Mercedes-Benz in its own class.

The Tripoli Grand Prix over 40 laps on the 13.1 km high speed Mellaha course counted as one of the fastest and richest races in the world. Much interest was generated in this 1938 event as the works teams of Mercedes-Benz, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Bugatti and Delahaye were to race each other for the first time to the new formula. Auto Union was absent but 17 small voiturettes also started to bring the total entry to 30 cars, the number required for the lottery. After an exciting battle during the first ten laps between the red Italian Alfa Romeo and Maserati with the Mercedes Silver Arrows, the Germans Lang, Brauchitsch and Caracciola totally dominated the race. They finished in this order, far ahead of Sommer's blue independent Alfa Romeo in fourth place, followed by the blue Delahaye of Dreyfus in 7th place, who was beaten by the voiturette Maserati of Taruffi and Rocco, trailed by four surviving small Maserati. The bright red Grand Prix car armada of the works Alfa Romeo and Maserati retired and crashed, unable to keep up with the fast pace commanded by the Silver Arrows. Two fatal crashes of Siena and Hartmann happened when a Grand Prix car tried to lap a slower voiturette, placing a dark shadow over the event.       All cars in the voiturette class were Maserati. Luigi Villoresi took the start but was soon passed by Cortese's works car. Cortese later slowed down and Bianco took over the lead. When he fell back it was Taruffi and Rocco who fought for the victory, Taruffi finally won by 9 seconds.

The Gran Premio di Tripoli took place for the 12th time, organized by the L'Automobile Club di Tripoli and the Commissione Sportiva of RACI (Reale Automobile Club d'Italia), overseen by RACI general commissioner. The race was held on the high-speed Mellaha circuit in Tripolitania, now Libya, an Italian colony in Africa at that time. The event was also called 'the race of millions' due to the huge prize money and the big lottery. The 13.1 km racetrack had to be lapped 40 times, a total of 524 km. The circuit was situated between the sea and the desert, surrounding the airport. The promoters had again organized their lottery of gigantic proportions, which was very successful with enormous ticket sales in Italy and the Libyan colony. It also provided a large amount of money for the Tripoli AC, enabling them to improve this highspeed racetrack, having erected a gigantic grandstand and pits out of reinforced concrete. They surrounded the entire circuit with a network of small towers and radio stations to enable the race officials on top a 40 meters tall concrete tower to keep abreast of all activity and incidents on the track. Over the years the course had been widened and the six sharp turns had received a slight banking.       The motor-rally to Tripoli, which was held to the race of the Tripoli Grand Prix, was won by the German driver Macher with a Ford 'Eifel'. From 74 starters he was the only German and covered 5280 km (Calais, Berlin, Brenner-Pass, Messina, Bengasi, Tripoli).

Entries were received for 13 Grand Prix drivers, representing the five factory racing teams and two independent drivers. Additionally, 17 Maserati voiturettes were added, bringing the total number to 30 cars, as required for the lottery. One thing was clear, that on such a circuit it was extremely difficult to run big and small cars together, also that the sand on the edges of the road should have been swept off as driving behind anther car was like driving through a sand storm in the desert.       The Mercedes-Benz team, managed by Alfred Neubauer, arrived with four W 154 cars (the early type with the exhaust pipes hidden inside the body) for Rudolf Caracciola, Manfred von Brauchitsch, Hermann Lang, while Richard Seaman was reserve driver. The fourth car was used only for practice. When Alfa Corse had been allowed to race Sommer independently in a fourth Alfa, which had been quickly re-painted in blue, Mercedes asked permission to start Seaman also independently and wanted paint their practice car green, but the organizer refused to give approval.       As of 1938 Scuderia Ferrari no longer managed the Alfa Romeo Grand Prix cars from Modena but now the factory in Milan did that under the name of Alfa Corse with Enzo Ferrari still as team manager. Engineer Vittorio Jano had left Alfa Romeo to start at Lancia. The new supercharged cars were designed by Gioachino Colombo and Luigi Bazzi, a straight-8 and a V-12 based on the previous engines, also a V-16. At Tripoli all three versions were seen during practice but in the race only three 12-cylinder cars for Giuseppe Farina, Eugenio Siena and Raymond Sommer were entered and one 8-cylinder for Clemente Biondetti . The team decided not to race the 16-cylinder after they had learned about several minor problems, although Biondetti with the V-16 had made the fastest practice time of all Alfas. As only three cars were allowed to be entered by each team, Alfa Corse re-painted one of the 12-C cars blue and Sommer was allowed to start with it as an independent entry.       Maserati entered two 3-liter 8-cylinder cars of 8CTF (stands for 8cilindri testa fissa) type for Carlo Felice Trossi and Achille Varzi. The German Pietsch, drove independently, with a silver painted 1500 Maserati.       Eucurie Bleu came with four cars and three drivers, Dreyfus, Comotti and Schell. Jean-Francois Viotti had designed a streamlined body for one of the cars but it overheated terribly.       To bring the entry up to 30 -required for the lottery- 17 voiturette Maserati were included to simultaneously start behind the 13 Grand Prix cars. The voiturettes are listed above in the entry list, class up to 1500.

