A Swedish 1-2-3

A big field, consisting mostly of rebuilt American specials, started in the Swedish Winter Grand Prix. Swedish driver P.V. Widengren grabbed the lead at the start and held it to the finish, never being serioulsy challenged. Finnish drivers Ebb and Keinänen were fighting for top positions but were both forced to retire. Norwegian Bjørnstad finished second but was later disqualified which meant that Johansson and Bennström in almost identical cars built by Ford Sweden were classified second and third.

The Swedish Winter Grand Prix was run for the third time on the demanding course in the woods around the lake Rämen north of the town of Ludvika in the county of Dalarna and onm the lake itself. The cars had to be of the open type and riding race mechanics were compulsory.

Entries: P.V. Widengren was to race a Monza while his brother Henken entered an green Invicta he had loaned from Britain. Norwegian Bjørnstad entered his Monza as did German Paul Pietsch, while another German driver, Herbert Wimmer, raced a ex-von Morgen ex-Pietsch Bugatti T35B #4948. As it was a last series car it had already the double fuel fillers which made it look like a T51. Finnish driver S.P.J. Keinänen entered his Chrysler and his countryman Karl Ebb his Mercedes-Benz SSK. Among the Swedish drivers Börje Dahlin had another SSK and K-G Sundstedt and Axel Jonsson drove Bugattis. Tore Wistedt was unable to get a C type MG Midget delivered in time and had to settle for a J2 type. Hans Torell was to race a British Riley 9 withan English mechanic named Kilby.       The rest of the entries consisted mostly of local drivers with home built specials but also included such rarities as a Voisin, a NRW, and a Patge. Allan Westerblom entered his troublesome "locomotive" built in Eskilstuna by Henry Molin's workshop where Westerblom had his job. It consisted of a Reo chassis and a WW1 surplus 15 liter Mercedes airplane engine. An oddity among all the open cars was Sven Lindblom's Ford convertible with a canvas roof while Poul Tholstrup's car was not accepted as it was a Coupé.

Practice: There were several incidents and crashes during practice. Johan Ohlsson collided with Dahlin and became a non starter. The front supension was damaged on Dahlin's Mercedes. That was the first of several incidents involving Dahlin in 1933. Clemens Bergström, Axel Jonsson and Paul Pietsch also became non starters after having crashed their cars. Several of the entries used chains of a type developed by S.P.J. Keinänen. Pietsch, not used to race with studded tyres, selected a wrong type and crashed at high speed on the long straight, ending upside down in the woods with a small pine trunk through the radiator.

Race: Unlike in 1932, when the high temperatures had turned the snow and ice into water, the conditions were excellent this time. It had been snowing during the days before the event and a track on the ice was plowed up as were the course in the wood.       The length of the course was such that the spectators only were able to see the competitors every 30 minutes. That did not hinder a record number of almost 100,000 spectators to turn up, 11,000 arriving by extra train.       The 31 cars lined up on the ice was an impressing sight. There could have been 32 starters but the universal joint on the special built drive shaft on Westerblom's Reo-Mercedes had failed.

1 Sundstedt Bugatti 2 P V Widengren Alfa Romeo 3 Lafrenz Chrysler 5 H Widengren Invicta 6 Lindblom Ford 8 Thorsell Chevrolet 9 Torell Riley 10 Forsberg Ford 11 Bennström Ford 12 Olsson Chrysler 14 Strömberg Chevrolet 15 A Larsson Ford 16 Söderlund Ford 17 Hastings Chevrolet 18 H Larsson Ford 19 Näs Näs * 22 Lindh Hudson 23 Wistedt MG 24 C-G Johansson Ford 25 Weyer Dodge 26 Keinänen Chrysler 27 Ebb Mercedes-Benz 28 Lundborg Patge 29 Wickberg Bugatti 30 Bjørnstad Alfa Romeo 32 Tholstrup Ford 33 Andersson Dodge 35 Bake Buick 36 Wimmer Bugatti 37 T Johansson Ford 39 Dahlin Mercedes-Benz * Westerblom

