Another one for Seaman and Delage

Seaman with his Delage ought to have been challenged by the ERA works team while the Maserati works team was absent. However, once again the ERA works drivers struck trouble and instead it was the independent ERA drivers Bira, Embiricos and Tongue who played main roles in the event, Bira retiring from second position halfway through the race while Embiricos and Tongue finished 2nd and 3rd behind the dominating Seaman. Howe was the only works ERA driver to take the chequered flag in fifth position after having stalled the car at the start.

Just like the two previous years a 1500cc voiturette race was held before the Grand Prix. Called the Preis von Bern in German or Prix de Berne in French the race length was 28 laps and the following prizes were offered: First prize was 3,000 Swiss Franc, second Fr. 2,000, third Fr. 1,200, fourth Fr. 800 and fifth Fr. 500.

Entries: After his Coppa Acerbo Junior victory Richard Seaman with his old black Delage was the favourite. The works ERA team entered three cars for their drivers Raymond Mays (R4B), Earl Howe (R8B) and Patrick Fairfield (R4A). The cars had been repainted in black in a hope that the bad luck with the green cars would change. There were three private ERAs. Greek driver Nicholas Embiricos entered his grey car (R2A) and Prince Bira entered his blue coloured "Romulus" (R2B). However the car engine had a cracked cylinder head after Coppa Acerbo and needed a major repair so the engine from "Remus" was used instead. Reggie Tongue with his green ERA (R11B) was a late entry and was given race number 92.       Possibly because of the humiliating defeat in Pescara the works Maseratis with Omobono Tenni and Count Trossi as drivers had been withdrawn. Officially the explanation was that the cars were not ready. Private Maseratis were entered by Australian Frederick McEvoy (6CM #1535), Italians Vittorio Belmondo, Ettore Bianco and Luigi Villoresi and Swiss Christian Kautz (all with 4CMs) and Swiss Hans Rüesch with his heavy modified 4CS (#1520).       Other entries included Italian Luigi Platè with a Talbot, Swiss Armand Hug with a Bugatti, Dutch Harry Herkuleyns with a M.G. Magnette and German Walter Bäumer with a little Austin 7.       Bobby Kohlrausch had cancelled his entry several days before the event and French driver Claude Mélinant had been involved in an accident and was also a non-entry.

Practice: Practice for the voiturette class took place on Thursday and Friday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 2:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.       Seaman was fastest during Thursday practice with a time of 3m02.6s.       On Friday Fairfield was in a class of his own, putting in a fantastic time of 2m55.2s with his A type ERA. He was followed by Seaman and Kautz. Bira was unable to get his ERA up to speed due to a magneto fault and was slowest of the ERA entries. The practice list looked like this: Fairfield (ERA) 2m55.2s Seaman (Delage) 3m00.6s Kautz (Maserati) 3m04.5s Embiricos (ERA) 3m06.6s Bianco (Maserati) 3m07.0s Mays (ERA) 3m07.4s Howe (ERA) 3m08.4s Bira (ERA) 3m08.4s Villoresi (Maserati) 3m13.4s Belmondo (Maserati) 3m15.1s Rüesch (Maserati) 3m16.4s Bäumer (Austin) 3m17.9s McEvoy (Maserati) 3m23.1s Hug (Bugatti) 3m33.3s Platè (Austin) 3m52.7s Herkuleyns (MG) 4m07.1s The works ERA team considered itself ready for the race and did not take part in the Saturday practice. Seaman was fastest followed by Bira, whose car had been fixed, and Bianco. It was claimed Tongue only arrived in time for the third practice but his practice time as listed by Automobile Revue doesn't fit with his grid position. Results: Seaman (Delage) 3m01.3s Bira (ERA) 3m01.9s Bianco (Maserati) 3m06.2s Kautz (Maserati) 3m08.9s Embiricos (ERA) 3m10.4s McEvoy (Maserati) 3m12.7s Villoresi (Maserati) 3m15.6s Rüesch (Maserati) 3m16.0s Bäumer (Austin) 3m16.6s Belmondo (Maserati) 3m16.8s Tongue (ERA) 3m18.1s? Hug (Bugatti) 3m19.0s Platè (Austin) 3m45.7s Herkuleyns (MG) 4m02.4s

Race: On Saturday there had been a 14 lap race car and sports car event called Preis von Bremgarten for the Swiss drivers. Starting with 13 entries at 4:15 p.m. Hans Rüesch with his Alfa Romeo had been the overall winner with de Graffenried (Alfa Romeo), Stuber (Alfa Romeo) and Leuzinger (Bugatti) taking class victories.       Sunday came with a fine but a bit cold August weather. Early on as the spectators arrived to the circuit it was still a bit foggy but an ever-increasing breeze swept the fog away and the sun was shining over the Bremgarten Park. At 9.45 a.m. the cars were pushed to the grid to be lined up in the following order:

90 B Bira ERA 3m01.9s 60 Seaman Delage 3m00.6s 64 Fairfield ERA 2m55.2s 72 Bianco Maserati 3m06.2s 86 Kautz Maserati 3m04.5s 66 Howe ERA 3m07.4s 68 Mays ERA 3m07.4s 58 Embiricos ERA 3m06.6s 52 McEvoy Maserati 3m12.1? 92 Tongue ERA 3m12.7s 88 Rüesch Maserati 3m16.0s 70 Belmondo Maserati 3m15.1s 76 L Villoresi Maserati 3m13.4s 84 Hug Bugatti 3m19.0s 62 Bäumer Austin 3m16.6s 82 Herkuleyns MG 4m02.4s 74 L Platé Talbot 3m24.9s

