Fagioli shines, Stuck scores

Hans Stuck in an Auto Union and Luigi Fagioli with a Mercedes-Benz were the main opponent for victory in the Czech Grand Prix, taking turns at the lead. After the pit stops Fagioli managed to open up a gap but then had to make an unscheduled pit stop, leaving Stuck to win the race. Nuvolari in the new 6-cylinder Maserati was able to keep third position in a tight duel with Caracciola's Mercedes. The rest of the competitors were also runners.

The Ceskoslovensky Automobilovy Klub pro Moravu a Slezsko organized their fifth international Masaryk automobile race or V mezinárodní závod automobilu na Masarykove okruhu. The race was devided into two classes. The top three finishers of the Grand Prix class received 80,000, 40,000, and 20,000 Kčs (Czechoslovak korunas) and a golden medal. 15,000, 10,000 and 5000 Kčs and a silver medal went to positions 4 to 6 and the 7th finisher received a bronze medal. The top three finishers in the voiturette class received 15,000, 10,000 and 5000 Kčs and a silver medal. (80,000 Kčs was about $3450 or £685 back then). One of the special prizes was donated by Mme. Eliška Junková a.k.a. Elizabeth Junek, possibly the greatest female GP driver of all time.

Entries: All the major teams were present. It was expected that the narrow tricky circuit with its up and downhill sections would fit the German cars with their independent suspension. Auto Union entered Stuck and zu Leiningen with Wilhelm Sebastian was given a chance in the third car, replacing Momberger who was still suffering from arthritis.       Daimler Benz entered Caracciola, Fagioli and Henne with Geier as reserve. Scuderia Ferrari had three P3s for Varzi, Chiron and Comotti and Bugatti entered two T59s for Benoist and Wimille.       The Maserati trailer arrived with the new works 6C-34 car for Nuvolari and a private car, another Maserati, bought from the Bologna factory by local car mechanic Josef Brázdil with money provided by his manager Štefan Marciš. In the early entry lists Brázdil was listed to drive an Alfa Romeo. As a driver Brázdil was a total novice. Contemporary magazines claim that the money for the car was in fact borrowed from Marciš' fiancèe but the engagement was broken off after a fight and the furious lady had now taken legal action to get her money back. On Wednesday when practice started both Josef Brázdil and his manager, unable to pay back the money, found themselves in jail. Nuvolari, who wanted to see both new Maseratis come to good use, and Chiron appealed to authorities to release Brázdil so he could take part in the Grand Prix, returning to jail after the race.       Now that's one variant of the story. Another given by Erwin Tragatsch in Automobil Chronik (3/1972) is that Brázdil was jailed for some other economic oddities and that a blond lady with an American accent in fact was the one who paid the bail to get Brázdil released.       Eugene Bjørnstad, who had been denied the start a week earlier in Spain because of an overweight car, had now no problems getting his Monza through scrutiny. Four private Bugattis to be raced by Hungarian Laszlo Hartmann and local drivers Pohl, Pavlíček and Holešák completed the entry list.

Practice: On Wednesday Stuck showed the potential of the Auto Union pulling off a 14m08s lap, over 16 seconds faster than Chiron's lap record. Fagioli and Caracciola also drowe fast laps.       Early around 8 a.m. on Friday morning before the track was officially closed for practice, Brázdil, who now was out from prison, went out with the Maserati and disappeared. On his very first practice lap Brázdil had, on a straight somewhere between Žebětìn and Ostrovačice, at 200 km/h got two wheels into a ditch. The car hit a tree, turned into the woods, and then hit another tree that put the car into a series of somersaults. The tank section of the car got loose. Brázdil was thrown out and died immediately with a broken spine. An investigation found no sign of braking trails and no problems with the car and claimed it must have been suicide! Or was it just foolishness combined with total inexperience? Whatever the truth the Josef Brázdil story remains one of the most bizarre ever in Grand Prix racing.       During practice Stuck lowered his time from Wednesday to 13m45s. Wimille and the Mercedes trio of Caracciola, Fagioli and Henne also practiced for several laps.       This was the "silly season" when driver contracts are made. During practice Nuvolari tried out the Auto Union, doing a lap in 14m15s with a car completely new to him. At the end of practice Stuck could be seen on the track trying out the Mercedes-Benz, doing a alp in 14m05s.       During Saturday practice Nuvolari did a lap around 14 min. Caracciola and Chiron were also among those seen practicing.