The start was done with a warning cone dropped from a mast yard 10 seconds before the start followed by a ball. When the ball dropped P.V. Widengren immediately took the lead followed by his brother while Wimmer stalled and only rejoined the race far behind the others. There had been worries about the ballot type start grid with slow and fast cars intermixed and the narrow course that permitted few opportunities for overtaking but it proved that the cars managed to sort themselves out quite well on the ice. Entering the woods the order was: P.V. Widengren, H. Widengren, Strömberg, Olsson, Sundstedt, Keinänen, Bennström, T. Johansson, Lafrenz, Bjørnstad, C-G Johansson, Torell, Ebb, Lindh, H. Larsson, Näs, Dahlin and Forsberg.       Sundstedt was soon in trouble and had to stop for repairs, dropping down the field. Ebb had problems to get the supercharger to work on his SSK and was struggling during the first lap while his countryman Keinänen was in great shape and advanced to fourth before having to retire as a universal joint overheated. Back in the field Wistedt, racing the M.G. for the first time, was loosing out on the straights as he was using third gear, unaware that the little car had a four gear box!       P.V. Widengren finished his first lap with a time of 31m06s followed by his brother Henken at 31m52.1s. Then came Olsson, Bennström, Bjørnstad, C. G. Johansson and Ebb. Lafrenz retired his Chrysler with a broken piston and Torell retired after having bent his front axle after having slided into a rock. Dahlin had also retired because of the front suspension damage the Mercedes had received during practice and Weyer was out as he had had no money to buy spare tyres!       A struggling Wimmer gave up after having been lapped by P.V. Widengren who was still leading after three laps. Olsson had moved up to second position as Henken Widengren's invicta had come to a standstill with magneto problems. on the third lap Thorsell was alos out of the race after having run his Chevrolet into the ditch. Ebb sorted out his supercharger problems and began to advance in the field. He was eventually able to pass Bjørnstad and Johansson for second and took up the chase on P.V. Widengren, who by now had a huge lead.       At half distance the order was: 1. P.V. Widengren (Alfa Romeo) 2h06m57.1s 2. Ebb (Mercedes-Benz) 2h15m27.0s 3. Olsson (Chrysler) 2h15m30.7s 4. Bjørnstad (Alfa Romeo) 2h15m34.8s 5. C. G. Johansson (Ford) 2h18m40.2s 6. Bennström (Ford) 2h16m48.0s 7. Forsberg (Ford) 2h27m19s 8. T Johansson (Ford) 2h27m20s 9. Lindh (Hudson) 2h33m52.4s 10. Sundstedt (Bugatti) 2h35m37.2s 11. A. Larsson (Ford) 2h35m47.9s 12. Bake (Buick) 2h36m06s 13. Hastings (Chevrolet) 2h38m13s 14. Söderlund (Ford) 2h44m13s 15. Wistedt (M.G.) 2h47m45.6s 16. Lindblom (Ford) 2h47m57.9s 17. H. Larsson (Ford) 2h50m05s 18. Andersson (Dodge) 2h53m06s 19. Näs (Näs) 2h57m28s 20. Wickberg (Bugatti) 3h12m30.8s 21. Rudolff (NRW) 3h17m18.3s The field got thinner as drivers pulled out. Rudolff retired his N.R.W., local driver "Mas" Harry Larsson got carburettor trouble. Wickberg got his Bugatti into a snow wall and was unable to dig it out. The camshaft failed on Näs' special and Lindh and Andersson retired as well.       Olsson fell back by a puncture while Ebb, who was followed closely by Bjørnstad, was closing in on Widengren by a minute per lap. But on lap six Ebb made a mistake while taking a drink from a bottle of sugar water and crashed into the woods near Ulvshyttan. The car climbed a stone fence and went down a steep three meter slope on the other side. Ebb hit his jaw in the windscreen and was knocked out but soon recovered while his mechanic was saved from any injuries by an early type of race helmet thar Ebb had forced upon him.       P.V. Widengren and his riding mechanic Erik Eriksson went on unchallenged to take the victory of the race. Bjørnstad finished 4m12s behind with Johansson third, a further 7m37s behind.       After the race a protest was made. Johansson had tried to pass Bjørnstad on the long straight on the sixth and seventh laps but had been blocked. Somehow they managed to convince the organizers that the Ford was faster than the Alfa and Bjørnstad was disqualified with the motivation that his riding mechanic had failed to inform his driver that a faster car was trying to pass. Obviously Johansson had been pushed to do the protest (no love lost between Swedes and Norwegians) and was rather embarrassed by the situation. (A news film from the race can be found here).