The flag dropped at 10 a.m. and the race was on its way. Seaman took the lead followed by Bianco and Bira. Howe stalled his ERA and got away last but was able to pass a few cars on the first lap. Seaman did the first lap in 3m10.7s. Behind him followed Fairfield, Bira, Mays, Bianco, Tongue and Embiricos. Further back came Belmondo, Villoresi, Bäumer, McEvoy, Rüesch, Howe, Hug, Platè and Herkuleyns. Finally Kautz's Maserati came slowly rolling to the pit and stopped for two minutes while the plugs were changed.       Seaman made the second lap in 3m00.2s. Fairfield, who was second four seconds behind the leader, was followed closely by Bira. The duo was driving flat out trying to keep up with the Delage and the three cars in the top had already opened up a gap to the rest of the field. Bäumer with his little Austin had managed to pass Villoresi. Bianco stopped in the pits with carburettor trouble and was away again after a 4½ minute repair attempt. As Bianco had dropped from fifth position to last, all who had been behind him had advanced one position except Kautz, who had retired his Maserati halfway through the lap.       Seaman did the third lap in a record time of 2m58.7s. Bira, doing the lap in 3m01s, had passed Fairfield for second place but despite stressing the engine he was already 8 seconds behind Seaman, losing 2 to 3 seconds per lap. Villoresi re-passed Bäumer for eighth position and McEvoy lost two positions to Rüesch and Howe. Bianco, trying to cure the still problematic carburettor, had to make another pit stop.       After four laps Bira was 11 seconds behind Seaman and 6 seconds in front of Fairfield and Bianco made yet another pit stop.       After five laps Bira had lost 12.1 seconds to Seaman but the gap back to Fairfield had grown to 14.6 seconds. Seaman had already put Herkuleyns and Bianco a lap down.       The race order after five laps looked like this: 1. Seaman (Delage) 15m10.5s 2. Bira (ERA) 15m22.6s 3. Fairfield (ERA) 15m37.2s 4. Mays (ERA) 15m51.0s 5. Tongue (ERA) 15m54.1s 6. Embiricos (ERA) 7. Belmondo (Maserati) 8. Villoresi (Maserati) 9. Bäumer (Austin) 10. Rüesch (Maserati) 11. Howe (ERA) 12. McEvoy (Maserati) 13. Hug (Bugatti) 14. Platè (Talbot) 15. Herkuleyns (MG) 16. Bianco (Maserati) On the sixth lap Embiricos managed to pass Tongue for fifth place and further back in the field Herkuleyns took over 14th position from Platè. On the next lap Fairfield was clearly in trouble after having done the first laps flat out and his team mate Mays passed him for third position.       On the eighth lap Rüesch passed Bäumer for eighth position as Belmondo retired his Maserati because of brake trouble. Hug made a pit stop to change plugs dropping to second last behind Herkuleyns and Platè. Last was of course Bianco, who was visiting the pit after almost every lap.       On the ninth lap Fairfield, now seriously struggling, was passed by Embiricos as well.       After ten laps Seaman was leading Bira, who was still driving flat out, by 23.4 seconds. Howe, who after the first lap had failed to advance through the field, lost his 10th position to McEvoy. The situation was like this: 1. Seaman (Delage) 30m11.9s 2. Bira (ERA) 30m35.3s 3. Mays (ERA) 31m05.3s 4. Embiricos (ERA) 31m23.6s 5. Fairfield (ERA) 31m47.8s 6. Tongue (ERA) 7. Villoresi (Maserati) 8. Rüesch (Maserati) 9. Bäumer (Austin) 10. McEvoy (Maserati) 11. Howe (ERA) 12. Herkuleyns (MG) 13. Platè (Talbot) 14. Hug (Bugatti) 15. Bianco (Maserati) The 12th lap was a bad one for the ERA team. Mays retired from his third position and Fairfield, having been passed by Tongue's private ERA as well, made a pit stop for a plug change. It did not help and Fairfield retired his car on the next lap. Hug was also out because of plug problems.       On the 13th lap Howe went past McEvoy to take 8th position.       On the 15th lap Hans Rüesch, having started 13th but gaining from the misfortunes of the others, moved his Maserati up to fifth and Bäumer in his Austin moved up to sixth as Villoresi fell back with plug and carburettor trouble. The race order after 15 laps: 1. Seaman (Delage) 45m23.3s 2. Bira (ERA) 46m07.6s 3. Embiricos (ERA) 46m42.4s 4. Tongue (ERA) 48m05.0s 5. Rüesch (Maserati) 48m42.7s 6. Bäumer (Austin) 7. Villoresi (Maserati) 8. Howe (ERA) 9. McEvoy (Maserati) 10. Herkuleyns (MG) 11. Platè (Talbot) 12. Bianco (Maserati) Seaman, now with a 44.3 seconds lead, could ease off a bit. For Bira it was too late to back off as he entered the pit after the 15th lap with irregular noises coming from the engine. After a plug change he returned to the race in sixth place but on the next lap he was back in the pit to retire as a valve rocker arm in the engine had failed. Incredibly Bäumer was now in fourth position with his little Austin, having managed to pass Rüesch on the 16th lap.       On the 17th lap Villoresi started to drop back from his 7th place due to carburettor trouble. He made a pit stop and was thus passed by McEvoy, Herkuleyns and Platè before he retired after lap 19. Platè also made a stop to change plugs.       The order after 20 laps was as follows: 1. Seaman (Delage) 1h00m59.7s 2. Embiricos (ERA) 1h02m22.9s 3. Tongue (ERA) 1h04m03.4s 4. Bäumer (Austin) 1h04m42.7s 5. Rüesch (Maserati) 1h04m59.8s 6. Howe (ERA) 7. McEvoy (Maserati) 8. Herkuleyns (MG) 9. Platè (Talbot) 10. Bianco (Maserati) At the end of the 20th lap Bäumer made a 50 seconds refuelling stop dropping to sixth position behind Rüesch and Howe.       After having spent a total of 20 minutes in the pits Bianco had finally been able to sort out the carburettor problem of his car and was now one of the fastest in the race.       The race order was Seaman, Embiricos, Tongue, Rüesch, Howe, Bäumer and McEvoy and with one exception the order remained the same during the last laps of the race. Seaman took the chequered flag followed by Embiricos and Tongue. All other competitors had been lapped at least once. Howe managed to pass Rüesch on the last lap (in their case the 27th) to take fourth position by 2.8 seconds, a good recovery after his bad start. Rüesch was followed by Bäumer, who had made a remarkable good race to beat McEvoy for 7th position.

