"Williams" dominates the battle on the beach.

Straight in a MG surprises the Italians

Whitney Straight in a MG K3 dominated the four lap 1100cc race leading from start to finish. He was followed by three Italians in their 4-cylinder Maseratis while the French entries disappointed and of them only Dourel (Amilcar) managed to finish the race.

The Coppa Acerbo junior race was for 1100cc cycle cars. Preceding the main race the car was to make four laps for a total of 102 km.

Entries: Five of the entries were the same as at the Coppa Ciano Junior race two weeks earlier. New however were two MG K3 Magnette entries. Whitney Straight raced his black car. The other MG was listed with Bernhard Rubin as driver. Rubin's entry however is controversial as he is not mentioned in the Italian newspapers and it is unclear if he or Earl Howe was the driver.       There were five Italian entries. Three Maseratis were raced by Ferdinando Barbieri, Romano Malaguti and Giuseppe Furmanik. Raffaelle Cecchini raced a Fiat 508 Balilla coupé with a so-called aerodynamic body, license plate Roma 50922, and Alfredo Amato also entered a Fiat Balilla.       There were three French entries: Marcel Boucly (Cozette), Emil Dourel (Amilcar) and Victor Marret (Salmson).

Race: Special trains from Rome, Naples and other cities had transported spectators to Pescara and even while the 1100cc race started early in the morning huge crowds of spectators already lined the course. The cars were lined up as seen below. A film from the event shows that only eight cars were on the grid with Rubin missing.

4 Straight MG 8 Boucly Cozette 12 Barbieri Maserati 14 Dourel Amilcar 16 Malaguti Maserati 18 Marret Salmson 20 Furmanik Maserati 22 Cecchini Fiat

At 8:40 a.m. the flag was dropped by Fascist Party Secretary Achille Starace and the race was on its way. Dourel made a bad start, dropping to last position. Straight immediately took the lead followed by Barbieri and Furmanik. The trio kept well together during the first lap with the order remaining the same at the end of the lap. Straight did the first lap in 12m45.5s (119.3 km/h). At the end of the lap Dourel with his Amilcar made a five minutes pit stop before returning to the race.       During the second lap Straight opened up a gap to Barbieri. Furmanik was still third and Malaguti fourth. Straight's second lap with a time of 12m28s (122.7 km/h) was the fastest of the race.       At the end of the third lap Straight was leading Barbieri by 14 seconds and Furmanik by 25 seconds. Malaguti remained fourth.       Straight eased off a bit during the last lap and he took the victory with Barbieri 12 seconds behind him. Furmanik finished third, Malaguti fourth and Cecchini fifth after a superb effort with his little Fiat. Motor Sport and L'Auto list Rubin, who was not on the grid, as finishing sixth while Automobil Revue, La Stampa and Il'Littoriale have Dourel in sixth position. He was the only French entry to finish the race.       The Italians were unable to understand how a two-seater MG could beat the Maserati monopostos and someone made a protest. However Straight's engine proved to be within the regulations.

Lucky Victory at the Coppa Acerbo

The 1933 Coppa Acerbo far surpassed in importance all previous races held on this circuit, making it also the most significant grand prix race during the 1933 season. After the surprising driver changes within the Italian racing stables, some of them happened just days before this event, the drivers were to meet again for the first time in Pescara, to some extent with other cars. Several uncertainties appeared, creating many rumors that resulted in an unusual interest in the outcome of this race. The early battle among the 16 cars saw Campari in the 2.6-liter Alfa Romeo monoposto of 1932 fame fighting fiercely with Nuvolari in the proven 3-liter Maserati monoposto during the initial laps. This exciting fight came to an end when Nuvolari eventually out-raced Campari, who later crashed his Alfa while trying to keep up with the Mantuan. Fagioli, driving a rather consistent race in the other Alfa monoposto, moved into second place but posed no danger to the leader. Varzi and Dreyfus in 2.3-liter Bugattis could not keep up with those faster monopostos. Nuvolari was without doubt the dominant driver, the stimulating element, who battled magnificently with his Maserati and kept his threatening opponents in check. A big surprise occurred one lap from the end when Nuvolari stopped to fix a mechanical problem, which enabled the surprised Fagioli to take the lead. After resuming the race, Nuvolari was lucky to save second place, narrowly ahead of Taruffi in another Maserati monoposto. Varzi and Earl Howe in their Bugattis finished next while the lapped cars of Pellegrini, Grosch and "Hellé Nice" were flagged off.

Minister Giacomo Acerbo had named the race in honor of his brother Capitano Tito Acerbo, a decorated war hero, who was killed during the last year of WW I. The first race was held in 1924 when Campari burst a tire on his Alfa P2 and had to retire as he carried no spare. Enzo Ferrari in an Alfa RL then won the race from Bonmartini's Mercedes.       The same 25.5 km Pescara circuit was in use for 1933. It was triangular in shape like Reims, consisting of regular roads with all the normal road hazards. The Start/Finish line was outside the seaside resort of Pescara, where the road went straight for about one kilometer along the shore. Before Pescara the course made a wide right turn heading inland for about 11 km along a winding road up into the Abruzzi Mountains. The road led through forests and the hill villages of Villa Raspa, Montani, Spoltore, Pornace and Villa S. Maria, rising to 200 meters above sea level. Then began the descent to Capelle sul Tavo where there was a slow right hairpin exiting under a bridge. From here, the road led into the approximately 11 km long Montesilvano downhill straight to the coast at blistering speed. This was the fastest stretch of the circuit and included a one kilometer timed section, which was on a slightly downhill incline. The Montesilvano straight was followed by a fast right turn at Montesilvano railroad station, which led into the Lungo Mare straight along the coast back to the start and finish. The wide roads were thoroughly tarred and in top condition, allowing the cars to go at maximum speeds along the two enormously long straights. Nuvolari had done the fastest lap in 1932 at an average speed of 147 km/h in the 2.6-liter tipo B Alfa Romeo monoposto.       The Coppa Acerbo was Italy's second most important grand prix race in 1933 and consisted of 12 laps, making a total distance of 306 km. While the Targa Abruzzo race for sports cars had taken place over six laps or 153 km on Sunday, August 13, the Coppa Acerbo was held on the following Tuesday, August 15, which was the biggest summer holiday in Italy. It was called Ferragosto and was a catholic holiday in honor of Madonna Maria (the Ascension of the Blessed Virgin Mary).

