 
VII ADAC EIFELRENNEN
Südschleife - Nürburgring (D), 20 July 1930.
30 laps x 7.747 km (4.814 mi) = 232.41 km (144.42 mi) (Note 1)
Von Morgen wins on the Südschleife without serious opposition
by Hans Etzrodt
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The Eifelrennen was the largest automobile event for racecars in Germany in 1930. However, there was just a small 11 car field at the start. Only von Morgen and Broschek raced proper grand prix cars while
the remaining field comprised voiturettes, cycle and sports cars. It was an uneventful race.
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Due to the bad economic situation following the October 1929 Wall Street crash, the AvD's (Automobilclub von Deutschland) planned German Grand Prix on July 13 did not take place. Instead the traditional
ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil Club) Eifelrennen, which was held for the first time in 1922, was the only large circuit race held in Germany that year. The date was originally set for June 1 but was
changed in April by the O.M.S. (Oberste Motorrad Sportbehörde) to July 20. On the same day the European Grand Prix took place at the nearby Spa circuit, as did the Dieppe Grand Prix in Northern France.
This clash of events contributed to the small number of entries. Germany's leading driver Caracciola was not present because he raced that weekend at an international sports car event, the Irish Grand Prix.
In the days before the race there was bad weather which possibly prevented the usually large crowd from appearing at this event or maybe it was the lack of any 'big names'. However, on Sunday there was
beautiful sunshine.
The Eifelrennen was held on the 7.747 km Südschleife (South Loop) of the Nürburgring instead on the longer 22.810 km Nordschleife (North Loop). The shorter course was chosen to make the race more interesting
for spectators with the cars coming past thirty times around this smaller circuit while it would have been only ten times using the same distance on the Nordschleife. It is noteworthy that the ADAC promoters
rounded the course length to a simple 7.8 km to simplify the calculation of distance and speed. The distance covered by 30 laps amounted to 234 km as advertised instead of the true distance of only 232.41 km.
The averages and distances quoted in this report are corrected figures, not the official approximate numbers. Consequently the published race speeds by the timekeepers were also off by nearly 1% when
calculating with 7.8 km. It was only the second time that racecars were seen at the Nürburgring. The first time had been at the 1927 opening race in a mixed field of race and sports cars. The total
prize money was around 30,000 Marks. Prizes for racecars in each group were 3,000 marks for the winner, 1,000 for second. Prizes for sports cars in each group were 2,000 marks for the winner, 1,000 for
second and 500 for third. The winners of the day, for racecars and sports cars 'each received a golden ring, which was called the 'Nürburgring'.
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Entries:
The Federation of the German Automobile Industry produced a resolution to abstain from motor sport, so until this race independent German drivers had had almost no opportunity to contest a race during
1930. The Eifelrennen allowed voiturettes and large sports cars over 3000 cc to race simultaneously with the large racecars. There were only four large racecar entries, von Morgen and Broschek with
2.3-liter T35B Bugattis, Sauerwein with a 3-liter 2-seat touring Bugatti T44, which presumably was stripped for racing and Münz with a Ford Special. The small racecar class comprised five cars headed
by Volkhart and Brudes in 1.5-liter T37A Bugattis. There were two 1100 cc Amilcars, one entered by the successful German privateer Steinweg, who drove Broschek's former Amilcar and the other by Possamai
from Luxembourg, who evidently did not appear. The fifth entry was made by the Frenchman Boucly from Nice who drove a 1.1-liter Salmson. The large sports car class comprised six entries, the four large
SSK Mercedes-Benz of Rosenstein, Baron von Michel-Raulino, Spandel and Widengren from Sweden and two Chryslers, one driven by German Chrysler dealer Könnecker from Hagen and the other by Ludig from Luxembourg.
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Practice:
During practice drivers were required to complete a minimum of ten laps. Scrutinizing took place on Saturday. During the practice days it was raining intermittently. Fränkischer Kurier reported that
von Morgen and zu Leiningen had already been driving around the Südschleife on Wednesday, ahead of official practice, which began on the Thursday before the race. Motorcycles occupied the course in the
morning and also at the noon hours while the cars were allowed on the track after 4:00 PM. The German Bugatti team of von Morgen, Burggaller and Prince zu Leiningen got down to work with enthusiasm.
Burggaller drove the fastest practice lap on Thursday with a time of 4m16s. Prince zu Leiningen drove the Bugatti, which up to now had been driven by von Morgen and Kappler. The Mercedes-Benz drivers
Spandel, Michel-Raulino and the novice Widengren were also on the track.