Rosemeyer wins the Swiss Grand Prix ahead of Varzi and Stuck

There were 17 cars at the start of the third Swiss Grand Prix, comprising eight German cars, seven from Italy and two from France. They were racing over 70 laps of the fast Bremgarten road circuit, outside Bern. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) held the lead with Rosemeyer (Auto Union) chasing right behind him but unable to pass. The fierce battle between the two Germans was very exciting and was decided on lap nine in Rosemeyer's favor. He took the lead and never looked back. When Nuvolari retired the Alfa Romeo after 18 laps, the most dangerous opponent was eliminated from the field and a German victory was assured. The Alfas of Farina and Dreyfus retired, as did the Mercedes of Fagioli, Caracciola and von Brauchitsch, who retired in that order. Rosemeyer won by 53 seconds ahead of Varzi in second place, who was followed by Stuck, all three in Auto Unions with the Lang/Fagioli Mercedes in fourth place and Hasse (Auto Union) the last finisher. Independent drivers like Sommer (Alfa Romeo), Etancelin (Maserati) and Earl Howe (Bugatti) retired, plus both Scuderia Maremmana Maseratis of Biondetti and de Rham, and the new Bugatti of Wimille.

The Swiss Grand Prix was held for the third time on the same 7.28 km long circuit which had been used in the preceding two years. Since 1935 the event had been elevated to Grande Épreuve status. The circuit was in excellent condition. The grandstand turn and the Bethlehem bend had been reworked to give more camber, and higher lap speeds. The prize money for first place was 15,000 Swiss francs, second 8,000, third 4,000, fourth 2,000 and fifth 1,000 francs.       Special significance was given to this event which was the third of the four Grande Épreuves counting toward the 1936 European Championship. After the first two races at Monaco and Germany, Stuck held first place with 5 points, followed by Brivio with 7, Rosemeyer 8, Caracciola 8, the independent driver Sommer 8, Nuvolari 9, Varzi 10 and von Delius and Trossi 12 points each.

Entries: Daimler-Benz was confident that they had remedied their car's handling problems during Nürburgring tests, so after a 4-week break they entered four of the short 97 inch wheelbase cars with redesigned rear axles. Alfred Neubauer managed the team with drivers Rudolf Caracciola, Manfred von Brauchitsch, Luigi Fagioli and Hermann Lang. The latter drove with a bandaged right hand because at the German GP four weeks earlier he had broken his little finger against the right body panel when hastily shifting gear. The entire team appeared for Thursday practice, including reserve driver Louis Chiron, who had recovered very well after his accident at the German Grand Prix.       Auto Union, arrived with four 6.0-L V-16 cars, under team manager Karl Otto Feuereissen. They were to be driven by Hans Stuck, Bernd Rosemeyer, Achille Varzi and Ernst von Delius with Rudolf Hasse as the reserve driver. But for the race the drivers were reversed and Hasse raced the car while Delius was the reserve driver. Stuck carried his injured arm in a black sling. In the race he drove without it but his right hand and elbow were bandaged. A week ago in a practice crash at Pescara he had seriously injured his hand and right elbow which had not yet fully healed and the stitches had not yet been removed. By this time Varzi had already become addicted to morphine. While Varzi was practicing at the Swiss race track, team manager Feuereissen carried out a raid at Varzi's hotel room finding both Varzi's girlfriend Ilse and drugs in the room.       Scuderia Ferrari entered two 12-cylinder Alfa Romeos for Tazio Nuvolari and René Dreyfus and one older 8-cylinder for Guiseppe Farina. Scuderia Torino did not take part in the race but Philippe Etancelin raced his own Maserati 4.8-liter V-8. Clemente Biondetti drove an ex-Scuderia Torino 3.7-liter 6-cylinder type 6C34 with Siata radiator cowl. Scuderia Maremmana from Florenz arrived with two 3.7-liter 6-cylinder type 6C34 Maseratis to be driven by Clemente Biondetti and Hans Stuber. The latter did not start and was replaced by Jacques de Rham, while Stuber was the reserve driver.       A Bugatti entry was made for Jean-Pierre Wimille. He practiced in two different Bugatti types, an old 3.3-liter T59 during Friday practice but on Saturday after the arrival of the new Bugatti T59/50B with 4.7-liter S-8 engine, he practiced and raced the new Bugatti. Raymond Sommer was an independent driver in a Tipo B/P3 Alfa Romeo. Earl Howe raced his 3.3-Liter T59 Bugatti and the Swiss Hans Rüesch drove a 3.7-liter 6-cylinder type 6C34 Maserati.

