Ippolito Berrone leads from start to finish

Four 1500cc cars and six 1100cc cars took part in the voiturette race. Berrone (Maserati) led the bigger class form start to finih while his main opponents Bianco and Barbieri, both with Maseratis, had to retire. Maserati cars dominated the smaller class as well. Tuffanelli took the victory from Bergamini with Baruffi finishing third in class.

The Grand Premio di Modena, organized for the fourth time by the local section of the R.A.C.I., included a voiturette race. The 1100cc and 1500cc classes raced together. The race distance was 25 laps for both classes.

Entries: Maseratis dominated the field with seven entries, three in the 1500cc class, "Nando" Barbieri, Ippolito Berrone and Ettore Bianco, and four in the 1100cc class, "Pino" Baruffi, Moris Bergamini, Gino Rovere and "Beppe" Tuffanelli. With five drivers whose names were starting with "B" even the Italian papers had problems sorting them out and spelling them correctly ("Perrone", "Taruffi").       1934 race winner and Italian Voiturette Champion Raffaele "Lello" Cecchini raced his M.G. and Luigi Platé his old Talbot 700. Unknown drivers Giuseppe Panzacchi and Alfonso Sandrolino entered Rocca cars.

Race: The race started at 2:50 p.m. According to Motor Sport the race was delayed a little because of a discussion between the officials and driver Sandrolino. The paper doesn't go into details of what was wrong with Sandrolino's car but in the end he was denied to start. That left six 1100cc and four 1500cc cars to race.

8 Bianco Maserati * 4 Tuffanelli Maserati 2 F Barbieri Maserati 14 Rovere Maserati 12 Berrone Maserati ** 22 Baruffi Maserati 20 Bergamini Maserati 18 Panzacchi Rocca 16 Cecchini MG 24 Platé Talbot * 6 Sandrolino (Rocca) DNS ** 10 G Barbieri (Maserati) DNS

Barbieri on pole position made a bad start and fell back while Berrone from the second row took the lead followed by Bianco. Barbieri soon climbed back to third position, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 3 with a time of 1m54.0s (101.1 km/h). The three top cars were racing close together. Barbieri advanced to second position on the 10th lap when Bianco crashed at the War Monument, fortunately with only slight injuries. In the smaller class Tuffanellli was leading from Cecchini and Rovere. After 10 laps the situation was: 1. Berrone (Maserati) 19m23.0s 2. Barbieri (Maserati) 19m35.2s 3. Tuffanelli (Maserati) 20m10.0s - 1100cc 4. Cecchini (MG) 20m23.2s - 1100cc 5. Rovere (Maserati) 20m43.4s - 1100cc 6. Baruffi (Maserati) 21m41.2s - 1100cc 7. Plate´ (Talbot) 21m48.6s 8. Bergamini (Maserati) 22m56.4s - 1100cc 9. Panzacchi (Rocca-Fiat) 23m08.6s - 1100cc Barbieri had to retire on the 11th lap because of mechanical trouble. Rovere closed in on Cecchini and the two had a fight that ended with Rovere spinning at the Monument. Checchini retired after 17 laps because of a transmission problem and Rovere, who had managed to continue the race after his spin, retired a few laps later.       Race leader Berrone was not able to relax, because Tuffanelli in his 1100cc car closed the gap to 4 seconds by setting the fastest lap time in the 1100 class on lap 20. Berrone however managed to open up the gap with his more powerful car to win by 14 seconds. Tuffanelli was second overall and the winner of the 1100cc class followed by Bergamini a lap behind. Platé was the only other finisher in the larger class and fourth overall followed by Baruffi.

A Scuderia Ferrari demonstration run

Six Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeos including the new 8C-35 driven by Nuvolari raced against Farina's 8-cylinder Maserati with Romano's old Bugatti as the only other competitor. Farina held the lead during the first six laps but then had to retire with a split fuel tank. Nuvolari took over the lead and even when he lost it to his team mates Brivio and Tadini during a few laps it was obvious that Nuvolari was just putting up a show. He easily retook command of the race to give the 8C-35 its first victory. He was followed by Tadini in second position while Pintacuda, who had had an incident early in the race, recovered to finish third.

