Rocco wins a dark event.

Almost all entries were Maseratis with Italian drivers. Luigi Villoresi held an early lead but had to retire due to a gearbox failure. That left Ettore Bianco and Giovanni Rocco to fight for the race win with Rocco getting the upper hand after Bianco made a mistake in the chicane. Early in the race Pasquale Ermini crashed into a crowd of spectators with the tragic result of four fatalites.

The Coppa Acerbo Junior for 1500cc voiturettes was traditionally held on Ferragosto, August 15 (a public holiday in Italy introduced by the emperor Augustus 18 BC), that in 1937 actually happened to be a Sunday. The cars had to complete 6 laps on the 25.8 km long triangular Pescara circuit for a total of 154.8 km. This year a photocell was used by the timing service giving times in 1/100 seconds.

Entries: In 1935 and 1936 the entry lists for the Coppa Acerbo voiturette race had been very international. In 1937 however, Italians dominated the entry list. Apart from Luciano Musso with a M.G. and Reggie Tongue with his ERA (R11B) all entries were Maseratis. Many had expected Varzi to show up again after his San Remo victory but he was not to be seen. Ettore Bianco and Giovanni Rocco raced works cars and Luigi Villoresi, Franco Cortese and Ferdinando Righetti Scuderia Ambrosiana entries. According to Alessandro Silva Francesco Severi and Pasquale Ermini raced under the Scuderia Maremmana banner. Other 1500cc entries were Edoardo Teagno and Aldo Marazza (ex-Lurani 4CS two-seater with right-sided steering).       1100cc cars were entered by Luciano Musso (MG), Pino Baruffi, Angelo Marelli, Luciano Uboldi and Franco Bertani (4CS)       (To sort out which driver belonged to which team is often hard. Many of the voiturette teams were rather loose organizations that a driver joined for a race or two bringing his own car with him, or two or more drivers who joined forces for administrative reasons).

Practice: Practice times are unknown apart from Friday top three: Rocco 12m34.8s, Bianco 12m35s and Cortese 12m40s. The source for the grid below is Sheldon (2nd ed).

Race: A huge and enthusiastic crowd flocked to Pescara on Sunday, by train and by car and formed a lively line along the route. The voiturette race preceeded the main race so already at 8 a.m. the 15 cars were lined up on the grid and a few minutes later. Adelchi Serena, deputy secretary of the fascist party, lowered a white checkered flag and the cars went away into a cloud of dust towards Pescara.

34 Villoresi Maserati 26 Bianco Maserati 38 Rocco Maserati 46 Marazza Maserati 42 Cortese Maserati 56 Uboldi Maserati 30 Teagno Maserati 36 Ermini Maserati 44 Musso MG 40 Baruffi Maserati 32 Severi Maserati 50 Marelli Maserati 54 Righetti Maserati 52 Bertani Maserati 48 Tongue ERA

Bianco held the early lead, followed by Teagno, before Villoresi passed them both.       At Curva del Mattatoio, near Villa Raspa, Ermini was overtaking Uboli when it seems Tongue right in front of them suddenly lost engine power and slowed down. Ermini crashed into the ERA, the Maserati went off the road and fatally struck a soldier who working for the security and standing at the edge of an embankment. That got the car to spin several times over the embankment, ending into a group of spectators, five of which were hospitalized. Three females later succumed to their injuries (Note 2). On such a long course it was hard to keep good crowd control. There were rumors that Ermini had died as well but in fact he was not seriously injured and was able to leave hospital the next day. Tongue was uninjured, but his ERA was damaged and he had to retire.       Bianco retook the lead at the mountain section only to lose it again to Villoresi who led the field at the end of the first lap. Marazza made a pit stop for a tyre change. while Uboldi stopped to change plugs. The race order after the first lap was thus: 1. Villoresi (Maserati) 12m42s (121.9 km/h) 2. Bianco (Maserati) 12m42.89s 3. Rocco (Maserati) 12m45.17s 4. Cortese (Maserati) 5. Severi (Maserati) 6. Righetti (Maserati) Villoresi continued in the lead pressed hard by Bianco and Rocco who were followed at a distance by Cortese, Severi and Righetti. The race positions however did not change during the second lap.       During the third lap Bianco attacked Villoresi and passed him for the lead at Monte Silvano. Rocco was closly behind them in third position. In the 1100cc class Baruffi took over the lead from Bertani. This was the race order after the 3rd lap: 1. Bianco (Maserati) 37m15s (124.7 km/h) 2. Villoresi (Maserati) 37m16s 3. Rocco (Maserati) 37m23s 4. Cortese (Maserati) 37m54s 5. Severi (Maserati) 38m16s On the fourth lap Rocco passed Villoresi who had car problems and then started to took attack Bianco. That made Bianco to spin in the chicane giving over the lead to Rocco. Villoresi had to retire his car due to a gearbox failure. That put Cortese up in third position. After the fourth lap the order looked like this: 1. Rocco (Maserati) 49m35s (124.9 km/h) 2. Bianco (Maserati) 49m47s 3. Cortese (Maserati) 50m14s 4. Severi (Maserati) 50m56s 5. Righetti (Maserati) 53m04s During the fifth lap Rocco increased his lead over Bianco by eight seconds. The race order at the end of the fifth lap was: 1. Rocco (Maserati) 1h01m48s (125.2 km/h) 2. Bianco (Maserati) 1h02m08s 3. Cortese (Maserati) 1h02m29s 4. Severi (Maserati) 1h03m28s 5. Baruffi (Maserati) 1h11m30s But on the last lap Bianco started a wild chase, making the fastest lap of the race, with a time of 12m09.75s but Rocco held on to his lead to win by almost 6 seconds. Bianco finished second and Cortese third while Baruffi was first in the 1100cc class.       The race was run at a high pace and put a strain on engines and cars. Proof of this is the large number of retirements.

Rosemeyer wins despite loosing a wheel.

The works teams of Mercedes-Benz, Auto Union and Alfa Romeo batted at the Coppa Acerbo at Pescara also the independent Alfas of Rüesch, Belmondo and Sommer. The event was of great significance as Alfa Romeo introduced their new car, to replace the 1936 12-cylinder type which was inferior to the latest German cars. At the 16-lap race around the 25,8 km circuit, started ten cars with Rosemeyer (Auto Union) in the lead, battling closely for two laps with Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) but as of the third lap Rosemeyer was clearly dominating until midrace. In third place followed Stuck (Auto Union), ahead of Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz), then the Auto Unions of Fagioli and Müller, trailed by the four Alfa Romeos of Sommer, Rüesch, Nuvolari and Belmondo. Nuvolari in the new Alfa Romeo could hold no better than eighth place due to the poor road holding of the new car. After four laps, he disgustedly handed the Alfa over to Farina who retired after seven laps. Rüesch and Stuck had lasted for only six laps, both abandoned with engine problems. Sommer dropped out after eight laps when the six surviving cars stopped to refuel and change tires. Rosemeyer then stopped again at an emergency depot after losing one wheel, which enabled Caracciola into the lead for two laps. When his Mercedes engine lost power, Rosemeyer regained the lead on the 11th lap and held it until the finish. Brauchitsch came second, and Müller third. One lap down finished Fagioli while Seaman in Caracciola's sick car was classified fifth ahead of Belmondo in sixth place.

The Coppa Acerbo was first held in 1924 when Minister Giacomo Acerbo named the race in honor of his brother Capitano Tito Acerbo, a decorated war hero, who was killed during the last year of WW I. Now in its 13th running it had become one of the more important events of the international calendar and was held on August 15, Ferragosta, a public holiday in Italy. Practically the same 25.8 km Pescara circuit was in use for 1937; however, road surface improvements had made it a faster course over the years. The cars had to complete 16 laps, a total of 412.8 km. It was triangular in shape consisting of regular roads with all the normal road hazards. The start was outside the Adriatic seaside resort of Pescara, where the road went straight for about one kilometer along the shore. Before Pescara the circuit made a sharp right turn, heading inland for about 11 km along a winding road up into the Abruzzi Mountains, through forests and the hill villages of Villa Raspa, Montani, Spoltore, Pornace and Villa S. Maria, rising to 190 meters above sea level. Then the circuit descended to Capelle sul Tavo where there was a slow righthand hairpin exiting under a bridge. From here, the road led into the approximately 11 km long Monte Silvano downhill straight to the coast at blistering speed. The Monte Silvano straight was followed by a fast right turn at Monte Silvano railroad station, which led into the Lungo Mare straight along the coast back to the start. To slow the cars on that sea-level straight, since 1934 a large artificial chicane had been introduced just before the start-finish area, to reduce the speed as cars passed the pits. Additionally, the organizers once again added an artificial chicane on each of the two straights, breaking the two long straights into four sections. It was no longer possible to 'fly' at maximum speed and stay at this rate for about a minute. Officially, these chicanes reduced the risks of high speeds that could be reached on the straights but more truthfully, they tended to interrupt the long sprints which favored the more powerful German cars.

Entries: 12 entries were received, representing the racing teams of Daimler-Benz, Auto Union and Alfa Romeo, including the independent Swiss Champion Hans Rüesch, Vittorio Belmondo, entered by Count Salvi del Pero and Raymond Sommer entered by Scuderia Ferrari. All three were driving with 3.8-liter, 8-cylinder type 8C-35 Alfa Romeos.       The Daimler-Benz team, managed by Alfred Neubauer, arrived with three W 125 cars for their drivers Rudolf Caracciola, Manfred von Brauchitsch, and Richard Seaman who was the only driver available to replace the ill Hermann Lang suffering with a kidney inflammation. Seaman still suffered from his crash at the German Grand Prix but knew the circuit very well from winning the 1500 class in 1935 and 1936.       Auto Union, supervised by team manager Dr. Karl Otto Feuereissen, arrived with four V-16 type C cars, for Bernd Rosemeyer, Hans Stuck, H. P. Müller and Luigi Fagioli, who was finally back after having been sick with rheumatism since the Avusrennen. He was limping and walking with a cane. Rudolf Hasse was reserve driver, still handicapped with leg and foot injuries from his Monaco crash.       During March of 1937 SA Alfa Romeo acquired 80% of the share capital in SA Scuderia Ferrari, on the basis that Enzo Ferrari's functions remained as before. Consequently, SA Alfa Romeo works entered two of the new more powerful 4.5-liter V12-cylinder 12C-37 type for the 15. August Coppa Acerbo race, and was not supervised by Scuderia Ferrari. The new lower car was sleeker and had been tested at the Milano Autostrada by chief mechanic Gianbattista Guidotti and Nuvolari during the preceding days with satisfying results. However, days later at the demanding Pescara circuit, the new 12C-37 cars were undrivable with twisting frame in the hands of Nuvolari. Guidotti and Giuseppe Farina also tested the new car, supervised by designer Vittorio Jano.

Practice: Thursday practice started at 7:30 in the morning but there was a delay while the chicanes were put up straight as the sports cars had demolished them earlier at the 6:00 a.m. practice. Stuck did a lap in 11m23.2s while Müller reached a time of 12m20.6s. Fagioli only drove an inspection lap. Later Müller and Brauchitsch both made a lap in 11m23s. Seaman and Rosemeyer were the only ones who made a fast time in 11m11.8s. Seaman had a right front brake locking up when breaking for the chicane on the last straight and mowed down a string of flags across the road to avoid the risk of running into the chicane. Seaman's best time was 11m27.4s, while Caracciola did 11m44.8s. He had problems with finding the proper carburation adjustment and after some laps the car started to run on seven cylinders and was backfiring. After practice the mechanics found a burned through piston.       On Friday practice Seaman's first lap was 11m07s but on his second round when he entered Capelle village at about 160 km/h, the left front brake locked up and he crashed into a house. The front part of the chassis was broken and the left front wheel was pushed back into the hood. Soldiers and Police helped Seaman, who was not injured at all, to heave the wrecked car to one side. As there was no spare car available, Seaman was a nonstarter. Caracciola's car was repaired for Friday practice. Stuck did the fastest lap in 11m01s. Fagioli 12m11s, Müller 11m54.2s and Brauchitsch was quite a lot slower. Rosemeyer drove Müller's car and blew up the engine. Sommer in the 8-cylinder Alfa Romeo did 11m39.4s, Rüesch in 11m40.2s and Belmondo 12m28.6s. Near the end of Friday practice appeared the new lower built Alfa Romeo. First Guidotti, the Alfa Romeo head tester, drove the car for one lap before Nuvolari managed several laps in around 12 minutes, but the car did not seem to be going at all well. It was soon realized the new car did not have the expected good roadholding, which was felt primarily in the turns with the lack of stability at the front axle sub frame.       On Saturday Rosemeyer held one of his shows, taking off his shirt in the heat and took pole position with just cap, goggles, gloves, shorts and sandals. He made by far the best time in 10m31.8s at 147.008 km/h average speed. Caracciola's best lap was 10m56s, Brauchitsch 11m05s and 11m00s and Stuck 11m08s. The mechanics had replaced the engine of Müller's Auto Union, taken from the spare car they had brought along. Two of the new Alfa Romeos appeared on Saturday practice for Nuvolari and Farina. Nuvolari's best time trying hard for five laps was 11m26s. The second car driven by Farina was not going at all well and broke down in practice. Nuvolari declared the new car not being ready to race but designer Vittorio Jano asked the Mantuan to test-drive in the race which would provide valuable data for the car's improvement. The best times achieved during the three practice days are listed here: 1. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 10m31.4s - 10m53.8s - 10m56.6s - 11m11.8s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 10m56.6s - 11m04s    - 11m44.8s 3. Stuck (Auto Union) 11m01.5s - 11m03.2s - 11m08s    - 11m15s    - 11m23s 4. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 11m05.4s - 11m13.6s - 11m23s    - 11m00s (suspicious) 5. Seaman (Mercedes-Benz) 11m07.0s - 11m11.4s - 11m27.4s 6. Fagioli (Auto Union) 11m15.8s - 11m16.8s - 12m11s 7. Müller (Auto Union) 11m54.2s - 12m18s    - 12m23s    - 12m28.4s 8. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 11m39.4s - 14m39.2s 9. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 11m40.2s - 12m06s 10. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 11m26s    - 11m42.2s - 11m58s 11. Farina (Alfa Romeo) 12m10.2s 12. Belmondo (Alfa Romeo) 12m28.6s - 15m12.8s

Race: On a hot sunny Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. the 1500 cc voiturette cars had their race over six laps, which Giovanni Rocco won with his Maserati in 1h14m12.47s. The start for the grand prix cars was planned at 10:00 a.m. but started about eight minutes earlier.       A large crowd witnessed the race, which was attended by the Italian Agriculture Minister Professor Acerbo and other public figures. The ten cars lined up at the start arranged in order of their practice times. Seaman and Farina did not start.

4 Stuck Auto Union 11m01.0s 8 Caracciola Mercedes-Benz 10m56.6s 10 Rosemeyer Auto Union 10m31.4s 20 Fagioli Auto Union 11m15.8s 14 Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz 11m05.4s 22 Müller Auto Union ? 16 Nuvolari Alfa Romeo12 11m26.0s 24 Sommer Alfa Romeo ? 6 Rüesch Alfa Romeo ? 18 Belmondo Alfa Romeo 12m28.6s

Air Marshal Italo Balbo arrived just before the start and shook hands with all drivers. The clock above the pits showed around 10:52 a.m. when Balbo lowered the checkered flag. Caracciola nosed his car in front of Rosemeyer and Stuck to the exciting applause of the crowd. The cars chased in line for a few hundred meters side by side, but after one kilometer at the first sharp right hand turn it was Rosemeyer first ahead of Stuck and Caracciola.       Rosemeyer was the first to pass the stands after 10m48.7s, just ahead of Caracciola in 10m50s, Stuck third in 11m09s, then Brauchitsch 11m15s, Fagioli 11m35s, Müller and Sommer 48s behind the leader, Rüesch and Nuvolari 50s and Belmondo last. It was clear that Nuvolari could not keep up with the opponents' pace and the hopes that one had in Nuvolari suddenly disappeared. It was realized that he would not be able to do anything against the faster adversaries. Rosemeyer held the lead at 143.176 km/h average speed with the cars in the following order after the 1st lap: 1. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 10m48.7s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 10m50s 3. Stuck (Auto Union) 11m09s 4. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 11m15s 5. Fagioli (Auto Union) 11m33s 6. Müller (Auto Union) 11m36s 7. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 11m36s 8. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 11m38s 9. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 11m38s 10. Belmondo (Alfa Romeo) 12m18s On the second lap, Rosemeyer had completed the fastest lap of the race in 10m36.58s at an average of 145.904 km/h, which gave him a 19 seconds advantage to Caracciola. Fagioli changed a tire on the 2nd lap and lost ground. Nuvolari was now almost three minutes behind the leader. On the third lap Fagioli stopped at his pit after a stone had flown into the radiator of his car and caused a hole. The improvised repair took a long time and Fagioli lost 5m50s at the pits, which dropped him to the end of the field. Rosemeyer was leading with the cars in the following order after three laps: 1. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 32m04s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 32m23s 3. Stuck (Auto Union) 33m14s 4. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 33m18s 5. Müller (Auto Union) 34m07s 6. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 34m27s 7. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 34m54s 8. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 34m55s 9. Belmondo (Alfa Romeo) 37m13s 10. Fagioli (Auto Union) 39m09s On the fourth lap Caracciola lost six seconds on Rosemeyer, while Stuck's Auto Union had dropped further behind as his engine was not going well. So, Brauchitsch was able to pass Stuck to gain third place. On the fourth lap, Sommer was delayed when he spun off the road and made contact with some sand bags which enabled Rüesch to pass him. Nuvolari also appeared late since he had stopped at his Capelle sul Tavo emergency depot to change spark plugs. During the stop the Italian sat at a nearby tavern to quench his thirst. He evidently was not in a hurry and fully aware of the hopelessness of his race. At the end of the lap, Nuvolari stopped at his pit to hand the wheel over to Farina who started 5m5s behind Rosemeyer. The Auto Union driver finished with 144.944 km/h race average speed and the cars in the following order after the fifth lap: 1. Rosemeyer (Auto Union)     53m24s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz)     53m56s 3. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz)     55m06s 4. Stuck (Auto Union)     55m23s 5. Müller (Auto Union)     56m51s 6. Rüesch (Alfa Romeo)     58m07s 7. Sommer (Alfa Romeo)     58m09s 8. Farina for Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 1h00m14s 9. Belmondo (Alfa Romeo) 1h01m35s 10. Fagioli (Auto Union) 1h01m36s After the fifth lap Farina stopped at the pits. Meanwhile Sommer chased and caught Rüesch who on the sixth lap had to abandon along the twisting section of the course with a damaged engine. On the sixth lap Müller gained fourth place by passing Stuck who was very late when he stopped with ignition problems. The mechanics changed both rear wheels, refilled the tank and changed many spark plugs, losing 4m20s in the pits. Upon restarting, the engine emitted clouds of smoke with intermitting bangs, a firework display which was most exciting for the spectators. Stuck eventually got away to manage another slow lap but due to engine failure abandoned the race on lap seven. Still on the sixth lap Farina, who drove without conviction, changed spark plugs and started again. He completed another lap and then retired on the eighth lap before halfway. Rosemeyer was leading at 143.563 km/h average speed when times were as follows at the end of the 8th lap: 1. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 1h26m15s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h26m56s 3. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 1h27m58s 4. Müller (Auto Union) 1h29m58s 5. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 1h34m20s 6. Fagioli (Auto Union) 1h35m07s 7. Belmondo (Alfa Romeo) 1h38m25s - one lap behind At the halfway point on lap nine, the German cars refueled very quickly. Everyone changed two rear tires and refuel, in times varying between 38 and 40 seconds. Rosemeyer was delayed and appeared slowly with a rear tire in shreds for a rapid pit stop. Caracciola made a faster stop and then Brauchitsch pulled in, one after the other. Nothing changed in the order. Sommer disappeared from the battle on lap nine. After his pit stop during the ninth lap Rosemeyer was skidding through one of the corners at Capelle when his right rear wheel hit a road mileage stone in such a way that the impact turned off the winged wheel nut. The wheel came jumped off, overtook Rosemeyer, rolled and bounced downhill, where it landed near the mechanics at the Auto Union depot, while Rosemeyer had to drive along two serpentine-like turns on three wheels and the right rear brake drum to reach the depot seconds later. He had the great luck that this incident happened just before the emergency depot in Capelle sul Tavo, where he received two new wheels and wheel nut. While the stranded Auto Union was sitting jacked up, Caracciola passed him. But Rosemeyer rejoined soon to chase after the Mercedes. At the end of the ninth lap Caracciola held a 31-second lead to Rosemeyer at the stands. Soon the delayed Rosemeyer appeared laughing as he stopped at the pits. He told them that he had lost a wheel just ahead of the emergency depot but got two new rear ones and the mechanics should recheck. This was done in seconds and Rosemeyer chased away.       After the tenth lap Rosemeyer had reduced the gap to 17 seconds. At the end of lap 11 while Caracciola headed for the pits, as the engine was running on only seven cylinders, Rosemeyer passed into the lead on lap 12. Meantime, Caracciola had plugs changed but they were not bad. So he did one more lap with sputtering engine when he was passed by Brauchitsch who grabbed second place. On lap 13, Caracciola stopped again to hand the wheel over to Seaman, who took the hampered car on the following lap but continued to lose ground, when he was overtaken on lap 13 by Müller who earlier had passed Fagioli for fourth place. By now there were only six cars in the race with Rosemeyer in the lead, ahead of Brauchitsch and Müller third, Fagioli fourth, then Seaman fifth with Belmondo in the only one of the Italian cars in sixth place. On lap 13 Seaman's backfiring engine caught fire mid-way of the circuit's twisting mountain section. He stopped on a downhill road, switched off the engine and waited for the flames to die. Eventually he restarted the crippled car and was flagged off in fifth place, but was officially only one lap behind.       The race ended with Rosemeyer finishing in new record time of 2h55m39.05s at 141.007 km/h average speed, greeted by the notes of the German anthem and the applause of the many Germans present. Brauchitsch followed two minutes behind in second place, a nice birthday present for himself. Müller was the only one on the same lap in third place. Fagioli (Auto Union) was one lap behind in fourth place, still sick and had to be lifted from the car. Seaman in Caracciola's sick Mercedes brought the car home in fifth place, completing officially 15 laps. Belmondo's old Alfa Romeo finished last in sixth place, completing also 15 laps. The new Alfa Romeo 12C-37 did not make its present felt, even with Nuvolari behind the wheel. After Farina drove it for two laps, the car was withdrawn. Rosemeyer received the Acerbo Cup for winning the 13th Coppa Acerbo race, the Honor Prize of the Italian King and the Emperor of Ethiopia and for the fastest lap he was awarded Mussolini's Golden Plaque. As the German had won for the third time in a row, the "Coppa Acerbo" went finally into Rosemeyer's possession.

De Oliveira wins in Portugal

Entries: The entries were very much the same as at Vila Real three weeks earlier and it seems the same race numbers were used as in the former race. Vila Real winner Vasco Sameiro however did not start and neither did Francisco Ribeiro Ferreira, who had not been able to get his Alfa Romeo in order after his Vila Real crash. Antony Powys-Lybbe did not take part in the event either but Britain was represented by Edward "Teddy" Rayson in his voiturette Maserati and Brazilian Benedito Lopes was again to race his Alfa Romeo Monza. They were challenged by three local drivers, Manuel de Oliveira in his silver colored rebuilt Ford known as "Edfor", and Henrique Lehrfeld and Jorge Melo e Faro, Count of Monte Real, with their Bugattis.

Practice: Grid positions were decided by practice times. De Oliveira with his Ford proved to be fastest to take the pole with a time of 1m38.0s followed by Count of Monte Real (1m40.8s) and Lehrfeld (1m48.8s) to make it a Portuguese first row, while Lopes and Rayson failed to set a time.

Race:

4 Lehrfeld Bugatti 1m48.8s 7 Monte Real Bugatti 1m40.8s 1 de Oliveira Ford 1m38.0s 9 Rayson Maserati - 3 Lopes Alfa Romeo -

De Oliveira took the lead followed by Rayson, Conde de Monte Real, Lehrfeld and Lopes. On the fourth lap Lopes passed Lehrfeld and the latter had to retire after 7 laps with mechanical trouble. The order then remained the same until the 20th lap when Rayson in second position crashed. That gave Conde de Monte Real second position with Lopes third. Lopes took over second position on the 25th lap, probably after Conde de Monte Real had some kind of trouble, and that order was kept to the end. De Oliveira took the victory with Lopes second a lap behind and Conde de Monte Real third a further lap down.

Dobson wins by mistake.

The race was run in two qualifying heats plus a final. The Maserati works team was withdrawn but the ERA works team was present. The first heat was won by Emilio Villoresi (Maserati) from Mays' works ERA and Martin's private ERA. The second heat was won by Arthur Dobson, now driving for the works ERA team from Cortese's Maserati and Bira's private ERA. The early part of the final was run in heavy rain. Maserati drivers Villoresi and Cortese were fastest away but soon Bira took over the lead of the race. Villoresi spun and dropped to last. When the rain stopped and the track started to dry the works ERA duo of Dobson and Mays took command of the race. Bira held temporary the lead when Dobson stopped by mistake because of the confusion when Berg crashed his Maserati. Mays held the lead during the last laps only to ease off too much and be passed by Dobson at the finish line.

The voiturette race was to be run in two 14 lap qualifying heats plus a 21 lap final. Entry application had to be done before 2 August 6 p.m. A security payment for each car of 200 Swiss francs as a starting guarantee was obligatory, to be refunded after the race.       The prize money for the heats were 350, 250, 150 and100 Swiss francs for the top four in each heat. For the final it was 2,500, 1,500, 900, 500, 300 and 100 for the top six finishers.

Entries: From 34 entries only 25 made the start. The ERA works team sent two black C-type cars with Porsche independent suspension and Zoller supercharger for Raymond Mays (R4C) and Arthur Dobson (R12C) who was replacing the deceased Pat Fairfield. Private ERA's ware entered by Prince Bira (R2B, "Romulus"), Charlie Martin (R3A, dark green) and Reggie Tongue (R11B). Tongue wa forced to use a worn out spar engine. A late entry was Carlo Felice Trossi, who, deprived of his works Maserati, practiced with Embiricos' grey ERA (R2A) but did not start.       The Maserati works team refrained from challenging the ERA works team at Berne, claiming they could not get their cars ready in time, but Scuderia Ambrosiana entered two Maseratis for Franco Cortese and Luigi Villoresi (replaced by Eugenio Minetti) and Süddeutsche Renngemeinshaft three white colored Maseratis for Herbert Berg, Fritz Gollin and Hans Kessler and a Bugatti for Ernst Dietrich Troeltsch. Rich American John Du Puy and Baron de Graffenried together entered two Maseratis. Private Maseratis were raced by John Wakefield, Aldo Marazza, Emilio Villoresi and László Hartmann. Hartmann had the latest type Maserati (#1550) with improved 4 cylinder engine on an independent suspension chassis.

Practice: First practice (Thursday 4.45 p.m. - 6:00 p.m). Only six cars took part in the Thursday practice as drivers, like Bira who was present, prefered to save their cars. Mays (ERA) 3m03.5s Hartmann (Maserati) 3m04.9s Dobson (ERA) 3m05.3s Wakefield (Maserati) 3m13.3s Bäumer (Austin) 3m20.9s Villeneuve (Bugatti) 4m27.0s Second practice (Friday 4.45 p.m. - 6:00 p.m). Hartmann with his new Maserati was fastest during the second practice session. Bira suffered a broken cylinder. Hartmann (Maserati) 3m07.9s Trossi (ERA) 3m09.2s Mays (ERA) 3m11.1s Cortese (Maserati) 3m11.7s Dobson (ERA) 3m13.4s E. Villoresi (Maserati) 3m15.2s L. Villoresi (Maserati) 3m20.9s Wakefield (Maserati) 3m21.4s Berg (Maserati) 3m21.7s Martin (ERA) 3m21.9s de Graffenried (Maserati) 3m26.8s Third practice (Saturday 2:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.). Emilio Villoresi was fastest during the last practice session to take pole position in the first heat. Dobson was second quickest to take pole in the second heat. However Dobson suffered during the session from supercharger trouble and several other drivers had problems as well. Bira broke a second cylinder and it was found that there was a crack in the engine block. Tongue had engine problems as well and Trossi, while sixth fastest, struck problems that made him unable to start the race. Sadly only the names of the six fastest drivers in the last session are known and they correspond to the first row of the grids. E. Villoresi (Maserati) 2m58.1s Dobson (ERA) Mays (ERA) Bira (ERA) Martin (ERA) Trossi (ERA) etc.

Heat 1: The weather was not the best but still an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 spectators turned up for the event. There were thirteen cars that lined up at 9:50 a.m for the first heat. At ten o'clock sharp, race director Huber lowered the flag starting the race.

38 E Villoresi Maserati 32 Mays ERA 24 Martin ERA 68 L Hartmann Maserati 2 Bäumer Austin 28 Wakefield Maserati 22 Hanson Bugatti 62 de Graffenried Maserati 6 Golin Maserati 54 Hertzberger MG 10 Troeltsch Bugatti 48 Caselbarco Maserati 16 Itier Bugatti

Mays took the lead but when the field had reached Eymatt, Villoresi was in front followed by Mays, Graffenried and Martin. Villoresi made the first lap in 3m12.9s (135.9 km/h) leading Mays by six seconds. A bit further back followed Martin, de Graffenried, Wakefield, Hartmann, Bäumer, Gollin, Hertzberger, Hanson, Trodisch, Mme. Itier and finally, last in the field, Castelbarco.       Villoresi did the second lap in 3m01.4 (144.5 km/h) with Mays, who was even faster, following just 4 seconds behind, while Martin had already lost contact with the duo. Further back. Hanson passed Hertzberger for 9th position.       At the beginning of the 3rd lap Castelbarco made a 45s pit stop to fix the carburator. At the front the duel between Mays and Villoresi continued with he gap on the 3rd and 4th lap being just 2 seconds, but increased during the 5th lap to 6 seconds.       Meanwhile Graffenried was in trouble and had to slow down giving up his fourth position to Wakefield and was soon afterwards also passed by Hartmann. During the 5th lap Graffenried stopped his Maserati on the circuit and retired due to engine trouble. The race order after 5 laps was as follows: 1. E. Villoresi (Maserati) 15m24.9s 2. Mays (ERA) 15m30.8s 3. Martin (ERA) 15m44.7s 4. Wakefield (Maserati) 15m50.6s 5. Hartmann (Maserati) 16m02.0s At the end of the 6th lap Bäumer in 6th position rolled slowly to the pit and retired with a broken big end bearing. Hartmann was also in trouble and every time he passed the pits he made signals with his hand while the new 4 cylinder engine sounded worse each time. At the top of the field the gap between Villoresi and Mays had increased a bit and each time Mays seemed to close the gap Villoresi answered by going even faster. This was the situation after 10 laps: 1. E. Villoresi (Maserati) 30m48.2s 2. Mays (ERA) 30m52.3s 3. Martin (ERA) 31m06.8s 4. Wakefield (Maserati) 31m43.7s 5. Hartmann (Maserati) 32m38.0s On 11th lap Wakefield retired with a leaking petrol tank. Mays made the 11th lap in 3m01.1s (144.7 km/h). Villoresi then answered by doing the 12th lap in 2m59.2s (146.3 km/h) and the 13th lap in2m58.9s (146.5 km/h). On the last lap Mays once more closed in on the leading Maserati and at the end the gap was just 1.4s, Villoresi winning from Mays with Martin third. Hartmann, Hanson Gollin and Hertzberger were far behind but would all, due to the circumstances qualify for the final while Troeltsch and Itier, who both had lost two laps, had to call it a day.

Heat 2: Only eleven cars lined up for the second heat as Trossi and Tongue were non-starters. At 11 a.m the cars were flagged away.

30 Dobson ERA 66 "B Bira" ERA * 44 Cortese Maserati 4 Berg Maserati 46 Minetti Maserati 34 Marazza Maserati 42 Uboldi Maserati ** 56 Fleischanderl Amilcar 18 Villeneuve Bugatti 64 Du Puy Maserati 36 L Platé Talbot * 72 Trossi (ERA) DNS ** 26 Tongue (ERA) DNS

Cortese took the lead followed by Bira and Dobson. Up to Eymatt Bira passed Dobson for second with Minetti in fourth position. But at the end of the first lap Dobson had taken control of the race with his works ERA doing the lap in 3m15.4s (134.1 km/h). He was followed by Cortese, Bira, Marazza, Berg, Minetti and Uboldi. While Dobson was pulling away Bira took the first laps easy following 1 to 2 seconds behind Cortese for the first 4 laps before passing to take over second position on lap 5. Behind followed Du Puy, who later fell back, and Marazza.       Dobson meanwhile did lap 2 in 2m58.4s (146.9 km/h) a new voiturette lap record. On lap 6 he improved the time to to 2m58.3s (147.0 km/h). After 7 laps Dobson already held a 25 seconds lead over Bira and on the 8th lap he increased the gap with another 8 seconds. After 10 laps five cars had already been lapped to Dobson. Cortes followed Bira closely and passed for second position on lap 9 as Bira was trying to save his engine with the cracked cylinder block. On the eleventh Berg managed to pass Marazza for 4th position.       During the last laps Dobson slowed down to save the engine while Bira closed in on Cortese again. In the end Dobson won by a "mere" 16.1 seconds from Cortese with Bira 2.6 second further behind in third position while Berg, Marazza and Minetti had lost over 2 minutes. Uboldi had done 13 laps like Hertzberger in the first heat but his time was slower so he failed to qualify for the final.

Final: After lunch at 1 p.m. 13 cars lined up for the 21 lap final. Bira's mechanics had found that the fixed crack in the cylinder block had widened and had hastely patched it with chewing-gum!. Just as the cars were ready for the start it begun to rain. At exactly 1:16 p.m. the President of the Swiss Automobile Club, Dr. Mende, flagged away the cars to a steady drizzle.

38 E Villoresi Maserati 32 Mays ERA 30 Dobson ERA 44 Cortese Maserati 66 "B Bira" ERA 24 Martin ERA 4 Berg Maserati 34 Marazza Maserati 46 Minetti Maserati 68 L Hartmann Maserati 22 Hanson Bugatti 6 Gollin Maserati 54 Hertzberger MG

The two Maseratis of Villoresi and Cortese immediately take the lead. At Eymatt the order was Cortese, Villoresi, Mays and Bira. At the end of the first laps Cortese was leading Villoresi with Bira 10 seconds behind. The followed in intervals Mays, Dobson, Marazza, Martin, Hartmann, Beg, Minetti, Hertzberger, Gollin and Hanson.       During the second lap Bira closed the gap to the Maseratis to only 2 seconds. Mays was struggling in the rain and had dropped to fifth behind his team mate while Martin had passed Marazza for sixth position.       During the third lap the rain turned into a heavy downpour, so heavy that it was hard to see the grandstand from the pits. In the nil visibility conditions the handling of the Maseratis was awful while Bira, showing his abilities as a rain driver, passed Villoresi as well as Cortese to take the lead of the race. At the end of the lap Bira held a 7 seconds lead over Cortese with Villoresi in third position closely followed by Dobson. Berg had passed Hartmann for eight position.       On the fourth lap Cortese fell back to fourth place behind Villoresi and Dobson. Villoresi, now 13 seconds behind Bira, kept on to second position even when Dobson closed the gap to just one second during the fifth lap. The race order after five laps was thus: 1. Bira (ERA) 17m26.9s 2. E. Villoresi (Maserati) 17m39.4s 3. Dobson (ERA) 17m40.4s 4. Cortese (Maserati) 17m57.6s 5. Mays (ERA) 17m59.0s 6. Martin (ERA) 7. Marazza (Maserati) 8. Berg (Maserati) 9. Hartmann (Maserati) 10. Minetti (Maserati) 11. Hertzberger (MG) 12. Gollin (Maserati) 13. Hanson (Bugatti) On the sixth lap Bira held on to his lead but his pace had slowed down and Villoresi had come closer. Hartmann re-passed Berg for eight position.       On lap seven Villoresi spun at Wohlenstrasse and crashed, dropping to 11th position. A furious Villoresi stopped in the pit, jumped out, and throw off his cap and glows. But the mechanics checking the badly bent tail of his Maserati didn't find any damage that could prevent Villoresi from continuing so Villoresi jumped in again and returned to the race in last position. Meanwhile Cortese was down to fifth having been passed by Mays as well as Martin.       Dobson caught Bira and passed him on the eight lap as the rain had ceased quickly. On the drying track the works ERAs could use their superior speed.       On the ninth lap Hertzberger made a pit stop to change spark plugs dropping behind Gollin and Hanson. The race order after 10 laps looked like this: 1. Dobson (ERA) 34m02.5s 2. Bira (ERA) 34m13.1s 3. Mays (ERA) 34m41.0s 4. Martin (ERA) 34m59.6s 5. Cortese (Maserati) 35m08.7s 6. Marazza (Maserati) 7. Hartmann (Maserati) 8. Berg (Maserati) 9. Minetti (Maserati) 10. Gollin (Maserati) 11. Hanson (Bugatti) 12. Hertzberger (MG) 13. E. Villoresi (Maserati) On the 12th lap Hartmann passed Marazza for sixth place. Further back Hertzberger was able to retake his position before his pit stop by passing both Hanson and Gollin. The road was only partially dry with a bump on the finishing straight still under water. On the 13th lap Berg took the light bend on the finishing straight too fast and the Maserati begun a series of wild skids, crashed into the wooden barricade below the grandstand and continued it's skid, finally ending up in the fence 300 meters from the grandstand. The badly damaged Maserati shot into flames but Berg escaped uninjured from the fire. Officials frantically waved blue and yellow flags as race leader Dobson arrived to the scene. Dobson misunderstood the situation and stopped his car altogether while Bira swept past. When waved on again Dobson returned to the race behind Bira but at the end Bira had no real chance against the works ERAs, Dobson re-taking his lead on the next lap.       On the 15th lap Hanson passed Gollin and Hertzberger. The race order was now: 1. Dobson (ERA) 50m31.0s 2. Bira (ERA) 50m38.9s 3. Mays (ERA) 50m39.8s 4. Martin (ERA) 51m27.7s 5. Cortese (Maserati) 51m32.2s 6. Hartmann (Maserati) 7. Marazza (Maserati) 8. Minetti (Maserati) 9. Hanson (Bugatti) 10. Hertzberger (MG) 11. Gollin (Maserati) 12. E. Villoresi (Maserati) On the 16th lap Mays took over second position from Bira and on the next lap he passed hos team mate Dobson as well to take over the lead of the race. Villoresi, still charging despite no chance of a top finishing position, passed Gollin as well as Herzberger and Hanson on the same lap.       On the 18th lap Martin lost fourth position to Cortese and on the next lap Marazza took over 6th place from Hartmann.       Mays did the 19th lap in 3m03.4s (142.9 km/h) and the 20th lap in 3m02.7s (143.4 km/h) but Dobson was following Mays closely. On the last lap Mays already saw the chequered flag when he got obstructed by a slower Maserati in front of him and eased off. To Mays' surprise Dobson then slid by him to win the race by 0.2 seconds. Bira finished third and Cortese fourth just in front of Martin. Despite the heavy rain 12 out of 13 starters finished the race.

Caracciola wins the Swiss Grand Prix

There were 17 starters at the fourth Swiss Grand Prix, eight German cars, eight from Italy and one from France. They were racing over 50 laps around the fast Bremgarten road circuit, outside Bern. The sensation of this event was that Auto Union had invited the Italian champion Nuvolari to drive for them at this race. Stuck (Auto Union) led the first two laps. On the second lap Rosemeyer (Auto Union) drove off the road, saved the car but was helped by spectators so he could return to the pits, but was disqualified. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) took the lead on the third lap ahead of Stuck, the Mercedes-Benz of Lang and Brauchitsch, Fagioli (Auto Union), Kautz (Mercedes-Benz), Farina (Alfa Romeo) and Nuvolari (Auto Union). After seven laps Nuvolari was ordered to stop and hand his car to Rosemeyer, who rejoined in ninth place. With no chance to win, the German drove like a devil and made up much of the time lost. After the 11th lap, Lang and Brauchitsch had passed Stuck's Auto Union when three Mercedes-Benz were in the lead. On lap 22 Fagioli stopped to refuel and Nuvolari took the wheel and joined in seventh place. Stuck and Brauchitsch battled, changing positions. Rosemeyer drove very fast laps and unlapped himself. After 50 laps Caracciola won, followed by Lang, Brauchitsch, Stuck and Rosemeyer in Nuvolari's car was fifth. One lap down was Kautz and Nuvolari in Fagioli's car. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) was three laps behind, Hartmann (Maserati) eight laps and Pietsch nine laps back, was tenth and last finisher. The remaining seven cars retired.

The Swiss Grand Prix was held for the fourth time on the same 7.280 km long circuit which had been used in the preceding three years, but this year the race distance was reduced to 50 laps, a total of 364 kilometers. The decision of shortening the distance was made to enable more cars to reach the finish and so make the race more dramatic. Also, much time was required for the two Heat races and the Final of the Voiturette cars in the morning. The Grand Prix was open to racecars of the 750 kg formula, for constructor teams and independent drivers. Entry fees were not required, but a security payment for each car of 500 Swiss francs as a starting guarantee was obligatory, to be refunded after the race. With each entry the main driver had to be announced, who could also act as relief driver for another car of the same team.       The Swiss Grand Prix was held for the first time in 1934, leading clockwise over regular asphalt traffic roads eight to twelve meter wide. One half led along the outer border of the large Bremgarten Forest and the other half cut through the middle of the stately and lofty forest. Along the course, which was in excellent condition, were 13 marshalling posts equipped with telephones. The circuit was fast and interesting and despite seeming easy, it was actually difficult with a track surface of good grip. Passing another car was not easy on most of the track where the road was just eight meter wide.       Since 1935 the event had been elevated to Grande Épreuve status. The prize money for first place was 10,000 Swiss francs, second 6,000, third 3,000, fourth 2,000 and fifth 1,000 Swiss francs.       Special significance was given to this event which was the fourth of the five Grande Épreuves counting toward the 1937 European Championship. After the first three races at Belgium, Germany and Monaco, Brauchitsch held first place with 7 points, followed by Caracciola 11, Kautz 11, Stuck 12, Lang 15, Sommer 15, Rosemeyer 18, and Nuvolari 20 points each.

Entries: The Daimler-Benz team was managed by Alfred Neubauer with Rudolf Caracciola, Manfred v. Brauchitsch, Hermann Lang who was still ill and Christian Kautz as drivers. They arrived with four W125 type cars.       Auto Union, arrived with four 6.0-L V-16 type C cars, supervised by team manager Karl Otto Feuereissen. Drivers were Hans Stuck, Bernd Rosemeyer, Luigi Fagioli, who was suffering with a hip problem, was entered for Hasse who had been injured at Monaco. H.P. Müller, who was then replaced on Thursday by Nuvolari, so Müller became reserve. However, unknown to the public, Auto Union had made arrangements beforehand within the appropriate time to have Nuvolari drive their car in Bern. Negotiations had taken place with the relevant authorities, the Italian CSI, Alfa Romeo, Scuderia Ferrari and the German ONS. With regard of this delicate matter, it was necessary to withhold the news from the public until Thursday with the arrival of the agreement.       During March 1937 SA Alfa Romeo acquired 80% of the share capital in SA Scuderia Ferrari, on the basis that Enzo Ferrari's functions remained as before. But for the 15. August Coppa Acerbo race, SA Alfa Romeo works entered two of the new more powerful 4.5-liter V12-cylinder 12C-37 type and not by Scuderia Ferrari. However, the cars were undrivable with twisting frame in the hands of Nuvolari. So, for the Swiss Grand Prix it was again Scuderia Ferrari who entered the 4.1-liter V12-cylinder type 12C-36 Alfa Romeos, supervised by experienced test driver Attilio Marinoni. The drivers were Guiseppe Farina and Raymond Sommer who drove the second car instead of Nuvolari, who now raced for Auto Union.       Scuderia Sabauda from Turin arrived with two 3.7-liter 6-cylinder type 6C34 Maseratis to be driven by Gigi Soffietti and Dino Teagno. But the cars did not appear.       There were eight independent drivers with their own cars. Maseratis were driven by the German Paul Pietsch who entered his 3.7-liter 6-cylinder type 6C34, the Swiss Max Christen drove a 2.0-liter 8-cylinder type 26B, the Italian Adolphe Mandirola was entered by Ecurie Genevoise with a 3.0-liter 8-cylinder type 8CM, and Hungarian László Hartmann appeared with a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder type 6CM/4CM. Three drivers arrived with Alfa Romeos. The Italian Giovanni Minozzi drove his 2.3-liter 8-cylinder Monza, the Swiss Henri Simonot had a 2.6-liter 8-cylinder Monza, and his countryman Hans Rüesch raced a 3.9-liter 8-cylinder type 8C-35. A sole Bugatti T35B with 2.3-liter engine was driven by the Swiss Martin Walther.

Practice: Thursday practice was from 3:30 until 4:45 p.m., the roads were dry. The first car out was Stuck in the Auto Union followed by Fagioli, Rosemeyer, Brauchitsch and Pietsch. Eventually the entire teams of Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz were on the track. None of the Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeos had arrived. It was a great surprise for the many spectators present and for the Mercedes-Benz team to see the Italian champion Tazio Nuvolari climbing into the Auto Union. Rosemeyer test drove two of the Auto Unions to decide the best one for Nuvolari. After the seat was changed, Rosemeyer explained Tazio the controls and instruments. One could see the joy the Italian experienced about being able to drive this silver car. His starting lap was 3m10s, 137.8 km/h, then he went faster every lap to get used to the rear-engine car. He eventually reached a lap in 2m45.9s at 158.3 km/h. Nuvolari would drive the Auto Union on Sunday, since Sommer had now been nominated driving Nuvolari's Alfa Romeo. The Scuderia Sabauda declared that Soffietti would not start. Besides the drivers listed, Fagioli was initially reserve drive for Auto Union. Seaman, three times winner of the Prize of Bern, drove a few practice laps for the Prize of Bern, despite his not yet healed injuries. Only ten drivers took part on first day's practice. Stuck made the best time of the day in 2m38.2s at 165.663 km/h. Stuck (Auto Union) 2m38.2s Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 2m38.3s Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2m38.9s Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 2m39.1s Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 2m39.7s Nuvolari (Auto Union) 2m45.9s Müller (Auto Union) 2m51.2s Kautz (Mercedes-Benz) 2m53.8s Fagioli (Auto Union) 2m58.3s Pietsch (Maserati) 3m07.4s Friday's practice took place at the same times as Thursday, but the lap times recorded counted now for positions on the starting grid. The official Ferrari Alfa Romeos arrived in charge of the experienced test driver Attilio Marinoni for Farina and Sommer. A section of the circuit was still damp from a morning rain, so times from Thursday could not be reached. Stuck was again the first driver out. As dark rain clouds appeared on the horizon, the drivers attempted to do some fast laps before the track turned wet. Soon a wild chase developed behind Stuck, including Rosemeyer, Nuvolari, Fagioli, Müller, Farina, Kautz and Mandirola. Early on Kautz had a collision with the road border sand bags at Kiesgrube resulting with a rear axle defect on his Mercedes-Benz. But the mechanics repaired the car ready to race on Saturday practice. The Maserati of Mandirola collided with the barrier at Murtenallee, damaging a front wheel and denting the radiator. Soon a slight rain came down and drivers had to deal with a wet track and slower pace. After a short time, the roads dried again and near the end better times were reached. Practice was more hectic as the times decided the starting positions for the race, including the times from Saturday practice. Rosemeyer made the best lap in 2m43.6s at 160.195 km/h. Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 2m43.6s Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 2m46.3s Stuck (Auto Union) 2m47.2s Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 2m48.8s Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2m55.3s Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 2m57.2s Fagioli (Auto Union) 2m57.5s Farina (Alfa Romeo) 3m05.1s Rüesch (Alfa Romeo) 3m07.0s Nuvolari (Auto Union) 3m07.5s Müller (Auto Union) Kautz (Mercedes-Benz) Pietsch (Maserati) On Saturday at 10:00 a.m. scrutineering of the grand prix cars took place and cars were weighed at the customs ramp of the Weyermannshaus railroad yard where a scale was available. The cars had to weigh 750 kg or less to participate in the race. Saturday practice was from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. The sky was full of gray clouds, the air was humid. Every driver had to complete at least ten practice laps. Caracciola and Brauchitsch went out first, followed by Stuck, Rosemeyer, then Kautz. George Monkhouse wrote: "There was some confusion regarding the Auto Union times, as Nuvolari and Fagioli had changed cars and Rosemeyer had then driven Nuvolari's car, No. 6, round for two laps and recorded 2m34s. When the official times and starting positions were given out by the timing box, Nuvolari was placed on the right of the second row as having made fourth fastest time. Neubauer, immediately lodged a protest to the organizers, pointing out the reason for their mistake." Eventually, Nuvolari was relegated to the middle of the third row. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2m32s Stuck (Auto Union) 2m34s Rosemeyer (Auto Union) 2m34s Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 2m36s Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 2m37s Kautz (Mercedes-Benz) 2m44s

Race: Despite the rainy weather, the estimated spectator attendance was around 35,000 to 40,000. At 10:00 AM the Preis of Bern for the 1500 voiturette class took place in rainy weather with a thunderstorm. Due to the large number of entries, the race was arranged in two Heats and a Final, that was won by Arthur Dobson in an Era. The Swiss Grand Prix followed in the afternoon. But before the race began, H. P. Müller, the Auto Union reserve driver, was circling slowly in the Auto Union world record car around the circuit for a few laps to the excitement and applause of the crowd. The car had been exhibited earlier for two days at the Berner Bahnhofsplatz in front of the Bern station for the admiration of the general public. At 2:45 p.m. the cars were pushed to the starting grid. From the 18 drivers nominated, Teagno did not start, so the field was down to 17 cars. The starting order was according to the best practice times reached on Friday and Saturday.

10 Stuck Auto Union 2m34.3s 8 Rosemeyer Auto Union 2m32.5s 14 Caracciola Mercedes-Benz 2m32.0s 18 Lang Mercedes-Benz 2m37.3s 12 Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz 2m36.3s 4 Fagioli Auto Union 2m43.2s 6 Nuvolari Auto Union 2m43.0s 24 Farina Alfa Romeo 2m42.8s 22 Sommer Alfa Romeo 2m44.4s 16 Kautz Mercedes-Benz 2m44.3s 38 L Hartmann Maserati 3m12.5s 2 Pietsch Maserati 3m08.4s 40 Rüesch Alfa Romeo 2m53.0s 30 Christen Maserati 20 Minozzi Alfa Romeo 3m37.1s 36 Mandirola Maserati 4m05.6s 32 Simonet Alfa Romeo

Exactly at 3:00 PM the ACS President Dr. Mende gave the starting signal, lowering the red Swiss flag with the white cross and with ear-splitting thunder the wild pack of 17 cars shot away. Stuck made one of his lightening starts and was just ahead of Caracciola, followed by Rosemeyer and the others. Hartmann's Maserati did not move on the grid and followed the field a few seconds later, fully detached.       At the end of the first lap, Stuck was the first to pass the grandstand after 2m57.3s at 148.067 km/h average speed, but was hard pressed by Caracciola and Rosemeyer, followed by Lang, Brauchitsch, Fagioli, Farina and Nuvolari in eighth place. There was a gap to the remaining drivers who could not keep up with the German cars. The first lap time was very fast, considering the wet road in the forest sections.       At the end of the second lap Stuck passed just ahead of Caracciola and Lang but Bernd Rosemeyer failed to appear. Sometime after the race Bernd told his wife Elly, at the wide and wet right turn of Eymatt he came too far to the left and felt he was too fast, might not make the turn, might crash but saw an escape, so he steered straight off the road into a wet meadow and got bogged down in the soft ground. He saved the car and was not hurt. Spectators helped him push the car back onto the track, which was against regulations, but he had decided to retire at the pits rather than being disqualified later. Also, at the pits he might have a chance to drive another car of his team. So, after a short time he slowly appeared and stopped at the pits where he declared himself as disqualified since he had received outside assistance to retire, ready to drive another car.       After the third lap Caracciola had passed Stuck for the lead, ahead of Lang, Brauchitsch and Fagioli. Kautz had passed Rüesch and Christen had gained two places. Nuvolari was in eighth place.       On the fourth lap Sommer stopped his Alfa Romeo at the pits with a loose shift lever in his hand. After a one-minute repair Sommer restarted but had been lapped by Caracciola. Minozzi stopped his Alfa Romeo at the pits to correct a carburetor problem. After five laps Caracciola led Stuck by over three seconds with the order as follows after 5 laps: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 14m03.8s 2. Stuck (Auto Union) 14m07.1s 3. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 14m09.0s 4. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 14m28.9s 5. Fagioli (Auto Union) 14m42.1s On the seventh lap Lang passed Stuck for second place, followed by Brauchitsch and Fagioli. Then Kautz passed Farina for sixth place. Christen's Maserati retired but had completed just four laps. The Swiss Hans Rüesch stopped his Alfa Romeo at the pits with ominous smoke coming from under the hood and retired with a broken cylinder block. Rosemeyer was keen to drive again, so Team Manager Feuereissen signed to the passing Nuvolari to stop at the pits.       On the 8th lap Nuvolari stopped at the pits and climbed out of the car. Rosemeyer's mechanic quickly installed the German's seat and steering wheel before Bernd took over the volant. Nearly one lap behind the leader, Rosemeyer began his hopeless chase after the leading group while in ninth place.       On the tenth lap Caracciola raised his speed with a lap of 2m41.3s at 162.479 km/h average speed. Lang passed Stuck on lap 10 for second place. Rosemeyer was driving extremely well in Nuvolari's car and climbed to sixth pace but was almost one lap behind the leader. After ten laps Caracciola led Lang by 25 seconds. Stuck was third ahead of Brauchitsch and Fagioli, Kautz, Farina, Rosemeyer, Sommer, Pietsch and Hartmann. The times were as follows after 10 laps: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 27m41.7s 2. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 28m06.4s 3. Stuck (Auto Union) 28m22.2s 4. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 28m24.9s 5. Fagioli (Auto Union) 28m50.9s On the 11th lap Brauchitsch passed Stuck for third place. By now the track surface had dried up, so speeds increased a bit and Caracciola was able to lap Rosemeyer on round 12. But the Auto Union driver did not get discouraged but started a renewed advance. On lap 17 Pietsch spun with his Maserati around in the Forsthaus turn. The car was slightly damaged, he could proceed but was losing continuously much oil. On lap 18 Caracciola drove the best lap time at 2m39.2s at 164.623 km/h average speed. At that time Mandirola's Maserati in last place was on his tenth lap. The order was as follows after 20 laps: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 54m46.2s 2. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 55m33.0s 3. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 56m00.1s 4. Stuck (Auto Union) 56m08.4s 5. Fagioli (Auto Union) 56m41.8s Twice Rosemeyer was seen a few meters behind Caracciola, speeding past the grandstand, then suddenly he had passed him. Rosemeyer climbed to fifth position when Fagioli stopped to refuel and change rear tires on lap 22. The Italian did not seem to be well with his hip problem and had to be lifted out of the car when Nuvolari took over, a gesture that the spectators honored with strong applause. The pit stop took rather long and the car dropped to seventh place. By this time the road was dryer and Tazio went away at full throttle, sliding all over the place and was almost hit in the back by a Mercedes which tore passed him at about 240 km/h. Meantime, Rosemeyer was driving like the devil, he equaled the leader's fastest time of 2m39.2s. After 22 laps Farina retired his Alfa Romeo at Eymatt with rear axle damage, his teammate Sommer climbed to eighth place. Sommer stopped the Alfa Romeo to refuel in only 20 seconds. On lap 22 Lang and Brauchitsch refueled and changed rear tires in 35 seconds. Stuck then held second place behind Caracciola, but lost that position again when he stopped to refuel. The order after mid-race was Caracciola, Lang, Brauchitsch, Stuck, Rosemeyer-for-Nuvolari, Kautz, Nuvolari-for-Fagioli, Sommer, Hartmann, Pietsch, Simonot, Mandirola, and Minozzi in 13th place. The times were as follows after 25 laps: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h08m29.0s 2. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 1h09m19.5s 3. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 1h09m45.0s 4. Stuck (Auto Union) 1h09m45.8s 5. Rosemeyer/Nuvolari (Auto Union) 1h10m52.0s After lap 26 Caracciola stopped for 30 seconds without losing his lead, just to refuel but did not change tires. Rosemeyer made his pit stop on lap 28 and did not lose his fifth position. Stuck also did not change tires, only refueled. Pietsch stopped his Maserati for one minute at the pits to top up with water and wash the oil off his face. After 30 laps the order was Caracciola, Lang, Stuck, Brauchitsch, Rosemeyer, then Kautz and Nuvolari both one lap behind.       Although 20 laps had still to be completed, a three-car success of Mercedes-Benz appeared to be certain. Caracciola's advantage to Lang was 100 seconds and the leading trio completed the laps with the regularity of a clock. There was a change in the leading group when Stuck passed Brauchitsch for third place. In the meantime, Rosemeyer kept pushing, driving one after the other fast laps. On the 40th lap he raised his lap time to 2m37.9s. The times were as follows after 40 laps: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h50m32.0s 2. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 1h51m02.3s 3. Stuck (Auto Union) 1h51m39.7s 4. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 1h51m45.6s 5. Rosemeyer/Nuvolari (Auto Union) 1h52m30.7s Brauchitsch fought desperately with Stuck, only about three meters behind him as he hurried past the grandstand. On lap 45 the Mercedes driver passed the Auto Union. The order was then Caracciola, Lang, Brauchitsch, Stuck and Rosemeyer. On lap 46, Rosemeyer drove a new fastest lap in 2m37.0s at 167 km/h average speed. The order did not change in the last four laps. Stuck improved his pace to chase down Brauchitsch and almost caught him before the finish. On his last lap, Rosemeyer made his fastest lap of the race in 2m36.1s at 167.892 km/h average speed.       Surrounded by the applause of the crowd, Caracciola crossed the finish line after 2h17m39.3s, Lang followed 49 seconds behind in second place, 17 seconds ahead of Brauchitsch and Stuck's Auto Union one second further behind. Rosemeyer in Nuvolari's car finished fifth. Mercedes-Benz had achieved a triple victory with Kautz in the fourth Mercedes placed sixth, one lap down. Nuvolari in Fagioli's Auto Union came seventh, Sommer's Alfa Romeo three laps down in eighth place, and much further back the Maseratis of Hungarian Hartmann and German Pietsch in ninth and tenth place respectively. All four Mercedes finished the race including all three Auto Unions, while from the opponents only three cars survived.