Veyron wins the Avus 1500 cc race for the second time

The International Avusrennen was a very popular event in Berlin. The 1500 cc race began the activities. Of the 16 starters, 11 were German, two came from France, two from Italiy and one from Czechoslovakia. Veyron, the French winner in the previous year's event, won again unchallenged with his Bugatti. The German Burggaller, also in a Bugatti, again finished in second place. Castelbarco (Maserati) from Italy was third ahead of five Germans, Simons (Bugatti), Fork (MG), Briem (Amilcar), Seibel (Bugatti) and Brudes (MG). The two Zoller two-stroke cars, which were the only German cars in the field, retired early. There were six other retirements.

The cars had to complete 10 laps or 195.561 km. The Avusrennen counted towards the newly created German Racecar Championship. The race was endowed with 11,500 Mark in prize money. The winner received 5,000 Mark, second place 3,000, third 2,000, fourth 1,000 and fifth 500 Mark. A more detailed introduction to the Avusrennen is found in the report for the main race.

Entries: Only two German cars were entered, two of the 1449 cc Zoller double piston two-stroke cars. It was a new design making its first public appearance. The drivers were Gerhard Macher and Ernst von Delius. A third Zoller could not be completed in time for the race. The supercharged BMW of Eugen Stösser was another German car, but it was not allowed to start as the driver had not taken part in practice. Earl Howe practiced with his green 1500 Delage but did not start with it since he wanted to race in the following main event with his Bugatti. A complete list of entries is at the beginning of this report.

Practice: Official practice was held on Thursday and Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Some 1500 cars were seen practicing on Thursday. There was significantly more activity during Friday's practice. Earl Howe practiced with his green Delage. The much talked about Zoller two-stroke cars arrived only at the last moment on Saturday and were evidently not yet ready judging by their practice laps. The cars were being tested for the first time as they had not been run previously. Scrutineering was on Saturday from 2:00 to 5:00 PM.

Race: The Avusrennen began at 2:00 PM on Sunday with the race for the 1500 cc cars over 10 laps. The starting grid was reduced to 16 cars, where positions had been decided by ballot. The grid contained one empty place in the sixth row to indicate the location of Earl Howe who was a non-starter.

26 Seibel Bugatti 20 Sandri Maserati 16 Briem Amilcar 6 Macher Zoller 14 Veyron Bugatti 8 von Delius Zoller 36 We Bäumer Austin 32 Kohlrausch MG 22 Castelbarco Maserati 34 Wa Bäumer Austin 24 Sojka Bugatti 38 Brudes MG 28 Fork MG 18 Vagniez Maserati * 2 Burggaller Bugatti 4 Simons Bugatti