Race: It was a beautiful sunny September morning and a giant crowd had gathered for the last major Grand Prix of the season, the Masaryk Circuit Race at Brno. Estimations go from 100,000-250,000 spectators (Venables claims 350,000!). 20,000 car owners were trying to find a parking place.       The grid positions had been drawn by ballot and looked like this:

2 L Hartmann Bugatti 4 Varzi Alfa Romeo 6 Chiron Alfa Romeo 8 Comotti Alfa Romeo 10 Stuck Auto Union 32 Leiningen Auto Union 14 Pohl Bugatti 16 Caracciola Mercedes-Benz 18 Fagioli Mercedes-Benz 20 Henne Mercedes-Benz 22 Bjørnstad Alfa Romeo 26 Nuvolari Maserati 28 Benoist Bugatti 30 Wimille Bugatti 12 Sebastian Auto Union 34 Pavlíček Bugatti 36 Holešák Bugatti (Note 1)

At 10.30 a.m. the flag dropped for the 17 Grand Prix cars. They were followed two minutes later by the 15 voiturettes (see a separate race account). The GP start was messy with Varzi and Chiron having wheel spins creating a cloud of blue smoke. Fagioli went by on the left side, Stuck on the right side while Caracciola tried to find a gap in the middle. When the drivers had sorted themselves out from the tangle Stuck was in the lead followed by Fagioli and that is how they finished the first lap: 1. Stuck (Auto Union) 13m55.1s 2. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) + 13s 3. Nuvolari (Maserati) +18s 4. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) +20s 5. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) +44s 6. zu Leiningen (Auto Union) 7. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 8. Comotti (Alfa Romeo) 9. Wimille (Bugatti) 10. Henne (Mercedes-Benz) 11. Benoist (Bugatti) 12. Sebastian (Auto Union) 13. Pohl (Bugatti) 14. Hartmann (Bugatti) They were followed by the two local Bugatti drivers but Pavlíček had to retire soon. Bjørnstad had had to stop on the first lap for repairs.       Fagioli drove the second lap in 13m42s compared to Stuck's 13m50s, Nuvolari's 13m51s and Caracciola's 13m55s. Fagioli had closed the gap to the leader to 5 seconds while Nuvolari was 16s behind Fagioli and Caracciola another 6 seconds behind while the rest of the field was unable to keep the pace of the top four.       On the third lap Fagioli lost ten seconds to Stuck, who had made a 13m39.5s lap, but he was able to close the gap again to 5 seconds on lap four. Caracciola passed Nuvolari for third place but the new Maserati was fast and the Mantuan retook his position half a lap later. After five laps the order was as follows: 1. Stuck (Auto Union) 1h08m59s 2. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 1h09m03s 3. Nuvolari (Maserati) 1h09m43s 4. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h09m50s 5. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 1h11m58s 6. zu Leiningen (Auto Union) 1h12m56s 7. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 1h13m03s 8. Comotti (Alfa Romeo) 1h14m02s The works Bugattis were struggling. Wimille was the first to call it a day on lap six with engine failure and Benoist would retire as well two laps later. Meanwhile local driver Holešák was called in as he was too slow and hindered the other drivers.       After six laps Fagioli briefly held a lead after he had driven a lap in 13m32s against Stuck's 13m37s but on the next lap the German had regained control, opening up a 13s gap to the Italian.       Further down the field the situation remained unchanged apart from the fact that zu Leiningen was closing up on Varzi. The order after 7 laps was: Stuck, Fagioli, Nuvolari, Caracciola, Varzi, zu Leiningen, Chiron, Comotti, Henne and Sebastian.       After eight laps the drivers began to make their pit stops. Stuck was the first driver in with a 59 seconds stop for fuel only, rejoining the race in third position behind Fagioli and Nuvolari. Caracciola made a 1m22s stop and zu Leiningen was in as well for 1m01s.       The rough roads of the Brno circuit took the toll of both, cars and drivers. On the ninth lap the Scuderia Ferrari Alfas of Comotti and Chiron struck trouble and both had to retire. After having held the lead for just one lap Fagioli made his pit stop (1m01s) as well as Nuvolari (1m05s) and Varzi (1m08s).       After ten laps Stuck was leading Fagioli by 27 seconds but on the next lap the Mercedes driver with new rear tyres did a 13m28s against Stuck's 13m42s, closing the gap to 13 seconds.       Meanwhile the condition of the track deteriorated and especially bad was the situation in the Ostrovačice sector where Caracciola destroyed a wheel and had to retire. Nuvolari had an incident there as well but was able to recover from the slide and continue the race.       On lap 12 Fagioli drove the fastest lap of the race with a time of 13m17.2s and took the lead from a struggling Stuck, who only managed a lap of 13m40s. Fagioli's 13th lap was almost as fast as his twelfth, while Stuck's lap times were down to to 13m51s. The gap to the leading Mercedes was now 42 seconds and Fagioli was on his way to a clear victory.       Then suddenly after the 14th lap Fagioli made an unscheduled pit stop with wet spark plugs. The Mercedes mechanics worked feverishly and were already assisting the car away by pushing when Stuck appeared. Fagioli rejoined the race six seconds behind the Auto Union. But things were still not well with Fagioli's Mercedes. On the next lap he lost 40 seconds to Stuck and after lap 16 the gap was 1m42s.       Fagioli lost more than a minute on the last lap and Stuck could take the flag with an overwhelming lead. Fagioli was still able to secure second position ahead of Nuvolari, who took a fine third position in the new 6 cylinder Maserati. Third place was the best he could do that day. The latest news told him that his son Giorgio now seemed to be recovering from Typhoid Fever while Nuvolari had beaten Varzi's Ferrari, he was probably rather pleased. He was followed to the flag by zu Leiningen, Varzi, Geier, who had taken over the Mercedes from Henne, who was not feeling well, Sebastian and Lazlo Hartmann.       The fastest laps for the top five were: Fagioli 13m17.2s, Stuck 13m27.9s, Nuvolari 13m55.8s, Caracciola 13m52.0s, Varzi 14m01.0s.

Voiturette season closes

The voiturette class raced simultaneously with the Grand Prix class. Giuseppe "Nino" Farina totally dominated the event, leading from start to finish.

The Voiturette race was started two minutes after the GP cars but the race was 2 laps shorter. Even then it was a very long race for the voiturette class.

Entries: The only Maserati in the race was driven by promising newcomer Giuseppe Farina. He was being challenged by seven Bugatti drivers. As usual it is hard to find out which cars were T37As and which where T51s. At the start were two Wikov made by the Czech company Wichterie & Kovarik. Also entered was a Czech version of the Fiat Balilla built by Walter as the type Junior SS and two "Z" named type "Z13", with an flat 8-cylinder 1500 cc two-stroke engine, manufactured in Brno.       Eyston had changed his Magic Magnette for a normal bodied K3 while Richard Seaman raced the other MG. Seaman's Lagonda that towed the MG to the race broke down on the way to Brno but Seaman was able to borrow an old Fiat from Whitney Straight.       Missing from the list of entries was Hugh Hamilton who had died a month earlier at the Swiss GP.

Race: The 15 voiturette cars were lined up behind the Grand Prix cars like this. For some reason cars 40 and 42 swapped position on the grid (numbers painted on the tarmac showed #40 in the first row and #42 in the second).