The Germans master the ice.

The Swedish Ice race was run in two heats on the icy lake Hjälmaren. Pietsch and Wimmer took a double victory for Germany while Norwegian Bjørnstad lost his second place when challenging for the lead.

Hjälmaren is the fourth biggest lake in Sweden. Situated in the Närke and Södermanland counties in central Sweden west of Stockholm the lake is some 50 km long and 20 km wide. The western part of the lake is separated from the rest of the lake by an oblong island. That western part of the lake is known as Hemfjärden (home bay) and it was there, near the 17th century Esplunda mansion on the Northern beach, some 5 km from the town of Örebro, where the third Svenska Isloppet or The Swedish Ice Race was held.       Unlike most earlier ice racing tracks that were mostly oval shaped, the race was run on a real GP or TT type of track on ice. Its length was 5.2 km.

Entries: Cars were entered in three classes, AA, BA and CA, and the race took part in two heats.       Of the 16 entries several had been present at Swedish Winter GP a week earlier including Wistedt, Rudolff, Weyer, "Mas-Harry" Larsson, Hastings, Strömberg, Westerblom, Keinänen, Sundstedt, Wimmer and Bjørnstad.       Paul Pietsch had his Monza back to working order after his Rämen practice crash. Arnold Larsson had borrowed Thure Johansson's Ford. Local driver Walter Görtz entered a Ford and there were also Axel Karlsson with a Buick and Artur Johansson with a Chandler.       Westerblom obviously had not managed to get his airplane engined "locomotive" repaired and did not appear. Rudolff's NRW was another DNS and Weyer's Dodge was not permitted to race as a crack was found in the chassis of his Dodge.

Practice: Arnold Larsson managed to crash Thure Johansson's Ford during practice.

Heat 1: Cars number 1 to 8 started in the first heat and cars 9 to 17 in the second. The first heat was already down to five cars and they soon became four when Walter Görtz' mechanic managed to crash the Ford while moving it to the start line. So an angry Walter Görtz and a hardly amused Thure Johansson had to stand and watch as the first heat started.

1 Wistedt MG 6 Larsson Ford 7 Hastings Chevrolet 8 Strömberg Chevrolet

As the flag dropped Harry Larsson was first away but was soon challenged by Strömberg. Strömberg managed to push himself up into the lead but soon afterwards engine trouble forced him to retire. So Larsson won from Hastings and Wistedt.

Heat 2: Second heat was immediately sent to the starting grid and the cars were ready for start with engines running when it was realized that Wistedt from the first heat was still racing. So not to overheat the engines the cars in the second heat had to make the start while moving in circles on the grid, a maneuver seen now and then in trotting handicaps but hardly ever in motor racing.