Adolf Hühnlein, the leader of German Motorsport for the NAZI Government, lowered the flag to release the field at exactly 2:00 PM. The air was filled with the sound of engines roaring as the 16 cars thundered away with Veyron in his blue Bugatti at the front of the pack.       At the end of the first lap Veyron was leading at an average speed of 174.9 km/h about 300 meters ahead of Burggaller at 171.1 km/h who had started from the last row and had passed 13 cars. Sojka followed after a nine seconds gap. After a long gap Kohlrausch appeared in the MG "Magic Midget" world record car ahead of Castelbarco in the red Maserati, with a further gap to Fork in another MG and Simons in a Bugatti who were racing very close together. Briem with the Amilcar was in eighth place, then Seibel who stopped at the pits, Delius in a Zoller, Brudes, Vagniez and Walter Bäumer. Macher in the other Zoller retired with overheating at the 5.5 km marker. The Italian motorcycle rider Sandri who was making his debut in an older Maserati, had started with a damaged differential and retired on the first lap somewhere on the circuit with a broken differential. Werner Bäumer also retired on the circuit during the first lap due to gearbox damage on his Austin.       After the second lap the French driver Vagniez retired his Maserati with a broken fuel tank and Seibel stopped for the second time at the pits.       Delius, in ninth position, stopped after three laps at his pit with the Zoller overheating due to the cylinder head leaks and retired. Walter Bäumer in the Austin retired also on lap four following two previous stops at the pits.       The battle continued but the lead appeared to be settled because Burggaller failed to close up to the Bugatti of Veyron, who lap after lap increased his lead.       After the fifth lap Kohlrausch, who had led the 800cc group in his streamlined MG record car, stopped at the pits where he retired with cramp in his calf muscle. The seat of the MG-Magic was very primitive and so narrow that Kohlrausch had to drive with his knees drawn up, which caused the cramp. After being helped out of the car he received a leg massage on the pit counter, but the cramp did not abate and he had to retire. Adolf Brudes in another MG was now the only survivor in the special class for 800 cc cars.       After the sixth lap the Czech driver Sojka in third place retired his Bugatti, and the Italian count Castelbarco in a Maserati inherited third place.       After nine laps Veyron was leading at 182,6 km/h average and was about 35 seconds ahead of Burggaller's white single seat Bugatti, whose average speed was 180.8 km/h.       After ten laps Veyron crossed the finish line first, 35 seconds ahead of Burggaller. Veyron's average lap time for the 10 laps was 6m2.76s and his average speed was 182.7 km/h. Count Castelbarco in the Maserati finished third. Simons, Fork and Briem were one lap behind in fourth, fifth and sixth places. On their tenth lap Fork (MG) and Simons (Bugatti) had an exciting final battle for fourth place. During the entire race Simons had followed Fork very closely and tried to pass him but to no avail. But on the last 800 meters long straight from the North Turn to the finish line Simons was able to catch Fork and crossed the finish line just about five meters ahead of the MG. Seibel and Brudes in seventh and eighth place were two laps behind.

Moll wins at Avus with Alfa Romeo, Auto Union third with Momberger

The formula libre Avusrennen was of very great interest in Germany because the new German racecars started here for the first time. During practice the fastest Auto Union was timed at 252 km/h for one lap and the Mercedes-Benz at 245 km/h. After practice the Mercedes engineers decided to withdraw their cars which were not yet fit for the race. The battle was then reduced to between Auto Union and Alfa Romeo. Stuck in the Auto Union was fastest and led the first 10 laps. He then pitted and overstressed his clutch to retire two laps later. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) who held an early second place, retired after nine laps. His teammate Moll was in second place on lap seven and took the lead when Stuck pitted. Varzi in the third Alfa finished second and Momberger in the only surviving Auto Union finished third. Earl Howe ran steadily in his Maserati, finishing fourth, followed by the heroic Nuvolari in another Maserati with his broken leg in plaster. The independent Pietsch finished sixth in his Alfa Romeo. The American DePaolo in a 4WD Miller retired as did Siena (Maserati) and Leiningen (Auto Union.)

The fourth International Avusrennen was in doubt for some time. The newly formed DDAC (Der Deutsche Automobil Club), which took over from the ADAC, functioned as the organizer of this event and had originally scheduled the race on May 27. But then the Berlin event in the new National Socialist Third Reich was supposed to overshadow the preceding races and a postponement of the race to June 17 was requested by the AIACR. Since the 24-Hours of Le Mans, the Penya Rhin race, and the Pontedecimo-Giovi hill climb and Kesselberg hill climbs were already due to take place on that date, the AIACR in Paris declined the request. The postponement had been initially requested when the Avus was still undergoing re-construction and improvements. The work at the Avus had progressed in the meantime, so that it was possible to hold the race on May 27.       The race was not held to the new 750 kg formula regulations but to Formula Libre. The event was again split into two separate races; one for the small cars up to 1500 cc, which had to complete just 10 laps or 195.561 km and the second race for the large cars over 1500 cc, which had to do 15 laps equal to 294.426 km. The Avusrennen counted towards the newly created German Racecar Championship.       The promoter installed three additional stands for a total of 4000 seats and the course was further improved to produce even higher speeds. The Avus circuit on the outskirts of Berlin comprised two parallel straights joined at the Potsdam end by the slightly banked South Loop and at the Berlin end in the North by another 180-degree flat turn. This track permitted prolonged high-speed driving and was the fastest racetrack in Europe.       The race was endowed with 26,000 Mark in prize money. The winner received 10,000 Mark, second place 6,000, third 4,000, fourth 3,000 fifth 2,000 and sixth 1,000 Mark.

