The long journey

Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz split their effort, half the team going to New York and half the team remaining in Europe for the Belgian Grand Prix. Seaman challenged Rosemeyer but at the end the British driver had to make an extra stop for fuel and Rosemeyer could take a flag as winner.

For the 1937 race the Long Island circuit was modified and made faster by making it less curvy and thus shortening it from 4.0 mi to 3 1/3 mi       Prizes: First: $20,000; second, $10,000; third, $5,000; fourth, $3,500; fifth, $3,000; sixth, $2,200; seventh, $1,800; eighth, $1,600; ninth, $1,500; tenth, $1,400. $500 each for the other 20 cars. Consolation money for American drivers: $10,000.

Entries: Both German teams and Scuderia Ferrari decided to go to New York for the 1937 Vanderbilt cup, after the organizers had promised to move the race from July 4th to July 3rd so that there were ample time for the teams to catch the ship home even in case of a race delay due to rain. As the race clashed with the Belgian GP it meant that the teams were split up, with two drivers from each team entering each race. Auto Union selected Bernd Rosemeyer and Ernst von Delius for the Vanderbilt race while Daimler-Benz selected Rudolf Caracciola and Richard Seaman. Tazio Nuvolari and Giuseppe Farina wer to race Alfa Romeo 12C-36 for Scuderia Ferrari       The Ferrari team entered SS Rex (Note 1) in Genua on 16 June and the German teams entered SS. Bremen (Note 2) in Bremerhaven 22 June. The newly wed Mr & Mrs Caracciola joined Bremen the next day at Cherbourg. After having taken part in the Milan GP Nuvolari and Farina went onbord SS Normandie (Note 3) in Le Havre on 23 June. On Normandie Nuvolari who recently had lost his father learned the terrible news that his oldest son Giorgio had died (Note 4).       Norwegian Eugen Bjørnstad's business was running into trouble and he decided to make a big risk and go after the high prize money offered the USA. Norwegian Bantamweight World Champion Pete Sanstol had the connections to arrange for Bjørnstad to get money for the trip with SS Bergensfjord (Note 5) and he entered his Alfa Romeo Monza (#2111041) under the colours of Balmacaan.       There were several European cars entered by American drivers. Rex Mays from Glendale, California raced a Alfa Romeo 8C-35 (#50012) that had been the Alfa Romeo tem's spare car for the 1936 race and then sold to Bill white. Wealty American engineer, and playboy Joel Thorne from New York raced a Tipo B/P3 80004 he had bought from Raymond Sommer for $4250. He crashed the car two weeks before the race and unsure if it could be repaired in time he offered $20,000 to Scuderia Ferrari to buy works car once Nuvolari had qualified it, a offer naturally refused. Maurice "Mauri" Rose from Columbus, Georgia and Elbert "Babe" Stapp from Dallas, Texas were both listed as racing a V-8 Maserati. Enzo Fiermonte, a former Boxer qualified a V-8 Maserati for the race but seeing the speed or the European drivers he decided he lacked the experience and as his partener George Rand wanted a top American driver in the seat Indy 500 winner Warren Wilbur Shaw from Shelbyville, Indiana took over the car.       Racing American cars were 1934 Indianapolis 500 winner William Clarence "Bill" Cummings from Chicago, 1935 Indianapolis 500 winner Cavino Michele "Kelly" Petillo from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Eylard Theodore "Ted" Von Horn from Cincinnati, Ohio who would later be a triple AAA National Championship winner, Henry Banks, born in England but brought up in Royal Oak, Michigan, who later would be the 1950 AAA National Championship winner, James L. "Jimmy" Snyder and Frank Brisko from Chicago.       Also Herbert Allen "Herb" Ardinger from Glassport, Pennsylvania and August "Gus" Zarka from Philadelphia, Russell Snowberger from Wilmington Delaware, Frank Wearne from Los Angeles, James Murdock "Billy" Winn from Detroit, Michigan, Chester Leroy Gardner from Long Beach California, Ronney Householder from Los Angeles, George Connor from San Bernardino, California, Kelly Petillo from Los Angeles, Ora Bean, Wern Oldenduff, Albert Cusick and Harry Lewis from Philadelphia and Milt Marion from St. Albans

