Prix was held for motorcycles and cars in a multitude of classes. In the two hour car race Max Fourny with his voiturette Bugatti proved dominant, winning by two laps.
The weather was not the best and a strong gust of wind with a heavy rain shower tore off the tarpaulins from the grandstand, making the spectators to run away.
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Organized by the l'Automobil Club de Picardie-Aisne the event was held for the fifth time on the 9655m long triangular circuit known either as Circuit Picardie or as Circuit Mesnil-Bruntel, connecting the
little villages of Mesnil-Bruntel, Mons-en-Chausseé and Brie, near the first world war Somme battlefields.
In a few days, barriers, roadblocks, stands, car parks, refueling station, timekeeping booths and an office equipped with a telephone connection to Peronne 7 km away had to be built.
The event included a 1 ½ hour race for motorcycles and a 2 hour race for cars. There was a multitude of race classes,
1100cc, 1500cc, 2000cc and 3000cc race car and 1500cc, 2000cc and 3000 cc sports cars. Also there were two classes for three wheelers, to be raced with the motorcycles.
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Entries:
The 1500cc class consisted of supercharged Bugattis T37A (Emile Tetaldi, Max Fourny & Sabbag) and unsupercharged Bugattis T37 (Louis Pluquet, Henri Delommez).
There were also several cars in the 1100cc class including Armand Girod with a Donnet and Jean Delorme with a SCAP engined Rally. Paul Sheldon's book has Namont listed with a Donnet but all
contemporary newspapers have him in a Rally.
The entries in the other classes were in smaller number, Ferdinand Montier being the only entry in the 3-litre class with his Ford engined special.
Jules Nandillon raced the only Vernandi ever built with a 1494cc V8 engine designed by an engineer named Causan. Unknown why it was entered in the 2-litre class with Hervé De Berc's Bugatti.
Auguste Anthony (Anthony 350cc), Gits (Sima-Violet 500 cc), René Manuel (Sima-Violet 500 cc) and Sommer (Chrysler 5 liter, sport), were denied entry as there were no fitting classes for their cars
and l'A.C.F. rules forbid local organizers to do late class additions. Gits (spelling?) might have found another car or engine as he later was accepted into the 1100 cc class.
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Race:
The weather on race day was not the best with a hard wind blowing but it did not hinder a huge crowd from turning up, many came in cars, and the parking spread out over a length of 1,500 meters on the Mons road.
The day events started off at 1:51 p.m. with the 1 ½ hour motorcycle race. Included were 350cc tri-cycle car class won by Aufuwski (Williard) doing 97,507 km and 1100cc class won by Sandford (Sanford) doing 134,392 km.
At 4:50 p.m it was finally time for the car race. According to Le Progres de la Somme 23 cars lined up on the grid but there are 20 in the entry and results lists here.
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Fourny, in his Bugatti, took the lead followed by De Berc, Montier, Namont, Girod and Tourbier.
At the end of the first lap Tetaldi had to make a pit stop. He returned to the race only a minute before Fourny finished his second lap, the timekeepers announcing that Fourny had beaten Philippe Auber's 5m08s lap record
with a lap of 5m03s.
Sabbag had to stop his Bugatti for repairs and in the end he was forced to retire. Fourny continued in the lead pulling away from the rest of the field while Montier were falling backwards.
Coming to the end of his 8th lap De Berc spun his Bugatti in the corner and got stuck. He got help from willing spectators to start again. He had to stop in the pits, and considered retiring but
in the end he continued the race to finish 6th. (Of course normally it would have been a clear case of violation of the outside assistance regulations).
Around 5 o'clock, a very strong gust of wind tore off the tarpaulins from the grandstand. It was followed immediately by a heavy rain downpour that created disarray among the public,
a large part of whom left the circuit to take shelter in their cars or in nearby buildings.
The road, made slippery by the rain, slowed down the pace of the race but no major incidents seems to have happened and a quarter of an hour later, a ray of sunshine called back many of the spectators
to watch the race.
The latter part of of the race however proved rather boring with no duels as the distances between the cars were now too great. There was a new rain shower at the end of the race.
Foury took a supreme victory, doing two laps more that any other competitor. Pluquet was listed in the papers as winner of 1500cc unsuperchargerd cars so perhaps it was considered a separate class.
Namont was the winner of the 1100cc class, De Berc of the 2 litre class and Montier of the 3. litre class. Tourbier, Ferrand and Rosignol were the winners of the sports car classes.
After race, a banquet was held at the Saint-Glaude hotel in Peronne, bringing together competitors, organizers and sports personalities.
