The Black Day of Monza. Campari, Borzacchini and Czaykowski crashed fatally.

The Gran Premio di Monza of 1933 will always be remembered as the Black Day of Monza. Since the very beginning of automobile sport there had never been a tragedy of such proportions. Three of Europe's greatest racing drivers had crashed fatally within a few hours of each other at almost the same spot in the South Curve: Campari, the most popular driver, the bulky, amiable Giuseppe, then Mario-Umberto Borzacchini, the great driver and famous friend of Nuvolari and finally Count Stanisłas Czaykowski, winner of the heat 1 race and the 1-hour world record holder. Many followers of international motor sport were deeply moved by this disaster, their hearts filled with grief. Campari crashed not due to excessive speed but the desire to remain in first place at whatever cost. He also obstructed poor Borzacchini who did not have sufficient time to react. Czaykowski's crash has never been properly explained. Driver error was a comfortable excuse for organizers and officialdom to hide the inadequacy of the Monza banking with respect to the speed of the cars.       The three heats were won by Count Czaykowski in his 4.9-liter Bugatti, then Balestrero and Lehoux both with Alfa Romeos. Lehoux also came first in the shortened final of the dreadful Monza Grand Prix.

This latest Monza tragedy overshadowed the death of Britain's top driver, Sir Henry (Tim) Birkin and the famous German, Otto Merz, both of whom were killed earlier during the year. Monza had again confirmed its sad reputation as a track of ill fortune. In 1922, just after the Monza circuit had been completed, the German Austro-Daimler driver Fritz Kuhn was killed during training for the Italian Grand Prix. His car was too fast through the turn, went into a skid and rolled several times before throwing out the driver. Two weeks before the 1923 Grand Prix, Pietro Bordino had tested a Fiat 805 with driver Enrico Giaccone as passenger. The car overturned in the North Curve of the high-speed oval. Giaccone was fatally injured while Bordino escaped with neck and shoulder hurt. While practicing for the 1923 Italian Grand Prix, Ugo Sivocci with an Alfa Romeo P1 crashed fatally, as did Count Zborowski in a Mercedes at the following year's Grand Prix. In 1931 Luigi Arcangeli crashed to his death during a practice run with a twin-engine Alfa Romeo. The terrible tragedy on September 4, 1928, during the Grand Prix of Europe at Monza was also unforgettable. Emilio Materassi in his Talbot attempted to pass Foresti's Bugatti on the straight in front of the grandstands. Materassi lost control, the car left the circuit in the direction of the grand stand at top speed and jumped over the three meter deep and four meter wide protection ditch into the crowd. It caused the death of 27 spectators, not counting those who were maimed and injured. Materassi perished as well. This tragic accident had contributed to Monza's reputation as track of ill fortune.       The 1933 Grand Prix of Italy had been postponed to take place on the same day as the Monza Grand Prix. This happened because the circuit was not available earlier due to Monza renovation works resulting in well-fitted pits and new imposing grandstands. However, circuit improvements and modifications to corners were not yet started. During the morning the Italian Grand Prix was held on the old 10 km circuit, comprising the original 4.5 km high-speed oval track as well as the 5.5 km asphalt circuit. The Grand Prix of Monza in the afternoon utilized just the 4.5 km Pista di Velocita. Racecars without weight or engine capacity restriction were permitted at the Monza Grand Prix.       The customary system of three heat races and a final was maintained. Competitors were divided into three separate groups of 10 cars each to start in three separate heat races. Each group had to cover 14 laps, consequently 63 km. The starting grids for the three heats were arranged in Milan on Wednesday evening before the race by means of a special ballot system that had been introduced the year before. Each of the three groups included a former Monza winner and the cars of the different racing teams were distributed amongst the three groups in a way to assure equal strength within each group. The first four finishers of each heat then had the right to start in the final, comprising the 12 best drivers to battle for 22 laps over 99 km.       The Commissione Sportiva des RACI (Royal Italian Automobile Club) and the Società Autodromo di Monza as organizers, were not paying starting money this year. Instead a total of 154,000 lire was allocated for prizes, of which a share of 27,000 lire went to each heat and 73,000 lire to the final of the Monza Grand Prix. The winner of each heat was to receive 10,000 lire, second 7,000, third 5,000, fourth 4,000 and fifth 2,000. The winner of the final was to receive 30,000 lire, second 20,000, third 10,000, fourth 8,000 and fifth 4,000 lire.