Entries: Auto Union entered three cars for Stuck, zu Leiningen and Momberger. This new car was designed by Professor Ferdinand Porsche and was officially called the "P-Wagen" but is listed in this report as type "A". Technical details were not released to the press at this race. Auto Union was extremely secretive and released no information about their cars. Neither did Daimler-Benz who also entered three cars, named by the press as Mercedes-Benz 750 kg but listed in this report as type W25. The drivers were von Brauchitsch, Fagioli and Caracciola. The Mercedes and Auto Union racecars were all painted silver, and described by the press as unpainted silver metallic, proof of which could be seen in some photographs.       Three Alfa Romeo Type B/P3 were entered by Scuderia Ferrari. Varzi and Chiron drove the regular 2.9-liter models while Moll was assigned a special P3 with streamlined body designed by engineer Pallavicino. This car raced at Avus with a rounded radiator cowl, a headrest with a long fin attached and fairings behind each of the four wheels. The engine was enlarged to 3.2-liters, raising the power to 265 hp. During a preceding test on the Milan-Bergamo Autostrada by Moll and Varzi, the Italian did not like the way the car drove and refused to drive it in the race, so Moll became the designated driver.       Bugatti entered a team of four cars for Benoist, Brivio, Dreyfus and Wimille. A few days before the race, Bugatti withdrew their cars since they were still busy modifying them.       Nuvolari had planned to enter the race with the 16-cylinder Maserati but since this car had crashed in Tripoli, three weeks earlier, it was no longer available because it could not be repaired in the short time. Nuvolari decided to race again, although he had not yet recovered from his accident in Alessandria five weeks earlier with a double fracture of his left leg. He had to find another Maserati 8CM because his own had been damaged in the crash. Nuvolari was determined to start, even though his leg was not yet fully healed. He practiced and raced with his broken left leg in plaster and had the pedals of his Maserati altered so that he could reach them all with his right leg.       Maserati had intended to start with Taruffi but since he had crashed at Tripoli, his place became vacant, and Zehender took his place in a 4-cylinder 26M Maserati.       The American Peter DePaolo arranged with Frank and Al Scully, wealthy Chicago sportsmen, to drive their Miller cars with Lou Moore at Tripoli. While Moore returned to America for the Indy 500, DePaolo headed to Berlin where he drove the 308 4WD Miller with a V-8 engine of 5200 cc producing 300 hp at 5500 RPM and a top speed of 260 km/h.       Siena was one of the independents with a 3000 Maserati. Paul Pietsch drove his white 2600 Alfa Romeo and Hans Rüesch practiced in a streamlined 8CM Maserati but did not start for unknown reasons.