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Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Entrant | Car | Type | Engine | Laps | Distance |
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| 1. | 55 | Max Fourny | M. Fourny | Bugatti | T37A | 1.5 | S-4 | 22 | 213.465 km |
| 2. | 62 | Namont | Namont | Rally-SCAP | | 1.1 | S-4 | 20 | 197.144 km |
| 3. | 47 | Armand Girod | A. Girod | Donnet | Type G | 1.1 | S-4 | 20 | 195.300 km |
| 4. | 53 | Louis Pluquet | L. Pluquet | Bugatti | T37 | 1.5 | S-4 | 19 | 190.230 km |
| 5. | 64 | Henri Tourbier | H. Tourbier | Panhard | | | | 19 | 185.481 km |
| 6. | 57 | Hervé De Berc | H. De Berc | Bugatti | T35? | | | 18 | 176.771 km |
| 7. | 59 | René Ferrand | R. Ferrand | Bugatti | | | | 18 | 175.790 km |
| 8. | 58 | André Rossignol | A. Rossignol | Chenard et Walcker | | | | 18 | 174.327 km |
| 9. | 49 | François Givaudan | F. Givaudan | Rally SCAP | | | | 17 | 164.800 km |
| 10. | 65 | Pesato | Pesato | de Soto | | | | 16 | 163.993 km |
| 11. | 60 | Ferdinand Montier | F. Montier | Montier-Ford | Speciale | 3.3 | S-4 | 16 | 160.873 km |
| 12. | 63 | Gits | Gits | Sima-Violet | | 0.75 | | 14 | 135.170 km |
| DNF | 61 | Sabbag | Sabbag | Bugatti | T37A | 1.5 | S-4 | 2 | |
| DNF | 56 | Jules Nandillon | J. Nandillon | Vernandi | | | V-8 |
| DNF | 54 | Henri Delommez | H. Delommez | Bugatti | T37 | 1.5 | S-4 | | |
| DNF | 52 | Emile Tetaldi | E. Tetaldi | Bugatti | T37A | 1.5 | S-4 | | |
| DNF | 51 | Henri Doublet | H. Doublet | Hinatin | | | | | |
| DNF | 50 | Edmond Mouche | E. Mouche | Morano | | | | | |
| ??? | 48 | Jean Delorme | J. Delorme | Rally SCAP | | | | | |
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Fastest lap: Max Fourny (Bugatti) on lap 2? in 5m03.0s = 114.7 km/h (71.3 mph)
Winner's medium speed 1500cc (Fourny): 106.7 km/h (66.3 mph)
Winner's medium speed 1100cc (Namont): 98.6 km/h (61.3 mph)
Winner's medium speed 2000cc (De Berc): 88.4 km/h (54.9 mph)
Winner's medium speed 3000cc (Montier): 80.4 km/h (50.0 mph)
Winner's medium speed S1500cc (Ferrand): 87.9 km/h (54.6 mph)
Winner's medium speed S2000cc (Rossignol): 87.2 km/h (54.2 mph)
Winner's medium speed S3000cc (Tourbier): 92.7 km/h (57.6 mph)
Weather: windy, showers.
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Primary sources researched for this article:
L'Auto, Paris
Echo de Paris, Paris
Le Figaro, Paris
Le Journal, Paris
Le Progres de la Somme, Amiens
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VI REALE PREMIO DI ROMA
Circuito Tre Fontane - Roma (I), 25 May 1930.
20 laps x 13.050 km (8.11 mi) = 261.0 km (162.2 mi)
Arcangeli's race-long battle in the lead brings the first victory for the new Maserati
by Hans Etzrodt
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At the sixth Rome Grand Prix there were five Alfa Romeos, four Maseratis, four Bugattis, one Talbot and one Mercedes-Benz. From the 15 cars at the start, 10 were still racing at the end.
It began with a battle between Arcangeli in the new 2500 Maserati and Chiron's Bugatti. After the Frenchman retired on lap three, Varzi with the Alfa Romeo took over the chase, only to
retire after a few laps. That left Nuvolari with the second works Alfa Romeo to go after Arcangeli, taking the lead from him on lap seven. The battle between Nuvolari and Arcangeli
kept the crowd on their toes, and lasted until lap 16, when the Alfa's engine lost power. Chiron, who had taken over Bouriat's Bugatti on lap five, had to overcome a 55 seconds deficit
to the leader, which Chiron reduced consistently and eventually caught up with the leading Arcangeli. During the last two laps, the battle between the two kept the large crowd in great
suspense. Chiron briefly took the lead on the last lap but Arcangeli fought back and won by 1.8 seconds in front of the cheering crowd. The German von Morgen (Bugatti) finished third,
ahead of Biondetti (Talbot), Campari (Alfa Romeo), Caflisch (Mercedes-Benz), Tadini (Alfa Romeo) and Renzi (Bugatti) in eighth place. Nuvolari retired, as did Fagioli who held third
place for many laps.
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For the first time since the Targa Florio, three weeks previously, six of the great drivers who participated in that race met again to do battle between Bugatti and Alfa Romeo, and about
100,000 spectators gathered in Rome to see them. The A.C. di Roma and the Commissione Sportiva del R.A.C.I. (Reale Automobile Club d'Italia) organized the 6th Royal Prize of
Rome or Reale Premio di Roma. It took place on May 25 at the Circuito Tre Fontane, which was also known as Circuito Ostiense, where it had been held the two previous years.