Practice: The European drivers did not particularly like the track, the hidden curves making it hard to find the brake points. The American organizers had asked the Europeans to paint the flags on the cars so the German cars featured swastikas. (Note 6)       Qualifying speed was was taken as the avarage for three trials of 3 laps each (10 miles) for a total of 9 laps (30 miles). Caracciola was fastest in practice from Rosemeyer and Californian driver Rex Mays, who raced in the Alfa Romeo 8 cylinder car that had been used as a spare car for the Ferrari team during the 1936 race. The car was heavily modified and with a new larger supercharger Mays proved to be faster than the works 12 cylinder cars to the disgust of the Ferrari team.       Before the race the Mercedes-Benz team decided to change to the new suction carburettor supercharger system on all their cars to better the supercharger response at medium revs. Mercedes would retain the new system; gone forever was now the typical Mercedes-Benz scream of the blower supercharger that had filled the GP races since Eifelrennen 1934.       Harry Lewis was the last qualifier beating Wern Oldenduff, who was only able to do 65.510 mph, for 30th position. The practice times are shown below. Note that for some reason Winn's fastest lap speed rather than average speeds were listed on the grid and Snyder's time is different than his grid time. Time Average Fastest Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 20m58.01s 85.850 mph 86.362 mph Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 21m20.07s 84.370 mph 85.886 mph Mays (Alfa Romeo) 21m24.89s 84.054 mph 84.698 mph Seaman (Mercedes-Benz) 21m38.51s 83.172 mph 83.805 mph Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 21m40.46s 83.048 mph 83.560 mph Farina (Alfa Romeo) 21m51.08s 82.375 mph - Winn (Summers-Miller) 22m03.44s 81.605 mph 82.062 mph !! von Delius (Auto Union) 22m00.02s 81.817 mph 82.702 mph Horn (Wetteroth-Miller) 22m05.78s 81.461 mph - Hausholder (Stevens-Miller) 22m19.22s 80.644 mph 81.367 mph Stapp (Maserati) 22m33.38s 79.800 mph 80.048 mph Connor (Adams-Miller) 22m41.68s 79.255 mph 80.032 mph Petillo (Wetteroth-Miller) 22m45.81s 79.074 mph - Thorne (Alfa Romeo) 23m11.10s 77.636 mph 79.130 mph Cummings (Miller-Offenhauser) 23m14.08s 77.470 mph 77.927 mph Banks (Kimmel-Offenhauser) 23m17.54s 77.279 mph - Snyder (Boyle-Miller) 23m21.58s 77.056 mph 78.498 mph!! Wearne (Miller) 23m13.85s 77.483 mph 77.856. mph Snowberger (Packard-Miller) 23m30.71s 76.557 mph 77.339 mph Gardner (Duesenberg-Offenhauser) 23m48.46s 75.606 mph - Fiermonte (Maserati) 24m13.21s 74.318 mph - DNS Bean (Ambler) 24m30.78s 74.430 mph 74.189 mph Zarka (Ambler) 24m32.51s 73.344 mph -

Race: Only a disappointing number of some 25,000 spectators turned up for Saturday's race. At 2:00 p.m. when the cars were already lined up for the 2:15 p.m. start it began to rain. At 2:52 p.m. the race was postponed until Monday with the following announcement: "Because of the rain and the fact even if the race were started it would have been run under hazardous conditions, the race has been postponed until 1 o'clock Monday July 5." A few minutes after the announcement the sun came out and the track started to dry. However it was soon followed by a new shower.

12 Caracciola Mercedes-Benz 85.850 mph 4 Rosemeyer Auto Union 84.370 mph 14 Mays Alfa Romeo 84.054 mph 15 Seaman Mercedes-Benz 83.172 mph 5 Nuvolari Alfa Romeo 83.048 mph 10 Farina Alfa Romeo 82.375 mph 7 Winn Miller 82.062 mph 9 Delius Auto Union 81.817 mph 3 Horn Miller 81.461 mph 44 Householder Miller 80.644 mph 21 Stapp Maserati 79.800 mph 17 Connor Miller 79.255 mph 25 Petillo Offenhauser 79.074 mph 2 Snyder Boyle 78.052 mph 22 Thorne Alfa Romeo 77.636 mph 1 Rose Maserati 77.607 mph 33 Wearne Miller 77.483 mph 18 Cummings Miller 77.470 mph 49 Banks Jumire 77.279 mph 16 Bjørnstad Alfa Romeo 77.154 mph 72 Snowberger Packard 76.557 mph 24 Brisko Miller 75.884 mph 31 Gardner Miller 75.606 mph 45 Shaw * Maserati 75.034 mph 67 Bean Ambler 73.430 mph 66 Zarka Ambler 73.344 mph 65 Marion Miller 73.123 mph 54 Ardinger Rawhide 72.378 mph 27 Cusick Schumacher 69.348 mph 19 Lewis Debaets 69.300 mph * Car qualified by Enzo Fiermonte, who withdrew. (Note 7)