Practice: Before official practice in May, on March 6, 1934, Hans Stuck drove an Auto Union for 12 laps at Avus and broke the one-hour world record at 217.110 km/h also the records for 100 miles and 200 km.       On Friday April 27th, four weeks before the race, both the new Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union for the first time together, tested their cars at Avus joined by a team from Continental with the main objective to test the efficiency of the tires. At 5 in the morning under supervision of Engineer Neubauer, Manfred von Brauchitsch did the first laps. Fagioli drove next and reached high lap speeds. Because the cars showed problems, the tests were then continued only on Saturday. Brauchitsch drove the fastest lap in 5m26s. For comparison, Hans Stuck during his World Record attempt was only 4 seconds faster on his fastest lap. Immediately after Mercedes ended their practice, the P-Wagen of Auto Union took to the track. Momberger drove first and on his second lap reached a time of 5m28s. Price zu Leiningen who drove later obtained the same speed. Since the tests were conducted at cool temperatures in the early morning, they were not suitable for such tire tests and showed no strong wear.       On Friday, May 18th Mercedes returned with their new cars to Avus. They practiced during the greatest noon heat to test the tires. Photographs of these early tests could not be found to determine the color of the cars, which later became a contentious issue.       With his record car Hans Stuck appeared for official practice which was set for Thursday and Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Early Thursday morning at 6:00 AM Caracciola appeared suddenly and hurriedly donned his race overalls before taking off in one of the new Mercedes-Benz. On the first lap the German had to get acquainted with the car in which the seat and pedals had been made comfortable for Caracciola during busy night work. After his third fully completed lap he reached an average of 230 km/h. With that lap Caracciola proved that he was still able to drive after his serious accident over a year ago. Several small cars were also seen on Thursday.       During Friday's practice there was significantly more activity. Auto Union with Stuck, Momberger and Prince zu Leiningen practiced with their long racecars. Mercedes also unloaded their three cars and Nuvolari appeared with his red Maserati. Rüesch was out with his streamlined Maserati, as was Earl Howe with the green Delage. Earl Howe must have practiced also in his Bugatti but it was not reported. All drivers had to practice in their racecar as was required by the rules. Chiron and Varzi appeared with their old type Alfa Romeos, but Moll's streamlined car caused a stir. Caracciola was out again, likewise Fagioli and von Brauchitsch. Excellent speeds were achieved especially by the Auto Unions. Stuck reached a top speed of 308 km/h on the straight with a lap at 245 km/h average speed, but his fastest lap in 4m48s was at an average speed of 252.0 km/h, something the world had not seen before. The fastest lap made by a Mercedes was in 5m02s with Fagioli driving at 244.9 km/h.       On Saturday before scrutineering from 2:00 to 5:00 PM, Daimler-Benz withdrew their cars when they realized that they could not correct the fuel pump problem on all three cars, which was not delivering sufficient fuel at high speed. Friday practice times, published by L'Auto: Stuck (Auto Union) 4m48s Leiningen (Auto Union) 4m49s Momberger (Auto Union) 4m54s Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 5m02s Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 5m03s Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 5m08s Moll (Alfa Romeo) 5m09s Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 5m10s

Race: The Avusrennen on Sunday was a major event for the people of Berlin, a repetition of the 1933 event. The mass migration to the famous race track began during the early morning hours. Long before the start of the race, the grandstands were tightly packed and sold out. The starting area was crawling with semi and full officials, drivers and authorities. Around the entire track numerous groups of spectators made their way. One week before the race all seats had been sold out. This year's Avusrennen laid claim to being a race with a huge spectator attendance of 200,000 but probably 150,000-175,000 might be more correct. Many officials and leading personalities of the Nazi government were present.       The sky was full of dark rain threatening clouds. The proceedings began at 2:00 PM with the race for the 1500 cc cars over 10 laps, which was won by Veyron in his blue Bugatti, which was a foretaste of things to come.       When it was announced that Mercedes-Benz would not start, the crowd was very disappointed. The Swiss driver Rüesch would also not start. With the loss of Mercedes and Bugatti, the battle was limited to Auto Union and the Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeos which reduced the importance of the event. The starting grid was reduced to 11 cars, where positions had been decided by ballot. Slowly the cars were pushed onto the grid just as the black cloud above emptied out and let loose a barrage of hail to the horror of the spectators. The prospect of a fast and interesting race disappeared, instead the risk suddenly was very great. The drivers stolidly watched the rattling hail while the cars were protected under tight blankets. All the cars had been mounted with special tires for the wet track. The meadows along the edge of the racetrack, which were crowded with countless standing spectators, turned into a morass. It was still raining when the cars were made ready for the start.