Instead of the usual 30 laps, this year's race was over only 20 rounds of the 13.050 km circuit, a total of 261 km. The course was in the south of Rome in slightly hilly terrain,
roughly triangular in shape with three sharp turns. The start, opposite the grandstand, was at the southern end of Via Ostiense, which ran northerly between the River Tevere
(Tiber) on the west and alongside the railroad to the east. After more or less four km there followed the first sharp right-hand turn, where the road immediately passed under a
railroad bridge and through a wide left-hand turn onto the about one km uphill stretch of Via Tre Fontane. Thereafter a wide right-hander led south for around four km onto the
twisting up and down section of Via Laurentina until the second sharp right turn. At this point the road, Bonifica No. 9, began heading west for approximately four km through
wide downhill turns, crossing a small rivulet. From here the road proceeded along the flat fast turns of Via di Decima and near its end passed under the second railroad bridge,
immediately followed by the slowest right-hand turn towards the finish on Via Ostiense.
The total prize money amounted to 200,000 lire. The main event was preceded by a race for cars up to 1100 cc, over just eight laps or 104.400 km with total prize money of
50,000 lire. |
Entries:
From a total of 23 entries, 18 cars received race numbers. Three works teams showed up, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Bugatti. The French team arrived in Rome with Louis Chiron, Williams and
Guy Bouriat in 2.3-liter Type 35Bs. Since only two cars were entered, Williams did not start and acted as reserve driver. SA Alfa Romeo nominated Achille Varzi in his victorious P2 from
the Targa Florio and Tazio Nuvolari who drove the second revamped P2, which the factory just completed for this race. Due to the inconsistent weather during practice, Nuvolari tried a
special rain deflector device above his wind shield. His riding mechanic was Amedeo Bignami.
Giuseppe Campari and Mario Tadini in 6C-1750GS Alfa Romeos represented the Scuderia Ferrari. Nuvolari and Arcangeli, both still committed to motorcycle sport, had raced here the weekend
before; Nuvolari on his 350 ccm Bianchi against Arcangeli on the AJS. Luigi Arcangeli was the only driver for the Bologna team in the new Maserati 26M grand prix car. With 185 hp, this
eight-cylinder, 2.5-liter machine was the most powerful car in the race. In early May at the Targa Florio the Maserati still had problems in Borzacchini's hands and did not show its full
potential. Scuderia Materassi entered Clemente Biondetti with a re-bodied monoposto 1500 Talbot, as seen in Monaco seven weeks earlier.
The independent entries comprised the German Heinrich-Joachim von Morgen with a T35B Bugatti, Cesare Renzi in a 1500 Bugatti, while Pietro Nicolotti, the Sartorio brothers' mechanic, drove
their 6C 1500 Alfa Romeo. The Swiss Fritz Caflisch appeared with a large Mercedes-Benz SS in which he had won at Caserta the week before. Three Maseratis were driven by Luigi Fagioli,
Arrigo Sartorio, and Cleto Nenzioni.
An additional eight entries did not materialize. "Williams" in a Bugatti, as already mentioned, was reserve driver and Filippo Sartorio with a 6C-1500 Alfa Romeo raced an 1100 Amilcar instead.
Princess Colonna de Stigliano in a 6C-1750 Alfa Romeo, the Austrian Emil Frankl with a 4.5-liter Steyr, Cesare Pastore in a 2100 Maserati and E. Nenzione in a 1.5-liter Maserati did not appear.
Neither did the Scuderia Ferrari entries of a 6C-1500 Alfa Romeo and a third P2.
The Alfa Romeos were considered favorites because in 1929 Varzi and Brilli-Peri, both in P2 Alfa Romeos, had finished in the leading positions on the same circuit but over a longer
distance of 30 laps. Brilli-Peri had established the fastest lap at 5m51.2s at an average speed of 133.769 km/h.
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Practice:
Gazetta dello Sport reported that on Friday morning a large crowd came to watch the final practice. Arcangeli with his Maserati accomplished the fastest lap in 5m44.8s at an average speed of
136.252 km/h, which was faster than the existing lap record. Fagioli with a smaller Maserati drove a 5m57.4s lap at 131.449 km/h. Varzi in an Alfa Romeo P2 lapped in 5m54.8s, equivalent to
132.412 km/h. Nuvolari forced his Alfa Romeo P2 in 5m49.8s around at a speed of 134.536 km/h. The highest speed measured at the start and finish line was 200 km/h for Arcangeli in the new
Maserati. Campari reached 198, Varzi 190, Bouriat 190, Nuvolari 188, Caflisch 150, and Maserati 140 with the 1100 cc car.
On Thursday morning Chiron had turned many laps at high speed but on Friday he drove several laps without pressure and concentrated on cornering technique. The practice of the two days
assured that the existing records would be broken on Sunday afternoon and lap times of 5m40.0s with an average speed of about 140 km/h were expected. On Friday afternoon scrutineering took
place at the premises of Officine Vaselli at the Via Ostiense, including the drawing of lots for the race numbers. Saturday was a rest day.
