Chiron's third victory at the Masaryk Circuit

The fourth international race at the Masaryk circuit attracted entries from almost all top drivers. After the Monza tragedy the prior weekend, some cancellations came in and other drivers just did not appear, leaving a field of only 16 cars. Chiron held the lead from the first to last lap on a very wet and slippery circuit, causing the challenging drivers Pietsch and Moll to crash while the retirements of Steinweg, Lehoux and von Brauchitsch were caused by mechanical problems. Eight cars survived, led by Chiron and Fagioli in the superior Alfa Romeo monopostos followed by Wimille in an Alfa Monza. The Bugattis of Dreyfus, Hartmann, Pohl and Kubiček finished in fourth to seventh places with the Alfa Monza of Balestrero in eighth.       The 17 small machines up to 1500 cc raced simultaneously with the grand prix cars but had their own separate battle. Burggaller (Bugatti) dominated till a fuel stop on lap eight when Landi (Maserati) took the lead. After Landi and Hamilton (MG) crashed, Burggaller regained the lead and finished first ahead of Sojka, Rüesch and Knapp. Due to the slippery circuit, there were many crashes including eight injured drivers.

The CAMS or Ceskoslovensky Automobilovy Klub pro Moravu a Slezsko (Czechoslovakian Automobile Club for Moravia and Silesia) organized their fourth international automobile race on the Masarykův okrůh (Masaryk Circuit). Within the short time of three years the race had grown in European significance and this year once again received entries from the best international drivers. The rather difficult 29.142 km circuit just outside the boundary of Brno went counterclockwise along Czechoslovakian state and district roads, comprising 36 left-hand corners and 47 to the right. It had a maximum incline of 7% and a maximum decline of 9.5%. The first 18 km to the village of Ostrovačice was formed primarily of winding, hilly and rather narrow district roads. This section was rich in ascents and descents, leading through the four villages of Nový Lískovec, Pisárky outside Brno, Kohoutovice, Žebětin and its wonderful forest areas. From Ostrovačice the circuit turned back, and the last 11 km were almost all straight state roads past Popuvky, Veselka and Bosonohy. They allowed driving at top speed except for a rather annoying stretch of a few kilometers at Iglau, which contained structural faults consisting of long waves in the road surface, which made it impossible to drive at top speed. The general condition of the circuit was about the same as the year before with spot road repairs carried out for the race, which would not prevent further decay.       The race cars were divided into group I for cars over 1500 cc and group II up to 1500 cc. The group I cars had to complete 17 laps or 495.414 km, while the smaller cars had to do only 15 laps or 437.130 km. The overall winner was to receive the challenge trophy that was named after the Czechoslovakian Republic's first Minister-President, Thomas Garrigue Masaryk plus the prize money of 80,000 CSK (Koruny), the second 40,000, and the third 20,000, plus a golden badge for each of the first three. Additionally, there were prizes for the first three in group II of 15,000, 10,000, 5.000 CSK, plus a silver badge for each. For the fastest lap in each group the J. A. Bata Tire Company in Zlin, awarded a monetary prize of 5,000 CSK. A few days before the race, this company placed 140,000 Koruny total prize money as reward for achievements on their tires. The best car of group I on Bata tires would receive 100,000 CSK and 20,000 CSK for the best Czech driver. From the small cars, the first on Bata tires received 15,000 CSK and the best Czech driver 5,000 CSK. The Czech drivers impulsively raced Bata tires and especially the Czech Group II drivers, racing cars up to 1500 cc, had no contracts with other tire companies. Most drivers from group I and even Scuderia Ferrari had existing tire contracts and could not change within a few days.       The regulations of the event demanded that in each group the race would end when a car crossed the line after its class winner had completed the race. The car would then be flagged off. Cars that were more than two laps behind the group winner would not be classified. This sensible new provision was to stop the boring lap completion of the cars, way behind the leaders, and hardly noticed by spectators. This regulation also assured that the race would end a few minutes after the winners of each group had finished the race. In case of a jumped start, a three-minute penalty would be added to the total time for every second gained at a jumped start.

