Caracciola wins the German Grand Prix for the sixth time

The German Grand Prix was the most important race of the 1939 season with 17 cars at the start, a race full of tension, numerous changes, and intermittent rain. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) led the first two of 22 laps when he stopped for plugs. Then Pietsch (Maserati) temporarily held 1st place until Nuvolari (Auto Union) passed him to lead the third lap until he pitted on lap six. Now the lead passed on to Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) who was 1st until lap nine when he stopped for new plugs. Now Hasse (Auto Union) grabbed 1st place until the 2nd half of lap 14 when he crashed off the wet track. Caracciola then took back the lead and kept it till the end. Müller (Auto Union) was mostly 2nd in a controlled consistently fast drive, where he finished ahead of Pietsch who stopped four times to finish third, one lap down. Stuck (Auto Union) retired after 2 laps, so did Sommer (Alfa Romeo). Lang dropped out after 3 laps, same as his teammate Brendel, also Brauchitsch after 5 laps. Villoresi (Maserati) disappeared after lap 7 while the Auto Unions of Meier and Hasse crashed in the rain after 12 and 13 laps. Thereafter the field shrunk to Caracciola, Müller, Nuvolari and Pietsch. When Nuvolari quit after 19 laps, but qualified 5th, Pietsch became third followed by the slow group of Dreyfus, Raph and Mazaud in Delahayes ahead of Joa (1500 Maserati) at the end. The Swiss Mandirola (Maserati) was disqualified when he refueled against the rules over the fence behind the pits.

The twelfth German Grand Prix of 1939 was considered the most important of the great races, the annual climax. For that reason, the National Socialists tried to use the event as a medium for propaganda purposes. The ONS (Oberste Nationale Sportbehörde) had organized the 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. It was run over 22 laps of the 22.810 km Nürburgring Nordschleife, a total of 501.82 km and was held to the 3-liter supercharged and 4½-liter un-supercharged Grand Prix formula. In accordance with the sliding scale formula, 1500 cc cars were allowed to race with the larger cars.

Entries: From the 20 entries listed, the German teams came in force to the main event of the year. Auto Union with team manager Dr. Karl Otto Feuereissen and Engineer Eberan von Eberhorst entered five type D cars powered by 3-liter, V-12-cylinder engines, now also with two-stage supercharging but only for Hans Stuck, Tazio Nuvolari and H. P. Müller while Rudolf Hasse and Georg Meier drove single supercharged cars. Ulrich Bigalke was the reserve driver.       Daimler-Benz Team Manager Alfred Neubauer with Technical Director Rudolf Uhlenhaut were present with six Mercedes-Benz W 154 cars with this year's new 3-liter, V-12-cylinder engine, also with new two-stage supercharging for Rudolf Caracciola, Manfred von Brauchitsch and Hermann Lang the main drivers. One of the junior drivers Heinz Brendel or Hugo Hartmann would drive the fourth car to be decided after the practice results. The fifth car was for practice and the sixth was a spare.       The Maserati works arrived with two of their new bright-red 8-cylinder 8CTF cars for Luigi Villoresi and Paul Pietsch. A third 1500 Maserati 4CM was entered for Armand Hug but the driver was injured the week before during practice for the Albi Grand Prix and was not present.       Ecurie Lucy O'Reilly Shell managed by Madame Schell from Paris, arrived with two Delahaye 145 types with 4.5-L, V-12 engines not supercharged for René Dreyfus and "Raph". A third car, Type 135CS was entered for Robert Mazaud.       Amongst the independent drivers was Raymond Sommer who appeared with his private Alfa Romeo type 308. The Swiss Adolfo Mandirola drove a Maserati 8CM. The Süddeutsche Renngemeinschaft entered Heinz Dipper in an 6CM Maserati and Leonard Joa in another 1500 cc Maserati 4CM.