Entries: The international entries were first class. For the first time three Maserati 3-liter monopostos appeared, all independent entries for Nuvolari, Zehender and for the first time Taruffi was also seen in a Maserati. He had acquired this 3-liter monoposto with the economic support of two close Roman friends; however, the steering was offset to the right. Borzacchini had followed his friend Nuvolari and appeared for the first time in a biposto 8C 3000 Maserati. This was the car in which Campari had won the French Grand Prix. The other Maserati 8C 3000 was for Bernard Rubin, the same car that Tim Birkin had driven to third place at Tripoli. Whitney Straight arrived with his older two-seat 2.5-liter Maserati and a 1.5-liter Maserati was entered without a driver yet nominated.       Scuderia Ferrari had registered a team of eight cars, foremost two of the 1932 successful 2,6-liter tipo B Alfa Romeo monopostos, which the Portello factory had just released to the Scuderia. These cars were to be driven by the newly named team leader Fagioli, who had recently defected from Maserati, and by Campari, who had just joined the Scuderia after leaving Maserati following his disappointing race at Nice nine days previously. There was a possibility that Chiron, who had crashed his Alfa Monza just nine days before at the Swedish Summer Grand Prix, would also drive one of the Alfa monopostos. Trossi, Carraroli and Tadini were to start in 2.6-liter Alfa Monzas, Brivio and Comotti in 2.3-liter Monzas. Additionally, four separate Alfa Romeo entries with 2.3-liter Monzas were received from Lelio Pellegrini-Quarantotti but entered by Carlo, friends of Taruffi, the two Swiss drivers Rüesch and Grosch and the Italian Siena. There were five Bugattis, not the new 2.8-liter car but all 2.3-liter types, for Dreyfus in a factory car, Varzi in his own red car, plus Earl Howe and Brunet in type 51s and "Hellé Nice" in a 2-liter T35C. Cucinotta was due with a 1.5-liter Talbot, and Rondina with an O.M. Ghersi did not bring his usual Bugatti but arrived with the 2.3-liter Alfa Romeo Monza belonging to Angelo Capredoni from Genoa, which was also Ghersi's home town, and entered under the Scuderia Capredoni banner.       Nine race cars were entered for the small car class up to 1100 cc but only eight started over four laps in the Coppa Citta di Pescara race, which was held the same day before the Coppa Acerbo for the big cars.

Practice: Nuvolari in the famous Maserati monoposto was one of the favorites for the race. Campari had last raced at the Nice Grand Prix where he had finished a disappointed eighth. It was a surprise to see Campari in an Alfa Romeo monoposto, which had been released just days before from the Portello factory. The 2.6-liter tipo B monoposto was not entirely new to Campari since he had raced this successful car in 1932. Therefore it was also no surprise to see that he was faster than team leader Fagioli. In earlier Pescara races Fagioli had always experienced a run of bad luck. The Alfa Romeo monoposto was new to him and it was quite evident that he was not yet familiar with the car and he naturally drove more cautiously. His tactics were to drive a wise and careful race and not such a hasty a race. Campari and Fagioli started for the first time this year in 2.6-liter Alfa Romeo monoposti against Nuvolari, Zehender and Taruffi in 3-liter Maserati monoposti. Not only sportingly but also technically the Coppa Acerbo could thus lay claim to the greatest interest.       A further sensation had almost happened when Scuderia Ferrari had made Varzi an offer to try one of their 2.6-liter monopostos. This invitation was done probably with the best intentions for future rides. Varzi inquired at Molsheim about their thoughts regarding him starting with an Alfa Romeo. The reaction appears to have been very unenthusiastic, because Varzi started in the race with the 2.3-liter Bugatti as usual. However he completed some practice laps in the Alfa Romeo monoposto during which he put in very good lap times. Whether Varzi would stay with Bugatti or possibly return to his home country would be known in the next few months when the first outlines of the new season would be revealed.       The Scuderia Ferrari entries of Trossi, Tadini, Brivio, Carraroli, Comotti and Chiron did not materialize. Likewise Rüesch, Rubin and Cucinotta did not appear for practice and Rondina did not start with the O.M. but remained as reserve driver for Pellegrini. That left just 16 drivers for the race.

Race: Enormous crowds of spectators lined the circuit. The starting grid of sixteen cars was arranged by ballot. As in prior years the cars lined up three per row one behind the other. The road was much too narrow to allow staggered rows of three cars and spectators stood right next to the road. Pole position remained on the customary right side.