38 Trumpeš Z13 42 * Sojka? Bugatti 40 * Schmidt? Bugatti 44 Komár Bugatti 46 Eyston MG 50 Burggaller Bugatti 52 Farina Maserati 56 Hostálek Z13 62 Beneš Wikov 64 Schellenberg Bugatti 66 Szczyzycki Wikov 68 Seaman MG 70 Wilhelm Bugatti 72 Hell Bugatti 80 Manoušek Walter

Two minutes after the GP class start the voiturette race was flagged off with Farina immediately taking the lead chased by several Bugattis. Naturally the contemporary reporters were mostly concerned about the Grand Prix class, therefore it is hard to find much information about the voiturette event. But after five laps the situaton was as follows: 1. Farina (Maserati) 1h19m23s 2. Burggaller (Bugatti) 1h20m08s 3. Soika (Bugatti) 1h20m24s 4. Seaman (MG) 1h21m37s It seems Soika retired his Bugatti but then during a refuelling stop took over Schmidt's car. Alex Sirny's book on these races says that Sojka retired on the very first lap. Other sources say 8th lap. After 10 laps the race order was: 1. Farina (Maserati) 2h37m15s 2. Soika (Bugatti) 2h41m39s 3. Burggaller (Bugatti) 1h20m08s 4. Euston (MG) 2h41m49s 5. Seaman (MG) 2h42m35s? Farina showed the crowd that his voiturette class win at Biella four weeks earlier had been no freak victory. He dominated the Voiturette class leading the race from start to finish. Burgaller finished second.

The Devil's Trampoline

The race was delayed three days due to rain. There were 40 competitors. Argentinian driver Rosa (Fiat) held the lead during the first 12 laps. The demanding course created a lot of incidents. On the 13th lap Corrêa (Ford), who had started from last grid position and had worked his way through the field, took over the lead. He was challenged by Crespi (Bugatti), who however crashed with fatal consequences. Corrêa dominated the rest of the race while Rosa late in the race lost second position to Lopes (Hudson).

Organized by Automobile Club of Brazil the second Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix was raced on the infamous Gávea course, locally known as the Trampolin Do Diablo (the devil's springboard). The number of laps was increased from 20 in 1933 to 25, with a time limit for the race of five hours. For flagging and emergency operations the 11.16 km long course was divided into the following sectors: Hotel Leblon - Praia de Gavea beach - Encruzilhada Golf Club - Alto de Serra - Rua.M. Sao Vincente - Parca Arthur Bernardes - finish line.

Entries: There were a few entries who failed to appear to the race so in the end there were 40 competitors, 24 Brazilians, 15 Argentinians and one sole Italian, Dante di Bartolomeo, even if information about the nationality of the drivers differs a lot depending on source.       The Argentinians were: Ernesto Blanco, Ricardo Carú, Vittorio Coppoli, Adolfo Dall'Ochio,       Andres Fernandez, Roberto Lozano, Augusto McCarthy, Juan Malcom, Adriano Malusardi, César Milone, Luciano Murro, Raul Riganti, Victorio Rosa, Antônio Saluzzo and Carlos Zatuszek.       The whole Brazilian driver elite was naturally present including drivers like the 1933 winner Manuel de Teffé, Irineu Corrêa, Joaquim Sant'Anna, Ângelo Gonçalves, Cicero Marques Porto, Francisco "Chico" Landi, Armando Sartorelli, Domingos Lopes and Benedicto Moreira Lopes.       Cars included eleven Bugattis, eight Fords three Fiats, three Chryslers and two Alfa Romeos. A note regarding the Bugattis. Sources list a multitude of T37A voiturettes. Michael Müller has informed me that the majority of Bugattis exported to South America were type T35A "tecla", twelve against four T37A and four of other types. While the car numbers are known their history in South America is unknown. Therefore I have listed all the T37A Bugattis as T35A instead.