Practice: Wednesday 11. May was the first official practice under the orders of race director Renzo Castagneto. The Mercedes and Delahaye teams as well as some individual drivers were present. Alfa Romeo and Maserati teams were absent, due to delays in landing operations and the early closure of practice (from 2 to 3 pm). The new Mercedes reached high speeds. Until the Italian cars have tested it was not possible to predict the outcome of the Tripoli Grand Prix but it was certain that the Mercedes have serious chances of victory. The best time of the day was set by Brauchitsch with 3m36.63s at 217.7 km/h average speed. Wednesday times Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 3m36.63 - 3m36.75s - 3m36.6s Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 3m38.19s - 3m38s     - 3m38.1s Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 3m40.53s - 3m40s     - 3m40.5 Dreyfus (Delahaye) 3m59.70s - 3m59s Comotti (Delahaye) 4m21.18s Lurani (Maserati 1500) 4m42.66s Rocco (Maserati 1500) 4m44.20s Hartmann (Maserati 1500) 4m55.37s De Teffe (Maserati 1500) 4m56.23s

Thursday 12. May was the second practice. Maserati and Alfa Corse made their official appearance, immediately arousing great interest since after the demonstration by the new Mercedes on Wednesday, this would be a direct comparison with the Italian cars. Alfa Corse had its three official drivers, Farina, Siena and Biondetti, practicing and put another car at the disposal for Sommer entered as independent. Maserati entered Varzi and Trossi with the two new 8CTF types. Mercedes also practiced with Caracciola, Brauchitsch and Lang who made a fast lap in 3m30.09s at 224.571 km/h average speed. Thursday times Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 3m30.09s - 3m30.90s Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 3m30.16s - 3m32.45s Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 3m32.50s - 3m32.75s Farina (Alfa Romeo V-12) 3m36.45s - 3m38.83s Trossi (Maserati 8CTF) 3m36.75s - 3m38.18s Biondetti (Alfa Romeo S-8) 3m45.27s Siena (Alfa Romeo V-12) 3m41.11s Sommer (Alfa Romeo V-12) 3m44.83s Dreyfus (Delahaye) 3m51.97s Schell (Delahaye) 3m58.59s Cortese (Maserati 1500) 4m16.22s Lurani (Maserati 1500) 4m16.57s Varzi (Maserati 8CTF) 4m17.35s - 4m17s

Friday 13. May was the third official practice day. With reduced hours from 12 to 14 the practice session with the participation of all the drivers registered by now, the last arrived in the morning. Alfa Corse lined up the new 16-cylinder to be tested by Biondetti. Many other drivers were practicing but their times were not published. Friday times Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 3m26.24s - 3m30s      - 3m26.4s Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 3m29.66s - 3m30s      - 3m29.6s Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 3m32.75s - 3m34.00s - 3m31s - 3m43.3s Trossi (Maserati 8CTF) 3m36.07s - 3m38s      - 3m36.7s Farina (Alfa Romeo V-12) 3m40.02s Varzi (Maserati 8CTF) 3m40.2s   - 4m13s Biondetti (Alfa Romeo V-16) 3m40.30s - 3m45s      - 3m40s - 3m41.1s Sommer (Alfa Romeo V-12) 3m40.70s - 3m41s      - 3m44s Siena (Alfa Romeo V-12)) 3m41.11s - 3m41s Biondetti (Alfa Romeo S-8) 3m41.19s Dreyfus (Delahaye) 3m51.80s - 3m52s Comotti (Delahaye) 4m07.40s Pietsch (Maserati 1500) 4m13.60s - 4m15.63s - 4m15.2s - 4m26s Lurani (Maserati 1500) 4m16s De Teffe (Maserati 1500) 4m21s Bianco (Maserati 1500) 4m22s Hug (Maserati 1500) 4m24s

Saturday 14. May was the last practice day. Some of the recorded times were published in the morning. Saturday times Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 3m29.20s Biondetti (Alfa Romeo V-16) 3m30.40s - 3m33.80s - 3m31s - 3m34s Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 3m32.40s - 3m39.95s Varzi (Maserati 8CTF) 3m36.78s - 3m39.10s Siena (Alfa Romeo) 3m40.40s - 3m49.40s Dreyfus (Delahaye Streamln.) 3m52s Comotti (Delahaye) 4m02.10s - 4m02.30s Dreyfus (Delahaye 4m06.80s Brauchitsch (Mercedes) 4m08.41s Cortese (Maserati 1500) 4m13.68s Taruffi (Maserati 1500) 4m16.90s Rocco (Maserati 1500) 4m26s Raph (Maserati 1500) 4m35s

Race: In the afternoon the heat was tropical at the oasis of Tripoli, with a strong wind blowing loose desert sand on the racecourse. The large enthusiastic crowd was hoping for an Italian victory. Eventually the cars were sent to their starting places, the silver Mercedes, the red Maserati, red Alfa Romeo, blue Delahaye and sky-blue Alfa Romeo of Sommer. Behind those stood the colorful platoon of the 1500 Maserati voiturettes between which stood out the yellow-green car of the Brazilian De Teffe and the silver-grey Maserati of the German Pietsch. The 27 cars assembled on the grid in order of their practice times. However, the RACI time keepers only published the order of the staring grid while the times were published in the various pre-race press reports. The three nonstarters included Wimille (Bugatti) who had not appeared, also Schell (Delahaye) and Battaglia (1500 Maserati).

18 Biondetti Alfa Romeo 3m34.35s 26 Caracciola Mercedes-Benz 3m32.75s 44 Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz 3m29.66s 46 Lang Mercedes-Benz 3m26.24s 10 Varzi Maserati 3m36.78s 28 Trossi Maserati 3m36.75s 14 Farina Alfa Romeo 3m36.45s 40 Comotti Delahaye 4m07.51s 60 Dreyfus Delahaye 3m51.97s 52 Siena Alfa Romeo 3m41.11s 48 Sommer Alfa Romeo 3m41.70s 58 Pietsch Maserati 4m13.60s 24 Bianco Maserati 4m22s 56 Cortese Maserati 4m13.68s 16 de Teffé Maserati 4m21 30 Lurani Maserati 4m16.57s 54 Taruffi Maserati 4m16.90s 32 L Hartmann Maserati 4m55.37s 6 Hug Maserati 4m24s 50 Rocco Maserati 4m26s 4 Baruffi Maserati 8 "Raph" Maserati 4m35s 36 Teagno Maserati 34 L Villoresi Maserati 42 Righetti Maserati 20 E Platé Maserati 2 Ghersi Maserati Note: #22 Battaglia (Maserati) was not mentioned in the reports, so his was the missing car on the 27-car grid.

The start was scheduled for 3 p.m. but at this time the Governor of Libya, Air-Marshall Balbo appeared, and together with the German NSKK motor sport leader Adolf Hühnlein inspected the cars, talked to the drivers, and shook their hands. Eventually the engines were started, then to the shot from a canon and the sound of a siren, Balbo gave the starting signal with the checkered flag at 3:25 p.m. to the roaring pack of 27 cars. With earsplitting exhaust notes the horde shot away, Farina and Biondetti in front, just ahead of Lang, then Caracciola and Varzi, a mix of red and silver cars.       The wait for their return from the first lap was less than four minutes. The cars appeared at top speed with Lang after 3m49s ahead of Farina, then Caracciola and Brauchitsch, Siena, Trossi, Sommer, Varzi, Comotti, Dreyfus, Biondetti, Cortese - the first of the 1500s - Bianco, Taruffi, Pietsch, Teagno, Rocco, Lurani, Villoresi, De Teffe, Hartmann, Raph, Hug, Ghersi, Baruffi, Platè.       The last 1500 Maserati has just passed, and the leader Lang bursts over the finish line to complete the 2nd lap, ahead of Brauchitsch who had passed Farina, closely followed by Caracciola, Siena, Trossi, Varzi, Sommer and the two Delahaye already detached, then Biondetti with the 8-cylinder Alfa had passed Comotti.       After the 3rd lap Lang was still first, but Brauchitsch was now very close, while Farina lost ground and was approached by Caracciola, who was chased by Trossi. The same positions were maintained during the 4th lap after which Brauchitsch passed Lang on lap 5 and Trossi in the fast Maserati passed Caracciola for fourth place. Brauchitsch held the lead at 211.404 km/h average speed with the order as follows, after five laps: 1. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 18m35.41s 2. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 18m35.80s 3. Farina (Alfa Romeo 12-C) 18m49.40s 4. Trossi (Maserati 8CTF) 18m53.32s 5. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 18m55.40s 6. Siena (Alfa Romeo 12-C) 19m14.82s 7. Sommer (Alfa Romeo 12-C) 19m05.13s 8. Biondetti (Alfa Romeo 8-C) 20m13.89s 9. Comotti (Delahaye) 20m26.67s 10. Varzi (Maserati 8CTF) 20m28.67s 11. Dreyfus (Delahaye) 20m44.70s Amongst the 1500 voiturettes during these first laps a very fierce struggle had developed between Cortese, Bianco, Pietsch and Taruffi, who was slightly separated from the others. Until the 4th lap Cortese held the lead from Bianco, who pulled Pietsch behind him. Cortese was fourth, followed by Taruffi and Lurani.       On lap 6 Varzi, whose car did not work properly from the start, was forced to retire with gearbox problem. But the race continued fiercely in the leading positions where Trossi boldly unleashed a battle against the three Mercedes. On lap 6 Trossi was fourth ahead of Caracciola but with Brauchitsch, Lang and Farina ahead. In this order started the 7th lap when Trossi passed Farina for third place, now only behind Brauchitsch and Lang. Then Sommer stopped due to carburetion problems but his Alfa also suffered from overheating.       In the 1500 group Bianco in the meantime had taken the lead, followed by Pietsch, Taruffi, Cortrese, Rocco and Lurani while Righetti and Ghersi had stopped along the way.       On the 8th lap, while Lang passed Brauchitsch to take the lead again, Trossi passed into second place, pulling Farina behind him, while Brauchitsch was then fourth ahead of Caracciola. Trossi's action with his Maserati was exciting to watch and enlivened the crowd, that saw the long-awaited Italian supremacy looming. Indeed, on lap 9 Trossi passed Lang, taking the red Maserati into the lead by driving a lap in 3m35.41s, but Lang remained close behind the Maserati's tail. A constant problem was created when sand from the edge of the road was spread onto the racetrack. This generated a sand dust barrier behind a car, causing trouble to the driver who attempted to pass.       On the 9th lap Siena, in the 12-cylinder Alfa was running a regular race but got out of control when he caught up with the slower Cortese in a 1500 Maserati ahead of Mellaha bend. When he saw, that he could not pass ahead of the turn, Siena braked so hard that his car went into a spin, skidded off the road, up a sandy side hill and then crashed into a small house near the race track. His car was completely wrecked, while poor Siena was killed instantly. Cortese continued in complete ignorance, probably unaware that a car had been behind him at all.       In the 1500 group Platè and Baruffi suffered breakdowns along the way and Platè retired. Teagno extended the list of withdrawals due to a broken valve. It was perhaps more interesting to follow the 1500 race in which, on lap 10, Bianco dominated in 43m16.58s at 181.622 km/h average speed ahead of Taruffi, Rocco, Lurani and Cortese. The race of the Grand Prix cars was eventful as Trossi after his fast lap had to slow down when Lang passed him for the lead with the order as follows, after 10 laps: 1. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 37m02.63s 2. Trossi (Maserati 8CTF) 37m04.82s 3. Farina (Alfa Romeo 12-C) 37m26.62s 4. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 37m29.40s 5. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 37m31.21s 6. Biondetti (Alfa Romeo 8-C) 7. Comotti (Delahaye) 8. Dreyfus (Delahaye) 9. Bianco (Maserati 1500) 43m16.58s 10. Taruffi (Maserati 1500) 43m25.14s 11. Rocco (Maserati 1500) 44m06.96s 12. Lurani (Maserati 1500) 44m08.80s 13. Cortese (Maserati 1500) 46m09.55s Trossi's Maserati now in second place caused some concern with the crowd and on lap 12 their disappointment continued with Trossi not crossing the finish line. Farina also did not appear and there were moments of very strong anxiety. But Farina, eventually appeared when he stopped at the pits, while Trossi had retired at the second turn with a gearbox problem. The three Mercedes now were the absolute masters of the situation, with Biondetti relegated far away with his 8-cylinder Alfa. He had to stop repeatedly replacing plugs while Sommer was delayed with pit stops due to overheating. The slow Delahaye of Comotti and Dreyfus seemed to advance.       On the 12th lap happened the Farina-Hartmann crash, when the two cars collided with each other between the third and fourth turns, going off the road and each overturning outwards to its own side of the road. Farina was only slightly cut, but the unfortunate Hartmann sustained dreadful injuries and died the next day. Farina explained that, while he was overtaking Hartmann, the latter, perhaps due to the wind, squeezed, causing the collision.       Lang held the lead at 211.696 km/h average speed after 55m41.60s finishing 15 laps ahead of Caracciola, Brauchitsch, Biondetti and Comotti. While the three Mercedes continued undisturbed on lap 16, Caracciola stopped at the pits, changed all spark plugs, took on fuel and changed tires.       In the 1500 class Lurani was second behind Rocco. Refueling took place halfway through the race. After repeated position changes among the 1500 cars, Rocco kept the lead and completed the 20 laps in 1h29m23s at an average speed of 175.861 km/h, followed by Lurani, Bianco, Taruffi, Hug and De Teffè. At mid-race, Comotti passed Biondetti who lost time with pit stops due to overheating. Sommer, had been able to catch up and pass Dreyfus. Lang led at 211.584 km/h average speed, three minutes ahead of Brauchitsch and five minutes to Caracciola with the order as follows, after 20 laps: 1. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 1h14m17s 2. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 1h17m17s 3. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h19m17s 4. Comotti (Delahaye) 1h21m56s 5. Biondetti (Alfa Romeo 8-C) 1h24m30s 6. Sommer (Alfa Romeo 12-C) 1h28m39s 7. Rocco (Maserati 1500) 1h29m23s 8. Dreyfus (Delahaye) 1h29m27s 9. Lurani (Maserati 1500) 1h30m01s 10. Bianco (Maserati 1500) 1h30m03s 11. Taruffi (Maserati 1500) 1h30m07s 12. Raph (Maserati 1500) 1h33m29s 13. Hug (Maserati 1500) 14. De Teffe (Maserati 1500) Lang pitted on lap 21, refueled and changed rear wheels. Brauchitsch and Caracciola also made their refueling stops. The race continued monotonously.       The 1500 class offered the only interesting note by the uncertain fight between the 1500 drivers. At the 25th lap the first three raced together in the order Rocco, Taruffi and Bianco, in the space of just 19 seconds. Lurani had dropped behind due to ignition problems.       Among the large cars Lang's average had dropped to 207.091 km/h average speed after 25 laps, ahead of Brauchitsch and Caracciola. In the meantime, Biondetti had managed to overtake Comotti, while Sommer was clearly recovering after numerous stops. His 12-cylinder Alfa suffered from continuous overheating and had stopped several times to replace boiling cooling water. Later, larger jets were installed to improve inner engine cooling and other spark plugs with lower thermal value were installed, to bring the car through the race.       The 1500 class still ignited some glimmers of interest where on lap 30 Taruffi held first place, followed by Rocco, Bianco, Lurani and De Teffe. Three quarters of the monotonous race were now complete with the Mercedes drivers in the same positions. Comotti was able to pass Biondetti, moving up to fourth place, about 12 minutes behind Lang who led at 207.592 km/h average speed with the order as follows, after 30 laps: 1. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 1h53m36s 2. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 1h57m02s 3. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h57m27s 4. Comotti (Delahaye) 2h05m18s 5. Sommer (Alfa Romeo 12-C) 6. Biondetti (Alfa Romeo 8-C) 7. Dreyfus (Delahaye) 8. Taruffi (Maserati 1500) 2h13m09s 9. Rocco (Maserati 1500) 2h14m15s 10. Bianco (Maserati 1500) 2h17m07s 11. Lurani (Maserati 1500) 2h17m56s 12. De Teffe (Maserati 1500) 2h18m46s 13. Raph (Maserati 1500) 14. Hug (Maserati 1500) After 30 laps Baruffi could not restart his 1500 Maserati after the pit stop. In the meantime, it was learned that Biondetti was forced to stop along the way and withdrew due to tire failure. Lang held the lead after 35 laps ahead of Brauchitsch, Caracciola and Comotti. Three laps before the finish, however, Comotti's Delahaye broke down, losing fourth place to Sommer.       At the end of lap 40, big applause welcomed the arrival of Lang, winner of the race again this year followed by his teammates Brauchitsch and Caracciola. The final battle among the 1500 cars was thrilling, ending with the victory of Taruffi, followed by Rocco. Both even managed to overtake the Delahaye of Dreyfus.

Rocco scores on narrow track