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Race:
On a rainy Sunday activities started at 2:30 PM when Italo Balbo lowered the flag for the eight lap cyclecar race over 104.4 km. Ten cars assembled at the start in numerical order, Henry Isaia
(Salmson), Albino Pratesi (Salmson), Stringl (Fiat), Rivola (Salmson), Filippo Sartorio (Amilcar), Francesco Matrullo (Salmson), Alfonso Attili (Amilcar), Alfieri Maserati (Maserati), Gerhard
Macher (DKW) and Giuseppe Pecoraro (Salmson). Seven of the cars finished with Alfieri Maserati first in his new Type 26C Maserati, a 1.1-liter 8-cylinder racecar. He established a new record
time of 56m53.6s, ahead of Isaia, Matrullo, Sartorio, Pecoraro, Attili and Pratesi.
The public was warmed up after this opening race, when 15 large cars were pushed to the start area for the main event. They lined up in order of the official race numbers, with the lowest
number at the right hand side of the front row. Available photographs showed that some drivers had a riding mechanic on board, like Sartorio in #20 Maserati, Tadini in #22 Alfa Romeo and
Nuvolari in #28 Alfa Romeo who drove with Amedeo Bignami . All others probably drove solo. The cars were all over 1500 cc except those of Biondetti (Talbot), Nicolotti (Alfa Romeo),
Sartorio (Maserati) and Renzi (Bugatti).
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6
Biondetti
Talbot
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4
Chiron
Bugatti
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2
Arcangeli
Maserati
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12
Fagioli
Maserati
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10
Nenzioni
Maserati
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8
Nicolotti
Alfa Romeo
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18
Campari
Alfa Romeo
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16
Varzi
Alfa Romeo
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14
Caflisch
Mercedes-Benz
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24
von Morgen
Bugatti
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22
Tadini
Alfa Romeo
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20
A. Sartorio
Maserati
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32
Renzi
Bugatti
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30
Bouriat
Bugatti
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28
Nuvolari
Alfa Romeo
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When Italo Balbo lowered the checkered flag, Arcangeli took the lead ahead of Chiron. The start was a bit ragged since Varzi and Nuvolari moved before the start signal was given. After completing the first lap, Arcangeli
blasted past the finish, followed by Chiron and Varzi, all about a second apart. After a short while Fagioli appeared, pressed hard by Nuvolari, who had started in the last row. Nenzioni stopped his Maserati at the
end of the lap to change spark plugs. After the first lap the cars passed the finish line in this order:
| 1. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 5m56.6s |
| 2. Chiron (Bugatti) | 5m57.8s |
| 3. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) | 5m58.4s |
| 4. Fagioli (Maserati) | 6m07.0s |
| 5. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 6m07.4s |
| 6. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 6m20.0s |
| 7. Bouriat (Bugatti) | 6m21.4s |
| 8. Biondetti (Talbot) | 6m26.8s |
| 9. Campari (Alfa Romeo) | 6m32.0s |
| 10. Caflisch (Mercedes-Benz) | 6m48.0s |
| 11. Nenzioni (Maserati) | 6m50.0s |
| 12. Tadini (Alfa Romeo) | 7m19.6s |
| 13. Sartorio (Maserati) | ? |
| 14. Nicolotti (Alfa Romeo) | 7m35.4s |
| 15. Renzi (Bugatti) | 7m39.0s |
On the second lap, Varzi passed Chiron to chase after Arcangeli in first place, who drove a lap in 5m45.3s, which was a new record. Chiron had obviously encountered a problem, which slowed his pace and he fell to third
position while the storming Nuvolari, who had passed Fagioli, was just four seconds behind him. After two laps the order was as follows:
| 1. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 11m42.2s |
| 2. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) | 11m46.4s |
| 3. Chiron (Bugatti) | 11m54.2s |
| 4. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 11m59.6s |
| 5. Fagioli (Maserati) | 12m03.4s |
| 6. Bouriat (Bugatti) | 12m17.0s |
| 7. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 12m28.0s |
| 8. Biondetti (Talbot) | 12m44.4s |
| 9. Campari (Alfa Romeo) | 12m51.2s |
| 10. Caflisch (Mercedes-Benz) | 13m12.0s |
On the third round, Arcangeli drove another fast lap in 5m47.2s while Varzi with 5m59.4s could not keep up with Arcangeli's pace. Chiron's chase came to an end with a mechanical problem, when he retired on lap three.