Entries: In Group I there were 11 Bugatti entries, of which René Dreyfus was the only one from Molsheim. This was also the last time that the factory entered the outmoded 2.3-liter Type 51. Marcel Lehoux and Jean Gaupillat were two further T51 entries from France while Achille Varzi and Attilio Battilana came from Italy. Edgard Markiewicz, who started under the pseudonym "Marko", was from Switzerland and had previously raced his Bugatti at the Belgian Grand Prix. The German Rudolf Steinweg entered his 2.0-liter Bugatti T35C, which was the winning car of the 1930 Masaryk race, purchased from Prinz zu Leiningen. Local driver Zdeněk Pohl came from Prague and was probably the best active Czech driver in 1933. His Bugatti was supposedly a 2.0-liter T35 entered by Valdemar Gut who had been racing since the twenties. Jan Kubiček and J. Zadák were also Czech Bugatti entries while László Hartmann came from Hungary.       The Bugattis were opposed by ten Alfa Romeos, of which two Tipo B cars came from Scuderia Ferrari for Luigi Fagioli, Louis Chiron and a 2.6-liter type Monza for Antonio Brivio. The remaining seven Alfas were 2.3-liter Monzas, all private entries, by Renato Balestrero, Jean-Pierre Wimille, Guy Moll, Eugen Bjřrnstad, Paul Pietsch, Charly Jellen and Walter Grosch.       There were also five independent Maserati entries from Tazio Nuvolari, Piero Taruffi, Giuseppe Campari, Mario Umberto Borzacchini and Giulio Aymini. A single 7.1-liter Mercedes-Benz SSKL was entered by Daimler-Benz for Manfred von Brauchitsch which was probably the very last entry for this type.       The Group II cars received 23 entries as shown above. Walter, Vikov and Z were the lesser-known names outside of Czechoslovakia. The Walter factory in Prague manufactured motorcycles, automobiles, and aero engines. The type entered here was probably the 4-cylinder 1.4-liter Junior possibly bored to 1.5. Wikov was a small car manufacturer from Prostějov. The type which arrived here was probably based on their 1.5-liter sports car. "Z" stood for Zbrojovka, a formerly large armaments factory in Brno, which after WW I produced small touring cars with 2-stroke engines. The cars entered were most likely race models with a 1096 cc 4-cylinder supercharged 2-stroke engines.

Practice: It was hoped that all cars on the entry list would arrive for the race, but this was not the case because 11 cars did not appear. None of the five Maseratis showed up. Campari and Borzacchini were both killed in the Monza crash the weekend before and Nuvolari and Taruffi could not stick to their planned schedule of racing in Czechoslovakia and the following weekend in Spain. Giulio Aymini did not appear with his Maserati. Among the Alfa Romeo drivers Jellen, Grosch and Bjřrnstad did not arrive. Of the three Bugatti drivers who did not appear, it was reported that Varzi was sick, while Gaupillat and local driver Zadák were no shows. During practice Manfred von Brauchitsch made very good times. Louis Chiron, who had won here in 1931 and 1932 driving a Bugatti, was looked upon as the great favorite in the Alfa Romeo monoposto.       Prager Tageblatt reported that on Wednesday, the first day of practice, Burggaller and Pietsch were already present but did not participate in practice since their cars had not yet arrived. Brauchitsch, with the large Mercedes, thought the circuit was first class, but at certain sections the road was too narrow for his large, heavy, and long car. He drove his first lap in 15 minutes, at a speed of 117 km/h. Steinweg and Pohl had already completed some laps, similarly Hošfálek and Trumpeš in their "Z" cars. The Swiss Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) and Veyron (Bugatti) were quite quick and so was the only woman driver, Edith Frisch (Bugatti) from Germany, who showed her skill in 18 to 19 minutes per lap. The new Miller cars of the French drivers Marret and Boucly attracted attention. The British driver Hamilton with the 750 cc MG Midget was optimistic but had tire problems. He considered the French Veyron and German Burggaller, both Bugatti drivers, as his main rivals. The Italian Landi in a Maserati could also pose a threat.       During Thursday morning practice von Brauchitsch (Mercedes) and Lehoux (Bugatti) drove a lap in15m10s. The afternoon practice suffered at times from rain, which made driving difficult and did not allow for high speeds. Despite that, many drivers took part. One could see Pohl, Kubiček, Burggaller, Dreyfus, Soyka, Veyron, Brauchitsch, Pietsch, Moll and Hamilton practicing on the circuit. All drivers drove very carefully in this wet practice, which proceeded without any accidents. Due to the low speeds, practice was stopped prematurely. Chiron had arrived in Brno. There were about 15,000 spectators attending the proceedings.       Friday practice took place under mostly sunny skies but with cool and occasionally stormy weather, which allowed the 31 drivers to drive at higher speeds. The best time was made by Fagioli (Alfa Romeo) in 14m26s according to unofficial time keeping. Brauchitsch did not improve on Thursday's time. Dreyfus took 15m58s in his Bugatti. The spectators' favorites were Chiron with his Alfa Romeo and the German Edith Frisch (Bugatti), who were always loudly applauded. The young Algerian driver Moll and Frenchman Wimille were putting down a lot of laps. In the small class Hamilton in the MG Midget improved his time by 20 seconds. Bastaglioni was to replace the Italian Aymini (Maserati).       On Saturday from 8 till 10 scrutinizing took place. Varzi's car had arrived, but it was questionable if he would start, since he had become ill with an eye ailment. In the eventuality that Varzi would not be driving, Dreyfus would take his place. It was uncertain whether Nuvolari and Taruffi, the replacement for the unfortunate Borzacchini, would start as neither had yet arrived in Brno. But everyone was hoping for their participation. The race management would have given them the opportunity to practice had they arrived on Saturday, but later-on they had sent word that they could not come.