The Grand Premio di Modena was organized for the fourth time by the local section of the R.A.C.I. and counted towards the 1935 Italian Championship. The 3.2 km long course had to be lapped 60 times.       Starting near the war memorial the course went clockwise along viale Regina Elena, viale Nicola Fabrizi, viale Muratori, viale Tassoni, viale Vittorio Veneto and viale delle Rimembranze.

Entries: The major class had an all Italian entry list. Scuderia Ferrari turned up with six cars for their "home race". Of the two new 8C-35s that had made their debut a week earlier at the Italian Grand Prix the team had not had time to repair the engine of the car used by Nuvolari at Monza, so only one 8C-35 car appeared at Modena to be raced by Tazio Nuvolari. Antonio Brivio and Attilio Marinoni raced Tipo B/P3s with Dubonnet independent suspension. Scuderia Ferraris chef mechanic Marinoni had earlier jumped in as replacement driver during races but this was his first race for the team as a nominated driver, a reward from the team for his work. Two of the older cart sprung cars were raced by Gianfranco Comotti and Carlo Pintacuda. The latter's car was in fact a privately owned 1934 model, re-built to a two-seater, but entered by Scuderia Ferrari for Pintacuda throughout 1935. It is not known if Mario Tadini's Tipo B/P3 was the cart sprung or of the Dubonnet type.       There were rumors that Scuderia Subalpina should enter Varzi in the race instead of Etancelin, who was still suffering from his crash at the Italian Grand Prix, but the team did not appear. A Maserati V8 RI with Nino Farina as driver took part in the event however. It is quite clear from the contemporary reports that this was not a Scuderia Subalpina car as Italian magazines listed possible Scuderia Subalpina drivers separately. It looks like two cars were delivered at the same time, #4501 to Scuderia Subalpina and #4502 to Gino Rovere, Whether it was entered by Gino Rovere or by Farina himself as an independent is unclear.       Emilio Romano with his own Bugatti T51 completed the list of competitors.

Race: After the finish of the voiturette race (see above) the grand prix cars were pushed to their start positions consisting of two rows of four cars each:

12 Marinoni Alfa Romeo 8 Farina Maserati 6 Comotti Alfa Romeo 4 Pintacuda Alfa Romeo 20 Tadini Alfa Romeo 18 Brivio Alfa Romeo 16 Romano Bugatti 14 Nuvolari Alfa Romeo