28 Howe Bugatti 26 Pellegrini Alfa Romeo 24 Campari Alfa Romeo 38 Taruffi Maserati 34 Varzi Bugatti 30 Dreyfus Bugatti 48 Hellé-Nice Bugatti 46 Zehender Maserati 42 Brunet Bugatti 60 Straight Maserati 52 Nuvolari Maserati 50 Ghersi Alfa Romeo 64 Siena Alfa Romeo 62 Fagioli Alfa Romeo 58 Grosch Alfa Romeo 66 Borzacchini Maserati

The start was set for late Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM when the Duke d'Aosta gave the starting signal. The drivers showed a noticeable impatience and nervousness, which was probably the reason why the front cars took off three seconds early. They accelerated with immense thunder, Campari's red monoposto Alfa Romeo in front, followed by Varzi's red Bugatti, Earl Howe's green Bugatti and Dreyfus in the blue factory Bugatti. Soon the faster cars from behind were catching up. During this first lap Nuvolari passed many cars until he found himself in second place behind Campari.       As they crossed the line at the end of the lap one, Campari's Alfa was right behind Nuvolari's Maserati in 11m03s, then Taruffi five seconds later, another 15 seconds to Fagioli with Varzi four seconds behind him. Zehender and Dreyfus were sixth and seventh, already 43 seconds behind the two leaders. Straight and Ghersi, one second apart, were eighth and ninth, 56s behind the leaders. Howe's time in tenth place was 12m12s, Brunet 14m49s, "Hellé Nice" 15m32s while Pelligrini was thirteenth and Grosch last. Siena had retired somewhere on the road with a mechanical breakdown. Borzacchini got stranded after only 12 km with a seized driveshaft universal joint at his Maserati's gearbox. He borrowed a bicycle on the spot, pedaled along the racetrack and eventually arrived at his pit as a modest cyclist to the amusement of the crowd.       The spectators experienced an unbelievably thrilling duel between the old rivals Nuvolari and Campari. Alternately one or the other was in the lead, neither being out of sight of the other. Behind them Taruffi followed in third place, Fagioli was fourth, Varzi fifth and Dreyfus sixth. Nuvolari finished the second lap in 10m44.4s; his total time was 21m47.4s, equal to 142.545 km/h. Campari followed three seconds behind, Taruffi 11.2 seconds and Fagioli 19.2s. Varzi in fifth place was isolated from the leading group, being 48.2s behind the leader and a time of 22m35.6s. Dreyfus was sixth 23m04.8s, Zehender seventh 23m11.6s, Ghersi eighth 23m45s, Straight ninth 23m46.8s, Earl Howe in tenth stopped at his pit, then came Brunet, Grosch, Pellegrini and "Hellé Nice", who also stopped at her pit, was last.       The exciting duel between Nuvolari and Campari continued during the third lap. In the meantime Campari had again succeeded in passing his opponent. Both leaders dashed around the circuit at high speeds, outpacing the rest. Campari was equal to Nuvolari and showed his old competence as an experienced driver. By the time they passed the grandstands at the end of lap three, Nuvolari had regained the lead with a lap of 10m35.8s. Campari, Taruffi and Fagioli followed. Varzi was fifth, now in tandem with Dreyfus, pursued by Zehender, Ghersi, Howe, Brunet, Grosch, Pellegrini, Straight and "Hellé Nice" last, who pitted once again for spark plugs.       Throughout the fourth lap Nuvolari and Campari raced wheel to wheel and by the time they reached the grandstands Campari had edged by and was half a car's length ahead, a total time of 43m00.6s. Meanwhile Fagioli in the Scuderia Alfa passed Taruffi's privately entered Maserati, but they were already 40 seconds behind the two leaders. After a gap, Varzi came by in the first of the Bugattis followed seven seconds later by his team mate Dreyfus. Then came the stragglers, Zehender, Ghersi, Howe and Grosch in tenth place, each one driving a solitary race. Even further back, Pellegrini and Straight had been overtaken by the leaders and were more than 25 kilometers adrift after only four laps. "Hellé Nice" had also been lapped, but in her case it was due to those two pit stops. Brunet's Bugatti was the third car to retire.       On the fifth lap Nuvolari once more passed Campari, but this time he started to pull away. At Spoltore he had two seconds advantage and at Capelle four. He completed the fifth lap with a six seconds lead. Fagioli failed to close his gap on Campari, so there was no problem with the leading Alfa. It was obvious that Nuvolari must have had something in hand during the first laps. Nuvolari's total time was 53m32s, Campari 53m38.6s, Fagioli 54m17.6s and Taruffi 54m43.4s. Varzi maintained his fifth place, followed by Dreyfus, Zehender and Ghersi who retired at the pits. Earl Howe was in ninth place and then came Grosch, Pellegrini, Straight and "Hellé Nice".       Nuvolari finished the sixth lap in 1h04m08.6s, Campari was eight seconds behind at 1h04m16.4s, Fagioli 1h05m03.8s and Taruffi 1h05m44.8s. Varzi led the midfield in fifth position with 1h06m57.2s, followed by Dreyfus 1h09m11.6s, Zehender 1h10m09s and Howe 1h12m36s. In ninth place was Grosch 1h19m00s, Pellegrini 1h22m45s and then the tail-enders Straight and "Hellé Nice".       After seven laps and a record of 10m31.8s, Nuvolari's total time was 1h14m40.4s, leading Campari by 13 seconds. Fagioli was third in 1h15m41.8s, followed by Taruffi, Varzi, Dreyfus, Zehender, Howe, Pellegrini, Grosch, Straight and "Hellé Nice".       Borzacchini came pedaling on the borrowed bicycle, ending his 13.5 km trip along the racetrack at the finish to the amusement of the spectators. After eight laps Nuvolari had increased his advantage over Campari to 16 seconds in a time of 1h25m13.8s. From now on he was the master of the situation and already at this time nobody had any doubts about his final success. After 16.2 seconds came Campari in 1h25m30s, then Fagioli in 1h27m45.8s, Taruffi in 1h29m0.6s, Varzi in 1h29m07.4s, Dreyfus in 1h31m35.4s, Zehender in 1h33m54.4s and Howe in 1h35m35.2s. Pelligrini, Grosch, Straight and "Hellé Nice" were already lapped.       The ninth lap brought a sensation, which improved Nuvolari's position even further. While Campari was chasing after Nuvolari's Maserati for first place, his Alfa Romeo left the road at the proximity of Spoltore and he was thrown out of the car. Two doctors were near the crash site and luckily determined only very light injuries of Campari. Earl Howe mentioned in The Motor 1933 October issue that "Campari took a corner too fast, his car ran up a bank and overturned; fortunately he was not badly hurt. I nearly hit his car, the presence of which I had no warning."       Because of Campari's ill fortune, Fagioli inherited second place but was still 1m11s behind the leader, who completed the ninth lap after 1h35m50s, followed by Fagioli in 1h37m01s and Taruffi in 1h37m48s. Varzi was now fourth in 1h39m14s, and then after much delay came Dreyfus, then Zehender and Howe, while Pelligrini, Grosch and "Hellé Nice" were already lapped. Straight had retired along the track with some mechanical breakdown.       From the tenth lap on, Nuvolari no longer forced the race and everybody was convinced of his earned final victory since Fagioli posed no danger to the leader due to his very steady driving. Zehender was involved in a light crash, when he left the road and retired. Dreyfus encountered a strange incident on the first long straight at top speed. Earl Howe in The Motor 1933 October issue described, "Dreyfus who was driving a Bugatti, had a rather curious accident. He was hit in the middle of the forehead by a bird while going at full speed: he was completely stunned, but was just able to keep control of the car and keep it on the road." Nuvolari finished the tenth lap in the lead, Fagioli second and Taruffi third. Varzi's and Earl Howe's 2.3-liter Bugattis remained in good positions until the end, although they were inferior to the monoposti cars. The injured Dreyfus in sixth position retired at his pit. Next were Pelligrini, Grosch and "Hellé Nice", driving consistent and safe races.       At the end of the eleventh lap the grandstand crowd was expecting Nuvolari to arrive for the last lap, when suddenly, to the immense surprise of everybody, the red Alfa Romeo monoposto of Fagioli came whistling past the Start/Finish line. What had happened? Then 39 seconds later came Nuvolari's Maserati monoposto very slowly towards the pits with a temporarily seized driveshaft universal joint. The Maserati mechanic Guerino Bertocchi poured a bucket of water over the hot and smoking drive shaft to cool off the seized universal joint. Nuvolari then resumed the race in a mighty cloud of steam and smoke. In no way did he have a chance for victory because Fagioli had disappeared long ago. But Nuvolari drove like a man possessed and his effort was only good enough to save second place, just ahead of Taruffi in the other Maserati monoposto.       Nuvolari finished 2m26s after Fagioli and only 3.2 seconds ahead of Taruffi in third place. The spectators gave Nuvolari enthusiastic shouts of acclamation and celebrated him as the moral victor of the day. AUTOMOBIL-REVUE reported that after his arrival when Fagioli was tumultuously celebrated as winner to the tones of the national anthem, he was said to have shouted:" Però il vero vincitore è Nuvolari!" ("But the true victor is Nuvolari!") Everybody was equally convinced about the fact that Nuvolari was actually the moral victor of the race. He had also set the new lap record on the seventh lap in 10m31.8s, an average speed of 145 km/h.       Varzi finished a distanced fourth, 4m25s behind the winner and Earl Howe also completed the 12 laps but was 14m18.4s behind Fagioli. Pellegrini had been lapped once and was flagged off, as were Grosch, twice lapped, and "Hellé Nice" three laps behind.