'Sport des Mittag' reported that Widengren worked hard during practice, yet had it not easy against the other Mercedes-Benz drivers since he was starting with the SSK for the first time. Eventually, Widengren
was unable to take part when his car broke down and he was unable to repair it for the race on Sunday. The Düren district magistrate intervened in the race, preventing the start of the old Eifel winner Münz from
Düren on the grounds that his driver's license (presumably his road license) had been revoked. He even blocked Münz from taking part in practice. Spandel encountered trouble when his heavy car spun on the
slippery Müllenbach turn and tumbled down a four meter deep slope. He and his passenger had great luck when they were thrown from the car onto the soft rain-soaked ground. Spandel got away with soiled overalls
while his passenger escaped with bruises. The Mercedes suffered only a broken steering wheel.
Despite the miserable rainy weather, practice proceeded on Friday. The German Bugatti Team was again very busy. Von Morgen, Burggaller, zu Leiningen and Michel-Raulino made the fastest times. Spandel repaired
his damaged Mercedes SSK for Sunday's race. The Bugatti drivers Broschek and Volkhart also practiced diligently in the afternoon.
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Race:
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At 10:00 AM on Sunday morning the first race for motorcycles began, followed by the 18 smaller sports cars at around 1:00 PM. The class up to 750 cc was won by Paul Schmidt (BMW Wartburg), the up to 1500 cc class
was won by Hans Ollendorf (Bugatti) and the up to 3000 cc class was won by Ernst Günther Burggaller in a Bugatti which he had purchased from Chiron and which was faster than other Bugattis of the same type. The
third race was scheduled for 4:00 PM. Münz (Ford Special) did not get permission to start, Possamai (Amilcar) did not appear, Rosenstein (Mercedes-Benz) was unable to arrive due to illness and Widengren broke his
Mercedes-Benz in practice and was therefore unable to appear for the race. With these four absentees, the field was reduced to a meager 11 cars, three racecars over 1500 cc, four racecars up to 1500 cc and four
sports cars over 3000 cc, which finally started at 4:30 PM.
The Bugatti of von Morgen held the lead from beginning to end. He lapped the entire field several times. The 1.5-liter class winner, Volkhart (Bugatti), finished second and Brudes in another small Bugatti followed
in third place. Broschek had to stop several times to repair his Bugatti and fell 22 minutes behind the winner, finishing fourth. Spandel lost a lot of time working on the SSK's carburetor and ignition wires.
He then encountered supercharger damage which could not be repaired. Nonetheless he finished the race. Boucly retired his Salmson already on the second lap owing to a broken spring and a bent axle. In the early
laps Steinweg (Amilcar) was second in the small class but retired after two laps with a carburetor fire. Sauerwein with the big Bugatti retired after the third lap. Michel-Raulino in the Mercedes-Benz SSK followed
at a short distance behind the Spandel SSK during the early rounds and on the tenth lap he suffered steering damage caused by a damaged tire. Eventually von Morgen won by driving regularly fast laps without ever
stopping. His average lap time for 30 laps of the 7.747 km circuit was 4m17.7 s. He had an advantage of 14 minutes over second placed Volkhart, the winner of the small racing car class. The race closed 30 minutes
after the arrival of the victor. Könnecker and Ludig in the Chyslers exceeded the 30 minutes time limit and did not classify. This rather uneventful race ended very late at 7:30 in the evening.
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Results
Footnote:
1. The averages and distances quoted in this report are corrected figures (using 7.747 km course length), not the official numbers.
The official course length during this event was 7.8 km, official race length 30 x 7.8 km = 234 km and the official winner's results 2h08m53.0s = 109.5 km/h. Note that the calculation was incorrect!
Using 7.8 km one ought to end up with a medium speed of 108.9 km/h.
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Primary sources researched for this article:
ADAC-Motorwelt, München
Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung, Berlin
Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung, Wien
AUTOMOBIL-REVUE, Bern
AZ-Motorwelt, Brno
Bremer Nachrichten, Bremen
Der Mittag, Düsseldorf
Der Nürburgring, Adenau
Fränkischer Kurier, Nürnberg
Friesischer Volksfreund
Magdeburgische Zeitung, Magdeburg
MOTOR, Berlin
MOTOR und SPORT, Pössneck
Wuppetaler General Anzeiger, Wuppertal
Special thanks to:
Hugo Boecker
Marco Kieser
Mercedes-Benz Archiv
Rob Semmeling
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II GRAND PRIX DE DIEPPE
Dieppe (F), 20 July 1930.
36 laps x 8.06 km (5.01 mi) = 290.16 km (180.3 mi)
Lehoux dominant in an all Bugatti field
by Leif Snellman
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Sixteen cars, all Bugattis, competing in three classes, took part in the race. Lehoux dominated the race repeatedly improving the lap record as he led from start to finish. He was not challenged
by Etancelin and Dreyfus as was expected. Etancelin was an early retirement and Dreyfus suffered from plug problems, finishing fifth. Instead it was amateur drivers Fourny and du Pouget who had a
fierce fight for second position, the former winning the duel by 2.2 seconds but both finished far behind Lehoux.