At 4:30 p.m. the prefect of Modena dropped the flag and the cars were on their way. Marinoni made the best start to lead the field as they circled around the War Monument but once out on the first straight Farina with the 8-cylinder Maserati took over the lead. Farina made the first lap in 1m53s and he was leading Marinoni by some 200 meters. Behind them followed Pintacuda, Brivio, Comotti, Tadini, Nuvolari and Romano, all close together.       Farina made the second lap in 1m47s. Marinoni was still second with Brivio now behind him while Nuvolari had passed Tadini, Comotti and Pintacuda for fourth position.       After the third lap, Farina held an eight seconds lead over Marinoni, while Nuvolari was closing in on both, having passed Brivio for third.       On the fourth lap Pintacuda spun in a corner and crashed into a post of a wireless aerial. He was able to continue but had lost over half a minute. Nuvolari passed Marinoni for second. At the end of the lap the gap between Farina and Nuvolari was eight seconds and Nuvolari gained a second on the leader both on lap five and on lap six.       At the end of the seventh lap Nuvolari arrived at the finish straight right behind Farina and passed him in front of the grandstand to the cheers of the spectators. Then it was realized that Farina was in trouble and stopped at the pit. Farina's mechanic rushed to the Maserati and changed two plugs in a hurry. But that was not the problem. Suddenly the driver was seen jumping out of the car and taking off his goggles. The fuel tank had split and Farina had to abandon the race.       The race continued with a single Bugatti against six Alfa Romeos cars, which were reduced to five a lap later when Comotti retired due to fading brakes. The race order after 10 laps was: 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 18m25.6s (104.2 km/h) 2. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 18m29.4s 3. Tadini (Alfa Romeo) 18m33.4s 4. Marinoni (Alfa Romeo) 18m34.2s 5. Pintacuda (Alfa Romeo) 19m02.2s 6. Romano (Bugatti) 20m30.0s Brivio was closing in on Nuvolari and Tadini was closing in on both of them while further back Pintacuda after his earlier crash had decreased the gap to Marinoni to less than half a minute.       Shadowing Nuvolari lap after lap Brivio and Tadini were able to catch him and on the 20th lap both passed their team leader, demoting Nuvolari to third. A lap later Tadini had taken over the lead followed closely by Brivio and Nuvolari. At the 25th lap Nuvolari retook the lead after some close racing.       At 30 laps Tadini and Brivio were still following Nuvolari closely. Pintacuda had closed the gap to Marinoni to less than ten seconds: 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 54m24.0s (105.9 km/h) 2. Tadini (Alfa Romeo) 54m26.8s 3. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 54m27.8s 4. Marinoni (Alfa Romeo) 54m44.6s 5. Pintacuda (Alfa Romeo) 54m54.4s 6. Romano (Bugatti) The gap between Marinoni and Pintacuda continued to shrink and at lap 39 the latter took over fourth position. Pintacuda continued at high speed and made lap 40 in 1m44.2s (110.6 km/h).       After 41 laps Marinoni retired at the pits due to an engine failure.       On lap 42 Tadini closed in on Nuvolari while Brivio was unable to keep the speed of the duo. But Nuvolari decided that the game playing was over and easily opened up a new gap, making the fastest lap of the race on lap 44 with a time of 1m44 flat (110.8 km/h).       After lap 50 Nuvolari was about 150 meters ahead of Tadini. Brivio, struggling with his brakes, had lost ground and Pintacuda, who was still pushing, was closing in further on him. On the 59th lap Pintacuda passed his team mate for third position.       When Nuvolari took the flag at the end of the 60th lap the enthusiastic spectators immediately invaded the circuit. Tadini, who arrived 15 seconds later, barely managed to avoid running into the crowd. Pintacuda took the flag only 6.6 seconds after Tadini after a brilliant recovery with Brivio close behind him finishing fourth. Romano, who was ten laps behind the Alfa Romeos, was flagged down.       This was the first victory for the new 8C-35 Alfa Romeo.

Finnish drivers dominate in Estonia

This minor Estonian race outside Tallinn was raced in two classes. Finnish driver Ebb with his Mercedes-Benz dominated the larger class. He was followed to the flag by four other Finnish drivers with Estonian Johanson finishing sixth. In the minor class there were just two competitors with Estonian Scheel winning in a MG.

The third Estonian Grand Prix was run at the Pirita-Kose-Kloostrimetsa Ringrada (Pirita-Kose-Conventwood Circuit). The circuit consisted of narrow roads through the wood between Pirita and Kose, near the ruins of the Pirita convent 6 km northeast of the Estonian capital Tallinn. The circuit was 6.761 km long and had 10 major curves and two bridges. Only 2/3 of the roads had tarmac, the remaining 1/3 consisted of sand. The drivers seem to have liked the course through the beautiful woods.       The main focus was on motorcycles with participants from Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Latvia and Germany. For 1935 the event also included a 10 lap car race. Even if the race was called a Grand Prix the rules said that the cars should be in standard form with headlights and mudguards.       Prizes was 120 EEK (Estonian kroon) for the winner of category 2 and 80 EEK for the winner of category 1.

Entries: There were 12 entries but it looks like only eight cars started. Five Finnish drivers arrived to Estonia on "S/S Suomi" (59.6m, 407 brt) on Friday. Karl Ebb raced his familiar Mercedes-Benz SSK, this time with mudguards on the rear wheels. Emil Elo entered his ex-Isberg Bugatti T35C. Asser Wallenius and Aleksi Patama raced their Fords and Arvo Sorri his blue Chrysler. Estonian Julius Johanson entered a special probably based on a 1933 Studebaker President with a 337 cu in (5,520 cc) 8 cylinder engine.       In the small class only two cars started. Estonian Scheel racing under the pseudonym "Rony Rocy" raced a MG against German driver K. Stadie (or Stagie) with a Hannomag.