Two in a row for Fagioli

The Comminges Grand Prix on the shortened course got off in a bad way when five top drivers made late cancellations, creating disappointing holes in the entry list. Fagioli led the race from the first lap to the last in his Scuderia Ferrari P3 Alfa Romeo and was in his own class. The only one that came close to challenge him during the first laps was Etancelin in an Alfa Romeo Monza. Then Fagioli easily opened up a huge gap and held it for the rest of the race. Etancelin had a miserable five minute refuelling stop, falling from second place to fifth behind the Alfa Romeo Monzas of Wimille, Moll and von Waldthausen.

Since 1925 the Automobile Club du Midi had arranged a motor week in August featuring a Grand Prix race on the magnificent 27 km long circuit between St Gaudens and Montrejeau. The problems with marshalling such a long track and holding the two bridges clear became too much of a burden and in 1933 the road circuit was replaced by a shorter 11 km course on the north side of the Garonne river. The new track turned right in an adversely cambered hairpin near the Valentine bridge and went westward in a series of hard twists before joining the old track near Villeneuve. The 12 km straight had now shrunk to a "mere" 5 km. The shorter course also had the advantage that spectators were to see the cars more often. Much work was done to get the new circuit in order and the organizers made their very best to arrange a fine race. Among other things the old wooden grandstands were replaced by modern concrete constructions.