9 Karlsson Buick 10 Johansson Chandler 12 Keinänen Chrysler 14 Sundstedt Bugatti 15 Pietsch Alfa Romeo 16 Wimmer Bugatti 17 Bjørnstad Alfa Romeo

Pietsch took the start followed by Wimmer and Bjørnstad. A charging Bjørnstad soon passed Wimmer but was unable to do anything to Pietsch, whose studded tyres worked perfectly.       Keinänen had initially problems with overheating and was passed even by Johansson's Chandler, but eventually he got the car going and re-passed Johansson. Keinänen then also passed Sundstedt, who had supercharger problems with his Bugatti, then he caught up with Wimmer and had a hard fight with the German who refused to let himself be passed by the Finn.       Meanwhile Bjørnstad made a huge effort to pass Pietsch, but the German held his line and forced the Norwegian to take the outside which resulted in a hit with a snow wall and a spin. Bjørnstad eventually managed to rejoin the race but was unable to reach higher than third position. So Pietsch took the flag as winner, having led throughout the race. Wimmer made it into a surprise German 1-2.

Teammates Nuvolari and Borzacchini finish 1-2 at Tunis

The Tunis Grand Prix on the Carthage road circuit formed the opening of the 1933 international racing season. Nuvolari dominated the race with the new 2.6-liter Alfa Romeo followed by his teammate Borzacchini in a 2.3-liter sister car. When their most feared opponent Varzi in the 2.3-liter Bugatti retired after 11 laps, the lead of both Scuderia Ferrari Alfas remained uncontested till the end. During the second half of the race a forceful thunderstorm soaked the circuit and speeds dropped noticeably due to a slippery track. Zehender finished third in his Maserati and Swiss newcomer, Baron von Waldthausen, came fourth in his Alfa Romeo despite delays not of his own doing. Etancelin held third place with his Alfa Romeo but retired. Sommer in the new 8CM monoposto Maserati retired as did Fagioli in an older Maserati. Lehoux and Czaykowski retired their Bugattis while Moll ran out of fuel when in fifth place.

After the February meeting at Pau, the next great circuit race took place in Tunisia, a French protectorate in North-Africa, where the Grand Prix of Tunis was staged for the fifth time. First organized in 1928 on the Bardo course, since 1931 the event was held on the very flat triangular 12.714 km Carthage circuit with high-speed corners connecting the long straights, except for the sharp hairpin leading into the 3.5 km finishing straight, which contained a chicane to slow the cars just before the finish line. The event took place near the site of the ancient city of Carthage. The race consisted of 37 laps, giving a total of over 470 kilometers. The circuit itself and the regulations had not changed from the previous year, but new for 1933 was the promoter's decision to select the drivers by invitation only, the way it was done at the Monaco Grand Prix. The special trademark of the Tunis Grand Prix was that it was run to Formule Libre, without engine capacity or weight restrictions. This excluded the smaller cars so that the race would take place only amongst the heavy cars. The overall winner was to receive 40,000 French Fr, second 25,000, third 15,000, fourth 8,000 and fifth 5,000.

Entries: While the first race for large capacity cars at Pau was effectively a local race due to the absence of Italian drivers, the entry list for the Tunis Grand Prix showed 23 competitors of high international standing, placing a stamp of importance on the event. There were 7 Alfa Romeos, 3 Maseratis, 12 Bugattis and Premoli's Bugatti/Maserati hybrid.       Most of the Italian cars were shipped from Genoa, while Sommer had his 8CM Maserati monoposto dispatched from Naples, as did his stable mate Zehender his Maserati 8C 2800 biposto. Another Maserati for Fagioli, an 8C 3000 biposto, was however a factory entry. Pietsch also left from Naples with his white Alfa Romeo Monza. The Scuderia Ferrari entered Monzas for Borzacchini and Nuvolari, the latter's being bored out to 2.6-liters to gain a few extra horses while his teammate's car was the normal 2.3-liter model. Varzi, who had won here in the prior two years, had his factory Bugatti shipped from Marseille. As could be seen from these contenders, the strongest international opponents were going to face each other at Tunis. Three Swiss drivers also entered, namely Braillard with his Bugatti also Villars and Baron von Waldthausen both in Alfa Romeos. Private Bugatti entries arrived from Hungarian László Hartmann, Algerians Lehoux and Moll, and from France came Count Czaykowski, Brunet, Gaupillat, Falchetto, Toselli and Joly. Further Alfa Romeo Monzas were entered by Frenchman Etancelin and Chilean Zanelli while the Italian Ghersi was to start in another Bugatti and his countryman Count Premoli in his BMP hybrid.