Practice: July 19 - Wednesday before official practice, Mercedes was seen pre-testing on the Nürburgring after they had lost two weeks earlier at Reims. In the morning Mercedes engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut drove a few tests around the concrete loop. Thereafter Brauchitsch and Lang drove several laps around the Nordschleife. At noon time arrived the Auto Union team with their drivers, while already hundreds of spectators watched the proceedings. July 20 - Thursday was the first official practice with the most beautiful weather, giving the drivers seven hours to test their cars. In the morning only the Mercedes drivers were on the track. Caracciola drove his best lap in 9m56s and Brauchitsch in 9m55.3s. Next started their teammate Lang, who was timed at 9m52s and 9m52.2s. After 2 p.m. Auto Union was also on the track. Müller drove 10m16.3s and Stuck 10m22.3s. Meier was a bit slower and Nuvolari did not practice as his car had not yet arrived. Hasse drove only some concrete oval laps. Sommer in his 308 Alfa Romeo was timed at 12m37s while Raph, Mazaud, Dreyfus and Joa were even slower. Pietsch and Villoresi in the 3-liter Maserati were not there, while Mandirola and Dipper were also missing. Thursday times Lang (Mercedes-Benz)   9m52.0s -   9m52.2s Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz)   9m55.3s -   9m55.5s Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz)   9m56.0s Müller (Auto Union) 10m16.3s Stuck (Auto Union) 10m22.3s Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 12m37.0s Meier (Auto Union) 10m54.2s - 10m54.4s Hasse (Auto Union) 10m44.0s Raph (Delahaye) 12m53.0s Joa (1500 Maserati) 13m01.4s Mazaud (Delahaye) 13m44.0s

July 21 - Friday practice was again for seven hours with good weather. Early at nine in the morning the first cars turned their laps. During the morning hours the cars were mainly worked on at the pits. The cars were more extensively tested than the day before. All drivers were practicing except Caracciola who was watching his opponents at Pflanzgarten.       In the afternoon, Brauchitsch drove a lap in 9m51s, which was 1.2 seconds faster than Lang's lap from Thursday. Lang's best time from several laps below 10 minutes was 9m55.1s. Caracciola drove in the afternoon in 10m04s. These extreme high speeds will not be risked in the race, because laps below 10-minutes, will stress the tires extremely hard with no possibility for preservation. Müller drove a lap in 9m59.3. Nuvolari again had not driven a practice lap in his car, but drove instead with Meier's car in 10m11.2s. Meier left the track at Brünnchen, drove in a ditch for about 15 meters where the car got stuck with dented body work, which was to be repaired for Saturday. Hasse was stranded on the circuit with a possible broken fuel supply problem. Pietsch drove with the 8-cylinder Maserati his best time was 10m14s, while his teammate Villoresi made his best time in 10m35.0s. The French cars practiced again but their times were much slower than the German cars. The Mercedes reserve driver Brendel made a best lap in 10m20s while Hartmann's best time was 10m30s. Dipper did not practice, so there might just be 17 cars on Sunday. After end of official practice, there happened a rain shower from a thunderstorm. Nuvolari and Brendel took the opportunity to drive a few laps in the rain, although no rain was expected for Sunday. Friday times Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz)   9m51.0s Lang (Mercedes-Benz)   9m55.1s Müller (Auto Union)   9m59.3s Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 10m04.0s Nuvolari (Meier's A. Union) 10m11.2s Stuck (Auto Union) 10m13.4s Pietsch (Maseratti) 10m14.0s - 11m47.3s Brendel (Mercedes-Benz) 10m20.0s - 10m22.2s Hartmann (Mercedes-Benz) 10m30.0s - 10m33.0s Villoresi (Maseratti) 10m26.0s - 10m35.0s Meier (Auto Union) 10m11.2s - 10m15.0s Dreyfus (Delahaye) 11m28.0s - 11m29.2s Raph (Delahaye) 12m33.4s Mazaud (Delahaye) 12m53.0s