Race: The race was scheduled for Sunday 30th September. A heavy rain started on Saturday and on Sunday morning the weather continued in the same way. With parts of the road flooded it was decided after discussions with the drivers to delay the race to Wednesday. However, tens of thousands of spectators had already turned up, waiting patiently in the rain for the race, and when they realized they would get no return payment for their tickets there were protests and tumult. The windows of the Leblon Hotel, where the members of the Brazil Automobil Club lived, were smashed by stones before the police managed to calm down the situation. Wednesday came with sunny weather and again hordes of spectators gathered around the course. The event was also watched by Brazil President Getúlio Vargas and a lot of dignitaries. 40 cars lined up on the grid. At 9:13 a.m. the cars were waiting for the signal to go but some overenthusiastic spectators blocked the road. The start was delayed by some eight minutes.       The engine on Manoel Cruz' Bugatti failed on the grid but he managed to get the car aside to hinder any start crashes.

2 Rosa Fiat 6 de Carvalho Hispano Suiza 8 Gonçalves Bugatti 10 Porto De Soto 12 Landi Bugatti 14 Zatuszek Mercedes-Benz 16 Cruz Bugatti 18 Rocha Isotta Fraschini 20 Lo Turco Ford 22 Marconcini Sacre 24 Sartorelli Ford 26 McCarthy Chrysler 28 Moraes Chrysler 32 Sant'Anna Fiat 34 Santiago Chrysler 36 Potter Steyr 38 Riganti Bugatti 40 Fernandez Amilcar 42 Castilho Ford 44 Dall'Ochio Graham Paige 46 Crespi Bugatti 48 Bianco Bugatti 50 Casini Hudson 52 D Lopes Hudson 54 Sarmento Bugatti 56 Carú Fiat 58 Coppoli Bugatti 60 Lozano Ford 62 de Santis Ford 64 Antici Ford 70 Blanco Reo 72 Malcom Austro Daimler 74 Murro Austro Daimler 76 de Teffé Alfa Romeo 78 Milone Bugatti 80 B Lopes Bugatti 84 Malusardi Ford 86 Saluzzo Bugatti-Ford 88 Di Bartolomeo Alfa Romeo 90 Corrêa Ford