La Stampa wrote that bad luck followed Chiron from the beginning when the car's engine damaged a bearing on the first lap. The first five cars passed the finish within 40 seconds while those following were quickly
falling further behind after three laps. Nuvolari had halved the gap behind Varzi, who needed to speed up a little if he was to maintain his position.
| 1. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 17m29.6s |
| 2. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) | 17m46.2s |
| 3. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 17m52.4s |
| 4. Fagioli (Maserati) | 17m57.0s |
| 5. Bouriat (Bugatti) | 18m09.2s |
| 6. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 18m34.4s |
| 7. Biondetti (Talbot) | 18m55.0s |
| 8. Campari (Alfa Romeo) | 19m08.0s |
| 9. Caflisch (Mercedes-Benz) | 19m39.8s
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On lap four, Arcangeli slowed down his pace and Varzi, who evidently encountered car trouble, had fallen behind to fifth position with a slow lap of 6m31.0s. Consequently Nuvolari inherited second place, just over
18 seconds behind the leader while Fagioli found himself in third position, followed by Bouriat. Varzi stopped at his pit to quickly have a slipping clutch checked, then rejoined the race. The fastest of the independent
drivers was von Morgen in sixth place but he had no chance against the contracted factory drivers ahead of him. Nicolotti in the 1500 Alfa was lapped by Arcangeli after four laps. Although Arcangeli was under no immediate
pressure from Nuvolari, he was able to maintain the gap at around 18 seconds.
| 1. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 23m27.2s |
| 2. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 23m45.6s |
| 3. Fagioli (Maserati) | 23m53.4s |
| 4. Bouriat (Bugatti) | 24m06.2s |
| 5. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) | 24m17.2s |
| 6. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 24m47.6s |
| 7. Biondetti (Talbot) | 25m09.4s |
| 8. Campari (Alfa Romeo) | 25m25.0s |
| 9. Caflisch (Mercedes-Benz) | 26m12.4s |
On lap five Arcangeli slowed slightly with a lap of 6m06.4s. Nuvolari also had a slightly slower lap with 5m55.2s but was able to reduce the leader's advantage to just seven seconds. Fagioli in the smaller
Maserati was driving very well in third position. On this lap Bouriat was called in for Chiron to take over the Bugatti, slowing their lap time to 6m24.2s. The stop added about 29 seconds to the car's lap time
and Chiron took off 56 seconds behind the leading Arcangeli. Varzi had slowed down even more, probably realizing that his Alfa with the slipping clutch would not survive for long. Renzi was lapped by the leading
Arcangeli after five laps.
| 1. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 29m34.0s |
| 2. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 29m41.0s |
| 3. Fagioli (Maserati) | 29m56.4s |
| 4. Bouriat/Chiron (Bugatti) | 30m30.4s |
| 5. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) | 31m06.0s |
| 6. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 31m14.0s |
| 7. Biondetti (Talbot) | 31m34.8s |
| 8. Campari (Alfa Romeo) | 31m55.8s |
| 9. Caflisch (Mercedes-Benz) | 32m49.8s |
| 10. Nenzioni (Maserati) | 33m46.0s |
| 11. Tadini (Alfa Romeo) | 34m51.6s |
| 12. Sartorio (Maserati) | 35m20.0s |
| 13. Renzi (Bugatti) | 36m18.6s |
| 14. Nicolotti (Alfa Romeo) | 37m08.8s
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On lap six Varzi stopped again at his pit where he retired with a burned out clutch. The field was down to 13 cars. Nuvolari was still chasing after Arcangeli's Maserati and was now only two seconds behind.
Chiron did a lap in 6m00.4s, Nuvolari 6m08s and Arcangeli 6m09s with the result that Chiron was faster on that lap than all three of the cars ahead of him. He gained 9 seconds on the leader. Arcangeli lapped
Tadini after six laps.
| 1. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 35m43.0s |
| 2. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 35m45.0s |
| 3. Fagioli (Maserati) | 36m04.4s |
| 4. Bouriat/Chiron (Bugatti) | 36m30.8s |
| 5. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 37m34.8s |
| 6. Biondetti (Talbot) | 38m02.6s |
| 7. Campari (Alfa Romeo) | 38m22.0s |
| 8. Caflisch (Mercedes-Benz) | 39m26.4s |
| 9. Tadini (Alfa Romeo) | 41m57.0s |
On the seventh round, Nuvolari passed Arcangeli by driving a lap of 5m57.4s, but faster than Arcangeli at 6m05s. However, the Maserati stayed 5.2 seconds behind the Alfa Romeo and this close battle excited the
spectators for the better part of the race. Fagioli's Maserati was in third place ahead of Chiron, now in Bouriat's car. Despite the intensity of the battle between Nuvolari and Arcangeli, once more Chiron was
faster than both of them with a lap of 5m53.4s, lowering to gap to 41.8 seconds. There was quite a long gap to the second group, which was headed by von Morgen, followed by Biondetti and Campari. After seven laps
the order was as follows:
| 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 41m42.8s |
| 2. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 41m48.0s |
| 3. Fagioli (Maserati) | 42m10.4s |
| 4. Bouriat/Chiron (Bugatti) | 42m24.6s |
| 5. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 43m55.0s |
| 6. Biondetti (Talbot) | 44m35.0s |
| 7. Campari (Alfa Romeo) | 44m46.6s |
| 8. Caflisch (Mercedes-Benz) | 46m09.4s |
On lap eight Nuvolari drove a lap of 5m53.3s which Arcangeli answered with 5m51.4s. They were driving faster, both fighting and Nuvolari still held the upper hand. Chiron in Bouriat's Bugatti drove again faster
than both with a 5m50s lap, lowering the gap to 38.2s and closed up to just five seconds behind Fagioli, whose lap with the small Maserati was 5m59.6s. The big question was 'did Chiron have enough laps left to
catch up the leaders'. There were two fascinating aspects to the race, not just Nuvolari versus Arcangeli, but also the progress of Chiron. After eighth laps the order had not changed:
| 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 47m36.4s |
| 2. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 47m39.8s |
| 3. Fagioli (Maserati) | 48m09.8s |
| 4. Bouriat/Chiron (Bugatti) | 48m14.6s |
| 5. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 50m13.2s |
| 6. Biondetti (Talbot) | 51m02.8s |
| 7. Campari (Alfa Romeo) | 51m09.2s |
| 8. Caflisch (Mercedes-Benz) | 52m47.0s |
On lap nine, Nuvolari and Arcangeli both lapped Caflisch. Nuvolari's lap was 5m50.6s, Arcangeli 5m50.6s and Chiron 5m50.2s. He continued making up time and after passing Fagioli into third place on lap nine,
the Frenchman was 37.8 seconds behind Arcangeli as they passed the finish after nine laps.