Race: Since Sunday midnight it had rained very softly but continuously until around noon, soaking the entire surroundings and the race circuit. Because spectators had to use the circuit to approach their viewing points, they trailed clay and mud from fields and paths joining the track, which consequently made the circuit dangerously slippery in places. According to the organizing Club supposedly 220,000 tickets had been sold while over 100,000 spectators had visited with certainty. The loudspeakers announced in Czech and German. At 10:30 AM the large cars started for 17 laps in the following order:

2 Chiron Alfa Romeo 4 Lehoux Bugatti 6 Steinweg Bugatti 8 "Marko" Bugatti 10 Hartmann Bugatti 14 Balestrero Alfa Romeo 16 Battilana Bugatti 18 von Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz 20 Pietsch Alfa Romeo 24 Dreyfus Bugatti 26 Wimille Alfa Romeo 28 Moll Alfa Romeo 32 Kubiček Bugatti 34 Fagioli Alfa Romeo 36 Brivio Alfa Romeo 46 Pohl Bugatti

Five minutes later the 17 cars of group II, up to 1500 cc, were sent away over 15 laps, thus 33 racing cars were chasing around the circuit simultaneously. The small cars progress is described at the end of this report.       At the end of the first lap, Chiron arrived with an advantage of more than a minute. For an entire lap Lehoux, who was in second place, had held up Pietsch, Hartmann, Steinweg and Brauchitsch who were chasing closely behind, unable to get by. Dreyfus arrived next but stopped at the pits and fell to last place. Next were Moll, Balestrero, Wimille, Pohl, Kubiček, Fagioli who stopped at his pits for spark plugs and then Brivio. "Marko" had already retired with engine damage. After a long pause Battilana appeared and stopped at his pit to retire with a dragging exhaust pipe, which had come loose at Zebetin. As was learned later, Chiron had already established an advantage of 41 seconds after only kilometer 3.6 at the village of Pisarky. Lehoux, in second place, had continuously driven in the middle of the road during lap one, preventing the following cars from passing. What made the circuit so dangerous was that it was extremely narrow in most places, so narrow that passing another car was almost impossible. And then there was the clay-soil. This clay was flushed by the rain onto the road and made the wet track even more slippery in places. Chiron led the first lap in 18m05.5s, ahead of Lehoux in 19m06.9s and Pietsch (Alfa Romeo).       On lap two the German Pietsch managed to force his way past Lehoux who was followed by Moll. Pietsch appeared to drive quite fast but was not quick enough to catch Chiron, who was two minutes ahead of the German. After the second lap Brauchitsch had a rather long pit stop because of a leaking tank cover. His ride became desperate, and he gave the impression of helplessness in his huge car on the road. Chiron led the second lap with a time of 18m11.7s, ahead of Pietsch (Alfa Romeo) in 18m37.7s, and third Lehoux (Bugatti) in 18m59.8s who was followed by Hartmann, Steinweg, Moll, Pohl, Kubiček. Brauchitsch who stopped at the pits, , Fagioli, Balestero, Wimille, Dreyfus, and Brivio stopped at the pits.       The third lap had Chiron in the lead ahead of Pietsch, Lehoux, Hartmann, Moll, Pohl, Kubiček, Fagioli who stopped at the pits, Wimille, Balestrero stopped at the pits, Dreyfus, Brauchitsch, Brivo stopped at the pits. During the third lap Steinweg retired with a broken driveshaft, which caused his car to fall into a road ditch, but he was not injured. Because of the wet conditions, the best lap times remained around 18 minutes. On the fourth lap Chiron lapped in 18m02.5s, while Pietsch already drove below 18 minutes. Lehoux ceased to be a problem to his pursuers when he retired with gearbox problems on lap six.       