Practice: Thursday, the first practice day was warm and sunny. The cars practiced from 3.45 PM until 5:00 PM. Mercedes reserve driver Chiron completed 18 practice laps in the older type spare car and was the most active driver. Caracciola drove 15 laps and established a new record lap in 2m41.7s at 161.082 km/h. Lang drove 8 laps, as did Fagioli and von Brauchittsch completed 6 laps. Rosemeyer in the Auto Union came closest to Caracciola's time with a lap in 2m43.1s. He drove a total of 10 laps, as did Varzi while Stuck completed 8, but von Delius was not present. Scuderia Ferrari appeared with just one 8-cylinder Alfa Romeo which completed 16 laps, mainly driven by Farina, but also for a few laps by Nuvolari and Count Brivio, the reserve driver. The new Grand Prix Bugatti had not yet arrived from Molsheim. Of the independent drivers only Etancelin with his Maserati and Earl Howe with his Bugatti practiced. The best lap times from Thursday were as follows: Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2m41.7s Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 2m43.1s Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 2m46.3s Chiron (Mercedes-Benz) 2m48.6s Farina (Alfa Romeo) 2m52.1s Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 2m54.0s Varzi (Auto Union) 2m56.2s Stuck (Auto Union) 3m00.0s v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 3m05.6s Earl Howe (Bugatti) 3m16.0s Etancelin (Maserati) 3m22.6s Friday's practice took place at the same times as on Thursday. It was another warm sunny day when new record laps were established by Rosemeyer. Shortly after Caracciola had driven a lap in 2m42.9s, Rosemeyer recorded a time of 2m40.2s at an average of 163.600 km/h. Hardly had he established the new record, than he drove a lap in 2m38.3s at an average of 165.173 km/h. The Mercedes drivers Brauchitsch and Lang and Varzi (Auto Union) were active with times below Caracciola's Thursday record. Brauchitsch drove in 2m40.3s, Lang 2m40.4s and Varzi 2m40.6s. At the end of the day Rosemeyer was looked upon as the popular favorite. Friday's best lap times were as follows: Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 2m38.3s v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 2m40.3s Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 2m40.4s Varzi (Auto Union) 2m40.6s Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2m42.2s Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2m42.9s Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 2m45.1s Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 2m46.9s Stuck (Auto Union) 2m48.2s Chiron (Mercedes-Benz) 2m50.4s Hasse & Delius (Auto Union) 2m50.4s Wimille (Bugatti) 2m52.6s Farina (Alfa Romeo) 2m53.8s Biondetti (Maserati) 2m58.2s Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 2m58.7s Rüesch (Maserati) 3m11.7s Etancelin (Maserati) 3m12.1s Earl Howe (Bugatti) 3m13.8s Stuber (Maserati) 3m28.4s On Saturday at 10:00 AM the grand prix cars were weighed at the railroad yard where a scale was available. The cars had to weigh 750 kg or less to participate in the race. Before the allotted time, the Auto Union team was present under the guidance of the famous designer Ferdinand Porsche. The red Alfas were also lined up nearby. After a few minutes the silver Mercedes racecars arrived, escorted by the never tiring race manager Alfred Neubauer.       Saturday grand prix practice was just for one hour and began at 1:30 PM. The weather had changed with the sky full of gray clouds. The grand prix cars had just started practice, when a light drizzle started to moisten the circuit. The German teams used new tires with a different tread profile and an improved inner construction of the connection between the cover and the walls, which reduced the danger of throwing treads. Most drivers made use of the last practice except Etancelin, Sommer, Lord Howe and Stuber. In the race Stuber was replaced by the Swiss driver de Rham in the Maremmana Maserati. Wimille practiced with the new Bugatti single-seater over five laps of which the fastest was 2m53.8s compared to 2m52,6s with the 3.3-liter. In the first 15 minutes Rosemeyer recorded 2m39.8s, just one second short of his previous record. Nobody seriously expected that Rosemeyer's record from Thursday would be lowered. In spite of that, it was, because Caracciola went to all lengths and produced a lap in 2m37.9s at 165.979 km/h average speed. Immediately Rosemeyer began attacking this time, but came up short with only 2m39.3s. Varzi in his Auto Union managed a lap in 2m39.5s. Nuvolari improved to 2m41.5s from Friday's 2m42.9s and completed a total of 16 laps while Dreyfus drove 18. Stuck with his stitched up arm injury drove six laps with a best of 2m45.8s. Saturday practice times were as follows: Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2m37.9s Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 2m39.3s Varzi (Auto Union) 2m39.5s Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2m41.5s v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 2m42.7s Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 2m45.6s Stuck (Auto Union) 2m45.8s Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 2m48.4s Farina (Alfa Romeo) 2m53.4s Wimille (Bugatti) 2m53.8s Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 2m55.9s Delius (Auto Union) 2m56.3s Chiron (Mercedes-Benz) 3m05.9s Rüesch (Maserati) 3m11.3s Biondetti (Maserati) 3m30.2s

