Caracciola wins the German Grand Prix for his fifth time

The German Grand Prix was the biggest race of the 1937 season. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) led the first lap followed by Rosemeyer (Auto Union), Caracciola and Brauchitsch, both (Mercedes-Benz). As of the second lap Rosemeyer took the lead but stopped on lap four after a rear tire burst. A broken winged wheel nut cost him over three minutes. He then drove in a determined wild chase to the front from eleventh to third place at the finish. After Müller crashed and Stuck retired both in Auto Unions, Delius was left as the fastest of that team. Mercedes held the top four positions with Caracciola, Lang, Brauchitsch and Seaman. On lap seven Delius passed Seaman for fourth place on the long straight before the finish but both cars left the track at high speed. The injured drivers were transported to the Adenau Hospital. Ernst von Delius unfortunately died the next morning while Seaman escaped with lesser injuries. On a dry race track the fast pace stressed the tires to the extreme and wheels had to be changed every seven laps. Caracciola eventually won 46 seconds ahead of Brauchitsch. Rosemeyer, the fastest driver in the race, reached third place, only one minute behind, having recovered most of his lost time. Nuvolari finished fourth, followed by Hasse and Kautz. Lang and Rüesch arrived one lap behind, while Evans and Festetics were three laps back and Marinoni four laps down in 11th place. Amongst the fifteen retirements five cars crashed.

The tenth German Grand Prix of 1937 was considered the most important of the big races and was the annual climax. The ONS (Oberste Nationale Sportbehörde) had organized the tenth German Grand Prix, but the DDAC (Der Deutsche Automobil-Club) and the NSKK (National-Sozialistisches Kraftfahr-Korps) were charged with the execution of this race. The German Grand Prix was to be run over 22 laps of the 22.810 km Nürburgring Nordschleife, a total of 501.82 km.

Entries: There were 27 entries listed. Count Carlo F. Trossi, originally entered for the #26 Alfa Romeo, did not appear and was replaced by Attilio Marinoni. The American Joel Thorne, who had finished sixth at the Vanderbilt Cup race, was entered with race number 54 but did not appear. He was also mentioned as reserve in case Marinoni would not start. As usual the German teams came in force to the main event of the year. The Auto Union team had Ernst von Delius, Bernd Rosemeyer, Hermann Müller, Rudolf Hasse and Hans Stuck. Luigi Fagioli was their reserve driver.       Daimler-Benz was present in full force with seven cars for no less than eight drivers during practice. Rudolf Caracciola, Manfred von Brauchitsch, Hermann Lang, Richard Seaman and Christian Kautz were the team's main drivers. Walter Bäumer, Heinz Brendel and Hugo Hartmann were the reserve drivers. The cars had a new supercharger system, eliminating the legendary high-pitched scream, after the supercharger was placed between the carburetor and the engine, a system that was used at the Vanderbilt Cup and at Spa.       Scuderia Ferrari managed the Alfa Romeo team of two red 12C-36 with 4.1-L 12-cylinder Alfa Romeos for Tazio Nuvolari and Giuseppe Farina. For Carlo Felice Trossi they had a 3.8-L 8-cylinder type 8C-35. As Trossi was not present, the car was driven by Attilio Marinoni. The six additional Alfa Romeos were independent entries by Scuderia Maremmana with a 2.9-Liter type B/P3 for Renato Balestrero, Count Salvi del Pero entered a 3.8-Liter type 8C-35 for Vittorio Belmondo and Giovanni Minozzi drove a 2.3-Liter Monza. Raymond Sommer and Hans Rüesch both drove 3.8-Liter type 8C-35, and Kenneth Evans a 2.9-Liter type B/P3.       There were seven independent Maserati entries. The 3-Liter 8CM types were driven by Count Ernõ Festetics with Count Nicola Festetics as reserve and Edoardo Teagno who was entered by Scuderia Sabauda. László Hartmann raced a 2.5 litre variant of the new Maserati 4CM with quarter-elliptic rear suspension. The two 3.7-Liter type 6C-34 were entered by Luigi Soffietti and Paul Pietsch who had bought Laszlo Hartmann's 1936 Maserati. Scuderia Maremmana entered two of the 1.5-Liter type 6CMs for Franco Cortese and Francesco Severi.