July 22 - Saturday was final practice again with nice weather. In the morning Nuvolari was one of the first on the circuit with a time of 10m35s. Then engineer Uhlenhaut drove the various Mercedes cars around the concrete loop of the start and finish area, to test each car before they were passed to the drivers. Lang drove a lap with standing start in 9m48.2s at 139.6 km/h average speed. Others claimed that Lang drove with his Mercedes a lap of 9m43.1s with standing start at an average speed of 140.8 km/h. This performance has never been reached, around the Ring, even with a flying start.       Just before the end of practice, between 12 and 12:30 the Auto Union of Nuvolari was on fire at Antoniusbuche due to a defective fuel line. Nuvolari steered the car in a ditch and tried to kill the fire with sand. The passing Meier called to the Mercedes pit that a car is burning. Immediately Neubauer organized help despite the objection of race management driving against the driving direction to bring fast help to Nuvolari. The Mercedes-Benz men extinguished the Auto Union, before anybody from the opposition was present. Hasse then picked up his teammate Nuvolari from the place of the accident with a Mercedes-Benz car. Nuvolari's car looked terrible, covered over and over with sand and extinguisher-foam. Burned supply lines, defect fuel pumps and magnetos, dented water pipes and body panels produced a picture of awful destruction. The Race Management permitted Nuvolari to drive a few control laps if the car was finished by 6 p.m. Ludwig Sebastian with eight mechanics repaired the damages and at 5:45 p.m. the car rolled to the pits and Nuvolari could drive his last practice laps.       The individual practice times of 12 drivers were published in Saturday and Sunday newspapers. To those 12 drivers we added the 17 grid times published in Monday's Duisburger General-Anzeiger, which included seven drivers' times of Brendel in the second row, Hasse, Sommer, Joa, Raph, Mazaud and Mandirola, which were not before published. Thus, these seven times remain doubtful. Saturday times Lang (Mercedes-Benz)   9m43.1s -   9m43.2s -   9m48.2s - 9m52.2s Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz)   9m51.0s - 10m16.0s Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz)   9m56.0s - 10m13.2s Müller (Auto Union)   9m59.3s Brendel (Mercedes-Benz) 10m09.4s - 10m20.0s - 10m22.2s Nuvolari (Auto Union) 10m11.2s Stuck (Auto Union) 10m13.4s Pietsch (Maserati) 10m14.0s Meier (Auto Union) 10m19.0s Hasse (Auto Union) 10m22.3s - 10m37.1s Villoresi (Maserati) 10m26.0s Hartmann (Mercedes-Benz) 10m30.4s - 10m33.0s Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 12m03.3s Joa (Maserati) 12m15.2s Raph (Delahaye) 12m16.2s Mazaud (Delahaye) 12m54.0s Mandirola (Maserati) 13m12.2s

Race: During practice the weather was brilliant, attracting masses of spectators. Days before and the whole night thousands of spectators had arrived from all directions on bicycles, cars, trucks, buses and by trains to the large station at Adenau. Günther Molter wrote, that there was a tremendous crowd, perhaps the biggest ever, because everyone had the feeling that something terrible was about to happen-the future was in the dark. On Sunday the weather was uncertain. The gray sky was covered by heavy, low rain clouds and there were mists over the forests and small beginnings of a rain shower. An estimated 250.000 or more spectators had assembled around the large circuit including those in the grandstands. Amongst the persons of interest was Adolf Hühnlein, the leader of German motor sport, who drove one lap around the circuit. Before the start the Motor HJ group of the NSKK marched in front of the grandstand to the sound of the German anthem and a brief speech of Hühnlein.       The German time keepers published only the order of the staring grid but not the times. The times shown in the starting grid below were published in several practice press reports, especially by the Duisberger General-Anzeiger. The 17 cars lined up at the start. Armand Hug (Maserati) was missing as he was injured at Albi practice one week earlier and the South-German Heinz Dipper did not appear and was reported to be injured.

12 Caracciola Mercedes-Benz 9m56.0s 14 Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz 9m51.0s 16 Lang Mercedes-Benz 9m43.1s 20 Brendel Mercedes-Benz 10m09.4s 6 Müller Auto Union 9m59.3s 32 Pietsch Maserati 10m14.0s 4 Stuck Auto Union 10m13.4s 2 Nuvolari Auto Union 10m11.2s 8 Hasse Auto Union 10m22.3s 10 Meier Auto Union 10m19.0s 22 Sommer Alfa Romeo 12m03.3s 24 Dreyfus Delahaye 11m28.0s 30 L Villoresi Maserati 10m26.0s 26 Raph Delahaye 12m16.2s 40 Joa Maserati 12m15.2s 36 Mandirola Maserati 13m12.2s 28 Mazaud Delahaye 12m54.0s