Race: At 10:00 AM the Preis of Bern took place, the race for the voiturette class. The Swiss Grand Prix followed in the afternoon. Despite the warm summer weather, the estimated spectator attendance was around 37,000. Despite his earlier intentions, the Swiss Rüesch did not start because his Maserati had suffered an un-repairable transmission defect in practice. Instead of the Swiss driver Stuber, his countryman Jacques de Rham started in the second Maserati of Scuderia Maremmana, while Stuber was now the reserve. Auto Union made a last minute driver change, deciding that Hasse would drive the fourth car in his first race and von Delius take the role of reserve driver. The Grid positions had been decided by practice times and at 1:15 PM the 17 cars began to line up accordingly. Caracciola had secured the preferred starting place, on the right of the front row.

8 Varzi Auto Union 2m39.5s 4 Rosemeyer Auto Union 2m38.3s 12 Caracciola Mercedes-Benz 2m37.9s 16 Lang Mercedes-Benz 2m40.4s 10 Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz 2m40.3s 14 Fagioli Mercedes-Benz 2m45.6s 28 Dreyfus Alfa Romeo 2m45.1s 32 Nuvolari Alfa Romeo 2m41.5s 2 Hasse Auto Union 2m50.4s 6 Stuck Auto Union 2m45.8s 36 Biondetti Maserati 2m58.2s 30 Farina Alfa Romeo 2m53.4s 22 Wimille Bugatti 2m52.6s 18 Etancelin Maserati 3m12.1s 20 Sommer Alfa Romeo 2m58.7s 38 de Rham Maserati 3m28.4s 24 Howe Bugatti 3m13.8s