Entries: Spectators were looking forward to an entertaining Monza race with great interest because it promised to be a decisive battle between Bugatti, Alfa Romeo and Maserati. Unfortunately the official Bugatti team was unable to start because their new 2.8-liter model was still not ready to race. Private Bugatti drivers comprised Count Stanisłas Czaykowski, the 1-hour world record holder in a 4.5-liter car, plus Earl Howe, Marcel Lehoux and Jean Gaupillat, all in the proven 2.3-liter models. Attilio Battilana came with an older 2-liter model. The famous monopostos from Alfa Romeo and Maserati were also present. Maserati had furthermore planned entering their powerful 16-cylinder car but a driver had not been nominated. Among the many private entries were Count Luigi (Gigi) Premoli in his BMP (Bugatti Maserati Premoli), a special racecar that he had built himself, combining a Bugatti grand prix chassis, gearbox and wheels with a 3-liter Maserati engine and front radiator grill. Biondetti entered his regular Biondetti Speciale, which also utilized a Bugatti chassis with Maserati engine. The logic behind such modifications was evidently the limited power of the Bugatti 2.3-liter engine, which made it practically impossible to contest the lead. The latest 3-liter, 220 hp Maserati power plant had similar external dimensions to the 2.3-liter 180 hp twin-cam Bugatti engine and replaced it with only minor modifications.       An earlier entry list by AUTOMOBIL-REVUE included Giovanni Minozzi (Maserati) and Alfa Romeo drivers Gianfranco Comotti, Guglielmo Carraroli, Raymond Sommer and Luigi Castelbarco. These drivers did not appear in the final list of entries in a later issue of AUTOMOBIL-REVUE with starting numbers already assigned to each driver. The former drivers were no longer shown and instead replaced by Nuvolari, Berrone, Campari, Pietsch and "Helle-Nice".

Practice: Scuderia Ferrari was the first team practicing on Monday. Count Trossi in particular completed several fast laps in his specially built 4.4-liter, 270 hp Duesenberg. On Thursday track activity increased when several other well-known drivers arrived. On this day Taruffi in the Maserati monoposto completed one lap on the 4.5 km speed oval at an average of 210 km/h while Campari also attained excellent times. On Saturday, Borzacchini in the Maserati Biposto established a new lap record with 1m16s, an average of 213.1 km/h.

Heat 1: The first heat was to start at 2:00 PM and the final was scheduled for 5:00 PM, so that by around 5:35 PM the victor of the Monza Grand Prix should have been determined. Nuvolari, and Siena who raced in the morning's Grand Prix were too tired to start in the afternoon. Taruffi had crashed his car in the morning's race, ending up with a bent front axle and Zehender also withdrew from the afternoon's race. Jellen, Gaupillat, Pietsch, Grosch, Aymini and Berrone failed to appear. A brief drizzle before the start had made the track wet. Eight machines were paraded past the grandstands crowd to the starting area, to be lined up eight abreast, as was customary for the Monza Grand Prix.

4 Trossi Duesenberg 10 Premoli BMP 12 Straight Maserati 14 Moll Alfa Romeo 6 Battilana Bugatti 18 Bonetto Alfa Romeo 16 Pages Alfa Romeo 20 Czaykowski Bugatti DNS: 2 Siena, 8 Nuvolari