Race: An estimated 15000 -25000 spectators turned up to see the race . The exact number is hard to know as the woods were not closed and there were many spectators without a ticket. There was also an air show that day. Spectator control seems to have been a problem on the long narrow roads with people walking wherever they wanted. There were no scoreboards or loudspeakers and the organizers tried to keep the spectators informed by megaphones.       President of Estonia, Konstantin Päts, opened the event. After some eventful motorcycle races it was finally time for the car race.

1 Ebb Mercedes-Benz 2 Johanson Studebaker 3 Patama Ford 5 Wallenius Ford Rest of grid not available

Ebb took the lead at the start followed by Johanson. Johanson stayed second during the first two laps before he started to struggle. On the third lap he was passed by Elo, whose Bugatti due to a failed plug was running on only seven cylinders. During the fourth lap Johanson dropped to sixth where he remained for the rest of the race.       Ebb took the victory followed by Elo and Wallenius, Finnish drivers taking the top five positions.       In the smaller class it was noticed that a rear wheel on German driver Stadie's car had started to wobble. The clerk of course was afraid that the wheel might come loose and decided to "black flag" the car (in this case a yellow flag was actually used) to stop it before something serious happened. Stadie certainly noticed the flags but refused to stop until the 8th lap.       In the evening at the club the drivers received their awards. Class winner Ebb received a silver cup and a cash prize of Ekr 120. Scheel received a silver cup and a cash prize as well. By mistake only the two class winners in the car event received their prizes but it was later corrected with Elo and Wallenius receiving their prizes as well.

Mercedes-Benz Grand Slam

The 1935 Spanish Grand Prix was the last of the seven Grandes Épreuves counting toward the European Championship. The most prominent racing teams from Mercedes-Benz, Auto Union, Ferrari, Subalpina and Bugatti gathered together for their final battle of the year between Germany, Italy and France. After the start, the Mercedes drivers could not catch the flying Stuck in the Auto Union, who held first place until his clutch wore out on lap 13. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) then inherited the lead followed by his teammate Fagioli. Varzi (Auto Union) shared his car with reserve driver Pietsch after injuring himself on the first lap and established a new outright lap record. Nuvolari in the new 3.8-liter Alfa Romeo drove in mid field but retired early on.       The last big race of the year ended with a triple triumph for Mercedes-Benz. Wimille's Bugatti held third place for 7 laps and his brilliant drive earned him fourth place. The Auto Unions were the fastest cars, but all encountered mechanical problems. Rosemeyer nursed the only surviving Auto Union home in fifth place. Benoist in the second Bugatti finished sixth and the independent Sommer was last with an old Alfa Romeo.

The 17.315 km Lasarte circuit, a few miles south of the Atlantic seaside resort of San Sebastian, had to be lapped 30 times a total of 519.450 km. This famous road course had been in use since 1923 as the San Sebastian Grand Prix. A genuine natural road course, the winding hilly road went counterclockwise through the foothills of the Pyrenees and some parts were in poor condition with stones and potholes. At the start and finish, between the villages of Lasarte and Oria, there were tram lines. The circuit then led through Andoain after 5 km, Urnieta at half distance, Hernani after 11 km, and Lasarte just 1.3 km before the start and finish. The Automobile-Club of Guipuzcoa organized the event and had improved the banking of many corners, resulting in shorter lap times. On the straights beginning after km 5 up to km 10.7, there were several opportunities to go full throttle. Of the estimated 100,000 spectators, many had arrived in special trains from all parts of the country to see the eleventh Spanish Grand Prix. Prize money was 20,000 Pesetas for first place, 10,000 for second, 5,000 for third, and 2,500 for fourth place.