Exactly at 1:30 PM the ACS President Dr. Mende lowered the red Swiss flag with the white cross and, with an ear-splitting metallic song the wild pack shot away. Caracciola did one of his famous super starts, followed by Rosemeyer, Lang and Varzi. At the end of the first lap, Caracciola was the first to enter the grandstand turn, closely followed by Rosemeyer, Lang, Nuvolari, Varzi, von Brauchitsch, Fagioli and Stuck. The Maserati of De Rham had retired with engine maladies at the Kiesgrube.       After the second lap Caracciola with a lap in 2m39.0s was leading Rosemeyer and Nuvolari, who had passed Lang. After a long gap, Varzi, Brauchitsch, Fagioli, Dreyfus and Stuck followed at short intervals. Wimille in the new Bugatti was in mid-field while Biondetti trailed with the independent drivers.       The next seven laps brought a nerve-racking wheel to wheel duel between Caracciola Rosemeyer, whose sensational pace drew the attention of the spectators away from the progress of the second group consisting of Nuvolari, Lang, Varzi and Brauchitsch. Then there was a gap to Fagioli. On the third lap Rosemeyer was just one second behind the Mercedes and trying to pass, but Caracciola baulked him. Wimille retired the new Bugatti on the circuit after only three laps with a broken gear lever.       After four laps Caracciola was shown the blue flag by track marshals, meaning, move to the right, let the following car pass. He was pressed hard by Rosemeyer who was shaking his fist every time he passed the pits. Nuvolari had lost some ground and behind him Lang lay in ambush with Varzi and Brauchitsch at his heels. The crowd was overcome by excitement as it was clear to everyone that the clash between Caracciola and Rosemeyer would come to a head with Nuvolari as a dangerous third not to mention the bunch lurking in the background.       After five laps the leading protagonists remained glued together and still Caracciola did not allow Rosemeyer to pass. However Nuvolari had fallen 8 seconds behind. The order was as follows after 5 laps: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 13m28.0s 2. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 13m28.4s 3. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 13m36.6s 4. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 13m37.4s 5. Varzi (Auto Union) 13m44.1s 6. v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) On the sixth lap Caracciola and Rosemeyer remained inseparable since the Auto Union driver refused to slacken off. Fist shaking and repeated blue flags continued, but Caracciola persisted in blocking the track. Lang had passed Nuvolari, who was now demoted to fourth position. Behind Varzi and Brauchitsch, Fagioli surprisingly slowed down and stopped at the pits where he retired with a broken connecting rod, which happened in the heat of the battle when his engine was over-revved. Farina arrived a bit later and stopped at the pits to retire his 8-cylinder Alfa Romeo with a long crack in the cylinder head which had caused water to enter the engine.       Caracciola used every trick to keep the faster Rosemeyer behind. At the end of lap seven they appeared alone, since they had left the others behind in their bitter duel. They were separated by about 20 seconds from Lang in third place, who was followed by Nuvolari. Evidently, Rosemeyer was faster through the corners, but was unable to pass the Mercedes as the top speed of the two cars was equal and the straights were not long enough to pass. Eventually Auto Union Manager Karl Otto Feuereissen protested to race management about Caracciola's baulking. Varzi passed Nuvolari's Alfa Romeo, who was now in fifth place and on lap eight von Brauchitsch also passed the Italian, who was then sixth after he had been third just three laps earlier.       On the ninth lap the Swiss race manager W. Ed. Huber walked death-defiantly to the edge of the track and wildly waved the blue flag to Caracciola. At last Rosemeyer who followed him closely was able to pass. Now in the lead, the young German drove a new record lap in 2m36.3s at 167.230 km/h average speed, in so doing beat Caracciola's practice record of 2m37.9s. After Biondetti retired with a broken prop-shaft the field was down to 12 cars with the fastest drivers in the following order after 10 laps: 1. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 26m42.7s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 26m46.3s 3. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 27m07.0s 4. Varzi (Auto Union) 27m09.5s 5. v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 27m11.6s 6. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) Caracciola was unable to keep up with Rosemeyer and progressively fell behind, while Rosemeyer went even faster, creating on lap 14 a new fastest lap in 2m35.7s at 168.724 km/h average speed. On lap 15 he went even faster with a lap in 2m34.5s at 169.633 km/h average speed, which proved to be the fastest lap of the race. At this time Varzi attacked Lang's Mercedes and passed him, gaining third place. Shortly afterwards Rosemeyer lapped his teammate Stuck.       After lap 18 Caracciola slowed down because his accelerator linkage became stuck and he had to regulate his speed by continuously switching the ignition on and off. He could no longer threaten Rosemeyer and had to let him go. Varzi was third ahead of Lang and Brauchitsch with Nuvolari sixth followed by Dreyfus. To the amazement of everyone, at the end of lap 18 Nuvolari stopped at his pit to refuel and top up with water. But then the car refused to restart, prolonging the stop. Eventually the mechanics pushed the car behind the pits. From the outset Nuvolari was able to keep up with the German cars, but a few laps after the start he noticed a loss of power and fell behind as the engine began to overheat. The same circumstance later affected Dreyfus' car, which was also a 12-cylinder. Initially it was assumed that the driving gear of the magneto had distorted, so that the engine received retarded ignition. However that was not the case. When tested later, the magneto gave the spark at the correct time. It still had to be investigated if possibly a lack of fuel supply had caused the overheating of the engines. Before the next race at Monza the problem was successfully eliminated by enlarging the exhaust pipes and installing larger oil coolers.       Varzi, Lang and von Brauchitsch maintained very similar intervals between each other while the gap between Rosemeyer and Caracciola had continuously increased to 18 seconds after 20 laps: 1. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 52m55.5s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 53m13.9s 3. Varzi (Auto Union) 53m37.4s 4. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 53m49.1s 5. v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 54m01.9s Earl Howe, who had been second to last, drove his Bugatti off the track in the Eymatt turn, ending his race. Caracciola's lead over Varzi had shrunk to 20 seconds on lap 23. On the following lap Dreyfus stopped at the pits to refuel, which took 32.1 seconds. But four laps later the Frenchman retired the 12-cylinder Alfa Romeo with the same problem that had afflicted Nuvolari's car. Varzi was trying to close up on Caracciola and on lap 27 they were separated by only 12.5 seconds. At the end of lap 29 Rosemeyer passed the grandstand and Varzi appeared next instead of Caracciola, who had retired at the Forsthaus bend with a broken right rear axle support tube. Etancelin retired the Maserati after 34 laps with a broken accelerator linkage. Brauchitsch had closed on to Lang's tail. By now Stuck had fallen two laps behind and had only completed 33 laps by mid-race, with the following order after 35 laps: 1. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 1h32m33.7s 2. Varzi (Auto Union) 1h33m13.7s 3. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 1h34m13.2s 4. v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 1h34m14.7s 5. Stuck (Auto Union) 1h32m53.0s 2 laps behind It was now time for refueling stops and tire changes. Rosemeyer stopped and was serviced in 35 seconds. In the meantime Varzi moved into first place until lap 37 when he refueled and changed tires in 39 seconds. Lang's pit stop on lap 44 took 30 seconds. Fagioli took over his car because Lang could no longer hold the wheel, suffering enormous pain from the broken little finger of his right gearshift hand. The refueling stop for von Brauchitsch took 30 seconds but surprisingly it was without a tire change. After refueling, Etancelin stopped at the Kiesgrube to retire with a broken accelerator linkage. Shortly before lap 40, Brauchitsch passed Fagioli for third place and that's how the order remained for the next ten laps. Brauchitsch stopped with a torn left rear tire which was caused by one of the broken-off stones from the small paving stone track surface of the grandstand turn. The tire was replaced in his pit in 34.5 seconds. After the many retirements, the field was down to just seven cars after 50 laps: 1. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 2h13m57.7s 2. Varzi (Auto Union) 2h14m42.8s 3. v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 2h14m01.9s 1 lap behind 4. Lang/Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 2h15m02.3s 1 lap behind 5. Stuck (Auto Union) 2h12m46.7s 2 laps behind 6. Hasse (Auto Union) 3 laps behind 7. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 5 laps behind At the beginning of lap 51 Brauchitsch stopped again at his pit since the engine was overheating, the result of a piece of newspaper being caught in front of his the car's grill. The engine hood was removed to refill water but all of this took time. Possibly as a result it was seen that the rear wheels were locked and finally the car disappeared behind the pits. After the retirement of Brauchitsch the Auto Union of Hasse moved into fifth place. Sommer in the old Alfa Romeo experienced a problem on the track and arrived pushing his car exhaustingly to his pit, where it was quickly repaired for him to re-join the race to the spectators' applause. After that, nothing meaningful happened and monotony fell upon the proceedings which were only interrupted by the repair of the small loose paving stones in the turn in front of the grandstand. During the breaks between the passes of cars, the grandstand-turn was painstakingly repaired because some small stones in the recently re-plastered bend had become loosened by the suction of the large rear wheels and pulled out. They had to be pounded back into place and locked against each other with wooden wedges, a sight that nevertheless offered some interest and which was appropriately explained by the radio announcer. Since the threat to the Auto Unions had disappeared, the drivers received pit signals to slow down. Fagioli and Stuck passed by nose to tail, but Stuck was actually a whole lap behind Fagioli. The field was down to 6 cars after 60 laps: 1. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 2h41m32.8s 2. Varzi (Auto Union) 2h42m16.5s 3. Lang/Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 2h42m59.2s 1 lap behind 4. Stuck (Auto Union) 2h43m00.8s 2 laps behind 5. Hasse (Auto Union) 2h42m00.1s 4 laps behind 6. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 13 laps behind At the beginning of lap 61 Fagioli in Lang's car, stopped at his pit with a flat right rear tire because the wheel rim had broken, something which had never happened before. The wire spokes had pushed into the Rudge gearing which took extra time to remove the wheel. During the lengthy pit stop Fagioli lost his fourth place to Stuck. Fagioli then made up the lost time against the battered Stuck and on lap 62 he re-passed the Auto Union. But the injured Stuck did not give up and repassed Fagioli on the following lap to regain third position. On lap 64 Sommer retired with a broken drive shaft somewhere on the track but he had actually completed only 51 laps at that time. Since changes in the order were no longer taking place, an obvious sense of monotony descended once more. After 70 laps Rosemeyer received the checkered flag and finished as a much celebrated victor followed by Varzi and Stuck, all three in Auto Unions ahead of Fagioli in Lang's Mercedes and Hasse's Auto Union in fifth place. All others had been left far behind. Immediately after the race ended, Hans Stuck, who was completely exhausted, was carried to the pits by his mechanics.       Auto Union had achieved a triple victory. But this was not the entire significance of their success. What counted much more was the fact that all four Auto Unions finished the race, while from the opponents only one single car survived. But this single car was also German, a Mercedes-Benz, which demonstrated the dominance of the German teams at that time.