Due to the postponement of the race a much larger crowd turned up on Monday 5th. At 2 p.m. 80,000 spectators finally saw Ralph de Palma wave the flag for the start of the race. Rosemeyer pulled his Auto Union hard to the left and took the first corner in front of Caracciola and Mays. Then followed Nuvolari, Seaman and Farina. On lap two Seaman moved into fourth position and on the next lap Caracciola took over the lead and opened up a 6 seconds gap. American Billy Winn was doing a great job having passed Farina and Nuvolari and was fighting with Seaman for fourth place before having to fall back with mechanical problems. On lap 11 it was Rosemeyer's turn to take the lead, he and Caracciola having a tough fight and pulling away from the others. Mays was still third now followed by Nuvolari, who had decided to start after all. Nuvolari was driving flat out as usual, having already passed Seaman. Nuvolari's efforts ended on lap 16 when the engine could not stand the pace anymore and threw a rod.       Caracciola was the next to retire with supercharger failure on lap 22. Caracciola was however not particularly disappointed as the America trip doubled as his and "Baby's" honeymoon trip. Seaman had started to advance and the order was now Rosemeyer, Seaman, Mays, von Delius and Farina.       On lap 38 Rosemeyer made a 35 seconds pitstop for fuel and tyres, Seaman now being the new leader by 30 seconds. Mays was also in for a 78 seconds stop and at lap 40 Farina came in and gave over his car to Nuvolari.       Rosemeyer pulled in Seaman's lead and caught the Mercedes just as Seaman pulled into the pits for his stop on lap 46. The order after the pitstops were: Rosemeyer, Seaman, Mays, von Delius, Nuvolari, Winn and Horn.       Nuvolari was in great form, passing von Delius and then challenging and passing Mays. But on lap 50 the Flying Mantuan was back in the pits having destroyed his second engine of the day and gave back the Alfa to Farina, who limped on to finish fifth after having to do an extra pitstop on lap 70.       Near the end Seaman was rapidly closing in on Rosemeyer but then the Mercedes run out of fuel and Seaman had to make an unscheduled stop one lap from the finish, leaving Rosemeyer to win by 50 seconds. Mays finsihed third as best Amreican and Snowberger 6th as best American car driver. Cummings, finshing 9th was hopitalized due to burns on arm and ankle by hot oil from his motor.       After having been promoted to SS-Obersturmführer for his victory at Eifelrennen 1936, Rosemeyer was now promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer (Captain).

Hasse's greatest day

The major contenders had to split their teams in half because of clashing dates with the Vanderbilt Cup race in the USA. A steady driving Hasse (Auto Union) became the unexpected winner at the fast Spa circuit, ahead of the chargers Stuck (Auto Union) and Lang (Mercedes-Benz). This latest victory made it three in a row for Auto Union. The under-powered Alfa Romeos of Sommer and Trossi did not feature at all, while the Belgian driver Gouvion broke his Maserati's engine during practice and Fagioli did not appear. Although there were only eight starters, it proved to be one of the more exciting races. While Hasse decided on a one stop race, Stuck and Lang planned for a faster pace and had to stop twice for tires. In their battle, Stuck, Lang and Hasse swapped the lead several times and the outcome of the three hour race was not decided until the end. This kept everybody on their toes while all records were shattered. When it looked like Lang was going to seize the lead for the last time, his Mercedes let him down and he fell back to third place. Stuck's faster pace required two pit stops but did not work to his advantage and he was fairly beaten by his calculating teammate Hasse. It was not to be von Brauchitsch's weekend since he once again encountered trouble when his speeding Mercedes left the road during practice. It was a wonder that he was not seriously injured after the car made a complete somersault. During the race a supercharger failure caused his retirement. Kautz (Mercedes-Benz) finished fifth while Müller (Auto Union) retired.