At 2:10 PM His Excellency Starace, a very high ranking Fascist, gave the starting signal. Premoli, followed by Straight and Trossi had the best start. After the first lap Premoli was leading with his PBM, followed by Straight, Trossi and Czaykowski. Next time the cars passed the pits, Premoli was still in front but Trossi's Duesenberg had moved into second place. Pages had left the speed track at the first curve without damage and retired his Alfa on the grass along the course. On lap three Trossi's Duesenberg and Czaykowski's Bugatti were at the front, thundering closely together past the grandstands. Premoli, Moll and Bonetto had already fallen behind. Czaykowski was in the lead on lap four with Trossi second. This order remained up to lap six with the blue Bugatti in front followed by the red Scuderia Ferrari Duesenberg. During the next lap the Duesenberg broke a piston and consequently spilled part of its 22 kg of oil past the entrance to the 21 degrees banked South Curve. AUTOMOBIL-REVUE reported that Guy Moll, who followed closely, hit the oil slick and went into a terrifying skid, spinning three times around near top speed of about 180 km/h. Just by pure luck his car remained on the track without hitting the retaining wall or bouncing over it. At the end of this lap seven Trossi stopped at his pit. After a quick inspection of the oil leak the mechanics slowly pushed the Duesenberg away. With Trossi out of the race, Czaykowski had no problem and his car completed the second half uncontested in the lead, followed by Moll. Czaykowski with the 4.9-liter Bugatti won at a speed of 181.56 km/h. Moll had established fastest lap at 196.60 km/h and finished second.

After the race the young Moll protested to officials about the dangerous conditions at the South Curve, also called Vedano Curve, where he had spun several times on the oil dropped by the Duesenberg. Whitney Straight warned Earl Howe after this race about a large patch of oil in the middle of the banked turn close to the top.       A report from the October 1933 'Motor Sport' mentions a cloud of smoke belching from the Duesenberg's exhaust and water dropping from it as the car came into the pits. Luigi Orsini wrote 1979 in 'La Scuderia Ferrari' that the reputable journalist Giovanni Canestrini had inspected the Duesenberg's engine after the race and found a collapsed piston and cracked cylinder by its pieces. He discovered no other damage to the crankcase or sump. In later years the Duesenberg's engine was inspected by Doug Nye and Denis Jenkinson; although there was evidence of the breakage, it was inconsistent with a major loss of oil. In any event, it seems rather questionable that the Duesenberg did indeed drop a large amount of oil and it is just as certain that Guy Moll would hardly have taken such action if his spin had been the result of a mere driving indiscretion. It also makes one think why the other five drivers in this heat completed seven further laps without any serious incident. Heat 2: Campari and Borzacchini were the main contenders from the seven-car field of heat two. Campari's Alfa Romeo monoposto had its front brakes removed and smooth-thread tires mounted all around, as was customary for speed track racing. Borzacchini drove the 2-seater 3-liter Maserati, in which Campari had won the French Grand Prix. Like Campari, he also had the front brakes removed from his Maserati and smooth-thread tires mounted. At the drivers' parade before the race, the bulky Campari received boisterous applause that regularly greeted him as the most popular driver in Italy. He had made the announcement that this would be his last race before retirement to pursue a career as an opera singer. The young Borzacchini, at the top of his racing career, was also received with excited shouts from the crowd. The cars were lined up on the starting grid seven abreast.

22 Campari Alfa Romeo 24 Balestrero Alfa Romeo 26 Borzacchini Maserati 28 Barbieri Alfa Romeo 32 Castelbarco Alfa Romeo 34 Hellé-Nice Alfa Romeo 38 Pellegrini Alfa Romeo DNS: 30 Zehender, 40 Gaupillat DNA: 36 Jellen