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L'Automobile-Club de l'Ouest supported by magazine Le Matin organized a motor event at Dieppe for the second time. It included a rally, a Concours d'Elegance and two car races.
In the race for cycle cars which was called Grand Prix du "Matin" the 1100cc class made 25 laps and the 500cc and 750cc classes 21 laps. The race was run the same weekend as the
Eifelrennen as well as European Grand Prix at Spa where the works Bugatti team took part.
The main race was called the Grand Prix de la Ville de Dieppe and cars competed in three classes, cars under 1500cc, cars between 1500cc and 2000cc and cars over 2000cc.
The circuit consisted of a long uphill and downhill straight on the road to Paris, R.N. n° 15 from Maison Blanche to Virage du Val Gosset, and a sharp right hand turn that sent
the race course into a twisty
downhill section along C.G. n° 54 into Saint-Aubin-sur-Cie. Another sharp right-hand curve was followed by a twisty uphill section northwards along R. N. n° 27 until the course
finally rejoined the
main road at Maison Blanche. The circuit length in 1930 spec was 8.06 km and the race distance 36 laps for a total of 290.16 km
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Entries:
All the entries in the three classes consisted of Bugattis. In the 1500cc class six cars of eight entries started. It is believed that the non starters were Michel Doré and Guy Marion. Albert
de Bondeli was listed as driver until race day when Charles Delbos took over his car.
There were six starters in the 2000cc class as well including Philippe Etancelin and René Dreyfus, all driving supercharged 2 litre Bugatti T35Cs. Etancelin's car (#4945) had been delivered
from Molsheim on 24 March 1930. Dreyfus's car (#4944) belonged to Ernest Friderich, Bugatti dealer at Nice. Max Fourny's car (#4866) was actually the same car Pietro Bordino had had his fatal
crash with at Alessandria in 1928. The car had been totally restored by the factory and bought by Fourny from Paul Morand 10 days before the Dieppe race. Louis Charavel, racing under the
pseudonym "Sabipa", had bought his car (#4946) new from Molsheim in March 1930. Georges Delaroche and someone named Lenart completed the 2000cc class list.
The class over 2000cc had four starters, Marcel Lehoux, Georges Bouriano, Bertrand (or Roland?) du Pouget and John van Hulzen, all with supercharged 2.3 litre Bugatti T35Bs. Lehoux had bought
his car (#4935) from Molsheim 26 June 1929. Bouriano was a Romanian emigré who started racing in Italy in the early twenties, before moving to Belgium. He had led the 1930 Alessandria GP before
crashing in the rain. His Bugatti (#4947) had been bought new in March 1930.
Du Pouget had bought his Bugatti (#4926) from Molsheim in March 1929. Cornelis Johannes van Hulzen's car (#4933) was a former works car raced by Conelli at the 1929 French GP. It had been owned
by French tennis player Jean Couiteas for a while until he lost interest in racing.
(A great thanks to Michael Müller for the chassis info.)
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Race:
The event started with the cycle car race with 16 competitors at 8:30 a.m.
Scaron dominated the race, leading from start to finish and his last lap was the fastest of the race with a time of 4m22.6s. Vernet was second and Robert Benoist's brother Maurice third.
| Results 1100cc 25 laps: |
| 1. José Scaron (Amilcar) | 1h54m20.8s |
| 2. Just Vernet (Caban) | 2h13m25.0s |
| 3. Maurice Benoist (Caban) | 2h17m02.8s
| | Results 750cc 21 laps: |
| 1. Yves Desbois (Rosengart) | 2h25m46.0s |
At 2 p.m. the 16 cars in the main race lined up on the grid and at 2:30 the cars were flagged away.
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Lehoux took the lead as the flag was dropped and at the end of the first lap the race order was Lehoux, du Pouget, Fourny, Etancelin, Dreyfus and "Sabipa". Tetaldi was leading the 1500 cc category.
Lehoux dominated the race putting in three fastest laps in a row: 4m02s (119.9 km/h) on the 5th lap, 4m01s (120.3 km/h) on the 6th lap and 3m59s (121.4 km/h) on the 7th lap.
Far behind him there was a fierce fight for second position between du Pouget, Fourny, Dreyfus, "Sabipa" and Etancelin. However on the 12th lap Etancelin had to retire from the race.
Lehoux improved his lap times further, doing a 3m57s (122.4 km/h) lap followed by a 3m55s (123.5 km/h ) one.