In 1936 the Belgian Grand Prix was held as a 24 hour sports car race but the following year, despite French entreaties, the R.A.C.B. (Royal Automobile Club de Belgique) decided to hold the Grand Prix de Belgique again for racecars to the current 750 kg formula. The last time grand prix cars had raced at Spa was in 1935, when Caracciola won in a Mercedes-Benz at 157.369 km/h and von Brauchitsch established the existing lap record of 166.698 km/h. The race was to be run again over 34 laps on the same 14.864 km road circuit, a total of 506 km, so that time comparisons were possible with the 1935 race.

Entries: The Belgian Grand Prix took place just one week after the Vanderbilt Cup race in the USA. To render participation possible in both races, it was necessary to split the teams of the Scuderia Ferrari, Auto Union and Daimler-Benz. In 1937 the only existing transatlantic passenger air service was by airship. Originally it was planned for Caracciola and Rosemeyer to return with the dirigible "Hindenburg" in time for practice at Spa. Their tight schedule, with the Hindenburg due to depart New York on July 7, never materialized. Two months earlier this gigantic airship, within seconds, was completely destroyed, when the 804-foot "Hindenburg" went up in flames upon landing at Lakehurst, N.J. Instead, the two European champions were now on the high seas aboard the "S.S. Europa" on their return from America and were expected to arrive on July 13. With Nuvolari, Farina, Rosemeyer, von Delius, Caracciola and Seaman still at sea, the entry at Spa was reduced to only nine cars. Scuderia Ferrari was represented by Count Felice Trossi and reserve driver Raymond Sommer in 12C-36 Alfa Romeos. Count Antonio Brivio had recently married and was unavailable, while Brivio and Pintacuda had not yet returned from Brazil where they had raced with success in the Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix, although Stuck made it back in time from Brazil.       Auto Union entered three Type C cars for Hans Stuck, Rudolf Hasse and their new man, the 25 year old motorcycle racer H. P. Müller. Fagioli, still unwell with rheumatism, did not appear for this race. Daimler-Benz arrived with four of their W125's, which for the last time were equipped with the old pressure carburation system, causing the fearsome, shrill scream of the supercharger every time the driver backed off the throttle. A suction-carbureted car, delivering more power, had just been successfully raced by Seaman in the Vanderbilt Cup race. At Spa the racing crew had a suction-carburetor kit available, but it was not utilized. Instead of Rudolf Uhlenhaut, long time engineer Jakob Krauss was responsible for the engineering and Karl Kudorfer, Daimler-Benz press expert, took Alfred Neubauer's place as team manager. Hermann Lang, Manfred von Brauchitsch and the 23 year old Swiss, Christian Kautz, were at hand and the newcomer Hans Hugo Hartmann was the reserve driver. His parents had had to sign his contract with Mercedes, because he was not yet 21 at the time. Besides these three factory teams the only independent driver was the Belgian Lancia dealer Franz Gouvion in an old 8CM Maserati which was totally outclassed.

Practice: On Wednesday, the first practice day, von Brauchitsch crashed the W125/1 training car at Frontier bend. This was the right uphill hairpin just past the left Eau Rouge bend, which was to be eliminated in 1939. He had braked too late and when his car hit the embankment, it somersaulted off the track landing on its wheels in a meadow. Driver and car were lucky to escape serious injury. Manfred got away with bruises and a cut on the shoulder. After a sleepless night and against doctors' orders, the German sat behind the wheel again on Friday, the third practice day. He did several fast laps, the fastest in 5m11s with his W125/2. This performance made him the favorite for the race. Kautz in a new W125/6 had problems when his car kept jumping out of gear. Hasse, one of the youngest drivers, was quite familiar with this circuit as he had driven around the course dozens of times with the Adler sports car at Francorchamps. H. P. Müller, in only his second race with Auto Union encountered engine problems. Gouvion broke the engine of his Maserati and could not repair it in time for the race.

Race: About 50,000 people lined the beautiful Ardennes circuit. It had been raining up to just before the start. The young Belgian King Leopold III and his brother, Prince Charles, were the most prominent visitors, seated in the royal box. Before the start the King met with the drivers, who explained their cars in which the monarch showed great interest. The line-up for the starting grid was not in order of the achieved practice times, but instead by ballot. Lots were drawn by the teams and then the team managers usually assigned their best drivers to the front positions. This old-fashioned arrangement, which was customary at Spa, once again placed a slower car to the front of the grid where the 8 drivers lined up as follows:

8 Stuck Auto Union 4 Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz 16 Sommer Alfa Romeo 12 Hasse Auto Union 2 Lang Mercedes-Benz 14 Müller Auto Union 6 Kautz Mercedes-Benz 18 Trossi Alfa Romeo