Following Moll's protest an attempt was finally made to remove the oil while the cars were waiting on the grid. 'L'Auto Italiana' reported, "A saloon car started off around the track with a large broom protruding from a window. We were to learn later that it went to clean the leak from Trossi's Duesenberg oil and to throw sand on it. An insufficient measure since everybody knows that oil cannot be brushed off and sand limits the grip even more." Only these superficial attempts had been made to clear the oil off the track. The organizers did what they could to remove the oil slick and were reasonably successful. The Monza race director had also asked the drivers in writing to be cautious at the South Curve. 'L'Auto Italiana': "The drivers were informed of the oil on the track, but they said, Borzacchini first, that there would be no problem". A certain nervous uneasiness was already noticeable before the heat 2 race when the drivers had to wait at length for the starting signal. The crowd in the grandstands became impatient. They whistled, shouted and stamped their feet.       Two days after this event, on September 12, AUTOMOBIL-REVUE provided the following report of heat 2:       No one who has witnessed that race will forget it quickly. Again the drivers and mechanics push the racecars past the grand stands, the enormous crowd applauds again. Once Campari and Borzacchini become visible in the distance, a great fuss and waving commenced. The contest between these two drivers is anticipated with particular excitement. Campari walks on the right next to his red machine, a happy smile on his round face; he wears a pair of worn, normal trousers, a white jacket... things that are still deep in our memory. He waves with the hand and the spectators scream Campari, Campari!... New applause as Borzacchini, a lanky man passes by; he also waves, sending greetings to the grandstands. Castelbarco, Balestrero, Mlle. Helle-Nice, Barbieri and Pellegrini (all in Alfa Romeos) complete the field.       The restlessness begins already, as a car from the organizers sets off on the track, the occupants equipped with brooms. Only later is one told that thereby the oil patches have partially been removed. The spectators, accustomed to races being run without a hitch, begin to whistle and stamp their feet. The drivers have to wait needlessly for a long time. Finally the loud roar of the engines starts up and the seven machines storm away towards the North turn, headed by Campari. The minute waiting time passes by and to the right the first three appear again, coming out of the South Turn. They are Balestrero, Pellegrini and Mlle. Helle-Nice. Another half minute slips by - - where are the others? Somebody stands; soon the entire grandstand is standing. Calls for Campari and Borzacchini can be heard. Nobody is concerned; yet it is odd that exactly four machines don't come any more and can no longer be seen already on the first lap. The three drivers appear again and now Balestrero gives horrifyingly signs with his hand. Now, all of a sudden, it is realized that something has happened that does not belong in the program. To the right at the turn they begin to run, suddenly a troop of nurses hurries away. Spectators, organizers, mechanics from the pits, all rush along towards the same target. Ambulances appear. It is obvious an accident has happened. Who is still interested to follow the race between the three remaining drivers, when even Balestrero, the leader, quickly stops at the pits to give a report?       The minutes on the grandstands become hours. Nothing is known, the organizers steadfastly keep silent. The press stand shows a nervous hastiness as never seen before. The Italians are pale from dismay. And always the wait, the wait, the monotonous announcements of the loudspeaker reporting about everything except the accident. It takes yet another good half hour before one is informed that Campari and Borzacchini have met with a serious accident and another until it is known that Campari is dead and Borzacchini severely injured. The spectators shout wildly in confusion, everyone asks the other and nothing factual is known until an official delegation of journalists is guided to the accident scene where everything is explained.       Then one knows the deeply disturbing truth, Campari is no longer alive and Borzacchini fights for his life. One hour later somebody comes running to bring the second news of death. No one is at all interested that Balestrero completed the heat in first place ahead of Pellegrini and Mlle. Helle-Nice.       At the delayed start for heat 2 Campari and Borzacchini took the immediate lead heading towards the North Curve. They were closely followed by Carlo Castelbarco and Barbieri, then came Balestrero, Pellegrini and "Helle-Nice". The drivers had not yet finished the first lap when the tragedy took place. Campari and Borzacchini came barreling into the South Curve. They took the corner almost flat out at around 180 km/h.       According to L'Auto Italiana the accident happened near the patch of oil, which was however not involved in the crash. "At the entrance of the South Curve, more or less where the famous oil patch was located, Campari, who was on the right side, swerved to the left towards the top part of the banking, maybe a bit too abruptly, he tried to correct also to avoid hitting the number 15 lamp post, but instead he ran for some time on the top edge destroying the concrete retaining wall and then tumbled over, down the embankment in the ditch below. Borzacchini, who tried to overtake Campari, had to stay on the outside to the left, having seen his line cut across [by Campari's car] might have braked, [the front brakes had been dismounted, so braking at that speed might have had no effect] or attempted to avoid Campari, lost control, slid and flew over the edge. The same might have happened to Castelbarco, who was coming around having overtaken Barbieri. The latter, who had a glimpse of the tragedy, although finding the track empty, but thinking that this had happened because of the oil, took the banked curve very much on the low right side."       Campari's Alfa fell end over end several times down the small embankment, burying the driver. Campari was killed instantly, crushed underneath his inverted car. Borzacchni vaulted over the retaining wall and overturned. He was thrown out of his car against a tree and was giving signs of life. He was brought to the Monza Hospital where he died with a fractured spine, crushed chest and internal hemorrhages shortly after being admitted. His Maserati was not seriously damaged. Carlo Castelbarco's Alfa skidded and overturned also to the outside. The car landed on top of him and he miraculously escaped with only abrasions and a scratch to his chin. Barbieri, who had more time to react, spun his Alfa to the inside of the corner and was not injured at all. Pellegrini's Alfa also spun to the inside of the South Turn without damage and completed the next 14 laps without a problem.       Despite the serious accident, which could not be seen from the grand stands, the race was continued with only three outmoded cars left. These remaining drivers did not know what to do and Balestrero even stopped briefly to find out if they had to carry on. Nothing about the missing cars was being announced over the loudspeakers. The spectators were puzzled and became restless. Later, when Barbieri had returned walking back from the South Curve to the pits, the bad news became known and was carefully announced to the public only after the race had ended. Balestrero won the boring race; Pellegrini was second, followed by Mlle. "Helle-Nice", already lapped by both drivers.       Pondering upon these dreadful events 73 years on, one seeks for the true causes of these tragic accidents. At the time of the race in 1933, the initial reports placed the blame towards the Duesenberg dropping loads of oil at the beginning of Curva Sud (Vedano). This possibility has been later found rather doubtful. There are other and more convincing explanations. One theory was that the first lap of heat 2 was Campari's and Borzacchini's first lap on the circuit that day. They had not driven the course since Saturday practice and went through the already slippery corner near the same speed they had experienced during Saturday practice. Yet, the course was already used up at this time by the 19 cars from the morning's Italian Grand Prix over 50 laps plus eight cars of the 14 laps in heat one. A great amount of rubber and oil was put down from all these oil-dripping racers. Added to this came loose sand to cover the oil patch and some moist track surfaces from a prior drizzle. For all those reasons the corner could simply not provide the adhesion to which the drivers had become used during practice. Both cars - Campari's Alfa and Borzacchini's Maserati had front brakes removed and slick tires mounted. Additionally both contenders from different camps were going to race each other fiercely over those 14 laps, so it was important for each to establish an advantage as soon as possible. Also, what about the 27 drivers who had raced through that corner before? Only one of them had reportedly spun on the slippery course; Guy Moll. Could the cause have been simply overdriving? It effected only the fastest drivers; Guy Moll, Giuseppe Campari, Mario Umberto Borzacchini. The other spins were a consequence of avoiding action on a slippery course. They would have had similar difficulty if there had been no oil at all on the course. It was a relatively narrow track, compared with Montlhery or Brooklands, and the two leading cars were 'all over the place.       The organizers did what they could to clean the track. They warned the drivers beforehand. Other drivers managed to get through safely. The drivers could have withdrawn without penalty. By taking part in the race, they knowingly accepted the risk.