Entries: In contrast to previous years the 1933 Comminges GP featured an excellent list of entries.       Tazio Nuvolari and Mario Borzacchini were to drive their Maserati 8CMs as was last year's winner Goffredo Zehender (#3006).       Scuderia Ferrari entered their two new drivers, Giuseppe Campari and Luigi Fagioli, after both had defected from Maserati. They were to drive the P3 Alfa Romeo monopostos, recently released to the Scuderia, after having been locked up at the Portello factory since the beginning of the season.       There were Alfa Romeo Monza entries by Swiss drivers Julio Villars and Horst von Waldthausen, Penya Rhin winner, Chilean Juan Zanelli, Monegasque Louis Chiron with his blue-white Scuderia CC car, Raymond Sommer and Jean-Pierre Wimille racing as a team, "Phi-Phi" Etancelin and Pierre Félix. Last year's runner up, Algerian Marcel Lehoux had just changed from Bugatti to Alfa Romeo Monza and his protégée, the talented Guy Moll, was also to race in a Monza.       Count Czaykowski brought his big 5 liter Bugatti T54 while 2.3 liter Bugattis were entered by Jean Gaupillat, Raoul Miguel and Hungarian Lazlo Hartmann. Upcoming driver Whitney Straight with a Maserati 26M added to an impressive list that would fit even a Grande Épreuve.       Sadly, just before the event five drivers withdrew their entries. Among them were four of the absolute favourites. First Zanelli announced he was a non entry because his new car was not ready. Two days before the race Campari and Chiron withdrew their entries. Chiron's car was still undergoing repairs after the bad crash at the Swedish Summer GP, while Campari had been slightly injured at Coppa Acerbo. He preferred to have a rest and take care of his injuries (perhaps not an unwise decision remembering what had happened to Sir Henry Birkin less than two months earlier).       Then on Saturday 19th, just 24 hours before the race, the Maserati duo Nuvolari and Borzacchini gave, via telegram the devastating news they would not be able to reach Comminges in time. That was quite controversial since the drivers must have been well aware of the race calendar with Comminges coming up just five days after Coppa Acerbo and Marseille a week later. Already on Wednesday they should have been aware of the fact that they would not come.       That news was a catastrophe for the organizers who had relied heavily on those two drivers in the advertising for the race. Naturally the French press was infuriated and had a field day in accusing both the organizers and especially the Italian drivers.       That left Fagioli as the only real foreign "big gun" in the field and the clear favourite.

Practice: The organizers adopted the new method, introduced at Monaco, to arrange the grid according to practice times.Therefore practice gained some importance even if not all drivers fully realized it.       The practice sessions were dominated by the Alfa Romeos. During Friday practice Guy Moll was fastest putting in a 4m45s lap, corresponding to a speed of 139 km/h. Von Waldthausen was second fastest and Villars third.       During Saturday practice Wimille improved the fastest time to 4m29s (147.2 km/h) and take pole position. Etancelin was second, with a one second slower time, followed by Moll, Sommer and Lehoux. Fagioli did not seem to be in a hurry, his best lap in the P3 was 12 seconds slower than Wimille in the Monza.

Race: After the motor cycle classes raced in the morning, it was time for the cars. They were lined up in 3-2-3 formation with pole man Wimille on the right side.

26 Moll Alfa Romeo 4m34s 12 Etancelin Alfa Romeo 4m30s 18 Wimille Alfa Romeo 4m29s 40 Fagioli Alfa Romeo 4m41s 10 Lehoux Alfa Romeo 4m41s 16 Sommer Alfa Romeo 4m40s 6 Villars Alfa Romeo 4m48s 8 Waldthausen Alfa Romeo 4m41s 30 Czaykowski Bugatti 4m41s 20 Gaupillat Bugatti 5m56s 38 Miquel Bugatti 5m10s 28 Félix Alfa Romeo 5m06s 22 Zehender Maserati - 32 Straight Maserati - 24 Hartmann Bugatti -

When the flag dropped Etancelin from the middle of the first row was fastest away to take the lead but was soon passed by Fagioli in the Scuderia Ferrari car.       Fagioli was first back over the start line with a 100m lead, having completed the first lap in 4m36s (143.5 km/h). He was followed by the Alfa Romeo Monzas of Etancelin, Wimille, Lehoux, Moll, von Waldthausen and Zehender in the Maserati.. Both Felix and Sommer had problems with their engines and turned into the pit, Sommer retired on the spot.       Etancelin did not give up but managed during the next laps to close in on Fagioli and actually come up beside him once. On the fourth lap Fagioli put his foot down and started to pull away despite Etancelin's best effort to keep in touch. After five laps Fagioli was leading Etancelin by 9 seconds. Wimille was 18 seconds behind, Moll 24 and von Waldthausen 31 seconds. Meanwhile Gaupillat had retired.       Zehender, who had started from the back of the grid was making excellent progress and was third behind Etancelin. Then, after the sixth lap Zehender spun and stalled his Maserati. A spectator rushed uninvited out on the track and started to push the car with the result that Zehender immediately was disqualified.       During the next laps not much changed in the order. Fagioli pulled away from Etancelin and Lehoux fell back with gearbox troubles, pitted and lost a lap. Fagioli continued pushing and drove the fastest lap of the race with a time of 4m29s. After the 13th lap he decided he held enough of a lead and concentrated just on maintaining the distance to Etancelin.       Count Czaykowski retired with engine troubles as did Whitney Straight and Lazlo Hartmann. Pierre Félix was out of the race as well.       After the midpoint of the race the planned fuel stops started. On the 22th lap Etancelin and Wimille came in together. Wimille was fast away but Etancelin's Monza refused to start. For five minutes Etancelin struggled before he finally was able to return to the race, having dropped to fifth position and losing a lap to Fagioli.       Fagioli was leading by several kilometres from Wimille, who had now taken over second position, ahead of Moll. A light rain started to fall at the end of the race but with the huge gaps existing between the drivers they could take it easy. Fagioli took a dominant victory, his second in two starts for Scuderia Ferrari. He was followed by Wimille and Moll. Von Waldthausen was fourth, a lap down, followed by Etancelin in fifth position. The three remaining finishers, Villars, Miguel and Lehoux, who had had an unlucky debut with his Monza, were several laps behind.