Practice: On Thursday the first official practice day it was rather cold and dry. Caracciola drove in the training car #17, which was the training car Brauchitsch had overturned at Spa. Sometime later Hugo Hartmann and Heinz Brendel also drove the car including Walter Bäumer. Hartmann also practiced in car #20, which Kautz drove in the race. Caracciola did a lap in 19m03s and Lang a standing lap in 10m17s. Brauchitsch and Seaman were not present on Thursday. During the long waiting times the racecars were covered with blankets to shelter the warm engines from the cold. Rosemeyer made a lap in 9m46.2s, a good six seconds faster than any of the other drivers, a new record at the average speed of 140.1 km/h.       Friday between 2:00 and 3:00 pm was mandatory practice, where every driver had to complete three laps. It was damp and the sky was overcast with patches of mist but it did not rain. Seaman appeared for the first time, also the Alfa Romeos of Nuvolari and Farina. The Auto Union team had carburation trouble with their cars, and Stuck was only able to get round in 10m35s. Caracciola drove a lap in 10m04s, Nuvolari 10m08.4s and Seaman 10m12.3s. Lang was also very fast in 9m52.2s and Brauchitsch 9m55.1s. While everyone had expected Rosemeyer to do the fastest lap, Lang's second place was more of a sensation. Especially Nürburgring expert von Brauchitsch blew his fuses as he was outdone by the former Mercedes mechanic and had to be calmed down by Neubauer. It was probably about this time that Caracciola and von Brauchitsch formed an anti-Lang alliance.       Saturday morning was wet and cheerless. A large proportion of the circuit was very slippery and no fast times were recorded. Not many spectators were present during Saturday practice due to rainy weather with a heavy rain storm. After the official Saturday practice had ended in the afternoon, the Auto Union of Hans Stuck was still seen time and again. The reason for that was since Stuck had not reached a good time during official practice, due to his engine had problems. The engine of Stuck's car was removed and then reinstalled when Hasse drove Stuck's car in small practice laps around the South Turn and back when it could be heard that the car was no running properly.

Race: During the whole night thousands of spectators had arrived from all directions on bicycles, cars, trucks, and buses. The sky was slightly covered with clouds with the sun shining at times but it was cool. An estimated 300.000 spectators had assembled around the ring including those in the grandstands. Rosemeyer with the Auto Union, winner of the 1936 Eifelrennen and Grand Prix, also the 1937 Eifelrennen, entered the race as favorite, evidently the circuit suited him very well. Nuvolari, last year's winner in a yellow sweater placed in the second row. For the first time the 26 cars lined up to the times achieved during practice as follows:

14 Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz 9m55.1s 16 Lang Mercedes-Benz 9m52.2s 4 Rosemeyer Auto Union 9m46.2s 22 Nuvolari Alfa Romeo 10m08.4s 12 Caracciola Mercedes-Benz 10m04.0s 18 Seaman Mercedes-Benz 10m12.3s 6 Müller Auto Union 10m12.0s 8 Hasse Auto Union 10m10.4s 20 Kautz Mercedes-Benz 10m15.3s 2 von Delius Auto Union 10m15.1s 44 Rüesch Alfa Romeo 10m47.2s 10 Stuck Auto Union 10m35.3s 24 Farina Alfa Romeo 10.27.2 28 Belmondo Alfa Romeo 11m28.3s 40 Pietsch Maserati 11m23.1s 26 Marinoni Alfa Romeo 12m01.0s 52 Severi Maserati 11m47.3s 50 Sommer Alfa Romeo 11m30.1s 32 Balestrero Alfa Romeo 12m43.0s 42 Evans Alfa Romeo 12m06.0s 38 Cortese Maserati 14m04.3s 34 Soffietti Maserati 13m29.4s 46 Festetics Maserati 12m50.1s 30 Minozzi Maserati 14m47.2s 48 L Hartmann Maserati 13m53.0s 36 Teagno Maserati 14m57.0s