The voiturettes having the upper hand over the Grand Prix cars

Grand Prix cars and the voiturettes raced together. However the voiturettes dominated the race. Whitehead (ERA) held an early lead but he was soon passed by Seaman with his Delage. Seaman was challenged by Howe (ERA) who took over the lead on lap 13. Fairfield and Bira were fighting for third position. Knowing that Seaman was going through non-stop Howe tried to open up a gap to get time for his fuel stop. For a while the gap was up to 14 seconds only to shrink again to 8 seconds. As Howe made his pit stop Seaman passed and held the lead to the end with Howe finishing second. Both Fairfield and Bira had to retire and the shared ERA of Briault and Evans finished third.

The organizers at Donington park and the general secretary of the Junior Car Club "Bunny Dyer" realized that rather than Brooklands short handicap races long distance scratch races was the way to go if you wanted to get spectatators. The Junior Car Club therefore decided to revive their Brooklands 200 mile race last held 1921-1928. This time the race was held on the 2.552 mi variant Donington Park Circuit , the cars doing 77 laps equalling 196.5 miles (why they did not do 78 laps (199 mi) or 79 laps (201 mi) instead is a mystery).       The big cars and voiturettes were raced together and the André Gold Cup was presented to the overall winner regardless of class. The overall winner would receive £200, second £100 and third £50. As it was assumed that the big cars might get the upper hand there were extra prizes for the voiturette class with £100, £50 and £25 for the top three. The entry fee was £15. To be classifed a driver had to finish within 10 minutes after that the fastest 1500cc car had taken the flag.

Entries: Favourites in the major class were the Alfa Romeo Tipo B/P3s of Austin Dobson (#50005) and Chris Staniland (#5003). Dobson's car had Dubonnet front suspension a he had installed an extra tank in his car to be able to do the race without refuelling. Staniland's car was of the older type and had belonged to Raymond Sommer. It would later be rebuilt as the Multi Union. Anthony Powys-Lybbe entered his Alfa Romeo Monza and Miss Eileen Ellison entered her 3 litre Maserati for Thomas Cholmondeley-Tapper to drive while she herself would do the timekeeping during the race. Percy Maclure entered a 6 cylinder Riley, the only non supercharged car in the race. The rest of the entries of the bigger class consited of old Bugattis.       In the voiturette class there were no less than eight ERAs. The works entries were Raymond Mays (R4B), Earl Howe (R8B), Patrick Fairfield (R4A). Independent ERA entries were Prince Bira (R5B "Remus", blue), Douglas Briault/Kenneth Evans (R6B, bright green), Arthur Dobson/Cyril Paul (R7B, white), Denis Scribbans (R9B, cream with red wheels) and Peter Whitehead (R10B, black). Challenging them was Seaman's old but rebuilt Delage. Having won the Coppa Acerbo Junior and the Prix de Berne the weeks before he was clear favourite in the voiturette class. Two MG Magnettes completed the field.

Practice: Fairfield was fastest in practice with a time of 2m05.6s with Whitehead second (2m08.6s). Bira saved his car during practice and did a best time of 2m13s that put him far back in the field.

Race:       Saturday came with beautiful sunny weather. At 2:30 p.m. "Ebby" Ebblewhite dropped the flag to start the race.

28 Briault ERA 46 Seaman Delage 32 Whitehead ERA 2m08.6s 32 Fairfield ERA 2m05.6s Rest of grid unknown

Fairfield was on pole but it was Whitehead who took the start. He was followed by Scribbans, Seaman, Howe, Bira, Rayson, Fairfield, Dobson, Paul, Briault, Staniland and Powys-Lybbe.       At the end of the first lap Seaman had passed Scribbnas for second position. Brocklebank retired his Bugatti with ignition trouble. On the second lap Seaman took over the lead with a struggling Whitehead falling back to third position behind Scribbans. On lap 6 Howe, who had passed Whitehead, found a way past Scribbans as well and started the chase on Seaman.       The top four cars were close together with Bira just 5 seconds behind leading Seaman.       Austin Dobson had made a fast pit stop for brake adjustments and was advancing though the field. On lap 7 the hub of the left front wheel on Dobson's Alfa Romeo broke and in 160 km/h the wheel flew into the pit area creating a dangerous situation. The wheel jumped a paling fence struck a parked fuel lorry, bounced 10 meters up in the air and landed on the pit roof and went on back crossed circuit in front of Seaman Delage before an official managed to capture it. Dobson managed to keep the car straight on three wheels and ended up on the grass field next to the circuit.       After ten laps Seaman was leading Howe by 3.2 seconds. Peter Whitehead had to retire his ERA with piston failure and a lap later Paul joined him. On the same lap Bira passed Scribbans for third position. Staniland had a troublesome race making several stops for adjustments of his Alfa Romeo and Mays' ERA was leaking oil into the cockpit, making the pedals slippery and forcing him to make several pit stops.       On lap 13 Howe took over the lead from Seaman who was not trying to fight back but rather tried to save his Delage as he was planning to do a non-stop race. Bira was 12 seconds behind the duo.       After 20 laps Howe was leading Seaman by 12.4s. Fairfield had moved past Scribbans up to fourth position and on the 21st lap Fairfield passed Bira who was making consistent 2m14s laps trying to save his car for third position.       The race took its tolls. After 29 laps Cyril White's Bugatti Bugatti stalled at Starkey's and was pushed away and a lap later Scribbans in fifth position became the third ERA driver to retire when a piston broke. The race order was Howe, Seaman, Fairfield, Bira and Staniland.       Howe made 30 laps in 1h06m22s (69.22 mph/111.4 km/h ). He was pushing to get time for his pit stop was leading Seaman with 14.6 seconds with Fairfield third a further 13 seconds behind and with Bira 27 seconds behind Fairfield.       On lap 34 Rayson and Tapper passed Staniland for fifth and sixth positions as Staniland overshot at Coppice and had a make a stop for brake adjustments.       Douglas Briault made his pit stop on lap 35, handling over his ERA to Kenneth Evans, the M.G. driver doing his first race in an ERA.       On lap 38 Bira came in for his scheduled pit stop lasting 48 seconds.       After several pit stops Percy Maclure gave up on lap 40. Fairfield retired giving over third position to Bira, who already had lost two laps to Howe. It was noticed that Bira's fuel tank was leaking. Howe did 40 laps in 1h28m13s (69.43 mph/111.7 km/h). He had not been able to open up the needed gap over Seaman for the necessary pit stop. The gap had i fact shrunk to 9 seconds.       On lap 49 Bira made another pit stop to fill up his leaking tank. The hand held automatic starter failed in its first attempt and the pit stop lasted 57 seconds but the gap to Reyson was sufficient and Bira returned to the race still in third position.       On lap 50 Howe, with only a 8.4s lead made a scheduled 39 seconds pit stop giving back the lead to Seaman. Seaman now speeded up to open a gap to Howe in case he needed to do a fast pit stop. Howe did his best to follow driving flat out and taking risks but had to see Seaman pull away.       Rayson retired his Bugatti after 51 lap because of engine trouble and Powys-Lybbe retired his Monza three laps later with a faulty transmission.       Seaman did 60 laps in 2h12m05s (69.56 mph/111.9 km/h) The gap to Howe was 44 seconds. Bira's ERA started to drop its speed. MacRobert retired his M.G on lap 62 and on the next lap Bira retired to the pit with a broken oil pipe.       Evans was now third in his first race in a ERA, Tapper with his Maserati fourth after a fast refuelling stop and Staniland fifth and Leitch sixth.       After 70 laps Seaman, nursing his Delage, held a 51.4 seconds lead over Howe who was pushing to get closer, but during the last laps Seaman held exactly the same speed as Howe winning by 51.4 seconds to take both the Gold Cup, the JJC 200 and the voiturette victory, collecting £350 in total. Howe finished second and Briault / Evans third tith thri ERAs and Cholmondeley-Tapper fourth with the masearti. Only those four were classified. Before the race there were doubts about the idea to race the Grand Prix cars and the voiturettes together. However the preparations of the Grand Prix cars proved to be weak and the voiturettes dominated the race. This was Seamans's third victory in three weeks.