Entries and Practice: Auto Union had four cars for Hans Stuck, Achille Varzi, Bernd Rosemeyer and Paul Pietsch, whose car became the training car for he was the reserve driver. On Thursday, the first practice day, Stuck drove five slow laps, the best in 6m54s at about 150 km/h average. Varzi drove three slow laps in his car and one lap in the training car, which was in need of a new clutch. Pietsch also drove the training car but rather slowly. Rosemeyer, still a junior driver, did some impressive laps on the first day, the best at 6m37s, while getting acquainted with the circuit, which was new to him. By the end of Thursday Rosemeyer had driven the fastest lap of the day in 6m34s at 157 km/h average speed. Daimler-Benz also arrived with four W25 racecars for Rudolf Caracciola, Luigi Fagioli, Manfred von Brauchitsch and a fourth marked with a "T" as a training car. The new much lower Mercedes racecar seen during practice for the Swiss Grand Prix and also tested at Monza did not appear in Spain. During Thursday practice none of the Mercedes-Benz was driven below 6m34s. Fagioli drove a lap of 6m37s while Caracciola drove a best of 6m44s and Brauchitsch best time was 6m58s. The independent French driver Raymond Sommer arrived with an Alfa Romeo Type B painted blue, the French national color. He also used the first day of practice to learn the circuit but held back with his speed.       On Friday, more cars appeared for practice. Stuck did nine laps with a different final drive, his fastest time was 6m37s. He also tried the training car for comparison. He complained that during cornering the car was going away in front, his way of expressing understeer, a term that was still unknown in 1935. While Varzi's car received new cylinder heads and a different final drive on Friday, he used the training car again and did five laps, one fast one at 6m19s, an average speed of 165 km/h and the next for a new record lap of 6m17s. Rosemeyer did four laps, one at 6m28s with his best at 6m26s. Brauchitsch drove his Mercedes in 6m30s, Caracciola in 6m33s and Fagioli in 6m42s. Scuderia Ferrari arrived with an Alfa Romeo 8C35 for Tazio Nuvolari and a 3.2-liter Type B Alfa Romeo with independent suspension for Louis Chiron, who was racing for the first time after his bad crash in the Swiss GP. He was not yet fully recovered from his Bern crash four weeks ago and still suffered from the after effects of influenza. René Dreyfus was the nominated reserve driver. Nuvolari drove a lap of 6m32s. Scuderia Subalpina from Turin, led by its founder, Count Luigi della Chiesa, represented the Maserati factory, having a similar agreement to that between Alfa Romeo and the Scuderia Ferrari. Although Etancelin's condition after his Monza accident was improving, he was not yet ready to race. Therefore the team arrived with two 6-cylinder Maserati 6C 34's for Eugenio Siena and Marcel Lehoux. Lehoux was asked to drive for the Scuderia in Spain and at the following Masaryk Circuit. Automobiles Ettore Bugatti entered Jean-Pierre Wimille in a 3.3-liter T59. The second T59 was driven by Robert Benoist who replaced the original entry of Piero Taruffi, who was named as reserve driver. Wimille's speed was impressive with a time of 6m23s, an average speed of 163 km/h and his circuit experience from last year showed. A private entry with an old 2.3-liter Bugatti T51 came from the Spaniard Genaro Léoz. Lehoux, Siena and Léoz were unable to match the slowest times recorded by the German cars.       In Saturday's practice, Varzi had his own improved car back in the morning to do five laps and established the fastest lap of 6m08s at an average speed of 169 km/h. With his car's front track adjusted to curb understeer, Stuck did four laps and was satisfied with a time of 6m23s. Rosemeyer's car needed repairs on Saturday, but he did two laps, one at 6m36s. Pietsch drove the T-car but very slowly, driving in all race tires, each set for one lap. His fastest of 11 laps was 6m45s. Brauchitsch drove a lap in 6m54s, Fagioli in 6m26s and Nuvolari 6m26s. Sommer, Lehoux, Siena and Léoz all required over seven minutes. Most drivers did not try to drive record laps since the order on the starting grid was decided by drawing lots and not by practice times.       After the three practice days the belief was that Auto Union would lead from the start and would not be displaced. The prognosis of who would win was however not that simple. In Germany Mercedes-Benz had been given the greatest chance but Alfa Romeo had been victorious with Nuvolari. In Switzerland Auto Union was considered favorite but Mercedes-Benz was successful. In Italy Mercedes-Benz was thought likely to win but Auto Union celebrated a great victory with Alfa Romeo second. Now in Spain it was thought that Mercedes would do everything to make up for their Monza failure. At the same time Auto Union would try to win again in Spain to prove that their Monza victory had not been a fluke. Alfa Romeo had won in Germany with an old model and arrived here with a new car for Nuvolari and if the engine would last he could deliver a surprise. Therefore the outcome of this year's Spanish Grand Prix was rather unpredictable.