Chiron victorious at Miramas but only after Nuvolari's demise.

The Marseille Grand Prix, held on the famous Miramas oval course, was one of the fastest events staged this year. The race resulted in a sensational victory for Chiron in the Alfa Romeo monoposto. The Monegasque demonstrated that given the right machine he could again demonstrate his old brilliance. After an early battle between Borzacchini, Nuvolari, Dreyfus, Chiron, Fagioli and Zehender, it was Nuvolari in the Maserati monoposto who eventually maintained the lead until his car broke down near the end of the race. This left the lead between the Alfa Romeos of Chiron and Fagioli. Baron von Waldthausen crashed in the first quarter of the race and the injured driver was taken to the hospital where he died within two hours.

The well known race circuit was located just a few kilometers north of Miramas, which was situated north-west of Marseille. It had been built at great expense for the 1924 Provence Grand Prix. These races took place at this venue annually for the next three years, but after the ruinous 1927 fiasco, the course remained dormant because the promoting company had collapsed due to their poor speculation. Only through the initiative of the A.C. de Marseille could races at Miramas again be held in 1932. The creator of this track, the well known race driver Paul Bablot, had died in December 1932. The 1933 race was the second Grand Prix of Marseille at Miramas. The flat 5.049 kilometer oval track easily allowed speeds of up to 200 km/h, which made it one of the fastest events of 1933. The circuit had to be lapped 100 times, resulting in a total distance of 504.9 km.

Entries: Although the Albi Grand Prix was held the same day, the international participation of drivers at Miramas was first class. Half of the entries came from drivers who had raced the preceding weekend at Comminges and they drove from there straight to the Marseille track. Amongst them -in finishing order- were the victorious Fagioli, then Wimille, Moll, von Waldthausen, Etancelin, Villars, also Lehoux, Sommer and Félix all of these nine drivers being in Alfa Romeos. Laszlo Hartmann and Gaupillat brought their Bugattis from Comminges and Zehender his Maserati monoposto. Nuvolari appeared with a new works Maserati monoposto and Borzacchini in the Maserati biposto. Campari was also expected to show up in a Maserati. A great surprise was sprung when Chiron, who had recently joined Scuderia Ferrari, appeared in one of the successful Alfa Romeo monopostos. It was expected that he would now finish the season better than it had started for him, when, as an independent driver, he had encountered various setbacks. As already mentioned, Ferrari also entered Fagioli, plus a further as yet unnamed third driver. Additional Alfa Romeos turned up for Rolland, Zanelli and Minozzi. A Bugatti was entered for Mlle. Hellé Nice and another one by Angélo but the factory entry of Dreyfus in the big 4972 cc Type 54 Bugatti was completely unexpected. The Frenchman declared in his memoirs "My Two Lives", that, since the car was late being prepared, he got into it the minute it was ready and drove it about 600 kilometers over bad country roads from Molsheim to Marseille. His mechanic followed in a Type 40 pick-up truck (Cammionette) with spares and equipment.

Practice: Judging from the practice results, Nuvolari in the quick Maserati monoposto was the favorite to win the race. He was three seconds faster than anybody else, which included the highly praised Alfa Romeo monopostos. On both practice days Nuvolari achieved the fastest lap and reached an average speed of 208.9 km/h. The next fastest drivers were Borzacchini in the Maserati biposto and Moll in his Monza. Chiron in the monposto Alfa ended up in a lowly tenth spot on the grid, possibly saving his car for the race.

Race: Sunday morning was reserved for motorcycle races. The whole event became a great success in front of an estimated 50,000 spectators. The Grand Prix started at 3:00 PM and the 17 cars left the grid as follows:

12 Wimille Alfa Romeo 1m32s 20 Moll Alfa Romeo 1m30s 4 Borzacchini Maserati 1m30s 2 Nuvolari Maserati 1m27s 14 Zehender Maserati 1m36s 38 Etancelin Alfa Romeo 1m36s 36 Dreyfus Bugatti 1m34s 34 Fagioli Alfa Romeo 1m32s 32 Angélo Bugatti 1m42s 24 Waldthausen Alfa Romeo 1m39s 42 Chiron Alfa Romeo 1m37s 8 Lehoux Alfa Romeo 1m37s 18 Hartmann Bugatti 1m54s 26 Félix Alfa Romeo 1m46s 22 Villars Alfa Romeo 1m45s 10 Sommer Alfa Romeo 1m45s 28 Hellé-Nice Bugatti 1m58s