After five laps Chiron led Pietsch, Moll and Hartmann who was now in fourth place. He was followed by Pohl, Kubiček, Fagioli, Wimille, Dreyfus, Brauchitsch and Balestrero. Von Brauchitsch was disappointing and so was Dreyfus, who had to stop at the pits every other lap. Fagioli had to stop for the third time at his pits, although only very briefly. Brivio retired on lap five. After lap six Chiron led Pietsch and Moll with lap and total times as follows: 1. Chiron (Alfa Romeo 1h30m29.0s 17m32.1s lap time 2. Pietsch (Bugatti) 1h31m33.9s 17m36.2s 3. Moll (Alfa Romeo) x 17m52.9s 4. Hartmann (Bugatti) x 17m50.2s 5. Pohl (Bugatti) x 17m42.3s 6. Kubiček (Bugatti) 7. Fagioli (Alfa Romeo) 8. Wimille (Alfa Romeo) 9. Dreyfus (Bugatti) 10. Brauchitsch (Mercedes) 11. Balestrero (Alfa Romeo)       The rain had stopped around mid-race, and the cars were going faster on a drying circuit. However, the roads of the forested Zebetin area would not dry and drivers still had to confront treacherous conditions. The lap times had come down to just over 17 minutes per lap. . The order at the end of nine laps had Chiron in the lead ahead of Pietsch, Moll, Pohl, Hartmann, Fagioli, Wimille, Dreyfus, Kubiček and Baslestrero. After the ninth lap Chiron came into his pit to replenish fuel. This took 52 seconds and his advantage over Pietsch shrank to less than half a minute. Pietsch tried to close on Chiron, who was kept informed by his pit. He accelerated on the drying circuit and for the first time completed a lap in 17 minutes. Fagioli, who had been near the end of the field, was now starting to catch up. Brauchitsch retired on lap nine while in a hopeless position with mud blocking fuel lines, causing engine problems.       Pietsch was trying to keep up with Chiron but had a crash on lap ten. His Alfa skidded at Kohoutovice, spun round and then overturned twice into a road ditch. The German was thrown out, covered in dirt; he got up and lit a cigarette. With only slight abrasions the lucky man was standing next to his badly dented Alfa. After the 11th lap Chiron led Moll and Pohl with lap and total times in the following order: 1. Chiron (Alfa Romeo 3h13m21.9s 16m17.2s lap time 2. Moll (Alfa Romeo) 3h16m~~~~ 17m27.7s 3. Pohl (Bugatti) 3h19m49.0s 17m10.6s 4. Fagioli (Alfa Romeo) 3h20m28.1s 17m55.0s 5. Hartmann (Bugatti) 3h22m52.1s 17m08.7s 6. Wimille (Alfa Romeo) 7. Dreyfus (Bugatti) 8. Kubiček (Bugatti) 9. Balestrero (Alfa Romeo)       Wimille battled for many laps with Zdenek Pohl, both in T51 Bugattis. But when Pohl stopped to fix some trouble on his car, he fell back to sixth place behind Hartmann.       Moll, in second place since lap ten, chased after Chiron but then crashed his car on lap 11 when he spun into a fence before Pisarky, collected a mileage marker, ended up in a ditch and was thrown out of the car. Luckily Moll only suffered a slight injury to his knee. This moved Fagioli into second spot. In these last laps Fagioli was the swiftest driver and had reduced Chiron's advantage. He also established the fastest lap of the race at 15m21.0s.       The race ended after 4h50m22.8s with Chiron the winner, almost four minutes ahead of Fagioli. Wimille finished in third place, another seven minutes further back. Dreyfus, Hartmann, and Pohl completed their seventeenth lap, while the already lapped Kubiček and Balestrero in seventh and eighth place were flagged off.