Lehoux did 18 laps, half the race, in 1h13m23s (118.6 km/h). Fourny was in second position 1m14s behind and du Pouget was third 1m27s behind the leader. Du Pouget took over second position
for a while but on the 25th lap Fourny retook that position. Young drivers Fourny and du Pouget, who until now only had had local successes, were the surprise of the race. Dreyfus seems
to have had plug problems during the race and dropped back, probably because of a pit stop. With the car back in working order Dreyfus made the 31th lap in a record time 3m52s (125.1 km/h).
Leading by over two minutes Lehoux was able to relax. Behind him the fight for second position started anew near the end of the race as du Pouget closed the gap to 2nd positioned Fourny.
From 18 seconds after the 30th lap the gap went down to 11s after the 31st and 5s after the 32nd. But Fourny answered the attack and the gap on the last four laps was 4s, 3s, 3s and 2
seconds with Fourny keeping on to his second place overall and to win the 2 litre class.
However he took the flag 2½ minutes behind overall winner Lehoux, who on the last lap went flat out retaking the fastest lap of the race from Dreyfus with a time of 3m50.6s (125.6 km/h).
(A source claims it rained during the end of the race but if so, it doesn't seem to have slowed down the pace.) Du Pouget was third overall, "Sabipa" fourth and Dreyfus fifth.
In the 1500cc class Gaupillat led most of the race but in the end he was beaten by Auber.
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Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Entrant | Car | Type | Engine | Laps | Time/Status | Diff |
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| 1. | 44 | Marcel Lehoux | M. Lehoux | Bugatti | T35B | 2.3 | S-8 | 36 | 2h25m42.0s |
| 2. | 20 | Max Fourny | M. Fourny | Bugatti | T35C | 2.0 | S-8 | 36 | 2h28m12.0s | + 2m30.0s |
| 3. | 42 | Bertrand du Pouget | B. du Pouget | Bugatti | T35B | 2.3 | S-8 | 36 | 2h28m14.2s | + 2m32.2s |
| 4. | 24 | "Sabipa" | L. Charavel | Bugatti | T35C | 2.0 | S-8 | 36 | 2h29m22.2s | + 3m40.2s |
| 5. | 26 | René Dreyfus | Ecurie Friderich | Bugatti | T35C | 2.0 | S-8 | 36 | 2h33m20.2s | + 7m38.2s |
| 6. | 48 | Cor-John van Hulzen | C.-J. van Hulzen | Bugatti | T35B | 2.3 | S-8 | 36 | 2h38m33.6s | + 12m51.6s |
| 7. | 6 | Philippe Auber | P. Auber | Bugatti | T37A | 1.5 | S-4 | 36 | 2h43m48.8s | + 18m06.8s |
| 8. | 10 | Jean Gaupillat | J. Gaupillat | Bugatti | T37A | 1.5 | S-4 | 36 | 2h45m01.6s | + 19m19.6s |
| 9. | 16 | Charles Delbos | A. de Bondeli | Bugatti | T37A | 1.5 | S-4 | 36 | 2h53m36.0s | + 27m54.0s |
| 10. | 8 | Delommez | Delommez | Bugatti | T37 | 1.5 | S-4 | 36 | 3h04m45.4s | + 39m03.4s |
| 11. | 2 | Guy Daniel | G. Daniel | Bugatti | T37A | 1.5 | S-4 | 36 | 3h07m50.5s | + 42m08.5s |
| DNF | 32 | Lenart | Lenart | Bugatti | T35C | 2.0 | S-8 | 12 | crash | |
| DNF | 22 | Philippe Etancelin | P. Etancelin | Bugatti | T35C | 2.0 | S-8 | 11 | valve | |
| DNF | 4 | Emile Tetaldi | E. Tetaldi | Bugatti | T37A | 1.5 | S-4 | 8 | engine | |
| DNF | 46 | Georges Bouriano | G. Bouriano | Bugatti | T35B | 2.3 | S-8 |
| DNF | 14 | Guy Marion | G. Marion | Bugatti | T37A | 1.5 | S-4 | | | |
| DNF | 30 | Georges Delaroche | G. Delaroche | Bugatti | T35C | 2.0 | S-8 | | | |
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Fastest lap: Marcel Lehoux (Bugatti) on lap 36 in 3m50.6s = 125.8 km/h (78.2 mph)
Winner's medium speed: 119.5 km/h (74.2 mph)
Weather: ?
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Primary sources researched for this article:
AUTOMOBIL-REVUE, Bern
L'Auto, Paris
L'Automobil sur la Cote d'Azur, Nice
Echo de Paris, Paris
Le Figaro, Paris
Le Journal, Paris
Le Matin, Paris
Madrid Automovil, Madrid
Also:
Antonie Raffaëlli: "Memoirs of a Bugatti Hunter."
Special thanks to:
Michael Müller
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