The starting signal was given by light. Red light - still 30 seconds, when the engines were started to bellow and the mechanics jumped to the sides; yellow - ten seconds, then the green light beamed at exactly 11:00 a.m. when the canon shot was given with the engines roaring at incredible thunder, the drivers chased away. Brauchitsch had the best start ahead of Lang, Stuck, Müller, Caracciola, Pietsch, Meier, Hasse as they shot to the Südkehre. At this first turn Lang dived straight in front of the field to take the lead. On the back straight Lang was ahead of Brauchitsch, Stuck, Müller, Nuvolari, Pietsch, Caracciola, Meier, Hasse and the remaining field. Lap 1 - From Karussell it was reported that Lang had gained a considerable advantage to Brauchitsch, Müller and Caracciola, while the second group roared one after the other through the Karussell. Lang finished the first lap in 10m48s at 126.7 km/h average speed, with a 27 seconds lead to the field, something very unbelievable to everybody present. Only then followed Brauchitsch, Müller, Pietsch, Caracciola, Nuvolari, after a gap Stuck and Hasse, Brendel, Meier, Villoresi, Sommer, Dreyfus, Joa, and the rest. Villoresi stopped after the first lap to change spark plugs. Lap 2 - Lang completed the 2nd lap with 40 seconds advantage to the second placed Pietsch in the bright red Maserati who had passed Müller and Brauchitsch with Caracciola in fifth place. Lang headed for the Mercedes pits at the end of the lap. Villoresi was going to stop for the second time at the pits. The order of the leading group at the end of lap 2 was Lang, Pietsch, Müller, Brauchitsch, Caracciola, Nuvolari Brendel and Hasse. Lap 3 - At the beginning of the 3rd lap, Lang stopped to change plugs, losing very much time. This enabled Pietsch to take the lead with Müller at his tail. Brauchitsch also stopped with an irregular running engine to change plugs and left after one minute in ninth place still ahead of Lang. Meier stopped at the pits to change plugs. Raph also stopped the Delahaye for plugs and was away before Lang. The pit stops for spark plugs made it obvious, that the climate change had created a disaster with the delicate carburation not only for the two stage blown cars after the dry warmth of practice had given way to chilling dampness and intermittent rain showers, causing the plugs to oil up. Stuck and Meier had slowed their pace.       Pietsch now held the lead temporarily ahead of Müller, Nuvolari and Caracciola. Lang left the pits after 2 ½ minutes and joined in tenth position. As he returned on the back straight, he waved with the hand and pointed to the engine, so obviously he still had a problem. In the meantime, the news was announced that Sommer had retired his Alfa Romeo on the circuit and that Stuck had retired somewhere after a fuel connection broke on his Auto Union. Then the Karussell reported that Nuvolari had passed Müller also the Maserati of Pietsch. In a brief battle Caracciola attacked and passed Müller. Brendel had advanced, passing one after the other drivers and completed the third lap in 10m28.4s the fastest lap time at 130.7 km/h average speed which placed him right behind Müller. Before the end of lap three, Neubauer decided to have Lang take over Brendel's car and sent a mechanic up the track to signal Brendel to come in immediately. Brendel however did not stop - either by mistake or on purpose - and continued another lap. The order at the end of the 3rd lap was Nuvolari, Caracciola, Müller, Brendel, Pietsch, Hasse, Brauchitsch, Villoresi, Dreyfus and Lang. Lap 4 - On the 4th lap Nuvolari held the lead at 125.4 km/h race average speed, ahead of Caracciola, Müller, Brendel and Pietsch who stopped his Maserati at the pits to have the locking brakes adjusted and change spark plugs. Pietsch rejoined in fifth position followed by Hasse and after a gap Brauchitsch, then Villoresi and Dreyfus. Lang passed the pits at the beginning of the 4th lap, but visibly slower than before with a spluttering engine and on the back straight he turned off to the finishing straight into the pits where his car was pushed aside. On this lap appeared Sommer who had picked up the stranded Hans Stuck sitting on the tail of the limping Alfa Romeo and dropped him off at the Auto Union pits with loud applause from the stands. During the rain Brendel had Paul Pietsch spin his Maserati right in front of him at Wehrseifen, just before Adenau Bridge. In trying to avoid Pietsch, Brendel went into the ditch. The car was not damaged and Brendel not injured but he could not bring the car back onto the track on his own and dropped out of the race. This retirement changed the plans of the Mercedes-Benz team because Lang was supposed to take over Brendel's car. When Brendel called the pits for someone to pick him up, Neubauer seized the phone and