| 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 53m27.0s |
| 2. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 53m30.4s |
| 3. Bouriat/Chiron (Bugatti) | 54m04.8s |
| 4. Fagioli (Maserati) | 54m07.0s |
| 5. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 56m28.0s |
| 6. Biondetti (Talbot) | 57m23.2s |
| 7. Campari (Alfa Romeo) | 57m28.6s |
| 8. Caflisch (Mercedes-Benz) | 59m25.4s |
On lap ten the procession continued. Nuvolari's lap time was 5m47.8s, Arcangeli 5m47.2s and Chiron 5m47.8s. Chiron's gap to the leader had remained at 37.8 seconds. There were no changes, except that Campari
closed up on Biondetti. The situation after ten laps, the middle of the race, looked as follows:
| 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 59m14.8s |
| 2. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 59m17.6s |
| 3. Bouriat/Chiron (Bugatti) | 59m52.6s |
| 4. Fagioli (Maserati) | 1h00m05.0s |
| 5. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 1h02m48.2s |
| 6. Biondetti (Talbot) | 1h03m37.2s |
| 7. Campari (Alfa Romeo) | 1h03m39.0s |
| 8. Caflisch (Mercedes-Benz) | 1h05m59.4s |
| 9. Tadini (Alfa Romeo) | 1h09m43.4s |
| 10. Sartorio (Maserati) | 1h09m48.0s |
| 11. Nenzioni (Maserati) | 1h10m04.0s |
| 12. Renzi (Bugatti) | 1h11m59.8s |
| 13. Nicolotti (Alfa Romeo) | 1h13m51.0s |
As they passed the pits at the end of the eleventh lap, Arcangeli was back in the lead, but only by one fifth of a second. Nuvolari was on his tail a mere ten meters or so behind. Nuvolari's lap time was 5m43.4s,
Arcangeli 5m40.4s and Chiron 5m45.6s. Chiron's gap to the leader had increased to 40.2 seconds. If he wanted to catch the leader in the last eight laps, the Frenchman had to make up five seconds per lap and not
lose further time. The remaining order did not change.
| 1. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 1h04m58.0s |
| 2. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 1h04m58.2s |
| 3. Bouriat/Chiron (Bugatti) | 1h05m38.2s |
| 4. Fagioli (Maserati) | 1h05m57.6s |
| 5. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 1h09m00.8s |
| 6. Biondetti (Talbot) | 1h09m47.6s |
| 7. Campari (Alfa Romeo) | 1h10m02.2s |
On the twelfth lap Arcangeli's lap time was 5m43s, Nuvolari 5m45.4s and Chiron 5m43.4s. Arcangeli remained in the lead but had pulled away a little from Nuvolari, 2.6 seconds behind, while Chiron had fallen further
behind the leader to 40.6 seconds for the second lap in a row. The other positions remained the same.
| 1. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 1h10m41.0s |
| 2. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 1h10m43.6s |
| 3. Bouriat/Chiron (Bugatti) | 1h11m21.6s |
| 4. Fagioli (Maserati) | 1h11m51.2s |
| 5. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 1h15m10.2s |
| 6. Biondetti (Talbot) | 1h16m04.8s |
| 7. Campari (Alfa Romeo) | 1h16m18.4s |
On lap 13, Nuvolari drove a lap of 5m44.2s and passed Arcangeli whose time had slowed to 5m47.2s. Both lapped Campari and Biondetti, whose times were 6m13.6 and 6m17.6s respectively. Chiron's lap time of 5m39.8s
was not just a new lap record but faster than both of his opponents, which gained him 7.4 seconds and lowered the gap to the leader to 33.2s after 13 laps.