Heat 3: Before the third heat, a drivers meeting was held with lengthy discussions going on and drivers threatening to withdraw. In the meantime another attempt was made to painstakingly clean the Vedano Curve by using brooms to wipe away the oil and scatter sand over it. 'AUTOMOBIL-REVUE' wrote: Should the races be resumed or was discontinuance appropriate? The opinions were split everywhere. The organizers solved the question by having all drivers sign a statement, in which they acknowledged the dangerous condition of the track. In other words, the promoter recognized the danger to continue the races and tried to shift part of the enormous responsibility to the drivers.       Finally, five drivers assembled at the start, which was then aborted with drivers and race management disappearing behind the pits. The restless crowd vented its displeasure with whistles and boos. It seemed certain that the previous oil slick was not the only cause of the catastrophe but rather the obsolete layout of the corners, which did not comply with the high speeds of those modern cars. But the opposing view was that Campari and Borzacchini spun out on the poorly cleaned up oily patch. Others were of the opinion that the cars were not made for track racing and therefore it was not possible for the driver to correct when a mistake was made. Speculation surrounded also removal of the front brakes as a weight savings and that this could have played a role in the crash. It was reported many years later in race reviews that some drivers had indeed refused to start in heat three. Although no further reference was given, only three drivers would then have been involved; Ippolito Berrone, Giulio Aymini and Walter Grosch. They are shown here as DNA because it could not be established if these drivers were even present in Monza.       This third race had to suffer immense delays and the spectators' patience was put to the test. Nothing substantial was announced, they could only wait. A hellish hissing and catcalls started off, the spectators stamped, shouted and kicked up a row. After a colossal delay of about two hours behind schedule, it was decided to run the third heat. Finally amongst the restlessness, the whistles and boos, the drivers lined up five abreast for the start of heat three.