Chris Nixon revealed in his 'Silver Arrows' book that at the pre-race briefing Korpsführer Hühnlein explained to the drivers that public displaying of affection, i. e. kissing your wife or girlfriend on the pitlane was to be considered as non-Aryan behavior, and had to be stopped. After hearing brass bands and seeing endless motorcycle parades the spectators finally saw the cars lining up on the grid for the 11 o'clock start. Just before the start all the drivers led by Rosemeyer climbed out of their cars and run to the pits to give their wives and girlfriends a long kiss to the delight of the spectators.       A sport airplane, a small Klemm, was flying for the first time along the race circuit to document with a film camera the start and first two laps. Three minutes before the start the warming covers were removed from the cars. When the engines were cranked up half a minute before the start, an infernal noise erupted. One minute before the begin of the race a red light of the traffic light came on, followed by the yellow light and when it turned green, the large pack thundered away simultaneously with the canon shot, which could be heard around the entire Nürburgring. At tremendous speed Lang in the Mercedes pulled away in front but was passed by Caracciola who entered first at the South Turn ahead of Lang, Brauchitsch and Rosemeyer. But Lang immediately went past Caracciola. Lap 1 - The order at the middle of the South Turn was Lang, Caracciola, Rosemeyer, Müller, Brauchitsch, Delius, Nuvolari. After more than 10 minutes, the cars appeared at the grandstands with Lang in the lead after 10m17.3s at 132.9 km/h, fifty meters ahead of Rosemeyer, who had passed Brauchitsch and Caracciola at daring pace. After a large gap followed the second group comprising Müller, Delius and Hasse also Nuvolari in his red Alfa Romeo who was in eighth place, trying to pass Hasse's Auto Union. Kautz and Seaman were in ninth and tenth place. Pietsch stopped for a brief moment at the pits, after he had lost half his exhaust pipe and gave his team some instructions. Soffietti in last place stopped to change plugs. The times for the first four cars were quoted from 'Motor Sport' with the order as follows after the first lap: 1. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 10m17.3s 2. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 10m19.2s 3. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 10m21.1s 4. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 10m24.0s 5. Müller (Auto Union) 6. Delius (Auto Union) 7. Hasse (Auto Union) 8. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 9. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 10. Seaman (Mercedes Benz) Lap 2 - During the second lap the loudspeaker announced that Rosemeyer had passed Lang's Mercedes ahead of the Karussell and at the end of the lap Rosemeyer's Auto Union was speeding past the grandstand in the lead nine seconds ahead of Lang, followed by Caracciola and Brauchitsch. After a large gap arrived the second group of Delius, Müller and Hasse. Rosemeyer had established a new record of 9m53.4s at 137.8 km/h average speed. The third group followed with Kautz and Seaman who both had passed Nuvolari. Pietsch stopped again on the second lap and repaired the exhaust pipe, losing a great deal of time. The order was as follows after the second lap: 1. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 2. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 3. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 4. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 5. Müller (Auto Union) 6. Delius (Auto Union) 7. Hasse (Auto Union) 8. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 9. Seaman (Mercedes Benz) 10. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) Lap 3 - The battle continued with Rosemeyer had increased his advantage to 11 seconds ahead of Caracciola who had passed Lang for second place, followed by Brauchitsch who was fourth. The Auto Union of Delius had passed Müller for fifth place, both were engaged in a close battle. After his bad start, Seaman had passed Kautz and Hasse for seventh place while Nuvolari was tenth. Stuck had hopelessly dropped behind. The Alfa Romeos of Sommer and Balestrero retired somewhere on the course while Teagno's Maserati also did not reach the pits. Here the order after the third lap: 1. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 2. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 3. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 4. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 5. Delius (Auto Union) 6. Müller (Auto Union) 7. Seaman (Mercedes Benz) 8. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 9. Hasse (Auto Union) 10. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) Lap 4 - As the cars passed the grandstands at top speed, the great favorite was no longer amongst them. Instead Caracciola appeared with a lead of 15 seconds to Lang, then Brauchitsch. After a gap followed Seaman's Mercedes who had passed Delius' Auto Union, ahead of Kautz and Hasse. Finally, nearly 48 seconds after Caracciola appeared Rosemeyer in eighth place, with totally shredded left rear tire slowly crawling to his pits. The mechanics rushed to the car to change the wheel but the winged hub cap was broken with the ears missing and would not come off. (At the 3rd lap Rosemeyer at his rampant pace had somewhere clouted a bank and must have bumped against something hard, damaging the left rear hub cap. On his fourth lap while chasing through South Turn, the hub cap part with the wings fell off, [see more about this 'In Retrospect']). With hammer and chisel the threaded part holding the wheel came loose but not off. Rosemeyer went wild and threw a fit, ran excited around his car in desperation and could not wait to carry on. Eventually after 2m28s in the pits Rosemeyer re-joined with new rear wheels and wheel nut but had dropped from first to eleventh place over three minutes behind the leader. He was driving like the devil.       