| 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 1h16m27.8s |
| 2. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 1h16m28.2s |
| 3. Bouriat/Chiron (Bugatti) | 1h17m01.4s |
| 4. Fagioli (Maserati) | 1h17m41.2s |
| 5. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 1h21m19.6s |
| 6. Biondetti (Talbot) | 1h22m22.4s |
| 7. Campari (Alfa Romeo) | 1h22m32.0s |
On lap 14, Nuvolari's lap time was 5m46.2s, Arcangeli 5m49.2s and Chiron 5m42.6s. The Alfa Romeo was leading the Maserati by 3.4s. Arcangeli had 33.4 seconds advantage to Chiron. The situation after 14 laps:
| 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 1h22m14.0s |
| 2. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 1h22m17.4s |
| 3. Bouriat/Chiron (Bugatti) | 1h22m44.0s |
| 4. Fagioli (Maserati) | 1h23m33.4s |
| 5. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 1h27m29.0s |
At the end of lap 15, it was again the Maserati in front with the Alfa Romeo one second behind, while Chiron had chiseled another five seconds from Arcangeli's advantage, now down to 25 seconds. Arcangeli's lap time
was 5m40.6s Nuvolari 5m45s, and Chiron 5m39s. The question now was 'could Chiron make up 25 seconds in the remaining five laps' to catch up with the leader. When Nenzioni disappeared, after completing only 12 laps,
the field was down to 12 cars after 15 laps.
| 1. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 1h27m58.0s |
| 2. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 1h27m59.0s |
| 3. Bouriat/Chiron (Bugatti) | 1h28m23.0s |
| 4. Fagioli (Maserati) | 1h29m22.2s |
| 5. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 1h33m37.0s |
| 6. Biondetti (Talbot) | 1h34m57.0s |
| 7. Campari (Alfa Romeo) | 1h35m27.8s |
| 8. Caflisch (Mercedes-Benz) | 1h38m31.8s
| | 9. Sartorio (Maserati) | 1h41m51.0s |
| 10. Tadini (Alfa Romeo) | 1h44m07.0s |
| 11. Renzi (Bugatti) | 1h47m03.4s |
| 12. Nicolotti (Alfa Romeo) | 1h53m01.8s
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At the beginning of lap 16 Arcangeli with 5m38s and Nuvolari with 5m39.2s put von Morgen one lap down. Chiron drove a lap of 5m37.8s, which enabled him to cut down the leader's advantage to 24.8 seconds at the end of lap 16.
| 1. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 1h33m36.0s |
| 2. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 1h33m38.2s |
| 3. Bouriat/Chiron (Bugatti) | 1h34m00.8s |
| 4. Fagioli (Maserati) | 1h35m07.4s |
| 5. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 1h39m47.0s |
On lap 17, Nuvolari encountered trouble and fell behind with a lap of 6m15.4s. Arcangeli drove a lap of 5m46s while Chiron's lap was 5m37.4s. He overhauled Nuvolari and reduced Arcangeli's advantage to 16.2 seconds.
This was a major turn of events. Nuvolari's Alfa evidently had a sick engine and he probably lost his chance to fight for victory, while the storming Chiron was catching up quickly to the leading Arcangeli.
| 1. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 1h39m22.0s |
| 2. Bouriat/Chiron (Bugatti) | 1h39m38.2s |
| 3. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 1h39m53.6s |
| 4. Fagioli (Maserati) | 1h40m53.6s |
| 5. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 1h45m52.0s |
On lap 18 Chiron drove another fast lap in 5m36.6s at 139.772 km/h, which was to be the fastest lap of the race and brought him just 11.8 seconds behind the leader. Nuvolari was 18.5 seconds behind Chiron and his Alfa's
worn out engine gave him no chance to take part in the final battle. However, the tifosi got excited about the prospect whether the blue Bugatti could catch the red Maserati with only two laps to go at the end of lap 18.
| 1. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 1h45m03.0s |
| 2. Bouriat/Chiron (Bugatti) | 1h45m14.8s |
| 3. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 1h45m33.6s |
| 4. Fagioli (Maserati) | 1h46m41.8s |
| 5. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 1h52m01.0s |
On lap 19 Chiron drove another fast lap in 5m38.2s, while Arcangeli slowed to 5m49s which enabled Chiron to catch up with the leader. In the meantime Nuvolari nursed his sick Alfa Romeo along, crawling with a lap of
8m41.8s and falling behind Fagioli's Maserati to fourth position but still minutes ahead of von Morgen's Bugatti. At the end of lap 19, as they passed the finish, Chiron followed Arcangeli like a shadow, one second behind.
| 1. Arcangeli (Maserati) | 1h50m52.0s |
| 2. Bouriat/Chiron (Bugatti) | 1h50m53.0s |
| 3. Fagioli (Maserati) | 1h52m38.0s |
| 4. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) | 1h54m15.4s |
| 5. von Morgen (Bugatti) | 1h58m10.0s |
Going into the last lap on the first right-hand turn after the grandstand, Chiron passed the Maserati and went into the lead. Arcangeli remained right at the Bugatti's tail and did not give up. He was determined to win
in front of the Roman crowd. On the last right turn before the finish, the Italian did a bold move and went left, on the outside past the Bugatti, building up a good lead. It was too late for Chiron to do anything.