Practice: AUTOMOBIL-REVUE reported that Thursday was the first day of practice on the fast macadam course where speed and power were needed to win. Czaykowski had to interrupt his running to carry out lengthy repairs. Lehoux also ran into trouble when his Bugatti needed to have its pistons replaced. This kept his team busy for two days and nights. Swiss Baron von Waldthausen lapped at over 140 km/h average speed. After a few laps Villars had to stop due to a water leak that was soon repaired. Nuvolari unofficially broke the existing record when he completed one lap at an average of 155 km/h, although it was doubtful if he could maintain this speed on a hot day. The new Maserati monoposto had been anticipated with great interest, but its French driver Sommer was disappointed with its poor road-holding. Braillard, Zanelli, Brunet, Zehender, Hartmann, Borzacchini, Fagioli and Premoli were also active. On Friday Toselli, a driver from Nice, overturned his car, but suffered no injuries and was expected to start in the race. Motor Sport mentioned Toselli's luck when he turned his car upside down at high speed without getting hurt. Judging by the practice results, Nuvolari in the 2.6-liter Alfa Romeo Monza was the favorite. The existing lap record from the previous year stood at 5m03s of 151.364 km/h average speed established by Chiron in a Bugatti.       La Stampa published Friday's practice times, headed by Nuvolari in 5m1s ahead of Sommer 5m5s, Varzi 5m10s, Borzacchini 5m11s, Etancelin 5m16s, Zehender 5m24s and Zanelli 5m37s. These times seem to be quite different from those reported below by IL LITTORIALE and it is possibly that the times were from Thursday's practice.       IL LITTORIALE also wrote about Nuvolari's magnificent time of 4m55s at 155.457 km/h average speed during Friday's practice. On that day it was chilly, which was good for drivers and tires alike. Borzacchini equaled the existing lap record of 5m03s while Varzi drove in 5m04s at 150.868 km/h average speed. Times were also quoted for Etancelin in 5m16s at 145.433 km/h average, Sommer in 5m36s at 136.908 km/h average and Zehender in 5m24s at 141.555 km/h average. IL LITTORIALE stated that there would be 21 starters. Lehoux and Toselli had accidents on Friday from which they both emerged unharmed whereas Joly was not going to start since his car had not arrived and Ghersi would not start since both he and his car did not appear.

Race: The start on Sunday afternoon was set for 1:30 but it was delayed until 2:00 PM. A foreboding low rain cloud hung overhead on the overcast sky. The crowded grandstands had one section for the authorities where Commendatore Bombieri the Italian Consul General was present. The twenty drivers were getting ready to line up their racecars on the starting grid. Positions had been distributed by drawing of lots. The cars lined up in numerical order in rows of three cars each. The place for the number 6 car, Hartmann's Bugatti in the first row, remained vacant while the number 10 car was also not present but its place was instead occupied by the number 44 Alfa Romeo of Zanelli. The number 10 car must have been for either Ghersi or Joly.

4 Moll Bugatti 2 Toselli Bugatti 12 Brunet Bugatti 44 Zanelli Alfa Romeo 8 Borzacchini Alfa Romeo 18 Braillard Bugatti 16 Czaikowski Bugatti 14 Pietsch Alfa Romeo 24 Sommer Maserati 22 Premoli BMP 20 Gaupillat Bugatti 30 Villars Alfa Romeo 28 Nuvolari Alfa Romeo 26 Falchetto Bugatti 36 Etancelin Alfa Romeo 34 Zehender Maserati 32 Waldthausen Alfa Romeo 42 Fagioli Maserati 40 Lehoux Bugatti 38 Varzi Bugatti

At 2:00 Madame Mancheron, the wife of the Resident-General, gave the starting signal. The cars left in a deafening roar, finally Gaupillat also left after the rest. Pietsch left after a delay of over two minutes. Toselli and Brunet fought for the initial lead with the French driver Brunet holding first place for a while until Borzacchini soon took the lead, followed by Czaykowski two seconds behind.       At the end of the first lap Borzacchini passed the finish line after 5m34s at 137 km/h average speed, followed by Czaykowski, Moll, Nuvolari who overtook nine cars in a single lap, Varzi, Lehoux, both of whom overtook 13 cars, Brunet, Falchetto, Zanelli, Premoli, Braillard, Gaupillat, Fagioli, Villars, Waldthausen, Zehender, Sommer, Etancelin and eventually Pietsch. Toselli was not mentioned.       After the second lap Borzacchini still led the race with a lap of 5m16s at 144.843 km/h average speed, leading Nuvolari, Varzi, Lehoux, Czaykowski, Moll, Falchetto and with a slight delay Fagioli. It must have been evident to the spectators that the race was going to be between the Alfas of Nuvolari and Borzacchini and the Bugattis of Varzi and Lehoux. One can imagine that they were thrilled by the performance of their fellow countryman, Lehoux, who was now fourth. Varzi drove a lap in 5m18s at 143.932 km/h average speed to keep up with the two Scuderia Ferrari Alfas.       At the beginning of the third lap Fagioli made a three minute pit stop because he was losing fuel. La Stampa reported that Toselli was replaced by Joly, but no further explanation was given. Since Toselli was not listed at the end of lap one, it is not known if he pitted and was replaced by Joly or conceivably Joly started the race instead of Toselli. In view of Toselli's practice crash and his stated intent to start, it is possible that Toselli started, but discovered early on that he was in no condition to race, so he came into the pits and Joly took over. Since Joly's car had not arrived, they may have come to this arrangement before the race began. At the end of lap three Nuvolari, who had been increasing his pace, caught up with Borzacchini, with a lap in 5m16s at 144.843 km/h average speed, the same time as Borzacchini's second lap.       After the fifth lap Nuvolari was in the lead, with a lap time of 5m11s at 147.171 km/h average speed. Both Scuderia Ferrari drivers drove in a disciplined fashion but at an enormous speed, way ahead of the field without ever battling for the lead. The fast pace soon demanded its victims. Braillard had to stop several times at his pit and drove part of his race on seven cylinders. Waldthausen stopped at his pit and Sommer arrived slowly. His debut in his new Maserati monoposto was not impressive and his race ended after five laps with a broken magneto drive. Last year, Varzi had completed five laps in exactly 26 minutes, which was made possible since Varzi started from row three of the grid in 1932 and didn't have to deal with as many back-markers as Nuvolari did from 13th position in 1933. At the end of 5 laps Nuvolari was leading with a time of 26m44s in the following order: 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 26m44s 2. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 26m50s 3. Varzi (Bugatti) 27m01s 4. Lehoux (Bugatti) 27m33s 5. Premoli (BMP) 28m28s Nuvolari's sixth lap was in 5m07s at 149.089 km/h average. A major withdrawal took place during the sixth lap when Lehoux retired his Bugatti with a broken piston, even though he had replaced all the pistons just before the race. Czaykowski had to give up with a broken oil pump drive on his Bugatti. Nothing of consequence happened in the following three laps. Nuvolari, Borzacchini and Varzi, the best drivers in Europe, passed with Nuvolari half a minute ahead of Borzacchini, who was separated by a few seconds from Varzi while the others were all losing ground. Count Premoli abandoned during the ninth lap with a broken second gear in his transmission.       On lap ten Nuvolari established the fastest lap of the day in 5m05s at an average speed of 150.066 km/h. Nuvolari, Borzacchini and Varzi passed in that order, while Premoli overtook Etancelin and Gaupillat. The latter, however, stopped at his pit due to lack of oil pressure on his Bugatti. After 10 laps Nuvolari was leading at 145.672 km/h average speed: 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 52m22s 2. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 53m00s 3. Varzi (Bugatti) 53m08s 4. Etancelin (Alfa Romeo) 55m07s 5. Zehender (Maserati) 56m17s In the meantime, Gaupillat stopped at his pit. On lap 11 Varzi miraculously avoided an accident in a turn but had to retire his Bugatti with a broken drive shaft on lap 12 and Scuderia Ferrari no longer had to fear a threat from behind. The leading pair remained the same and Nuvolari kept his advantage throughout the race. After several visits to his pits to change plugs, Fagioli finally gave up after 12 laps with a broken magneto drive, the same problem, which had cost Sommer his race seven laps earlier. Zehender stopped at the pits but left again. On the 13th lap Falchetto stopped at the pits. Brunet retired his Bugatti on lap 15 as did Gaupillat when the oil pressure disappeared in his Bugatti engine due to a cracked sump. Zehender and Zanelli were involved in a close battle. After 15 laps Nuvolari was leading at 145.734 km/h average speed when the order was as follows: 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 1h18m31s 2. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 1h19m08s 3. Etancelin (Alfa Romeo) 1h21m17s 4. Villars (Alfa Romeo) 1h24m37s 5. Waldthausen (Alfa Romeo) 1h24m52s 6. Zehender (Maserati) 1h26m09s 7. Zanelli (Alfa Romeo) 1h26m09s 8. Moll (Bugatti) 1h26m14s 9. Pietsch (Alfa Romeo) 1h27m02s 10. Toselli/Joly (Bugatti) 1h30m01s Villars who had been in fourth position, lost time when he slid off the track in one of the corners and his car got bogged down in a rain-soaked field. On lap 18 Nuvolari stopped to refuel for a minute and a half. Borzacchini made his refueling stop on lap 19. Pietsch was now driving faster and was closing up on Villars and Zehender's Maserati and this three way battle between Zehender, Villars and Pietsch provided some entertainment. Nuvolari completed 20 laps at an average speed of 143.346 km/h when the order was: 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 1h46m26s 2. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 1h46m48s 3. Etancelin (Alfa Romeo) 1h49m11s 4. Waldthausen (Alfa Romeo) 1h52m03s 5. Zehender (Maserati) 1h53m45s 6. Villars (Alfa Romeo) 1h53m46s 7. Pietsch (Alfa Romeo) 1h53m47s 8. Zanelli (Alfa Romeo) 1h54m21s 9. Moll (Bugatti) 1h57m34s 10. Toselli/Joly (Bugatti) 1h57m43s 11. Falchetto (Bugatti) 1h57m45s 12. Braillard (Bugatti) no time At the beginning of lap 21 Etancelin arrived at the pits pushing his car with a broken differential. Baron von Waldthausen, after refueling on lap 21, came to a sudden stop a short distance past the grandstands because one of his crew forgot to open the fuel cock after refueling the car. Precious minutes were lost until his mechanic Herrman Schwarz came running the 300 meters from the pits to the stranded car and found the cause of the involuntary stop. This error would eventually cost Waldthausen third place at the finish.       An interesting phase of the battle developed on lap 24, when Borzacchini closed up to Nuvolari. Zehender, Pietsch and Zanelli made their refueling stops. Braillard overturned his Bugatti at the Sidi Daoud curve, but was not injured and the car showed no major damage. He stopped at the pits and after a minute left again. A severe thunderstorm reached the circuit on lap 25 and as had been expected, the weather turned bad with heavy rain and strong winds blowing in raging gusts. The first-rate circuit, which was very suitable for high speeds, became very slippery as a result of the scattered showers and extremely strong winds, causing all cars to substantially reduce their speed. For this reason and the lack of competition for the lead Nuvolari's fastest lap in 5m05s, at an average of 150.066 km/h, did not break the previous year's lap record of 5m03s at 151.364 km/h average speed by Chiron. During this time Villars was surprised by a sudden rain shower, spun his Alfa on the track and overturned his car. Evidently Villars suffered no injuries or serious damages to his car but lost a great deal of time before he rejoined the race. The two leading Alfas were circulating in company, just two seconds apart and two laps ahead of Pietsch in third place. After lap 25 Nuvolari was still in the lead, having covered 317.850 km at an average speed of 141.563 km/h when the order was: 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2h14m43s 2. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 2h14m45s 3. Pietsch (Alfa Romeo) 2h26m15s 4. Zehender (Maserati) 2h27m23s 5. Waldthausen (Alfa Romeo) 2h29m36s 6. Moll (Bugatti) no time 7. Toselli/Joly (Bugatti) no time 8. Falchetto (Bugatti) no time The German Pietsch in his white Alfa Romeo Monza maintained third place for some time. After 30 laps Nuvolari led with an average speed of 136.75 km/h. His pace had dropped due to the intermittent rain showers and the lack of any conceivable threat from another team. Borzacchini had the same time, followed by Pietsch, Zehender's Maserati, Waldthausen's Alfa and Moll's Bugatti. The field was now down to 11 cars in the following order: 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2h47m56s 2. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 2h47m56s 3. Pietsch (Alfa Romeo) 3h00m18s 4. Zehender (Maserati) 3h01m29s 5. Waldthausen (Alfa Romeo) 3h02m01s 6. Moll (Bugatti) 3h02m39s 7. Toselli/Joly (Bugatti) 3h05m24s 8. Falchetto (Bugatti) 3h07m30s 9. Zanelli (Alfa Romeo) no time 10. Villars (Alfa Romeo) no time 11. Braillard (Bugatti) no time Later in the race Pietsch could not keep up with Waldthausen, who had made up a deficit of almost two minutes and fell behind. Borzacchini began to slow down in these last laps, and by lap 35 he had lost 30 seconds to Nuvolari in only 5 laps, when the order was: 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 3h17m35s 2. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 3h18m05s 3. Zehender (Maserati) 3h30m01s 4. Waldthausen (Alfa Romeo) 3h30m16s 5. Moll (Bugatti) 3h32m13s On lap 36 Nuvolari also slowed down but it seemed to the spectators that the battle for first place was unleashed again, when Nuvolari and Borzacchini were fighting side by side, often separated from each other by less than a second. This enabled Borzacchini to keep up with the leader on the last lap, finishing just a fifth of a second behind his team mate. A genuine fight to the finish it was not, but it made for a very close finale as they crossed the finish line, just two meters apart. The crowd broke into thunderous applause and enthused compatriots carried the two winners in triumph on their shoulders.       Both Scuderia Ferrari drivers were 12 minutes ahead of the chasing pack and had lapped the entire field at least twice. By driving at a steady race, Zehender, who had made his debut with Maserati, came third but was two laps behind and had to keep on driving to complete the required distance to be counted. Baron von Waldthausen followed just three seconds behind in fourth place. The race was not yet over since Falchetto, the Toselli/Joly Bugatti, Pietsch and Zanelli in eighth place carried on racing until they had also completed the required 37 laps to be counted as finishers.       Moll, who ran out of fuel on the penultimate lap and was stranded on the circuit one kilometer before reaching the finish, did not complete 37 laps but was still classified as ninth in some reports. Similarly, the stragglers Villars and Braillard were flagged off and could not complete the required 37 laps. Race promoters usually allowed extra time for stragglers to complete the full distance, long after the winner had finished the race. Those unable to comply were then flagged off and did not classify. Interestingly, AUTOMOBIL-REVUE showed the Swiss drivers Villars and Braillard as ninth and tenth place finishers but did not mention Moll at all.