told him he could walk back. The order at the end of lap 4 was Nuvolari, Caracciola Müller, Pietsch, Hasse. Brauchitsch, Villoresi, Dreyfus and the rest. Lap 5 - Meier headed for the pits and rejoined after a brief stop. Villoresi also stopped his Maserati at the pits. Ahead of Karussell Caracciola passed Müller for second place. Nuvolari was leading the 5th lap, with an average speed of 126.1 km/h followed by Caracciola, Müller, Hasse, Brauchitsch, Pietsch, Villoresi, Dreyfus, Joa, Meier and the rest. Lap 6 - Nuvolari stopped at the pits to change tires and plugs. He rejoined after one minute in fourth position. Caracciola had taken the lead ahead of Müller and Hasse. Brauchitsch stopped for the second time, to refuel and change tires. After removing the hood, it was learned that fuel was dripping from the saddle tank onto the magneto, which appeared a risk of fire, too dangerous to continue. The car was pushed aside next to Lang's defective car. After the retirement of Lang and Brendel, Brauchitsch was the third Mercedes out of the race and the question emerged if Caracciola could hold out the last remaining 16 laps. Pietsch stopped again at the pits to refuel and change tires. On the 6th lap, Mandirola stopped for the fourth time at the pits. The order of the leading group at the end of the 6th lap was Caracciola, Müller, Hasse, Pietsch, Nuvolari, Villoresi, Dreyfus, Meier and Joa. Lap 7 - Caracciola was now in the lead closely followed by Nuvolari, Müller and Hasse. The four drivers started an interesting fight for the lead. In the meantime, Villoresi had left the road and smashed the Maserati's tail against a bank at Brünnchen, damaging his car and retired at the pits without the tail body panels. At 1:30 p.m. two gigantic airships, the LZ 127 and the larger LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin appeared for about one hour and very slowly almost inaudible they were gliding along below the low hanging clouds for all to see. The track radio announcer carried out an interesting radio-telephone conversation, with the Zeppelin, which could be heard very clearly through the new loudspeaker installation around the circuit, an unforgettable experience for the large crowd. The silver airships circled the racetrack several times before they disappeared in the grey cloud-cover. This was the last time the two air ships appeared in public. The order of the leading group at the end of the 7th lap was Caracciola, Nuvolari, Müller, Hasse, Pietsch, Dreyfus, Meier, Joa, Raph, Mazaud and Mandirola. Lap 8 - On the 8th lap Pietsch also stopped at his pit and likewise did Meier who had problems. From the circuit came the announcement that Müller was only one second behind Caracciola. Nuvolari had reduced his gap to the leading group but stopped again steering towards his pit and pointing to the left rear wheel which was changed, but they also removed the engine hood for plugs which dropped him two minutes behind to fourth place. The order of the leading group at the end of the 8th lap was Caracciola, Müller, Hasse, Nuvolari, Pietsch, Meier, Dreyfus and Joa. All other drivers had already been lapped. Lap 9 - at the beginning of the 9th lap Caracciola was one second ahead of Müller when both stopped to refuel. Müller left first after 40 seconds while Caracciola also changed plugs to ones with lower heat rage, stopping for 80 seconds. In the meantime, Hasse had taken the lead. At Karussell he was followed by Müller's Auto Union who was only 20 seconds ahead of the Mercedes. Caracciola could now drive much faster than earlier with the different plugs fitted and even passed Müller just before the end of the lap where both caught up to Hasse who slowed for a pit stop. Nuvolari was in fourth place, three minutes behind Hasse, who was leading at 121.2 km/h average race speed with the order as follows, after nine laps: 1. Hasse (Auto Union) 1h41m37.3s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 1h41m43.1s 3. H.P. Müller (Auto Union) 1h41m44.4s 4. Nuvolari (Auto Union) 1h33m26.4s after 8 laps 5. Pietsch (Maserati) 1h37m42.4s after 8 laps 6. Meier (Auto Union) 1h41m02.2s after 8 laps Lap 10 - Hasse stopped on the 10th lap to refuel and change tires in 36 seconds. In the meantime, it had started to rain which caused problems for all drivers as they had to slow down and positions changed, allowing Hasse to regain the lead. At the Karussell Hasse was six seconds ahead of Müller who was 15 seconds ahead of Caracciola, followed by Nuvolari. The order at the end of the 10th lap was Hasse, Müller, Caracciola, Nuvolari, Pietsch, Meier, Dreyfus, and Joa. Lap 11 - At mid-race the leader Hasse was 15 seconds ahead of Müller at Karussell, with a gap of two seconds to Caracciola and Nuvolari followed 3 ½ minutes behind with further gaps to Pietsch, Dreyfus, Meier and Joa. The