Group II: Five minutes after the large cars had started the 17 small cars were flagged away over 15 laps. Their starting grid was also arranged in numerical order with the German Burggaller (Bugatti) at the left front, next to him Vlašín (Z), behind them Sojka (Bugatti), in row three Landi and Marret, then Boucly, Frisch, Ripper, Rüesch, Szczyzycki, Decaroli, Vagniez, Hamilton, Veyron, Knapp, Trumpeš and Kreml.       Burggaller immediately took the lead ahead of Sojka, Landi, Vlašín, Rüesch, Hamilton, Ripper, Weinfurter,Vryron, Decaroli and Knapp. On lap three, Marret left the road and crashed his Miller into a road ditch.       During lap four, Burggaller (Bugatti), Landi (Maserati) and Hamilton (MG) formed the leading group with a gap to Vlašín (Z), followed by Ripper, Rüesch, Sojka, Weinfurter, Veyron, Decaroli, Knapp, Kreml and Vagniez.       After five laps Burggaller led Group II ahead of Hamilton, Landi, Sojka, Rüesch, Ripper, Weinfurter, Veyron, Decaroli, Knapp, Boucly, Vlašín, Vagnicz, Kreml and Trumpeš, with the 17-car field down to 15 cars. On the 5th lap Vlašín (Z) left the road driving into a standing group of spectators, who quickwittedly scattered apart so that no one got injured. Edith Frisch spun her Bugatti twice at the same corner going into the sandbags. The second time around, she hit her jaw against the steering wheel and retired with a painful injury on lap five with a damaged axle.       Boucly (Miller) hit a warning sign on lap seven and Decaroli crashed his Bugatti into a tree.       On lap eight the leaders, headed by the German Burggaller, stopped at the pits to refuel. Hamilton was able to leave a few seconds before the German and chased after Landi who had not stopped his Maserati and had passed them during their fuel stop. Burggaller lost valuable minutes in the pits with a clutch problem on his Bugatti and fell back to third position. The excellently driving Hamilton spun his MG out of the concrete turn at Ostrovacice, his car somersaulting three times and ending on top of its driver. The unconscious Hamilton was released from his seatbelt (He was a Brooklands driver and they used them there due to the very bumpy surface.) and brought to Brno hospital with broken ribs, pleura, and damaged kidney. Although a very serious condition, it was not life threatening. Nonetheless, some press reports declared Hamilton as dead and even included an obituary. The order after 11 laps had Landi in the lead, ahead of Burggaller, Veyron, Soyka, Ruesch, Ripper, Vagniez, Knapp and Trumpeš.       A short time later, on lap 12, Landi's Maserati lost adhesion in a turn and hit a tree. The Italian was dragged out of his car and brought to hospital with a double fractured femur. After the 11th lap Ripper disappeared, and Vagniez also ended his race on the 12th lap. After lap 12, with his rivals gone, Burggaller found himself once more in first place, which he never lost. Sojka in another Bugatti finished second, followed by Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) and Knapp (Walter). Veyron (Bugatti) crashed on the 14th lap but was classified since he had completed 13 laps, the requirement to be classified in this race over 15 laps. Trumpeš (Z), who was two laps behind, was flagged off but qualified in sixth place.

Sommer victorious in Paris

Entries:

Race 1: The event started off with two 100 km "Championnats de France" amateur races where cycle cars raced together with the motorcycles. Albert (Trelba) was the fastest car in the 500cc class and Dhôme (Darmont) fastest in the 1100cc class. Then followed the Grand Prix de France races. They started off with motor cycle races for 175cc and 350/600cc sidecar before it was time for the first car race of the race. That was the 20 lap race for 750cc supercharged and 1100cc unsupercharged cars.       The race started at 11:30 a.m. Dhôme took the lead followed by Jahan, Cinzano (M.E.B. Jap), Chambost, Bodoignet, Dumont and Manuel. Dhôme pulled away from Jahan, Cinzano retired and Chambost and Bodoignet had a fight for third position until the last lap. Behind them Gauthier and Manuel had a duel for fifth position. In the end Dhôme won over Jahan with 18 seconds with Chambost third one second in front of Bodoignet. Results: 1. 21 Marcel Dhôme (Darmont-Morgan 1.1) 40m18s 2. 3 André Jahan (Salmson) 40m36s 3. 17 Raymond Chambost (Salmson 1.1) 41m37s 4. 26 Bodoignet (Amilcar 1.1) 41m38s 5. 6 Gauthier (Rosengart 0.7) - 1 lap 6. 19 I. Manuel (B.N.C. 1.1) - 1 lap 7. 27 C. Poire (Amilcar 1.1) - 1 lap 8. 7 G. Bonneau (Amilcar 1.1) - 1 lap 9. 28 R. Biolay (Biolay 1.1) - 2 laps 10. 18 A. Alin (B.N.C. 1.1) - 2 laps 11. 8 R. Jacob (Rosengart 0.7) - 2 laps Race 2: After a 350cc motor cycle race it was time for the second car event, a 20 lap race for 1100cc supercharged and 1500cc unsupercharged cars, starting at 2:15 p.m.

Grid not available

At the end of the first lap three cars were close together: Girod's and Leblet's Salmsons and Mestivier's Amilcar. After a gap followed Moysan, Vernot, Chambost and Malivoir. The fight for the lead developed into a duel between Girod and Mestivier. The latter took over the lead on the fourth lap. However, the duel continued until the 16th lap when Mestivier retired to the pit with a broken oil pipe. Girod was back in the lead while as a result of several retirements Chambost now held second position and was closing in on Girod. By keeping on pushing Girod was able to take the victory by 13.2 seconds followed by Chambost and Leblet.