About 20 minutes before the start, during warming up in front of the grandstand, the radiator on von Brauchitsch's car sprang a leak. With everyone lined up at the start, the concerned Mercedes mechanics completed this repair quickly on the grid by soldering the radiator. But then the cooled down engine refused to start. Thus, when King Leopold gave the starting signal at 1:00 PM, one mechanic was still desperately cranking the starting handle in front of Brauchitsch's Mercedes, which was parked in the first row. In all this excitement Stuck streaked away like lightning, followed by Sommer, Hasse, Lang and Müller, with the stranded Mercedes-Benz balking Kautz and Trossi. Finally, as Trossi's Alfa reached the stationary Mercedes, von Brauchitsch's engine fired up and he chased after the field.       The on form Stuck immediately set down an incredibly fast pace. He completed the first lap at an average of 165.758 km/h with a gap to Lang, then Hasse, Kautz and Müller. Instead of a record first lap, von Brauchitsch stopped at his pit to have his windshield and goggles cleaned, as they were covered with oil from Müller's Auto Union, when the Mercedes driver tried to pass him. It was not going to be von Brauchitsch's day as he had fallen back again to last place. On the second lap, Trossi stopped the Alfa Romeo at the pits. Stuck completed the third lap in 5m19s at 167.7 km/h, beating von Brauchitsch's 1935 record of 166.698 km/h. Trossi blew the engine of his Alfa on his third lap when he was already two laps behind the leaders. Lang's Mercedes caught up with the Stuck's Auto Union and followed right behind him.       On the fourth lap Stuck did a 5m15s lap at 169.9 km/h, while Brauchitsch drove a lap at 168.977 km/h. Stuck, Lang and Hasse was the order for the first seven laps. Stuck completed lap seven in 5m08s at 173.7 km/h. But the pace was too much for his tires, and his Auto Union threw a thread and he stopped for new tires, which put Lang into the lead on lap eight. Stuck, now with fresh tires, resumed the race in fifth place. For the next four laps it was Lang leading with Hasse not far behind, then Kautz, while von Brauchitsch also had to change tires.       At the end of lap 11 while Lang made a pit stop for new tires and refueled at the same time, Hasse's Auto Union took the lead. The order on lap 12 was Hasse, Lang, Kautz, Stuck, von Brauchitsch, Müller and Sommer bringing up the tail. Stuck caught up and quickly passed Brauchitsch and Kautz. After 13 laps the order was as follows: 1. Hasse (Auto Union) 1h08m56s = 168.2 km/h 2. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 1h09m53s = 165.8 km/h 3. Stuck (Auto Union) 1h10m21s = 164.7 km/h 4. Kautz (Mercedes-Benz) no time 5. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) no time 6. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) no time 7. Müller (Auto Union) no time On lap 14 Müller retired with a broken oil pipe and the field was down to six cars. Rudi Hasse, ahead of Lang and Stuck, lapped the circuit at 173.804 km/h and was leading by 42 seconds. Hasse knew that he had to save his tires until half distance, when he would have to stop for a change. He drove his regular laps to make the tires last till the end of lap 17 when he pulled into the pits as planned, to change tires and refuel. He had come in just in time because the white signal-strip of the left rear tire was already visible. As the engine of Hasse's Auto Union was fired up again, Lang's Mercedes flashed by into the lead with Stuck behind him. So, Hasse was now in third place chasing after the leaders. On lap 18, Lang pulverized the lap record in 5m05s at 175.446 km/h while trying to put some distance between himself and the Auto Unions. On a 1/2 km stretch of the Masta straight Lang's Mercedes was timed at 310.595 km/h, while Stuck's Auto Union was doing 281.628 km/h. When Stuck's Auto Union had to make one more tire stop, Hasse inherited second place from his team mate. Brauchitsch passed Kautz, who also had to stop for fuel. The six car field was split into two groups with Lang, Hasse and Stuck in front, then, after a long gap came Brauchitsch and Kautz, almost like twins. Much further behind was Sommer's Alfa Romeo, which had already been lapped by Lang's Mercedes. After 22 laps the order was: 1. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 1h56m21s = 168.2 km/h 2. Hasse (Auto Union) 1h57m13s = 167.3 km/h 3. Stuck (Auto Union) 1h58m07s = 166.0 km/h 4. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) no time 5. Kautz (Mercedes-Benz) no time 6. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 1 lap down Lang's tires did not withstand this fast pace and on lap 23 he had to pull in with a defective thread for his second tire change. His Mercedes limped into the pits and he lost the advantage he had established. With Lang in the pits, Hasse took the lead but the Mercedes left the pit just before Stuck's Auto Union arrived.       The outcome of the race was uncertain, since there were still 11 laps to go to the finish. Hasse drove the second part of the race at a faster pace but in smooth style. His lap times were between 5m12s and 5m08s. Lang in second place, with his third set of tires, continued his chase and was getting ever closer to the leading Auto Union. Stuck also came towards the front, passing third man Kautz. On lap 28, Hasse was leading Lang by 54 seconds with Stuck's Auto Union a further 31 seconds behind.       Lang would probably have been able to pass Hasse and win, if he had not have been forced to slow down. All of a sudden, on lap 29, Lang's Mercedes began to wander at the rear and the car skidded all over the road where trees stood right next to it. His swerving car missed an apple tree by a hair, so Lang slowed his pace to keep the Mercedes in the center of the road. He stopped at the pits but was immediately sent out again. One universal joint at the rear axle had partially broken and every time he accelerated, the car swerved severely. Lang's problem enabled Stuck to close up, and was only five seconds behind. The only thing Lang could do was to slow down and on lap 30 he let Stuck by without a fight. When Manfred von Brauchitsch stopped at the pits to change spark plugs, Kautz passed him to gain fourth place. Eventually Brauchitsch retired with supercharger trouble on lap 32 while in fifth place.       The smooth driving Hasse, who had taken the lead on lap 23, finished a deserving winner, having beaten his senior team mate fair and square. It was Hasse's first Grand Prix win in his second year with Auto Union. His average, a new record of 167.189 km/h was faster than Brauchitsch's 1935 lap record of 166.698 km/h. Stuck finished 42 seconds behind Hasse, which was about the time he lost with his second wheel change. This shows that overall Stuck had not driven faster than Hasse. After Lang's car broke down, he had to slow down and content himself with third place, two minutes behind Stuck at the finish. Kautz came fourth, 18 seconds behind Lang, not bad for the junior driver in only his second Grand Prix race. On top of this fine performance, Kautz had lost valuable time by spinning off at Malmédy, when he had an encounter with a dog on the course. The Swiss driver came to a stop with the front of his Mercedes in a shallow ditch with the engine stalled, but managed to get out again and push-start his stalled car by himself. Tony Kaye observed, no-one was injured, but it could so easily have been a disaster. His car finished up just a couple of feet from where spectators were lining the edge of the circuit. His car demolished a cameraman's stand and the cameraman narrowly escaped the out-of-control car by running into the middle of the road. Fortunately no other cars were following. Sommer was the last finisher in the under-powered Alfa Romeo, one lap behind.       The cheerful Auto Union mechanics carried the tall Rudi and Hans Stuck on their shoulders to King Leopold III, who shook their hands and personally presented the trophy. Before the King left the circuit to drive away he stopped near the Mercedes pit when he saw Manfred von Brauchitsch, left his car and shook his hand to express his appreciation of the German's valiant performance.

The ERA works team triumphs

The race was decided on aggregate times of two heats. Mays dominated the first heat from Luigi Villoresi intil Mays' car broke a half shaft and Luigi Villoresi spun giving Emilio Villoresi a surprice victory. Mays took over Cook's 3rd positioned car for the second heat and opened up such a gap that the combination won not only the second heat but the whole event.

Organized by the Automobile Club du Midi at Toulouse the event included 350cc and 500cc motorcycle races and a voiturette car race that was run in two heats just as in 1935 and 1936. Each heat consisted of 20 laps. The aggregate times of the car (not the driver as will be significant this year) decided the total winner.

Entries: The 1936 winner Bira was an non-entry. The White Mouse stable was in disorder with both their ERAs under repair and their Delage a non competitive failure. Prince Chula had hired new chief mechanic F.R.W. England, and an assistant, Stanley Holgate, the team's former mechanics had resigned because of arguments after the Picardie GP, but there was no time to get any car in shape.       The works ERA team had not found any replacement for Pat Fairfield who had had a fatal crash at Les 24 Heures du Mans on 19th June, so Humphrey Cook himself decided to race R12C, even if he had not raced for two years. Raymond Mays raced his usual R4C, both cars upgraded with Porsche independent suspension and Zoller supercharger. Between the Peronne and Albi races Mays had visited Paris and climbing a high wall to have a sneek peek at the not yet opened World Exhibition. He had fallen down and injured his knee but still decided to race. Private ERA entries were made by Reggie Tongue (R11B) and Charles Martin (R3A).       Maserati was represented by Scuderia Ambrosiana who sent two cars for the Villoresi brothers. American John Du Puy entered two Maseratis for himself and for Swiss Baron Emmanuel de Graffenried. Fritz Gollin from Erfurt again raced his silver colored Maserati 6CM (#1545) under the Süddeutsche Renngemeinshaft banner, a rather loose organization of German drivers. Ciro Basadonna raced his Maserari 4CM under the Ecurie Helvetica banner. Fernando Righetti also entered a Maserati.       Finally there was an unknown driver Toui who entered an unknown special.

Practice: Mays took pole position with a margin of 28.8s from Emilio Villoresi, the former having a medium speed of 157.85 km/h against the latter's 138.24 km/h. That must surely be some kind of record!

Heat 1: The event started off with motorcycle races at 8:30 &10:00 a.m. under a grey sky. (Interestingly the races were won by Roger Loyer and Marcel Balsa who both will do car racing in 1939). Once it was time for the car races the sun was shining even if there was a light breeze.

4 Cook ERA 3m52.0s 16 E Villoresi Maserati 3m51.8s 2 Mays ERA 3m23.0s 22 Gollin Maserati 3m57.4s 14 L Villoresi Maserati 3m55.8s 18 Basadonna Maserati 4m18.0s 12 de Graffenried Maserati 4m01.8s 20 Righetti Maserati 3m59.0s 6 Tongue ERA 10 Du Puy Maserati 4m21.6s 24 Toui Toui 8 Martin ERA

When the flag dropped Mays took the lead followed by Basadonna and the Villoresi brothers. Righetti stalled and got away a minute behind the rest of the field. At the end of the first lap Mays was already 17 seconds in front of Luigi Villoresi. The order after the first lap was: 1. Mays (ERA) 2. L. Villoresi (Maserati) 3. E. Villoresi (Maserati) 4. Tongue (ERA) 5. Cook (ERA) 6. Graffenried (Maserati) 7. Martin (ERA) 8. Basadonna (Maserati) 9. Gollin (Maserati) 10. Du Puy (Maserati) 11. Righetti (Maserati) 12. Toui (Toui) Mays completed the second lap in 3m28s (154.1 km/h), increasing his lead to Emilio Villoresi, who had overtaken his brother, to 24 seconds. After three laps Mays had already lapped last positioned Toui. After a bad start Righetti had moved up to 9th position. Mays did his 5th lap in 3m21s (159.4 km/h), the fastest of the race and faster than his qualifying time. The order after 5 laps looked like this: 1. Mays (ERA) 17m39s 2. E. Villoresi (Maserati) 18m24s 3. L. Villoresi (Maserati) 18m24s 4. Tongue (ERA) 19m09s 5. Cook (ERA) 19m11s 6. Martin (ERA) 19m26s 7. Gollin (Maserati) 19m57s 8. Graffenried (Maserati) 19m58s 9. Righetti (Maserati) 20m48s 10. Basadonna (Maserati) 21m14s 11. Du Puy (Maserati) 12. Toui (Toui) De Graffenried retired with gearbox problems on the sixth lap. Cook, who has been battling with Tongue for some laps, overtook him for fourth position. Luigi Villoresi passed Emilio for second and soon afterwards Emilio, who was worried about his left rear tire, was passed by Cook as well. This was the race order after 10 laps with Mays leading by 1m43s: 1. Mays (ERA) 35m21s 2. L. Villoresi (Maserati) 37m04s 3. Cook (ERA) 37m33s 4. E. Villoresi (Maserati) 37m35s 5. Tongue (ERA) 37m57s 6. Martin (ERA) 38m33s 7. Gollin (Maserati) 39m41s 8. Righetti (Maserati) 40m15s 9. Basadonna (Maserati) 10. Du Puy (Maserati) 11. Toui (Toui) Cook was forced to take the escape road at Les Planques losing a good half a minute and third position to Emilio Villoresi. On the twelfth lap Cook lost another position being passed by Tongue. Further back the race order remained the same even when Du Puy made a pit stop. This was the order after 15 laps: 1. Mays (ERA) 53m15s 2. L. Villoresi (Maserati) 55m36s 3. E. Villoresi (Maserati) 55m40s 4. Tongue (ERA) 56m05s 5. Cook (ERA) 56m22s 6. Martin (ERA) 7. Gollin (Maserati) 8. Righetti (Maserati) 9. Basadonna (Maserati) 10. Du Puy (Maserati) 11. Toui (Toui) The race for second position tightened up as the Villoresi brothers were only four seconds apart from each other and with Tongue behind them closing in. The on the 18th lap the whole race situation changed dramatically as Mays' ERA came to a stop with a broken half shaft, giving over the lead to Emilio who had passed his brother. Three cars were now fighting for the victory. Luigi Villoresi spun dropping to fourth while Emilio Villoresi and Tongue were still racing wheel by wheel at Saint-Juéry on the last lap. In the end the Maserati driver managed to pull away to take the victory with Tongue finishing second and Cook third.       On the straight from Saint-Juéry to Montplaisir, Toui, far behind the rest of the field, lost a wheel on his car. The car crashed into a tree and obviously overturned. The driver was removed from the car with his head covered in blood and a with a broken leg and was immediately transported to a nearby hospital.

Heat 2: The aggregate times of the car, not the driver, was counted so the rules allowed Mays was able to take over Cook's car for the second heat and similary de Graffenried took over Du Puy's car. Mays had then had the mission to take in 58s on first heat winner Emilio Villoresi during the second heat. Nine cars lined up for the second heat according to the results form the first heat.

4 Mays ERA 6 Tongue ERA 16 E Villoresi Maserati 20 Righetti Maserati 14 L Villoresi Maserati 18 Basadonna Maserati 22 Gollin Maserati 8 Martin ERA 10 de Graffenried Maserati

As the rce started Emilio Villoresi took the lead followed by Tongue and Mays. But during the first lap, the order was changed and as the cars passed the main stand at the end of the first lap the race order was Mays,E milio Villoresi, Tongue, Martin, Luigi Villoresi, Righetti, Graffenried, Basadonna and Gollin.       Cook's ERA was not optimized for Mays. As a result of a childhood injury Mays had one arm shorter than the other and always wanted the steering mounted on the left side. Still, Mays put on full speed to gain the 58s needed for an overall victory. His work became more easy as on the 2nd lap when Emilio Villoresi spun into straw bales. Villoresi was able to restart, the hood on the Maserati dented from the crash. He made a pit stop and then went off again but soon gave up as the radiator had been punctured. On the fifth lap Righetti overtook Luigi Villoresi for fourth position. Mays was now leading Tongue by 30 seconds but he had to win over him by at least 40 seconds. The race order after 5 laps looked like this: 1. Mays (ERA) 17m48s 2. Tongue (ERA) 18m18s 3. Martin (ERA) 18m22s 4. Righetti (Maserati) 19m02s 5. L. Villoresi (Maserati) 19m13s 6. Gollin (Maserati) 19m41s 7. Graffenried (Maserati) 19m42s 8. Basadonna (Maserati) 20m34s Basadonna spun his Maserati but was able to continue. Mays was gaining seven to eight seconds per lap on Tongue who on lap 9 had to see Martin pass for second position. On the 10th lap Righetti spun hitting the straw bales but was able to continue. Tongue obviously had som trouble and had to make a lengthy pit stop leaving third position to Righetti. Luigi Villoresi also lost control of his car and crashed in front of the grandstand. The Maserati jumped up on top of the straw bales before coming back down. Villoresi was able to continue with a somewhat damaged steering. Meanwhile De Graffenried and Golin fought a fierce battle for sixth position. Graffenried finally managed to overtake the German's silver Maserati. After 13 laps had Mays lapped all of the field except Martin and Righetti. The race order after 15 laps: 1. Mays (ERA) 53m37s 2. Martin (ERA) 55m23s 3. Righetti (Maserati) 56m24s 4. Tongue (ERA) 57m35s 5. Graffenried (Maserati) 58m31s 6. Gollin (Maserati) 59m34s 7. L. Villoresi (Maserati) 59m41s 8. Basadonna (Maserati) From the fifteenth to the twentieth lap the situation did not change. Mays took the chequered flag to win by over two minutes.       On aggregate results Mays and Cook shared the victory, finishing 4m46s in front of Martin. Thus Humphrey Cook, who had been the main financer of the ERA project from the very start, ended up in the records as a race winner with that car.