68 Pietsch Alfa Romeo 48 Howe Maserati 62 Chiron Alfa Romeo * 42 Stuck Auto Union 50 Nuvolari Maserati 60 Varzi Alfa Romeo 66 DePaolo Miller * 44 Leiningen Auto Union 64 Moll Alfa Romeo 46 Momberger Auto Union * * 52 Siena Maserati

Adolf Hühnlein, the leader of German Motorsport for the NAZI Government, walked from car to car and shook each driver's hand to wish them a good race. The grid contained four empty places indicating the location of the four non-starters. Exactly at 4:00 PM Hühnlein lowered the flag for the second time to release the field. The air was filled with the sound of engines screaming and roaring as the 11 cars thundered away in a white cloud of spray. Chiron in the Alfa Romeo took the lead and shortly afterwards Stuck in an Auto Union passed into first place.       At the end of the first lap Stuck held the lead with 206 km/h average speed. No other cars were seen or could be heard. Such an advantage was completely unbelievable. But then, finally after 48 seconds Chiron appeared followed 12 seconds later by Varzi, ahead of Moll and Nuvolari with his left leg in plaster, then Leiningen, DePaolo, Earl Howe, Momberger, Pietsch and Siena who stopped at the pits.       On the second lap Stuck slowed his pace, nevertheless his lead increased to 73 seconds. He was followed by Chiron, Varzi and Moll in fourth place. His P-Wagen, though hidden in a white cloud of water spray from the wheels, chased with amazing regularity around the course as if it was tied to the track. Meanwhile Leiningen was able to pass Nuvolari to gain 5th place and Momberger passed Earl Howe. Siena at the tail end stopped at the pits again.       Stuck led the third lap, speeding along the straights and was still trailing a large cloud of white spray more than any of the other cars. He lapped Pietsch in last place. Chiron and Varzi still followed with Moll in fourth place, who was closing on Varzi while Nuvolari was catching Moll. Siena had started the third lap but did not return and retired somewhere on the track.       By lap four the threatening dark clouds had moved away and the rain had stopped; the first rays of sunshine were seen in the sky. Stuck's lead over Chiron was down to around 60 seconds and 80 seconds to Moll who had passed Varzi for third place. Leiningen was fifth ahead of Nuvolari. Momberger had passed DePaolo for seventh place with Earl Howe and Pietsch forming the tail of the field.       On the 5th lap the track began to dry and Stuck in first place maintained his lead. Moll in the streamlined Alfa attacked Chiron in second place. Varzi was fourth ahead of Leiningen, Nuvolari and Momberger. DePaolo in eighth place never played a significant role as did the other independents Earl Howe and Pietsch.       After six laps Stuck had increased his lead to 1½ minutes over Chiron with Moll following only 50 meters behind. Varzi was still in fourth position with Leiningen fifth followed by Momberger and DePaolo. Nuvolari had fallen behind and was now only slightly ahead of Earl Howe with Pietsch last.       On the seventh lap the sky had cleared and the track had almost dried. When Chiron in second place stopped briefly at the pits he was passed by Moll and dropped to third place, followed by Varzi a few seconds behind, then Leiningen and Momberger. DePaolo retired along the track when two connecting rods let go. Leiningen stopped at the pits after having lost a lot of water, which he replenished. Stuck's average lap time for the first 7 laps was 5m43,7s and his average speed was 206.2 km/h with the following times after 7 laps. 1. Stuck (Auto Union) 40m06.2s 2. Moll (Alfa Romeo) 41m29.8s 3. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 41m34.2s 4. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 5. Leiningen (Auto Union) 6. Momberger (Auto Union) 7. Nuvolari (Maserati) 8. Earl Howe (Maserati) 9. Pietsch (Alfa Romeo) On the eighth lap the order remained Stuck, Moll, Chiron and Varzi. Leiningen in fifth place retired at Kilometer marker 14 after the car lost more water, so much that he could not proceed. Momberger who had followed Leiningen had raised his pace and passed Varzi in fourth place, relegating the Italian to fifth position. Nuvolari was sixth ahead of Earl Howe and Pietsch. With Leiningen gone, the field was down to eight cars.       On the ninth lap Stuck was leading Moll while Chiron in third place stopped at the pits at the beginning of the lap due to overheating. He filled up with water and rejoined the race but at a slow speed. As the track had dried up, Momberger made the fastest lap of the race in 5m12.0s at 225.843 km/h average speed and passed Chiron, gaining third place. Varzi also passed the slow Chiron, demoting him to fifth place ahead of Nuvolari, Earl Howe and Pietsch.       On lap ten the order remained unchanged with Stuck ahead of Moll, Momberger and Varzi fourth. When Chiron retired at the beginning of lap 10, the field was down to seven cars. Nuvolari was still leading the tail-end group ahead of Earl Howe and Pietsch.       Following a preconceived plan Stuck stopped at the pits at the beginning of lap 11 to refuel and change rear wheels. The stop took 1m22s, but while he was in the pits the red Alfa of Moll, which had been only 30 seconds behind, passed into the lead. Stuck re-started the chase with great acceleration. Momberger also stopped to refuel and change rear wheels and though it only took 45 seconds, it enabled Varzi to pass him for third place. So, the order had changed to Moll in the lead, followed by Stuck, Varzi and Momberger in fourth place with the tail group still Nuvolari, Earl Howe and Pietsch. At the end of lap 11, Moll had a lead of one minute to Stuck, who arrived slowly at the pits with a slipping clutch. He stopped for a brief talk then carried on slowly without great speed. Supposedly he had ruined the clutch in the South Turn as a result of acceleration when he was only 400 meters behind Moll whom he was trying to catch. Another version suggested that Stuck ruined the clutch when accelerating from his pit stop.       On lap 12 Moll held the lead ahead of Varzi and Momberger. The German stopped at his pit again and had a brief talk about the gear shift which had been damaged during the chase. He was told to drive in fourth gear only and take the South Turn without shifting gears. At the end of lap 12, Stuck who was fourth, reached his pit two minutes after Moll. He climbed out of his car and retired. With Nuvolari, Earl Howe and Pietsch the field was down to six cars.       On lap 13, the race was still controlled by Moll, whose pace remained fast and regular. Varzi held second position ahead of Momberger's Auto Union.       On his 14th lap the order of the first three did not change. However, Nuvolari stopped at the pits to change wheels to ensure that he would finish the race. While he was in the pits Earl Howe was able to pass the Italian into fourth place.       On lap 15 the white cords of Varzi's tires could be seen, the result of overstraining. On the last lap the cover of his right rear tire was flung off only a few hundred meters before the finish. However, he was able continue, albeit at reduced speed.       Moll finished first ahead of Varzi and Momberger. The remaining three finishers were all lapped, Earl Howe once, Nuvolari twice and Pietsch three times. The Italian flag was hoisted, the Giovannezza was played and Moll received congratulations from Adolf Hühnlein. After the race had ended it began raining again. The race manager Dr. Feuereissen drove the winners around the track for the lap of honor.