In the meantime, Müller and Delius were still battling for position. As Delius passed, he pushed Müller off the track into the railing of the Adenau Bridge at Breidscheid. Müller had to retire with broken right front suspension, but injured himself against the steering wheel. Nuvolari was in ninth place followed by Farina. At the end of lap four, the fifth car to retire was the Auto Union of Hans Stuck with supercharger trouble. He drove slowly past the pits, straight to the dead car park, the grass strip just next to the pits. The order was as follows at the end of the fourth lap: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 2. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 3. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 4. Seaman (Mercedes Benz) 5. Delius (Auto Union) 6. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 7. Hasse (Auto Union) 8. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 9. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 10. Farina (Alfa Romeo) Lap 5 - Caracciola was leading Brauchitsch who had passed Lang. Seaman, who had a bad start, had climbed in five laps from tenth to fourth place, after first passing Müller on lap four and on the fifth lap Delius on the long straight ahead of the grandstand. Delius was now the first Auto Union driver in fifth place after Hans Stuck had retired at the end of lap four with supercharger problems and Müller had crashed on the fourth lap when he was hit without fault of his own. Hasse and Kautz were sixth and seventh, followed by Nuvolari and Farina, while Rosemeyer had climbed to tenth place after passing Rüesch who was now eleventh. The order with individual times for the first eight drivers was provided from a photo of the time-table showing positions after lap five, thanks to by Bernhard Völker. Minozzi left the road with his Alfa Romeo ended up in the ditch at Hatzenbach, without getting injured. Severi's Maserati also plunged into a nearby ditch. The times shown for the first eight cars were from a photo of the time-table showing positions after lap five, thanks to Bernhard Völker. The order was as follows after the fifth lap: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 50m28.0s 2. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 50m46.0s 3. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 50m54.3s 4. Seaman (Mercedes Benz) 51m46.1s 5. Delius (Auto Union) 51m47.4s 6. Hasse (Auto Union) 51m50.4s 7. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 51m51.4s 8. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 52m05.1s 9. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 10. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) Lap 6 - The four Mercedes of Caracciola, Brauchitsch, Lang and Seaman were still in the lead. The duel between Seaman and Delius fighting for the fourth position continued. The order did not change apart from Kautz passing Hasse for sixth place. The order after the sixth lap: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 2. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 3. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 4. Seaman (Mercedes Benz) 5. Delius (Auto Union) 6. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 7. Hasse (Auto Union) 8. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 9. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 10. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) Lap 7 - On the seventh lap Caracciola and Brauchitsch stopped simultaneously to change four tires and refuel in 39 seconds while Brauchitsch needed only 31 seconds. In the meantime, Lang had taken the lead with Nuvolari temporarily in second place, but was passed by Caracciola and Brauchitsch before the end of lap eight. Seaman and Delius did not reach the finish of the seventh lap. Delius still challenged Seaman, passing his Mercedes on the long straight towards the pits after the second bridge at Antoniusbuche. After the pass both cars left the track at a speed of about 270 km/h. It was a true wonder that nothing much more terrible had happened. Delius suffered a concussion and lower leg fracture, Seaman several contusions, facial injuries and a lower arm fracture. Both drivers were rushed to the Adenau Hospital. Kautz who followed close behind, had to brake hard and also left the road. He damaged the rear shock absorbers causing him a difficult ride after he rejoined [see more about this 'In Retrospect']. On entering his eighth lap, Kautz changed his wheels in 46 seconds and Hasse's Auto Union who came in at the same time, took 41 seconds. The order of the first ten cars changed after the seventh lap: 1. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 2. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 3. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 4. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 5. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 6. Hasse (Auto Union) 7. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 8. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 9. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 10. Evans (Alfa Romeo) Lap 8 - Lang was to do his wheel change on this lap but he did not stop and kept the lead ahead of Caracciola and Brauchitsch. Nuvolari had been passed by Caracciola and Brauchitsch, relegated to fourth position with Kautz in fifth place. Hasse's Auto Union was sixth and Farina seventh. Rosemeyer was eighth ahead of Rüesch and Evans. Paul Pietsch, the fastest of the independent Maserati drivers, had stopped twice at the pits to repair the broken exhaust pipe. Thereafter the German drove well in twelfth place but retired on lap eight when the fuel tank ruptured. The order after eighth laps: 1. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 2. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 3. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 4. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 5. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 6. Hasse (Auto Union) 7. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 8. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 9. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 10. Evans (Alfa Romeo) Lap 9 - When Lang stopped on lap nine to change tires, it took only 30 seconds, but he was passed by Caracciola, who was 10 seconds ahead, then Brauchitsch. Nuvolari changed wheels at the same time. They overfilled the tank when much fuel was spouting into the air. The Italian was faster than Lang and joined the race in third place. Lang was fourth ahead of Kautz and Hasse. The order changed after the ninth lap: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 2. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 3. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 4. Lang (Merceds-Benz) 5. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 6. Hasse (Auto Union) 7. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 8. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 9. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 10. Evans (Alfa Romeo) Lap 10 - Caracciola and Brauchitsch remained in the lead, ahead of Nuvolari and Lang. There was a gap to Kautz and Hasse, then Farina. Rosemeyer was the fastest driver in the field, all the time driving with great determination and was gradually closing up to the cars ahead. The times for the first four cars were quoted from 'The Autocar' with the order as follows after the tenth lap: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 1h42m09.3s 2. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 1h42m43.2s 3. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 1h42m59.3s 4. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 1h43m10.2s 5. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 6. Hasse (Auto Union) 7. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 8. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 9. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 10. Evans (Alfa Romeo) Lap 11 - After mid-race, on the eleventh lap, Caracciola led Brauchitsch by 30 seconds, followed by Lang who had passed Nuvolari. The Italian was fourth and received a great ovation from the grandstand, followed by Rosemeyer, Hasse, Kautz and Farina, who stopped to change all four wheels. The order of the 15-car field (place 11-15 are assumed) was as follows after the 11th lap: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 2. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 3. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 4. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 5. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 6. Hasse (Auto Union) 7. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 8. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 9. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 10. Evans (Alfa Romeo) 11. Soffietti (Maserati) 12. Festetics (Maserati) 13. Belmondo (Alfa Romeo) 14. Marinoni (Alfa Romeo) 15. Hartmann (Maserati) Lap 12 - At the beginning of lap 12, Rosemeyer had to stop for the second time as the left rear tire cover was in shreds, taking 35 seconds in the pits. He was 3 ½ minutes behind the leading Mercedes which maintained an average speed of 134 km/h. Nuvolari made up 10 seconds and passed Lang for third place, now just ahead of him. The British driver Evans made his first pit stop to refuel on the twelfth lap. At that time there were still 13 cars in the field. The order was as follows after the 12th lap: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 2. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 3. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 4. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 5. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 6. Hasse (Auto Union) 7. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 8. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 9. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 10. Evans (Alfa Romeo) Lap 13 - Caracciola stopped for the second time on the 13th lap to change tires in only 32 seconds. Brauchitsch took the lead to stop the following lap. Lang was second ahead of Caracciola, Nuvolari and Rosemeyer. On the 13th lap Rosemeyer set out chasing after Nuvolari, gaining 10 seconds per lap. The order was as follows after the 13th lap: 1. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 2. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 3. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 4. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 5. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 6. Hasse (Auto Union) 7. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 8. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 9. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 10. Evans (Alfa Romeo) Lap 14 - On lap 14 Brauchitsch stopped at the pits with a stripped tire thread to change rear wheels and refuel in 31 seconds while Caracciola regained first place, now leading Brauchitsch by 17 seconds. Lang was third, already 94 seconds behind the leader. He stubbornly refused to change tires as a precaution and did not stop on this lap. Nuvolari was fourth, 21 seconds ahead of Rosemeyer in fifth place. The order of the following cars did not change. The times for the first five cars were quoted from 'The Motor' with the order as follows after the 14th lap: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 2h23m00.1s 2. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 2h23m17.2s 3. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 2h24m34.3s 4. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2h25m32.2s 5. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 2h25m53.2s 6. Hasse (Auto Union) 7. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 8. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 9. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 10. Evans (Alfa Romeo Lap 15 - On lap 15 the three-car Mercedes team was still leading. Nuvolari was fourth, but hunted down by Rosemeyer who gained about 15 seconds per lap. He caught up with Nuvolari at the Karussell. They entered the banking there one behind the other and the Auto Union passed the Alfa Romeo on the following slope to gain fourth place. Although both drivers were sliding in the corners at great skill, Rosemeyer was just faster. Hasse stopped to change four wheels in one minute. The order was as follows after the 15th lap: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 2. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 3. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 4. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 5. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 6. Hasse (Auto Union) 7. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 8. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 9. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 10. Evans (Alfa Romeo) Lap 16 - Caracciola and Brauchitsch were leading while Lang had dropped behind. He saw the white stripe on his tire, indicating that the cover was near the end of its life. Soon the rear tire threw the thread and with a loud bang burst just after Karussell. With the flat tire he slowly reached the pits. Due to his slow pace some of the spark plugs had oiled up and now needed to be replaced. Lang finally rejoined the race after over three minutes in the pits but was now in a hopeless seventh place. Rosemeyer advanced to third ahead of Nuvolari but the gap between them was only 6.5 seconds. The order was as follows after the 16th lap: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 2. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 3. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 4. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 5. Hasse (Auto Union) 6. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 7. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 8. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 9. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 10. Evans (Alfa Romeo) Lap 17 - After the 17th lap Caracciola was leading Brauchitsch by 38 seconds. Rosemeyer was a further 41 seconds behind in third place, followed after 26 seconds by Nuvolari. Farina's Alfa Romeo held the fifth place ahead of Hasse, Lang, Kautz, Rüesch and Evans. The times for the first four cars were quoted from 'The Motor' with the order as follows after the 17th lap: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 2h54m33.0s 2. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 2h55m11.3s 3. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 2h55m52.4s 4. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2h56m18.4s 5. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 6. Hasse (Auto Union) 7. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 8. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 9. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 10. Evans (Alfa Romeo) Lap 18 - With five lap to go, Caracciola held a lead of 40 seconds to Brauchitsch. Rosemeyer stopped at the beginning of the 18th lap to change four wheels in 52 seconds. While he sat there, with the car on the jacks, Nuvolari went flying past to retake third place. Farina also passed to grab fourth place after steady driving. Rosemeyer then tore after both Alfa Romeos. The order was then as follows after the 18th lap: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 2. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 3. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 4. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 5. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 6. Hasse (Auto Union) 7. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 8. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 9. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 10. Evans (Alfa Romeo) Lap 19 - Caracciola and Brauchitsch were holding on to the lead. Rosemeyer had passed Farina and finally passed Nuvolari for third place, when the Italian stopped at his pit for tires which took 45 seconds. Farina followed in fifth place ahead of Hasse, Kautz, Lang, Rüesch and Evans. The order was then as follows after the 19th lap: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 2. Brauchitsch (Mercedes Benz) 3. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 4. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 5. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 6. Hasse (Auto Union) 7. Kautz (Mercedes Benz) 8. Lang (Mercedes Benz) 9. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 10. Evans (Alfa Romeo) Lap 20 - The order on lap 20 remained, Caracciola, Brauchitsch, Rosemeyer and Nuvolari. Caracciola stopped on lap 20 lightning-fast, in 23 seconds, to change wheels. He could still remain ahead of Brauchitsch while Farina in fifth place suddenly retired somewhere on the course and Hasse regained fifth place. Kautz followed ahead of Lang, Rüesch, Evans and Festetics. Lap 21 - On the second to last lap there were no changes reported in the order. Lap 22 - Caracciola was celebrated by the crowd as he crossed the finish line after 3h46m00.1s at 133.2 km/h average speed. He had won his fifth German Grand Prix. Brauchitsch followed after 46 seconds and Rosemeyer, who finished just over one minute behind, also received great applause for his incredible fight to third place, the fastest driver of the race. Nuvolari came fourth, celebrated with great applause, just over four minutes behind the leader, followed by Hasse and Kautz. Lang and Rüesch were one lap behind, Evans and Festetics were three laps back, while Marinoni was four laps down. These eleven cars were running at the end, were flagged off and qualified. Amongst the fifteen retirements were five crashes.       Korpsfürer Hühnlein awarded to Caracciola the special prize of a large bronze head of the goddess of Speed, the prize by the Führer, Adolf Hitler. The "Goddess" proved to be so heavy that Rudi had to put her back on the table rather quickly.

Local driver Sameiro wins Portugeuese race

Entries: Again the race was held in two parts. The sports-car race was held on 26 June 1937 and was won by Portuguese Casimiro de Oliveira with a Jaguar SS100. The Formula Libre race was held on 25 July 1937, over the usual 30 laps and contested by nine competitors, six local drivers, two Britons and Benedito Lopes (Alfa Romeo Monza) from Brazil - possibly the first Brazilian to race in Europe.

Practice:

Race:

18 Sameiro Alfa Romeo 9 Rayson Maserati 8 Powes-Lybbe Alfa Romeo 1 de Oliveira Ford 5 Ribeiro Ferreira Bugatti 7 Monte Real Bugatti 4 Lehrfeld Bugatti 3 Lopes Alfa Romeo Ribas Ford

Powys-Lybbe started from pole position but again Vasco Sameiro won the race, just like in 1936.

Varzi turns to Voiturette racing.

Fourteen competitors took part in the voiturette event on this new circuit, twelve of them in Maseratis. Varzi made his first race appearence of the year. The event was run in three heats plus a final with Dusio, Varzi and Rocco winning the heats. Varzi then domnated the final to win with Dusio second and Rocco third.

Probably inspired by the success of the Monaco Grand Prix there were an interest to arrange a race to attract tourist to San Remo on the Italian riviera. The city had already back in 1926 organized a car race named "Gran Giro del Berigo". The president of the San Remo section of the R.A.C.I. doctor Fracesco Panizzi presented the proposal to organize a race to the assembly of the Board of Directors on 20 March1937, and obtained an immediate and enthusiastic approval.       A course was selected that ran through the city center. Having more narrower streets than Monaco the circuit became quite short (1.862 km ) and quite demanding with very tight curves.       The event was to be run to the 1500cc voiturette formula with three 25 lap heats where the two top finishers of each heat then would take part in a 30 lap final. That way the races could be restricted to 4 to 6 cars each.

Entries: The sensation of the race was the return of Achille Varzi, who had borrowed a works Maserati 4CM. Varzi clamed that he had given up his affair with Ilse and drugs but unable to get a Grand Prix contract for 1937 any longer he decided to show his abilities in a voiturette race to the delightment of the organizers. Luigi Villa entered a Bugatti T37 and Carnevalli's "MB" with a Maserati engine in the Bugatti chassis. Aldo Marazza entered his ex-Lurani 4CS two-seater with right-sided steering. The rest of the field consited of a mix of Maserati 4CMs and 6CMs. Ettore Bianco, Gino Rovere and Giovanni Rocco raced for the works team, the Villoresi brothers, Emilio and Luigi and "Johnny" Lurani raced for Scudria Ambrosiana.

Practice: There were practice sessions on Friday and Saturday mornings. Righetti was fastest during both sessions. The times from the first session are not known while times from the second session can be seen in the grids below. Anyway, it seems the grid orders had been predeterminated rather than decided by the practice times.

Heat 1: The first heat was attended by Dusio, Bianco and Emilio Villoresi with Maseratis and Villa with a Bugatti.

2 Dusio Maserati 1m12s 4 Bianco Maserati 1m10s 10 E Villoresi Maserati 1m12s 8 Villa Bugatti

When Furmanik dropped the flag Dusio took the lead of the race and started to pull away from Bianco, Villoresi and Villa. Bianco's car had already during the practice sessions shown sign of trouble and on the third lap Bianco had to stop in the pit where he remained for about ten minutes.       That left Dusio with a confortable lead over Villoresi while Villa with his old Bugatti had no chance against the Maserati duo who, sure to be qualified for the final, gradually slowed down the pace.       Bianco eventually reurned to the race and traded fastest laps with Dusio. Trying to pass Villa Bianco had an incident but was able to continue. Dusio made lap 19 his fastest of the race and took an superior heat victory over Villoresi who he had lapped during the race.

Heat 2: An intersting race was expected at second heat becuse it included Varzi, Luigi Villoresi and Righetti who had been fastest during the practice sessions. Ermini and Marazza also took part.

14 Marazza Maserati 1m10s 16 Varzi Maserati 1m08.6s 18 L Villoresi Maserati 1m10.2s 20 Righetti Maserati 1m08.0s 22 Ermini Maserati

The start also became hectic with the cars banging wheels but then Varzi took command to be followed by Villoresi, Marazza, Righetti and Ermini. Varzi pulled away at full speed doing the second lap in a record 1m07.8s.       Marazza stopped on the fourth lap to change plugs. He returned to the race but retired soon afterwards with magneto trouble. Fighting for second position behind Varzi , Villoresi and Righetti both braked hard at the hairpin, skidded and collided slightly. Righetti took advantage of the incident to take over second position from Villoresi.       After 15 laps Villoresi retired either due to crash damage or engine trouble. Ermini then started a furious pursuit on Righetti and managed to get past on the 21 lap securing second position and a place in the final. Varzi, however, had dominated the heat.

Heat 3: Lurani, Carnevali, Rovere, Rocco and Barbieri were the competitors in the third heat.

26 Lurani Maserati 1m11s 28 Carnevalli MB 1m18s 30 Rovere Maserati 1m13s 32 Rocco Maserati 1m13s 34 F. Barbieri Maserati 1m15s

Lurani took the the lead of the race by making a false start that costed him an one minute penalty. Rocco followed in second position, making the fastest lap of the race on the second lap setting a time of 1m10.2s.       Most of the interest in the heat disappeared as one by one of the competitors retired, Rovere after four laps, Barbieri after five, and finally Carnivali after 12 laps leaving just two cars in the race. Lurani, apart from his penalty, suffered from lubrication trouble and after a duel Rocco passed him on lap 15 and went on to win the heat by half a minute.

Final: The six competitors took the places in the grid with the heat winners Varzi, Rocco, Dusio in the front row and the second finishers Ermini, Lurani and E. Villoresi in the back row. The internal order in the rows established on the basis of the times achieved in the heats .

16 Varzi Maserati 32 Rocco Maserati 2 Dusio Maserati 22 Ermini Maserati 26 Lurani Maserati 10 E Villoresi Maserati

Varzi was on pole position but it was Dusio who made the best start to lead the field on the 30 laps race followed by Varzi, Rocco, Ermini, Lurani and Villoresi. Villoresi had to retire after only 2 laps. Dusio going at full speed held on to his lead while attacked by Varzi during the second and third laps but on the fourth lap Varzi passed for the lead and took control of the race putting in a lap time of 1m07.0s the fastest of the day and with that winning the magnificent cup offered by the Casino for the lap record.       Dusio did not give up and was able for some laps to keep Varzi's pace before falling back and instead be challenged by Rocco for second position. Luriani retired after 11 laps. Rocco slowly pulled in meter by meter on Dusio but eventually the situation stabilized with Dusio having a few seconds advantage.       The only remaining excitement for the spectators is when first Varzi after 15 laps and then Dusio and Rocco tried to find a way to lap Ermini on the narrow circuit. Varzi took the flag winning by 46.6 seconds and being recieved by an enthusiastic crowd that invades the circuit during his lap of honors.