Guy Moll in the first row had the best start, chased by Borzacchini and Etancelin, but by the completion of the first lap Chiron was in front trailed by Nuvolari and Borzacchini. The speed increased continuously. On lap three Nuvolari took top spot but was again passed by Chiron. Nuvolari, Dreyfus and Borzacchini were then right behind. Nuvolari managed to grab the lead on lap five, followed by Chiron, Dreyfus and Fagioli, who had worked himself into fourth place. The spectators witnessed a frantic battle for the lead. On the next lap, to the great applause of the crowd, Dreyfus hustled into the front where he remained for three circuits.       On lap ten, Nuvolari again occupied first place. Dreyfus and Chiron followed right behind, pursued by Zehender and Fagioli. This leading group was never separated by more than 100 meters. For the spectators the race was a first-rate spectacle with the lead changing very often. Nuvolari was in front again on lap 15. An award was paid to the leader at the end of every fifth lap and he had made sure of winning the first three. After 20 laps Chiron was in front, shadowed by Nuvolari, with a time of 32m40s, at an average speed of 185.4 km/h. They had a five seconds advantage over Dreyfus, eight seconds over Fagioli and ten over Borzacchini. The lead had changed constantly and it continued to do so during the following laps until round 25, when Nuvolari led again trailed by Chiron and Dreyfus. The same pattern continued after 30 laps. Nuvolari held the lead at an average of 185.6 km/h with Chiron right behind him. Dreyfus followed in a waiting position three seconds further back. Sommer retired with a leaking tank and Angélo with ignition problems. However, after the first third of the race Chiron had again worked himself to the front.       After lap 34 it became known at the grandstand that Baron von Waldthausen had crashed and broken a leg. Due to a burst tire on lap 20, his Alfa had overturned in the South Curve. The severity of the accident trickled through the public address system only gradually. The driver was brought to the nearby hospital at Salon-de-Provence.       On lap 42, Nuvolari was again in the lead and slowly established an advantage over his followers. Several cars had made pit stops for tires and fuel, including the leading group, causing front runners to fall back. Consequently Borzacchini found himself in first place, which he abandoned when entering the pits on lap 51. After lengthy and futile attempts to get going again his car was ultimately retired due to a broken wheel hub. By then Nuvolari had long gone into the lead, chased by Fagioli, Etancelin, Chiron, Moll and Dreyfus. Etancelin may have found himself in third place due to pit stops by the main contenders, which elevated him near the front. Nuvolari stopped on lap 52 for 1m57s to change four wheels, refuel and get a refreshing drink during this hot race. In the meantime Fagioli's Alfa Romeo had moved into the lead and it took Nuvolari until lap 60 to catch up with him. Moll trailed close behind, Chiron was 35 seconds further back and Zehender one minute. The latter, who had been struggling with his Maserati, stopped at the pits so that Parenti could relieve him for a while.       Dreyfus, the great hope of the large crowd, lost a wheel on lap 56 at a speed of 200 km/h. Only by pure luck did the driver escape a serious accident. AUTOMOBIL-REVUE reported that the wheel, rushing from the track, slightly injured a woman spectator on her arm. Dreyfus, in his memoirs "My Two Lives", states that in one of the two curves he spun several times after losing a wheel, but his car luckily remained on the track. This was not the case with Baron von Waldthausen whose car had spun off the course and turned over on the opposite curve of the oval. After the race Dreyfus and his mechanic inspected the stricken Bugatti. Only then did he learn that the hub had sheared off as well and had flown off the track, landing about 500 meters away where it crashed through the fabric top of a parked touring car.       Etancelin retired on lap 61 with injuries to his left thigh, received from a protruding metal edge of his seat. On lap 70 Nuvolari had four seconds advantage to Fagioli and 1m09s to Chiron. Fagioli then stopped on lap 72 for new tires, which advanced Chiron to second place. At this time it appeared that Nuvolari would be the victor of the race. But then his race ended all of a sudden on lap 80 when he had to stop with a broken rear axle hub. With this retirement the race had lost some of its excitement because the battle between Maserati and Alfa Romeo was unexpectedly decided. Chiron and Fagioli in their Alfa monopostos then battled alternately for the lead.       On lap 91 Chiron made a quick stop at his pits to have the left rear wheel changed in 24 seconds, which enabled him to keep first place ahead of Fagioli. Yet after a few laps the Italian succeeded in passing Chiron, leading on lap 95. Both cars remained very close together until Fagioli had to stop for more fuel. Chiron found himself again in front and was able to hold the lead till the end. He won the race with an advantage of 70 seconds over Fagioli. The Monegasque, who had experienced many disappointments and defeats this year, was celebrated with the greatest enthusiasm and he was naturally very pleased with the outcome of the race. After having driven and won for nine years with Bugatti, this was Chiron's first victory with Alfa Romeo. Moll, who was four laps behind, was fastest of the many 2.3-liter Monzas in third place, followed by Wimille who had been relieved for some laps by Sommer. The Zehender/Parenti combination came fifth and Lehoux sixth. Hartmann was seven laps behind in seventh place, Félix was ten laps behind and Hellé Nice was the last finisher in ninth place, 29 laps short. Nuvolari established the fastest lap, which was exactly two seconds slower than his fastest lap the year before, when he won in one of the Alfa Romeo monopostos. Surprisingly, Zehender had equaled Nuvolari's time of 1m32s.

Veyron wins again

Braillard scores while Straight spins

The first Albi Grand Prix proved to be a great success even if only eight cars took part in the Grand Prix race. The Grand Prix drivers refused to race together with the voiturettes so the organizers had to do a late decision to run two races instead of one. Swiss Bugatti driver Braillard immediately took the lead and held it to the finish. Straight in a Maserati was able to challenge Braillard but spun and lost a minute but held on to a second position from Falchetto.