Decaroli wins as trouble strikes his opponents

Girod (Salmson) took the start and opened up a small gap but then Cattaneo (Bugatti) closed in and the duo had a hard fight over the lead. Cattaneo led for two laps before Girod retook the lead. The fight continued until lap 12 when Girod got clutch problems and had to let Cattaneo and Decaroli (Bugatti) by. Cattaneo had to retire with a broken piston after 15 laps leaving Decaroli to win the race.

The Grand Prix de Picardie was organized by the AC of Picardie and the Alsne (ACPA) with the assistance of the newspaper Le Journal. Run on 27 May the date clashed with the Avusrennen, Berlin, and with the hope of seeing the new German cars for the first time in action the main attention of the newspaper concentrated on the latter race. (Considering there were rather few voiturette races on the international calendar it was odd that in July the Albi race and Coppa Ciano Junior would also clash.)       The circuit had been improved with two new stands being built next to national highway 37 (nowadays D937), one at the Mesnil-Bruntel corner and the other at the Mons corner just before the finish line facing the new Bouriat-Trintignant memorial. A score board was erected in front of each stand. As a result of the terrible accidents at the 1933 race the organizers tried to lower the speeds of the cars by adding a straw bale chicane on both main straights. That changed the length of the circuit to 9.765 km. An extensive telephone net was built so that help immediately could be called in case of an accident. The event included two races, one for the 1500cc voiturette class and one for the Grand Prix or as it was called the over 2000cc class. Each race was 20 laps for a total of 195.3 km.

Entries: Most interesting was the appearance of the rarely seen straight 8-cylinder Grand Prix Salmson with semi-desmodromic valves and Cotal electric gearbox. Armand Girod who owned the two cars that had been built in 1927 entered both but in the end only started himself. The rest of the entries were voiturette Bugattis. The 8-cylinder T51As were raced by Mme. Rose-Itier (#51142), Jean Cattaneo (ex T39A, #4824) and Claude Bossu racing under the name "Barowski" (#51154) while the other Bugattis were 4-cylinder T37As. French drivers included Alain Guilbaut, Louis Decaroli, and Claude Mélinant while Belgian Claude Bonneau was the only foreign driver in the race. Decaroli's car had been re-bodied as a single seater.

Race: The race day had a superb weather and a huge audience gathered around the course to watch the event. César Marchand, at the wheel of the record breaking Citroën "La Petite Rosalie", opened the circuit. The race start for the voiturettes was at 1:30 p.m. The eight cars were probably lined up like this according to their race numbers:

6 Girod Salmson 4 Itier Bugatti 2 Guilbaut Bugatti 16 Decaroli Bugatti 12 Cattaneo Bugatti 10 Bonneau Bugatti 20 Barowski Bugatti 18 Mélinant Bugatti

Guilbaut made a bad start and Girod took the lead of the race followed by Cattaneo and Itier. Bonneau was an early retirement. Decaroli made the fifth lap in 5m06s (114.8 km/h) closing in on Guilbaut. Girod had opened up a decent gap to the rest. The race order after 5 laps was: 1. Girod (Salmson) 2. Cattaneo (Bugatti) 3. Itier (Bugatti) 4. Guilbaut (Bugatti) 5. Decaroli (Bugatti) 6. Barowski (Bugatti) 7. Mélinant (Bugatti) Cattaneo was speeding up getting closer and closer to race leader Girod. On the sixth lap they were separated by 18 seconds, but on the 7th lap they were wheel to wheel. During the same lap Decaroli was setting what was to be the fastest lap of the race with a time of 5m04s (115.6 km/h), but he seems to have remained still in fifth position. During the next laps however he passed both Guilbaut and Itier for third.       On the eighth lap Cattaneo passed Girod for the lead and he held on to it on the next lap, but on the tenth lap Girod was back in the lead again. The situation halfway through the race thus looked like this with Girod leading by 3 seconds: 1. Girod (Salmson) 53m19s (109.9 km/h) 2. Cattaneo (Bugatti) 53m22s 3. Decaroli (Bugatti) 54m20s 4. Itier (Bugatti) 54m43s 5. Guilbaut (Bugatti) 55m38s On the twelfth lap Girod suffered clutch troubles and Cattaneo retook the lead. Girod was struggling and on the thirteenth lap Decaroli passed him for second position. Decaroli was 32 seconds behind the leader but his speed was much higher than that of Cattaneo, who obviously also was in trouble. At the start of the 14th lap the gap was down to just two seconds and during that lap Decaroli took over the lead while Cattaneo stopped and then slowly cruised back to the pit with a broken piston on the Bugatti.       The race order was now Decaroli, Girod and Itier. Girod kept hanging on to his second position with his problematic clutch, knowing that a pit stop would be useless. There were no changes in the positions during the last part of the race. So Decaroli took the victory with his Bugatti single seater followed by Girod in the 8-cylinder Salmson and the Bugattis of Itier and Guilbaut. The reports don't mention Barowski" or Mélinant but one can assume that had been forced to make lengthy pit stops as they both lost two laps.

An easy victory for Falchetto

Falchetto (Maserati) took the lead followed by Zanelli and Sommer. While Falchetto dominated the race Sommer managed to pass Zanelli for second, and the latter then retired with rear axle problems. Brunet was making good progress through the field and finally managed to pass Braillard for third position. Falchetto took the victory in dominant style from Sommer and Brunet. The inexperienced Bénéjean crashed and suffered injuries that made him lose a leg.

The Grand Prix race that followed the voiturette race was 20 laps for a total of 195.3 km. For details about the circuit changes, see the voiturette race report above.

Entries: There were 11 entries in the Grand Prix class for cars over 2000 cc. Ecurie Braillard entered a Maserati 8CM (#3009, known as "Paloma No. 1") for Benoît Falchetto and a Bugatti T51 for his brother-in-law Swiss Louis Braillard, who was the only non- French driver in the race. The cars were painted in the white-red Swiss colors.       Three Alfa Romeo Monzas were raced by Raymond Sommer, French-Chilean Juan Zanelli and Mlle. "Hellé-Nice" in her familiar two-shade blue car (#231113).       Robert Brunet from Bordeaux raced the ex Wimille Bugatti T51. Sommer, Brunet, "Hellé-Nice" and Zanelli came straight from Morocco where they had raced at the Casablanca Grand Prix the week before.       The other five entries were also Bugattis . They included Victor Marret and André Delom from Nice, Delom racing under the pseudonym "Delmo", Jean Delorme, Victor Mouret and Jean Bénéjean.       Bénéjean was French but living in Algeria. He had recently bought Marcel Lehoux' Bugatti T51 (#51144, the Dieppe GP 1933 winner). Fears were expressed when it turned out that neither had Bénéjean ever raced nor had he any idea of the standard pre race and start procedures. After the race L'Auto's reporter Maurice Henry rightly asked whether it is not the responsibility of a sports association to check that a person can hold a steering wheel before he is granted a race licence.       Oddly the voiturettes and the GP cars used the same number series, i.e. starting from #2. Usually they used to be different.

Race: The race was planned for 4 p.m. but due to the incident where a stand collapsed (see above) the start of the Grand Prix race was moved forward for half an hour. So at 4:30 p.m. the flag was dropped and the race was finally on its way.

6 Delorme Bugatti 4 Brunet Bugatti 2 Sommer Alfa-Romeo 14 Bénéjean Bugatti 12 Delmo Bugatti 8 Hellé-Nice Alfa-Romeo 22 Mouret Bugatti 18 Falchetto Maserati 16 Marret Bugatti 26 Braillard Alfa Romeo 10 Zanelli? Alfa Romeo

Sommer made the best start but soon Falchetto took over the lead. Sommer kept on to the second position until the third lap when Zanelli passed him. At the end of the fifth lap the race order was like this: 1. Falchetto (Maserati) 23m01s (127.3 km/h) 2. Zanelli (Alfa Romeo) 3. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 4. Brunet (Bugatti) 5. Braillard (Bugatti) 6. Marret (Bugatti) 7. Delorme (Bugatti) 8. Bénéjean (Bugatti) Falchetto's sixth lap was the fastest of the race with a time of 4m27.0s (131.7 km/h). After seven laps Falchetto had opened up a nineteen seconds gap to Zanelli. On the next lap Zanelli had to retire his Monza with a broken rear axle. Falchetto now held a lead of more than one minute over Sommer, who was back in second position. This was the situation halfway through the race (10 laps): 1. Falchetto (Maserati) 45m30s (128.8 km/h) 2. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 46m38s 3. Braillard (Bugatti) 47m58s 4. Brunet (Bugatti) 48m13s 5. Marret (Bugatti) 49m59s Falchetto continued to dominate the race. He made 15 laps in1h08m04s (129.1 km/h) and now he had increased his lead over Sommer to almost 2 minutes.       When the inexperienced Bénéjean braked for the chicane before the Brie curve he lost control of his Bugatti and crashed and the car rolled over several times ending up in the field. The driver was sent to hospital with a badly crushed thigh and there the decision was made to amputate the leg.       Brunet was making good progress through the field and finally managed to pass Braillard for third position. After 16 laps "Delmo" having already made a pit stop retired his Bugatti because of ignition trouble.       Falchetto eased up during the last laps and he took the chequered flag to win the race 1m39s in front of Sommer with Brunet third. Those three were to only ones to make all 20 laps. The remaining six cars were flagged off before the full distance.