With the road clear the race finally got under way. From his pole position Rosa took the lead of the race. The first lap took some 8 ½ minutes (hand time by the reporters as there seem to have been no results service with intermediate times). At the end of the lap Rosa was leading followed by Landi, Marconcini, Zatuszek, Coppoli, Lo Turco, Riganti, Sarmento, Crespi, Sartorelli, de Carvalho and Castilho. De Teffé was 21th and Corrêa 37th.       On the second lap the order for the top four remained the same. Coppoli went wide losing his position among the top 15 as did de Carvalho. Riganti was passed by Sarmento for sixth position and Crespi dropped to eighth. He was followed by Sartorelli, D. Lopes, Castilho and Fernandez.       Armando Rocha retired his Isotta Fraschini due to a leaking fuel tank. Júlio de Moraes crashed his Chrysler in the corner at the end of Avenida Niemeyer after having been blocked by de Santis' Ford. The driver survived the crash uninjured but his wife and riding mechanic, actress Lia Tora, got a dislocated left arm and bruises.       On the third lap the order remained the same among the top 11 with Carú now up to twelfth position. Sartorelli lost control of his Ford, skidded and almost crashed.       During the fourth lap third positioned Marconcini crashed into a tree but the driver was only slightly injured. Manuel Cruz retired his Bugatti with a broken engine.       After four laps the situation ought to have looked like this (there seems to have been lapped cars that messed up the results in the newspapers): 1. Rosa (Fiat) 2. Landi (Bugatti) 3. Zatuszek (Mercedes-Benz) 4. Lo Turco (Ford) 5. Sarmento (Bugatti-Studebaker) 6. Crespi (Bugatti) 7. Riganti (Bugatti-Hudson) 8. Sartorelli (Ford) 9. D. Lopes (Hudson) 10. Castilho (Ford) 11. Carú (Fiat) 12. Antici (Ford) On the fifth lap the order remained mostly the same. Carù moved up to 10th, de Teffé to 11th and Castilho dropped to 12th.       On the sixth lap Lo Turco moved to third and Crespi to fourth while Zatuzek fell back to sixth position. Corrêa was now up to 11th place after having passed de Teffé.       On the seventh lap second positioned Landi in his Bugatti dropped out from the competition. With Rosa still leading Crespi took over second position followed by Lo Turco, Sarmento and Zatuzek. Corrêa continued his advance and was now eighth.       On the eighth lap Riganti took over fifth position from Zatuzek. At the end of the lap the race order was: 1. Rosa (Fiat) 2. Crespi (Bugatti) 3. Lo Turco (Ford) 4. Sarmento (Bugatti-Studebaker) 5. Riganti (Bugatti-Hudson) 6. Zatuszek (Mercedes-Benz) 7. D. Lopes (Hudson) 8. Corrêa (Ford) 9. de Teffé (Alfa Romeo) 10. Carú (Fiat) 11. Santiago (Chrysler) 12. Castilho (Ford) The order of the top four remained the same on the ninth lap but behind them there were some position changes. Corrêa was now up to fifth followed by Domingos Lopes, de Teffé, Zatuszek, Riganti, Carú, Castilho and Santiago. Sant'Anna crashed his Fiat into a wall and had to retire with a punctured fuel tank.       Cesar Milone crashed his Bugatti. The car started to burn and was destroyed by the flames but the driver escaped unhurt.       On the 10th lap Corrêa's advance through the field continued as he passed Sarmento for fourth. Behind them de Teffé passed Domingos Lopes for sixth and Carú moved up to eighth while Zatuszek in obvious problem dropped to 13th behind Lozano. Rosa received a gold watch as prize for leading the tenth lap.       On lap 11 Lo Turco lost his third position to unstoppable Corrêa. Apart from that, and for Lozano passing Santiago for 11th, the race order remained the same.       Crespi became Corrêa's next victim being passed on the 12th lap. Sarmento made a pit stop for new tyres and dropped to seventh and de Teffé made a refuelling stop returning to the race in 12th position. One or two laps later he took his Alfa Romeo back to the pit to retire. The order after 12 laps looked like this: 1. Rosa (Fiat) 2. Corrêa (Ford) 3. Crespi (Bugatti) 4. Lo Turco (Ford) 5. D. Lopes (Hudson) 6. Carú (Fiat) 7. Sarmento (Bugatti-Studebaker) 8. Riganti (Bugatti-Hudson) 9. Castilho (Ford) 10. Lozano (Ford) 11. de Teffé (Alfa Romeo) 12. Santiago (Chrysler) On the 13th lap the inevitable happened as Corrêa took over the lead of the race from Rosa. Lo Turco obviously made a lengthy pit stop as he dropped to 12th and Sarmento was also in trouble falling to 9th. During Sarmento's pit stop someone put water into Sarmento's fuel tank. Sarmento called it an act of true crime. Refuelling station employee Lauro Carvalho de Carlos was arrested but then freed as Sarmento could not swear it was the right person or prove if it was a mistake or a deliberate act. Domingos Lopes was now fourth followed by Carú and Riganti.       On Lap14 a charging Crespi passed Rosa for second position. Zatuszek seems to have got his Mercedes back in order as he had advanced to ninth followed by Santiago, Lo Turco and Blanco.       After 15 laps Corrêa held a 35 seconds lead over Crespi. Lo Turco dropped back further being passed by Blanco and McCarthy.       On the 16th lap on Rua Marquez de Sao Vincente, where several crashes happened that day, Fernandez hit the sidewalk with his Amilcar and crashed. A young female spectator got hit but was not seriously injured. The race order in the top remained the same after 16 laps. Twenty-three cars were still in the race. 1. Corrêa (Ford) 2. Crespi (Bugatti) 3. Rosa (Fiat) 4. D. Lopes (Hudson) 5. Carú (Fiat) 6. Riganti (Bugatti-Hudson) 7. Castilho (Ford) 8. Lozano (Ford) 9. Zatuszek (Mercedes-Benz) 10. Santiago (Chrysler) 11. Blanco (Reo-Winfield) 12. McCarthy (Chrysler) While chasing Corrêa, Crespi, who now was 61 seconds behind the leader, overdid it. His Bugatti went into a skid and crashed badly into a lamp post on Rua Marquez de Sao Vincente. The riding mechanic, 42 years old Heitor Blasi, Italian but living in Sao Paulo, broke a leg while Crespi's both legs were crushed. After 18 laps Corrêa held a 2m15s lead over Rosa.       On the nineteenth lap McCarthy dropped out of the race. Corrêa had increased his lead to 2m38s. Only 15 cars remained in the race.       After 20 laps Corrêa led by 3m14s over Rosa with Domingos Lopes half a minute behind the latter in third position. After 21 laps the gap had increased to 3m42s with Lopes 32 seconds behind Rosa.       On the 22nd lap Corrêa put Riganti a lap down. Riganti would soon afterwards retire with a broken differential on his Bugatti-Hudson.       With two laps to go Corrêa led by 4m33s. On the next lap the gap was 6m30s to the struggling Rosa, who now had Lopes just 14 seconds behind him.       On the 24th lap Lopes took over second position and opened up a 53 seconds gap to Rosa who was in serious trouble. Corrêa started the last lap with a 5m01s lead.       After 25 laps Corrêa took the flag as a dominant winner. Domingos Lopes was second and Rosa was able to hold off Carú to finish third.       At the hospital Crespi's both legs were amputated. Despite the efforts of the doctors the driver succumbed at 10:20 a.m. the next morning.

Donington takes the first step towards a British Grand Prix

Whitney Straight, Maserati, dominated the race that was part of a three races event. Staniland (Bugatti) was second before he got plug problems and eventually had to retire. Penn-Hughes (Alfa Romeo) and Earl Howe (Bugatti) finished second and third. The most interesting part of the race from a spectator's view was the duel between the Bugattis of Shuttleworth and Martin for fourth and fifth position. They finished in that order.

Organized by Fred Craner and the Derby and District Motor Club this was the greatest race event the fairly new Donington circuit had provided so far. It included three races, a 10 laps handicap race for cars up to 1.5 litre that were not racing in the other two races of the day, the 20 laps Donington Park Trophy scratch race for cars with unlimited engine size and a 40 laps 1500cc handicap race for the Nuffield Trophy.       The circuit had been altered with the main straight extended and the Starkey Corner moved forward and turned into a hairpin that led back to the Red Gate Corner, which now became a sharp left hander. The start/finish line was relocated to the new straight section between Starkey and Red Gate with roofed in pits on the right side and timing box and a new 1000 seats roofed grandstand on the right side of the track.       Prizes offered for the scratch race were £100 and the Park Trophy for the winner with £50 and £25 for second and third finishers.

Entries: With Jackson and Eccles not turning up and with Mays racing the ERA in the Nuffield Trophy race instead there were nine competitors starting in the race. The best driver and best car was Whitney Straight with his 3-litre Maserati 8CM, now painted black. With the European Grand Prix season over he was able to take part in British racing, and had been the class winner of the Shelsey Walsh Hill Climb on 29 September. This was the first opportunity to see a modern Grand Prix car in action at Donington.       Clifton Penn-Hughes and Austin Dobson raced 2.6 litre Alfa Romeo Monzas. There were three Bugatti T51 entries, Christopher Staniland who raced TASO Mathieson's car, Earl Howe and Dick Shuttleworth while Charles Martin raced a T35B.       Freddie Dixon raced a non-supercharged 2 litre Riley while Sir Ronald Gunter entered a green supercharged Riley raced previously by "Teddy" Rayson.

Race: Sunday came with cold and cloudy weather and with rain to be expected. An estimated 12,000 spectators turned up for the event. The event started at 1 p.m. with a 10 laps handicap race for cars up to 1.5 litre, not racing in the other two races of the day. It was won by C. Richardson in a 1.1 litre Riley.       The 20 laps Donington Park Trophy scratch race for cars with unlimited engine size followed. As the cars were pushed into their positions on the grid the rain began to fall down.

21 Howe Bugatti 22 Straight Maserati 23 Dixon Riley * 25 Staniland Bugatti ** 27 Shuttleworth Bugatti 28 Martin Bugatti 29 Penn-Hughes Alfa Romeo 31 Dobson Alfa Romeo 32 Gunter Riley ***     * 26 Mays (ERA) DNS   ** 24 Eccles (Bugatti) DNS *** 30 Jackson (MG) DNS (Note 2)

When "Ebby" Ebblewhite dropped the flag Straight took the lead towards Red Gate Corner with Howe right behind him while Dixon in the front row made a terrible start. Penn-Hughes pulled to the left of the track in order to slip past Staniland but failed to do so. Both drivers as well as Shuttleworth and Martin passed Dixon before the corner. Dobson retired his Monza on the first lap.       Straight made the first lap in 2m23s (64.6 m.p.h./104 km/h) He was followed by Staniland, Howe, Shuttleworth, Penn-Hughes, Martin, Dixon and Gunter.       Straight in his Maserati made the second lap in 2m16s (67.98 m.p.h./109.4 km/h) with Staniland's blue Bugatti following. It was a wonder that the latter car had managed to start at all as a ball bearing in the back axle had broken during the morning, and it had been repaired at a very short notice. The duo had pulled away from the rest of the field led by Howe. In front of the grandstand Shuttleworth went past Howe but went wide on to the grass and lost the position again. Penn-Hughes took the opportunity and passed them both for third position.       Straight soon lapped Gunter who was struggling as his Riley was misfiring badly. Straight's speed gradually increased for the next few laps. For six laps Staniland made his best to keep the pace of the faster Maserati but on the seventh lap the Bugatti began to back-fire angrily as it swept down the straight towards Starkey Corner. On the ninth lap Staniland made a pit stop to change the faulty plug. He lost 5 minutes and dropped to 7th position.       The British local drivers had no chance against Straight with his Grand Prix experience. Without effort and in full control of his car he opened up a commanding lead. Thereafter he slowed down doing laps around 2m17s.       Behind Penn-Hughes and Howe there was a terrific duel for fourth position between the Bugattis of Shuttleworth and Martin that went on for the rest of the race. The cars were never more than 50 meters apart. For some time Staniland was between them after his pit stop. Staniland fought hard to improve his position but the misfire quickly reappeared, and on the 16th lap he called it a day. Martin once and twice got in front of Shuttleworth as they went round Starkey's hairpin wheel to wheel but in the end Shuttleworth kept on to his fourth position.       At 15 laps Straight led by over a mile and his pit crew signalled him to slow down further. He took the chequered flag 49.4 seconds in front of Penn-Hughes' Alfa-Romeo. Howe, who had made up a good deal of ground during the last few laps, was only 2.6 seconds behind Penn-Hughes finishing third. Shuttleworth finished fourth with Martin 1.4s behind while Dixon with his Riley, the only unblown car in the field, finished last. The conditions had not been the best with a slippery road from rain so no lap records were broken.       The race was followed by the Nuffield Trophy 40 laps handicap race. It was run in heavy rain with Raymond Mays taking the first big victory for ERA followed by the M.G.s of Seaman and Kenneth Evans.

The new ERA vs. a Grand Prix Maserati