Swiss driver Mandirola did not to stop in time to refuel and ran out of fuel behind his pits. They reached him fuel over the fence, which was not allowed by the regulations and caused his disqualification. At this time seven drivers had retired, namely Stuck, Sommer, Lang, Brendel, Brauchitsch, Villoresi and Mandirola. Hasse had increased his advantage to Caracciola who was the only Mercedes driver left, fighting three Auto Unions. Hasse held the lead at 119.4 km/h average speed with an average lap time of 11m27.7s with the following times at mid-race: 1. Hasse (Auto Union) 2h06m05.4s 2. H.P. Müller (Auto Union) 2h06m19.4s 3. Caracciola (Mercedes Benz) 2h06m31.0s 4. Nuvolari (Auto Union) 2h08m59.4s 5. Pietsch (Maserati) 2h15m20.4s 6. Meier (Auto Union) 2h20m33.0s - 1 lap behind 7. Dreyfus (Delahaye) 2h22m09.8s - 1 lap behind 8. Joa (1500 Maserati) 2h26m24.4s - 1 lap behind 9. Raph (Delahaye) 2h27m26.8s - 1 lap behind 10. Mazaud (Delahaye) 2h28m30.0s - 1 lap behind Lap 12 - It began to rain again when Pietsch stopped to change plugs. Hasse was leading by 15 seconds ahead of Müller, followed by Caracciola, Nuvolari and Pietsch. Although Hasse was leading, Caracciola drove the best time during the lap with Nuvolari 3 ½ minutes behind. The order at the end of the lap was Hasse, Müller, Caracciola, Nuvolari, Pietsch, Meier, Dreyfus, Raph, Mazaud and Joa. Lap 13 - Hasse increased his lead to Müller to 27 seconds. Due to the rain the race average speed from initially 126.7 km/h had fallen to 118.8 km/h. Caracciola passed Müller for second place to chase after Hasse, whose lead came to an end when he skidded off the wet track at Wippermann and retired without getting injured. Caracciola then held first place, leading Müller by 30 seconds. From this point forward Caracciola did not give up the lead. On this lap Meier retired at Fuchsröhre when a stub axle broke. According to Meier, he went off the road during Friday practice and although there seemed to be no damage at the time, he thought something must have broken and nobody noticed. On lap 13, when he was driving down Fuchsröhre very fast, the stub axle broke, so when he came to the next right-hand turn, one wheel turned right but the other did not! He managed to stop without hitting anything, but his race was over. The order was Caracciola, Müller, Nuvolari, Pietsch, Dreyfus, Raph, Mazaud and Joa. Lap 14 - Caracciola had a lead of 30 seconds to Müller, the fastest Auto Union driver. The order at the end of the 14th lap was Caracciola, Müller Nuvolari, Pietsch, Dreyfus, Raph, Mazaud and Joa. Lap 15 - Caracciola held the same advantage to Müller as the lap before. Hasse appeared walking back to his pits and received great applause. He appeared later uninjured at the press stand. Pietsch skidded off the track, ended up in a ditch but was able to rejoin on his own for which he received great applause from the grandstands. The sun could be seen between the clouds and the circuit dried quickly. Lap 16 - Caracciola was leading by 37 seconds to Müller, who was still 2 ½ minutes ahead of Nuvolari. On this lap Pietsch stopped at the pits with the left side of the Maserati dented after his ditch excursion on the previous lap and changed again spark plugs. Nuvolari also stopped, refueled, and left immediately. The order was Caracciola, Müller, Nuvolari, Pietsch, Dreyfus, Raph, Mazaud and Joa. Lap 17 - Caracciola led Müller 39 seconds and after 2m50s followed Nuvolari, Pietsch, Dreyfus, Raph and Mazaud and Joa. Lap 18 - On lap18 Caracciola had an advantage of 43 seconds to Müller and drove with great determination without losing a single second. At Karussell Caracciola's advantage was 45 seconds. Lap 19 - On the 19th lap Caracciola stopped at his pit to refuel 60 liter in 17 seconds and after he rejoined, his advantage to Müller was down to only 14 seconds. After the 19th lap, Nuvolari stopped at the pits with smoking engine, climbed out and retired with engine damage. Lap 20 - Müller stopped to refuel in just 18 seconds. As a result, the advantage of Caracciola increased to 37 seconds and he also drove the fastest lap of the race in 10m24s at 131.5 km/h average speed. Lap 21 - On the second to last lap Caracciola was 38 seconds ahead of Müller, followed by Pietsch, Dreyfus, Raph and Mazaud and Joa. Lap 22 - Caracciola crossed the line, for the sixth time the winner at 121.0 km/h average speed in 4h08m41.4s, almost one minute ahead of Müller who had slowed down. Both drivers received great applause from the spectators. Pietsch in third place was also cheered. Dreyfus finished fourth, Nuvolari fifth Raph sixth, Mazaud seventh and Joa eighth. Despite his early retirement after 19 laps, Nuvolari was still classified, which was determined by race management, as he had a far better time for his 19 laps than those three with the same delay.