Race: At midsummer temperatures - there was mention of a heat wave - in front of the overcrowded grandstand, there assembled the silver, red, and blue grand prix cars. Promptly at 12 noon after a showy presentation of the drivers enlivened with national anthems and greetings before the drivers sat in their cars. The positions for the starting grid had been decided by ballot and the cars lined up as follows:

2 Wimille Bugatti 4 Rosemeyer Auto Union 6 Varzi Auto Union 8 Fagioli Mercedes-Benz 10 Stuck Auto Union 12 Benoist Bugatti 14 Siena Maserati 16 Nuvolari Alfa Romeo * 20 Chiron Alfa Romeo 22 Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz 24 Lehoux Maserati 26 Caracciola Mercedes-Benz 28 Sommer Alfa Romeo 30 Leóz Abad Bugatti * 18 Pietsch (Auto Union) - DNS

At the fall of the flag, Rosemeyer streaked into the lead, laying down a pair of dark trails on the track, followed by Stuck, Varzi, Fagioli and Nuvolari. Wimille and Siena, also at the front of the grid, were out-dragged by the powerful German cars. When Stuck passed Varzi and Rosemeyer right after the start, both had their windscreens shattered by some of the countless stones on the circuit.       At the end of the first lap, after 6m20.7s, Stuck came thundering past the pits, 40 meters ahead of Rosemeyer less windscreen, followed by Fagioli with the shrill deafening howl of the Mercedes. Already in fourth place was Caracciola, who had passed seven cars and now went past Varzi, who stopped at his pit also without a windscreen. Next appeared Wimille, followed by Nuvolari, Chiron, von Brauchitsch, Lehoux, Benoist and the rest. Varzi had stopped since not only had the windscreen shattered, but he was slightly dazed from the impact of the glass pieces shot in his face. While he wiped the blood off his face, the reserve driver Pietsch took over his car and left still without a windscreen.       Stuck completed the second lap in 6m13s, 12 seconds ahead of Fagioli who had overtaken Rosemeyer, a further two seconds back, followed by Caracciola, Wimille, Chiron who had overtaken his team mate Nuvolari. Next appeared Brauchitsch, Lehoux, Benoist, Sommer and Pietsch in Varzi's car who was 2m37s behind Stuck and finally Léoz. Siena, one of the Maserati drivers, retired prematurely on the second lap with a broken suspension spring. On the third lap Stuck had a lead of 15 seconds over Fagioli, with Caracciola now third, followed by Wimille and Chiron. Rosemeyer also stopped at the pits without his windscreen and lost valuable time to have a makeshift sheet metal windscreen installed and a fouled sparkplug changed, which dropped him to eighth place. Brauchitsch passed Nuvolari on lap three into seventh place. There were no other changes up to lap five, when the leading Stuck lapped the Bugatti of Léoz on lap four. Stuck in first place had an advantage of 13 seconds to Fagioli, 17s to Caracciola and 35s to Wimille. Here is the order with times after five laps: 1. Stuck (Auto-Union) 31m22s 2. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 31m35s 3. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 31m39s 4. Wimille Bugatti) 31m57s 5. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 32m55s 6. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 33m06s 7. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 33m47s 8. Rosemeyer (Auto-Union) 33m57s 9. Lehoux (Maserati) 34m33s 10. Benoist (Bugatti) 34m37s 11. Pietsch/Varzi (Auto-Union) 36m01s 12. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 36m35s 13. Léoz (Bugatti) 42m13s On lap six, Stuck drove another fast lap in 6m11s. His lead was 12 seconds to Fagioli, who must have lapped even faster in 6 min 10 sec, which was presumably the fastest lap of the race so far and probably a new lap record at that time. After his pit stop, Rosemeyer picked up speed and was able to pass Nuvolari into seventh place. Pietsch stopped at the pits for Varzi to take back his car and also had an improvised metal windscreen fitted. Chiron was able to hold off Brauchitsch till lap eight, when the German passed the old Alfa Romeo to take fifth place. AAZ reported that Nuvolari stopped at his pit on lap eight with a smoking engine. Twenty repeated hand-cranks with the starting handle could not bring it back to life. But Motor Sport, Il Littoriale and El Mundo Deportivo stated that Nuvolari came slowly to his pit on lap eight, stopped and dropped hints that he retired with broken suspension. His withdrawal caused great disappointment as he was the most prominent figure and the only one who seemed qualified to fight the Germans.       On lap nine, Caracciola drove a lap in 6m9.3s and passed Fagioli, and who then followed him like a shadow. Varzi, now one lap behind, was trying very hard in his pursuit of the leaders, showing his ability with the Auto Union by driving record laps of first 6m09.3s then one of 6m02s an average of 172 km/h which was a new fastest lap. On lap ten, Stuck was still 12 seconds ahead of Caracciola, who lapped between 6m13s and 6m11s, ahead of Fagioli, Wimille, Brauchitsch, Chiron, Rosemeyer and the rest. After ten laps the order was: 1. Stuck (Auto-Union) 1h02m28s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h02m40s 3. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 1h02m46s 4. Wimille Bugatti) 1h03m56s 5. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 1h04m49s 6. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 1h04m55s 7. Rosemeyer (Auto-Union) 1h05m35s 8. Lehoux Maserati) 1h08m02s 9. Benoist (Bugatti) 1h08m07s 10. Varzi/Pietsch (Auto-Union) 1h09m14s 11. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 1h13m51s 12. Léoz (Bugatti) 1h24m11s On lap 10 Varzi drove another quick lap in 5m58.6s, at an average speed of 174 km/h, which was to be the fastest lap of the race. The gap between Stuck and Caracciola started to shrink after the tenth lap. Something appeared to be wrong with the Auto Union. Till the end of lap 12, there were no changes. Wimille in fourth place was 2m19s ahead of Brauchitsch, 2m46s of Chiron, 3m13s of Rosemeyer, and 6m33s of Varzi, who had already been lapped, followed by Benoist, Sommer, Leoz, and Lehoux. The big turning-point took place on lap 13, when Stuck pulled into his pit and Caracciola's Mercedes moved into the lead. The clutch of the Auto Union was not disengaging and caused gear selection problems. There was no quick fix but they gave him fuel. He could not select a gear with the engine running and when trying to use force, the engine stalled. Push-starts were against the regulations, so the car was jacked up, a gear selected, the engine was started with the rear wheels turning and Stuck took off from a released jack. But at the end of the next lap Stuck returned to the pits to retire with a slipping clutch.       At the end of lap 14, Caracciola still led Fagioli and Wimille. After having driven his record laps, Varzi stopped on lap 15, to hand back to Pietsch and refuel at the same time. He gave up because the gears were jumping out. Fourth gear was selected on the stationary car, the shifter was secured, Pietsch let the clutch go and took off in fourth gear. The positions remained the same except for minor changes during the fuel stops, which were now due. The order after 15 laps was as follows: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h33m59s 2. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 1h34m27s 3. Wimille Bugatti) 1h35m53s 4. Rosemeyer (Auto-Union) 1h37m08s 5. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 1h37m09s 6. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 1h38m05s 7. Benoist (Bugatti) 1h41m55s 8. Varzi/Pietsch (Auto-Union) 1h48m40s 9. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 1h53m51s 10. Lehoux Maserati) 2h04m31s 11. Léoz (Bugatti) 2h09m07s On lap 16 Caracciola stopped for fuel and Fagioli temporarily went into the lead. On the next lap Caracciola was back in first position when it was Fagioli's turn for tires and fuel. They lapped between 6m10s and 6m16s while Wimille followed in third place about one minute behind. On lap 16 Brauchitsch's left rear tire had thrown a thread while doing over 230 km/h and gave him trouble trying to keep the car on the road. The incident happened directly in front of the grand stand turn so that Brauchitsch luckily did not lose much time as he was able to stop immediately at the pits to change rear wheels and refuel. To all appearances it was understood that the tire at that fast speed was pierced by one of the many stones. The barrage of stones ripped whole shreds from the bodywork of the grand prix cars. Following his stop, Brauchitsch, who had been in sixth place, was able to find a way around Chiron and Rosemeyer, whose engine started to lose power enabling Chiron to pass him as well. After 20 laps Caracciola led by 1m12s ahead of Fagioli followed by Wimille, Brauchitsch, Chiron, Rosemeyer and the rest in the following order: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2h06m53s 2. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 2h08m05s 3. Wimille Bugatti) 2h09m28s 4. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 2h09m32s 5. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 2h10m04s 6. Rosemeyer (Auto-Union) 2h10m50s 7. Benoist (Bugatti) 2h17m16s 8. Pietsch/Varzi (Auto-Union) 2h24m06s 9. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 2h30m02s 10. Lehoux Maserati) 2h38m34s 11. Léoz (Bugatti) Wimille, in the T59 Bugatti, had demonstrated an impressive challenge to the superior German cars and had held a strong third place after Stuck's retirement. Despite a 100 hp difference between the two cars, it took von Brauchitsch in the powerful Mercedes until lap 21 to get past Wimille's Bugatti. The three Mercedes-Benz were now in the lead and von Brauchitsch maintained a rather fast pace. Between lap 23 and 25 Fagioli tried to catch Caracciola by doing several quick laps and reduced the German's advantage to 45 seconds. Both drivers lapped around 6m10s, which was considerably faster than their practice times. Here is the order after 25 laps: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2h38m25s 2. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 2h39m10s 3. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 2h40m25s 4. Wimille Bugatti) 2h41m22s 5. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 2h41m51s 6. Rosemeyer (Auto-Union) 2h42m22s 7. Benoist (Bugatti) 2h51m09s 8. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 3h06m43s 9. Lehoux Maserati) 10. Pietsch/Varzi (Auto-Union) 11. Léoz (Bugatti) Pietsch, in Varzi's sick Auto Union was now three laps behind and came to a stop on lap 27 when the transmission broke at km 6 on the straight past Andoain. On lap 28, Chiron headed for his pit where he retired with a cracked crankcase and too great an oil loss to complete the last two laps. With Chiron's withdrawal, Rosemeyer inherited fifth place. His Auto Union had developed a leaking head gasket, causing loss of coolant in the engine and therefore he could not drive at full speed. Lehoux who was five laps behind, retired his Maserati on the last lap. Léoz with the old Bugatti had also been lapped numerous times and while nine laps behind, also retired on the last lap.       After 30 laps Caracciola finished 43 seconds ahead of Fagioli, followed by Brauchitsch in third position. Wimille finished an impressive fourth in his Bugatti followed by Rosemeyer in the last surviving Auto Union. This was Caracciola's sixth victory of the year and he deservedly won the European Championship, which had been reinstated for 1935. It was an impressive achievement for Caracciola since his devastating 1933 Monaco accident, which had put him out of racing for over a year. A victory not just over Fagioli, Brauchitsch, Varzi, Stuck, and Nuvolari but a victory over himself and over his constantly aching leg, must have given him great satisfaction. This last big race of the year also proved the predominance of the Mercedes-Benz racecars.