48 Ghersi Alfa Romeo 50 Biondetti MB Speciale 52 Cornaggia Alfa Romeo 58 Howe Bugatti 60 Lehoux Bugatti DNS: 46 Taruffi DNA: 42 Berrone, 44 Aymini, 54 Pietsch, 56 Grosch

Lehoux led Ghersi on the first lap but then Ghersi took the lead until lap six, when he skidded on the oil patch. Thereby he lost time and fell back, while Lehoux secured first place again. He did not relinquish the lead until the finish, followed by Ghersi in second and Biondetti in third place.

Final: A lot of time passed until the siren announced the beginning of the final. The spectators had lost interest; they had been over-excited and agitated. The first four finishers of each heat were now to assemble at the start and since there were just three finishers from heat 2, only 11 cars embarked in the final.

12 Straight Maserati 14 Moll Alfa Romeo 18 Bonetto Alfa Romeo 20 Czaykowski Bugatti 24 Balestrero Alfa Romeo 34 Hellé-Nice Alfa Romeo 38 Pellegrini Alfa Romeo 40 Ghersi Alfa Romeo 50 Biondetti MB Speciale 52 Cornaggia Alfa Romeo 60 Lehoux Bugatti

After the first lap Straight's green Maserati held the lead. He was followed by Ghersi, Lehoux and Count Czaykowski. On lap two the Count ousted Lehoux from third place and after four laps Czaykowski was leading the field ahead of Lehoux. The early laps developed into a two-way battle between those two Bugattis, when Czaykowski established the fastest lap at 187.935 km/h. His blue car was moving so fast that everybody expected the Count to win again. Lap after lap he passed the grandstands leading Lehoux in second place.       But on lap eight, Lehoux thundered past in first place, while Czaykowski was missing. The suspicious crowd became restless. Full of alarm new questions and inquiries arose. Suddenly behind the small forest to the right one could see in the distance at the South Curve a column of dark smoke rising, which widened continuously. After ten minutes it was known that Czaykowski's Bugatti had crashed only 50 meters further along the banking from where the first multiple crash had occurred hours before. The Bugatti went into a wild skid, flipped over the outer edge, where "Czaykowski's head hit a stone lying all by itself in the grass, fracturing his scull". This almost certainly killed him instantly. The Bugatti trapped the driver underneath and caught fire. The car burned out completely with the dead driver underneath. Nobody was able to assist in any way. Finally help arrived and only then could Czaykowski's burned corpse be recovered from the wreckage. With frantic haste the news about the third accident was spread around; the spectators became horror-stricken.       That was the end of the race... Suddenly the cars were flagged off after the completion of only 14 laps, instead of the originally planned to go over 22 laps. And so the race was discontinued unceremoniously. Much disturbed, the masses of spectators left in great haste.       It is not known if Czaykowski's Bugatti or Moll's Alfa had mounted slick tires. Czaykowski's accident took place 50 meter further along from where Campari and Borzacchini had crashed, which would prove that the cause of the Czaykowski crash must have been other than the Duesenberg's oil spill. If his car ended up 50 meter after the oil slick, the accident probably began well before it. At those speeds cars rarely come to a sudden stop - unless they hit a tree. Was he overdriving? We shall never know.