Farina ending up on top in a good Alfa Romeo vs. Maserati duel.

Entries:

Practice:

Race 1 ("Junior")

30 Brezzi Maserati ? Maserati 4 Teagno Maserati       Rest of grid unknown

Race 2 (Coppa Ciano)

48 Biondetti Alfa Romeo 42 Cortese Maserati 32 Farina Alfa Romeo 52 Pietsch? Maserati 34 Aldrighetti Alfa Romeo 38 L Villoresi Maserati 44 Graffenried Maserati 40 Rocco Maserati 46 Taruffi Maserati 56 Trossi? Maserati 54 Pintacuda Alfa Romeo

Just as in Tripoli the 1939 Coppa Ciano was a race for Voiturettes only. Before the main race there was a "aspirant" (amateur/junior) race for drivers with national race licences. It was won by Teagno (Maserati). In the main race for "laureati" (teams/graduates) i.e for drivers with an international licence the Alfa Corse team with Farina, Biondetti Aldrighetti and Pintacuda faced seven Maseratis with drivers including Cortese, Taruffi, Pietsch and Villoresi. Farina took command of the race and led from start to finish pulling away by 2-3 seconds per lap. Behind him Villoresi held second place with Cortese, Biondetti and Taruffi fighting for the third position. Biondetti got problems and handed over the car to Severi while Biondetti himself took over Pintacuda's car. Villoresi had to retire leaving Cortese to take second place far behind Farina.

In retrospect:

The last Brooklands event

Quadruple Alfa

Entries:

Practice:

Race 1 ("Junior") --------------

4 Teagno Maserati 18 Lami Maserati 6 Lanza Maserati 14 Bonomi Maserati 8 Brezzi Maserati 24 E Platé Maserati 10 L Platé Talbot 16 Corsi Maserati 22 Barbieri Maserati 12 Ruggeri Maserati 20 Garganani Maserati 2 Comotti Maserati

Coppa Acerbo was another GP race changed to Voiturette status. During practice motor cycle racer and Alfa Romeo newcomer Aldrighetti crashed and became trapped in the burning car receiving fatal wounds. This was the second fatal accident in less than two months for the Alfa Corse team. However, the team decided to start in the race. As in Coppa Ciano the main race was preceded by a "junior" race with the top finishers (Barbieri, Teagno and Lami) allowed to enter the main race.

Final:

26 L Villoresi Maserati 32 Farina Alfa Romeo 34 Cortese Maserati 38 Pintacuda Alfa Romeo 44 Biondetti Alfa Romeo 46 Severi Alfa Romeo 40 Pollock ERA 28 Rocco Maserati 22 Barbieri Maserati 18 Lami Maserati 4 Teano Maserati

Farina took the start followed by Villoresi (works Maserati 4CL) and Biondetti. There was another terrible accident on the first lap as Catullo Lami, who was a late starter after plug problems, got killed when he overturned his Maserati 6CM. The race did not start well for the "junior" drivers as both Barbieri and Teagno retired after the first lap. During the pitstops the top duo fumbled and let Biondetti into the lead and as the last lap started the Alfa driver was still leading. He was pursued by Villoresi and Cortese (works Maserati 4CL) but then both Maserati cars ran out of fuel leaving Alfa Corse to take a quadruple victory with Biondetti, Pintacuda, Farina and Severi.

In retrospect: