Nuvolari wins a lack-lustre race as Varzi is stopped by bureaucracy.

Spectators were denied a re-run of the Nuvolari - Varzi duel seen in Monaco as bureaucracy intervened and Varzi's entry was refused. Trapped between the Monaco and Tripoli GP, the Alessandria race became a dull event in rainy weather and was dominated by the Scuderia Ferrari trio of Nuvolari, Trossi and Brivio who finished in positions 1-2-3.

After a one year pause in 1932 for economical reasons Grand Prix racing returned to Circuito Pietro Bordino, Alessandria, on April 30, 1933. Originally a 32 km circuit on the Lombardy planes and Tarano river valley was in use, which was cut down to 8 km in 1931. The new shorter circuit was named after famous Italian driver Pietro Bordino, mainly associated with Fiat. He had died here with his mechanic Pietro Lasagni after a stray dog jammed the steering of his Bugatti during practice for the 1928 race. The out-of-control car crashed and fell into a deep tributary channel of the Tanaro River, which ran along the road. According to the story driver and mechanic drowned. The circuit had been upgraded for 1933 and three new pedestrian bridges had been added to improve spectator access to the track. The event consisted of two eight lap (64 km) heats with the five best drivers from each heat going to the 15 lap (120 km) final.

Entries: The race proved to be disappointing because of the selected date, which placed it a week after the Monaco Grand Prix and the Tripoli Grand Prix the following week. The entry list was down to 28 from 58 in 1931. Teams and independent drivers were not willing to take any chances of damaging their cars before Tripoli, considering the huge starting money and prizes that was offered at this venue. Among those who decided to skip Alessandria were Campari, Borzacchini and Fagioli.       Even if the entry list included 28 names, four of them, (Birkin, Pratesi, Fabri and Cavallero) did not appear at the race, reducing entries to half of what was expected. The entries of Varzi and Zehender were also refused but more about that later.       Scuderia Ferrari entered three upgraded 2.6-litre Alfa Romeo Monzas for Nuvolari, Brivio and Trossi. Private Monza entries included two white-red colored cars for Villars and Waldthausen, a white Monza for Pietsch and red Monzas for Balestrero and Castelbarco while Sir Henry Birkin had also entered a Monza but never arrived. Soffietti entered an Alfa Romeo 6C.       The rest of the field consisted mostly of a mix of different private Maseratis and Bugattis. A Maserati 26M was entered by Valpreda while Zehender appeared with his new Maserati 8CM. The entry list also included nine Maserati voiturettes. Varzi brought a Bugatti T51 under his own name while Ghersi's T51 was entered under the Scuderia Capredoni of Genua banner. There were also Bugattis for Alloatti (2.3 litre) and Minozzi (2.0 or 2.3 litre?). Count Premoli in his PBM Bugatti with Maserati engine and Pratesi in the old GP Talbot owned by Platé completed the entry list.

Practice: Information about practice could not be found in the reports except for the fact that Varzi was participating as per an account by Aldo Farinelli in L'Auto Italiana no 13, page 45, 10 May, 1933. The reason why hardly anything was known about the practice sessions could be that much of the attention was directed towards the Tripoli lottery drawing held on Saturday, 29 April, which was also the last day of Alessandria practice.

Race: On Sunday spectators appeared in hordes looking forward to see a new duel between Varzi, who had won the last three races at Alessandria, and Nuvolari. It is not hard to imagine the feelings when it was announced that there was a problem with Varzi's entry and that consequently he was a non starter. There was also a problem with Zehender's Maserati entry, which like Varzi's had not been received in time.       Obviously Varzi, not wanting to give any empty promises, had waited until after the Monaco race to send his entry for the Alessandria race. A new rule had stated that entries for all Italian races from now on had to be made centrally by R.A.C.I. in Rome. Varzi's entry had arrived a few days too late. Despite the great effort by the organizers, the Sporting Commission of the R.A.C.I. remained steadfast to exclude Varzi. The spectators had come to see the continuation of the Varzi and Nuvolari battle after the exciting Monaco Grand Prix and were now very disappointed that Varzi, was not allowed to start because of a technicality. An attempt to substitute Varzi for Alloatti was refused and equally unsuccessful was a telegram with a plea from rival team Scuderia Ferrari.       Being late with entries was by the way a bad habit, practiced quite often by the drivers without any consequences. One can only suspect this time there were some individuals who did not want to see Varzi, who had won the race in 1929, 1930 and 1931, taking a fourth victory. Why did the organizer wait until after practice to address the problem? One can speculate that an earlier announcement would have had a negative effect on the spectator numbers.       The sky was grey as the event began. Cars were selected into the heats and grids according to drawn race numbers with the low numbers in front.

Heat 1: There were 12 cars in the first heat fighting for the top five positions that would take them to the final.

2 Villars Alfa Romeo 6 Barbieri Maserati 10 Brivio Alfa Romeo 14 Nuvolari Alfa Romeo 18 Balestrero Alfa Romeo 22 Matullo Maserati 26 Uboldi Maserati 30 Orsini Maserati 34 Castelbarco Alfa Romeo 38 Pietsch Alfa Romeo 42 Alloatti Bugatti 50 Nicolotti Maserati

Villars in his Swiss white-red colored Monza took the lead at the start but Nuvolari soon took over command of the race, followed by Brivio, who was driving hard but still unable to challenge his team mate. Nuvolari established a new lap record of 3m14.0s and then eased up to cruise to the chequered flag at an average speed of 144.3 km/h. He was followed by Brivio, Carlo Castelbarco, Pietsch. Villars finished last after having visited straw barricades in one corner.

Heat 2: Rain began to fall, first a drizzle, but during the second heat the rain became heavier and turned into a thunderstorm.

4 Waldthausen Alfa Romeo 8 Ghersi Bugatti 12 Soffietti Alfa Romeo 16 Trossi Alfa Romeo 20 Valpreda Maserati 24 Premoli PBM 28 Landi Maserati 32 Corsi Maserati 44 Minozzi Bugatti 48 Furmanik Maserati

Ten cars took part in heat two where Ghersi in the Scuderia Capredoni Bugatti led during the first lap. He also made the fastest lap of the heat, at 3:20.0. As the conditions got worse due to the persisting rain, Ghersi started to struggle and had to let Minozzi, Trossi and finally also Valpreda by. Due to the flooded roads Minozzi won the heat at a rather slow 118.6 km/h, which was 26 km/h slower than in the finishing speed of the first heat. With medium lap times of 4 minutes 2.8s. Trossi, Valpreda, Ghersi and Premoli were the other four drivers that qualified for the final.

Ebb takes a lucky home victory after early problems.

Finnish driver Ebb took a surprise home victory after having dropped to the rear of the field early in the race due to a forgotten radiator blank that created overheating. Alfa Romeo privateer Bjørnstad had ignition troubles from the start so Widengren in another Alfa Romeo could dominate most of the race. Dahlin was disqualified after persistently baulking several of the competitors. With just eight laps remaining, Widengren who at that point led with almost a lap, made a mistake, spun and stalled his car.

The first 1932 Finnish Grand Prix had been a great success so there was no hesitation to arrange another one in 1933. The organization was now shared between Suomen Automobiili Klubi (SAK) and Helsingin Moottorikerho (HMK). The winner was to receive 30,000 FIM.       The track was improved and the north curve at Nordenskiöldinkatu was rounded off which meant that the circuit became a bit faster and shorter, to a length of exactly 2000 meters. The name of the event was changed for 1933 to Eläintarhanajot (Djurgårdsloppet in Swedish) as most Finns would associate the name with legendary sports events because of the wooden athletics stadium from 1910 in the middle of the track. The names "Eläintarhanajot" (races) and "Eläintarhanajo" (race) seem to have been used inconsequently, the former obviously referring to the whole event including the motorcycle races.       There were also attempts to improve the information systems and spectator service from last year but there was still only one bridge going over the track, creating spectator jams. A new temporary stand was built in the South curve.

Entries: There were one Norwegian, four Finnish and five Swedish entries. It was uncertain whether P.V. Widengren would turn up as rumors said he had considered entering the Targa Florio instead. However he showed up with his blue Alfa Romeo Monza as did Norwegian Bjørnstad with a red Monza. Home favorite Karl Ebb entered a white Mercedes-Benz SSK and Swede Börje Dahlin a yellow-blue one. Keinänen had had his Chrysler totally rebuilt at Philipsons Automobil in Sweden with magnetic ignition and quadruple carburetors added to the engine, which was put into a new chassis from the Hedlund brothers' workshop.       Knut Gustav Sundstedt entered an ex Chiron 1926 Bugatti (4922) bought as rebuilt to a T35B from the factory in 1931. The rest of the field consisted of four Ford specials. Sven Olof Bennström's and Carl-Gustaf Johansson's cars, both built by Swedish Ford, looked much alike. Finnish driver Asser Wallenius entered his famous "tail Ford" and his countryman Niilo Jaakkola entered a Reo-Ford.       The race numbers were announced on 22 April.

Practice: Practice took place on Friday but drivers were ordered to maintain a speed according to the city traffic rules as there obviously wasn't much of crowd control on the track. This hardly satisfied the competitors who also found the track a bit bumpy. Practice started at noon and was planned to continue until 4 p.m. The order to keep the speed down didn't hinder a fatal accident as a small boy ran out in front of a motorcycle. So practice was interrupted at 13.30 with Widengren having set the fastest lap.       Following Monaco's practice the decision was taken to organize the grid according to car speed. As qualifying couldn't take place on the track due to lack of crowd control it was instead held as a 300 m standing start run at a secret place on Friday 4 p.m. without spectators. There were strong rumors that the event should take place at Herttoniemi, some 6 km east of the track and busloads of spectators went there.       However at 4 pm the racing cars gathered together on the Market Square in downtown, created a convoy and went two km westwards to Itämerenkatu/Östersjögatan (Baltic street) a straight street section boarded mainly with wooden fences, timber stores and industrial structures. Police stopped the traffic and the competitors got one attempt each in the order Sundstedt, Ebb, Bennström, Jaakkola, Bjørnstad, Dahlin, Widengren and Johansson. Wallenius was a non starter and Keinänen's car had engine trouble during practice and was away for repairs. When the car finally arrived, Keinänen did his run and was third fastest but was then disqualified for being late. Sundstedt was also disqualified for doing a new start attempt after stalling during his first.

Race: 39797 paying spectators, meaning a grand total of some 43000, arrived to see the race. Some of them were arriving on a train with 35 low sided wagons rebuilt as a moving grandstand.

5 Dahlin Mercedes-Benz 16.7s 1 Ebb Mercedes-Benz 14.9s 9 Johansson Ford 18.0s 8 Bennström Ford 17.3s 3 Bjørnstad Alfa Romeo 19.6s 7 Widengren Alfa Romeo 18.9s 2 Keinänen Chrysler (16.9s) 10 Jaakkola Reo 19.9s 6 Wallenius Ford - 4 Sundstedt Bugatti (18.7s)

When the flag dropped Ebb was fastest away to be followed by Dahlin, Bennström and Johansson. At the end of the first lap Widengren, who had done a bad start and became trapped, had advanced up to fourth. Soon afterwards he moved up to second while Bjørnstad had ignition problems from the start and stopped to change plugs. Ebb's mechanic had covered the radiator with a newspaper when warming up the car, and forgot to remove it before the start, and almost immediately the engine began to overheat. Ebb, unaware of the paper and seeing the smoke, thought the engine had blown and stopped at the end of lap three. After he had removed the paper and returned to the race Ebb had already been passed by Widengren, Keinänen, Bennström, Wallenius, Johansson, Dahlin and Sundstedt.       Widengren now took command of the race and after 5 laps he already led by 24 seconds over Keinänen with the main group following within 10 seconds. Ebb, at the end of the group, was trying to find a way to pass. Ebb went by Sundstedt on lap six while Jaakkola was already falling back and was lapped after eight laps by Widengren.       Keinänen in second place, was now opening up the gap to the main group, lapping 3 seconds per lap faster than them, but had no chance towards Widengren, who after 10 laps led by 27 seconds and was closing in to lap the main group. Bennström fell back and was passed by Wallenius, Johansson and then Ebb. Soon afterwards Ebb managed with some difficulty to advance the big SSK past Johansson and Wallenius into third place leading now the main group just as Widengren caught the end of this bunch.       Bjørnstad was still in trouble and made several stops for repairs. Ebb opened up a gap to the Ford duo of Bennström and Johansson and it took just a few laps for Ebb to reel in the 20 seconds to Keinänen and pass him on lap 18 for second. Widengren in first place, got trapped in a fight between Dahlin, Sundstedt, Bennström and Jaakkola, who was to be lapped for the second time. Widengren was then badly blocked at the end of the main straight by Dahlin's Mercedes-Benz, one in a series of similar maneuvers for which Dahlin was later disqualified. Wallenius, whose engine was not running properly, was passed by Johansson for fourth.       At 20 laps Widengren, who was trying to find a way past the Ford trio of Johansson, Wallenius and Bennström, had a 40 seconds lead over Ebb and Keinänen. He succeeded to do so during the next laps while Ebb was having trouble lapping Dahlin, who constantly blocked his competitors from pulling up alongside. Soon afterwards something seems to have happened in the Dahlin-Sundstedt duel as they both lost some 30 seconds and were re-passed by Jaakkola. It is possible that there was an incident between Dahlin and Sundstedt because Dahlin was black flagged soon afterwards. From then on Sundstedt kept a more constant competitive pace until the end of the race.       At 25 laps Widengren was 47 seconds ahead of Ebb in second place with Keinänen a further 11 s back, both Finns now having lapped Sundstedt. The Ford duo of Johansson and Wallenius was a further 24 seconds behind while Bennström was falling back.       During the next laps not much happened except that Keinänen started to struggle and was lapped by Widengren. Lap 35 brought disappointment for the Finnish spectators as Keinänen retired with carburetor problems and Wallenius' engine failed almost at the same time. Widengren lapped Jaakkola for the third time and now closed in to lap Ebb. At 35 laps the gap between them was down to some 10 seconds and a few laps later Ebb was caught. Both had just lapped Bennström on lap 41 when Widengren tried to put Ebb a lap down by passing on the outside at the "death curve" near the city greenhouses. But Widengren went too wide, a wheel went off road and he spun, stalling the engine. Regardless of numerous attempts with the starting handle, Widengren was unable to restart the Alfa Romeo. A minute later Ebb took over the lead without even realizing it. Bjørnstad finally decided to call it a day and parked his Alfa next to Widengren's while Ebb could cruise home to a surprise victory ahead of Johansson and Bennström.