Albi is a town in southern France about 60 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the capital of the Tarn dèpartement located between the mountains and the river Tarn.       In 1928 some friends from Albi decided to organize a sports event for cars. To support this they decided to create the Moto Camping Club Albigeois (M.C.C.A.). The result of their planning was a rally type of event named the "Circuit du Tarn" held in 1929. In 1930 the club decided to go further without leaving the circuit idea. With the help of the Automobile Club du Midi at Toulouse they organized a hillclimb for cars and motor cycles at a suburb of Albi under the name "Course de côte de Mascabrières" (literally: course of the house of goats). Winner of the 1930 hill climb was Lormand in a Bugatti. Bugatti proved to be the winning car also when the event was repeated in 1931, this time with Miquel behind the steering wheel, and in 1932 when Lormand was victorious for a second time. By then the decision had been made by the M.C.C.A. to go even further and organize a real Grand Prix race at Albi and they managed to realize that plan in 1933.       Under the direction of club president Francois Flad a lot of planning and work were done throughout the winter 1932-33 and continued until the race took place in August. First of all a fitting place for the event had to be selected and a suitable section of roads was found northeast of Albi on the open fields near the river Tarn. The circuit was 9226 m long and was triangular shaped with sharp corners combining the straights. The corner nearest to Albi was known as Les Planques. From there the race track followed road nº 100, twisting through St. Antonie, and climbed to the little town of St. Juery, where a tight hairpin led the track into regional road nº 69 southwards over a railroad level crossing and a hump. The long fast sector was followed by another tight curve at Montplaisir that led the track to national road nº 99, where another fast sector led back to Albi and Les Planques. On the straight between Les Planques and St. Antonie grandstands were built and on the opposite side of the track pits and garages were raised. The roads had to be widened and the level crossings at St. Juéry and Montplaisir had been improved.

Entries: Plans were made to have a combined race for Grand Prix cars over two litre and the 1.5 litre voiturettes. There were several entries but in the end only eight Grand Prix cars arrived to face seven voiturettes. Straight entered his Maserati to challenge seven Bugattis. Four of the Bugattis were French entries: Delorme, Jacob, Falchetto and Couzinie. Polish nobleman Czaykowski and Swiss Braillard both had Bugattis painted in red and white to show the national colors even if the color scheme of the cars naturally was totally different. The Bugatti of Spaniard Léoz-Abad was probably red with yellow bonnet. Pierre Félix with an Alfa Romeo Monza was definitely a non starter and probably did not show up at all. The voiturette entries consisted of four Bugattis, two Amilcars and a single Maserati.

Practice: The Saturday practice session decided the grid positions. Qualifying proceeded without any incidents and Straight and Braillard proved to be fastest to take the grid positions on row one.       However, a problem had turned up. Possibly the drivers had heard from Straight about the fatal crash at the Swedish GP three weeks earlier where racing classes had been mixed. Anyway, the Grand Prix drivers were not satisfied to have to race together with the voiturette class. Negotiations followed but when they failed to achieve any results by Saturday evening, Czaykowski, Braillard and Falchetto decided to send a joint written ultimatum to M.C.C.A. Either there would be changed plans or the drivers would refuse to start. Faced with the seriousness of the situation, the organizers had to give in. They decided to divide the race into two. A 12 laps race for the voiturettes would be followed by a 22 laps race for the cars over two litre.

Race: On Sunday morning the sky was gray but soon it was clearing up. A huge crowd turned up with about thirty-five thousand eager spectators arriving to see the greatest event of the year in the Albi region. The city of Albi had never seen anything quite like it before. There were people all over the town and track and the small town of St. Juéry had suddenly for a day almost doubled its population.       When the spectators arrived at the track they found to their surprise and joy that they, apart from the motorcycle race, would be watching not only one but two car races.       At 10.45 the motor cycles in three classes departed for the race that would go on for almost two hours. At 14:55 the voiturettes were started and that race was won by Veyron. Finally it was time for the eight big-engined cars to line up on the grid according to their lap times during practice.

18 Braillard Bugatti 6 Straight Maserati 16 Falchetto Bugatti 2 Czaykowski Bugatti ? Bugatti ? Alfa Romeo ? Bugatti ? Bugatti

At approximately 16:15 Mr. Azemar, president of the management Committees of the circuit of the Comminges, waved the flag to start the Grand Prix. Braillard immediately took the lead followed by Straight, Falchetto, Czaykowski, Jacob, Delorme, Couzinie and Leoz-Abad.       On the first lap Falchetto passed Straight for second. During the next laps the leading trio opened up a gap to Czaykowski in fourth position.       On the third lap Couzinie spun his Bugatti, lost a lot of time, and was never able to catch up again with the rest of the field.       Slowly Braillard in the lead opened up a gap over Falchetto and Straight, who continued to fight for second position, with Czaykowski further back leading the rest of the field.       On the ninth lap Straight tried to pass Falchetto, failed, then tried once more and passed the Bugatti right in front of the grand stand to the thrill of the spectators. Straight then did his best to reel in Braillard while Falchetto had no chance to keep up with Straight's pace and quickly started to fall behind. Straight then closed in on the leader and while doing so he drove the fastest lap of the race with a time of 3 minutes 44 seconds.       On lap 15 Spanish driver Leoz-Abad had to call it a day. On the next lap Straight finally reached Braillard's Bugatti and was able to challenge for the lead. But while trying to overtake at the sharp Les Planques corner Straight overdid it and spun to the disappointment of the spectators, who by now seemed to have taken the American driver to their own after his spectacular drive. Straight's Maserati remained stalled for about a minute and Falchetto was dangerously approaching, but finally Straight managed to get his car going again and avoided losing his second position. However, with just six laps remaining he had now lost any chance to challenge Braillard for the lead again.       On lap 18 the race lost another competitor as Count Czaykowski retired his Bugatti with technical problems. With four laps to go there were now only six cars left in the race.       Braillard, well clear of the rest, could control the race and cruise towards the flag. In the end he could let the gap to Straight drop to six seconds but Braillard was never in any real danger. The crowd made a formidable ovation for the victor but Straight got his fair share of applauses as well. The duo was followed home by four French drivers, Falchetto in third position, Jacob fourth, Delorme fifth and Couzinie sixth.       After that Swiss victory racing was over for that day and the thirty-five thousand spectators returned home, satisfied of having seen a great event.