He was unable to catch the more powerful Maserati on the long finishing straight. Giovanni Canestrini wrote that Arcangeli took the checkered flag not more than 80 meters ahead of Chiron to the excitement and joy of the
large crowd. The first two finishers had lapped the entire field at least once and the race went on for the others to complete their 20 laps.
The unlucky Fagioli retired on lap 20 with a broken rear axle bearing. Nuvolari did not reach the finish and came to a stop with a broken piston. After Fagioli's and Nuvolari's demise the German von Morgen inherited
third place, followed by Biondetti's 1.5-liter Talbot. Campari finished fifth, ahead of Caflisch, Tadini and Renzi in eighth place. Nicolotti was over 33 minutes behind in 9th place and did not classify because he
exceeded the time allowed for toddlers. Sartorio in tenth position completed only 18 laps, which was not the full distance to be classified.
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Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Entrant | Car | Type | Engine | Laps | Time/Status | Diff |
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| 1. | 2 | Luigi Arcangeli | Officine A. Maserati | Maserati | 26M | 2.5 | S-8 | 20 | 1h56m37.8s |
| 2. | 30 | Guy Bouriat/L. Chiron | Automobiles Ettore Bugatti | Bugatti | T35B | 2.3 | S-8 | 20 | 1h56m39.6s | + 1.8s |
| 3. | 24 | H. J. von Morgen | H. J. von Morgen | Bugatti | T35B | 2.3 | S-8 | 20 | 2h04m24.8s | + 7m47.0s |
| 4. | 6 | Clemente Biondetti | Scuderia Materassi | Talbot | 700 | 1.5 | S-8 | 20 | 2h07m04.0s | + 10m26.2s |
| 5. | 18 | Giuseppe Campari | Scuderia Ferrari | Alfa Romeo | 6C 1750GS | 1.8 | S-6 | 20 | 2h07m19.4s | + 10m41.6s |
| 6. | 14 | Fritz Caflisch | F. Caflisch | Mercedes-Benz | SS | 7.1 | S-6 | 20 | 2h11m12.2s | + 14m34.4s |
| 7. | 22 | Mario Tadini | Scuderia Ferrari | Alfa Romeo | 6C 1750GS | 1.8 | S-6 | 20 | 2h19m09.2s | + 22m31.4s |
| 8. | 32 | Cesare Renzi | C, Renzi | Bugatti | T35C | 2.0 | S-8 | 20 | 2h21m16.4s | + 24m38.6s |
| DNC | 8 | Paolo Nicolotti | P. Nicolotti | Alfa Romeo | 6C 1500 | 1.5 | S-6 | 20 | 2h29m43.6s | exceeded max. time |
| DNC | 20 | Arrigo Sartorio | A. Sartorio | Maserati | 26 | 1.5 | S-8 | 18 | 2h18m02.0s | did not classify, flagged |
| DNF | 12 | Luigi Fagioli | Officine A. Maserati | Maserati | 26 | 1.7 | S-8 | 19 | rear axle bearing |
| DNF | 28 | Tazio Nuvolari | SA Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo | P2 | 2.0 | S-8 | 19 | broken piston |
| DNF | 10 | Cleto Nenzioni | C. Nenzioni | Maserati | 26B | 2.1 | S-8 | 12 |
| DNF | 16 | Achille Varzi | SA Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo | P2 | 2.0 | S-8 | 6 | clutch |
| DNF | 4 | Louis Chiron | Automobiles Ettore Bugatti | Bugatti | T35B | 2.3 | S-8 | 2 | engine bearing |
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Fastest lap: Louis Chiron (Bugatti on lap 18 in 5m36.6s = 139.6 km/h (86.7 mph)
Winner's medium speed: 133.8 km/h (83.1 mph)
Weather: overcast, warm.
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In retrospect:
The various sources show minor differences in the final times and speed. Some sources reported a 2/5 second time difference between the first two drivers, yet the time difference was in fact 1.8 seconds
according to Italian magazines, one even displayed a timing chart.
La Gazetta dello Sport published the 18 race numbers. Eight of them could be confirmed from photographs. Two race numbers were changed at the day of the race.
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Primary sources researched for this article:
AUTOMOBIL-REVUE, Bern
El Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona
La Gazetta dello Sport, Milano
La Stampa, Torino
L'Auto Italiana, Milano
Lo Sport Facista, Milano
Motor Sport, London
Tutti in Automobile, Roma
Special thanks to:
Alessandro Silva
Bernhard Völker
Michael Müller
Otto Grabe
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