50 Louis Chiron
L. Chiron
Bugatti T35C

38 Achille Varzi/G. Campari
G. Campari
Alfa Romeo P2

26 Tazio Nuvolari
Scuderia Nuvolari
Bugatti T35C

Chiron wins tragic European Grand Prix with Bugatti

The European Grand Prix at Monza was the most important race in 1928 as it was the only event held to the international formula. Unfortunately the race will be remembered for the most horrific accident that had ever happened at a motor race (Later in 1955, 85 people were killed at Le Mans.) when Materassi's Talbot left the track at about 200 km/h mowing down a group of spectators, killing 23 plus the driver and severely injuring 35 others. The race was allowed to continue while the officials attended to those injured and removed the corpses. Spectators, the press and drivers were informed about the disaster only after the race.       From 22 starters Williams (Bugatti) led until lap 4 after which his engine broke down. Nuvolari (Bugatti) then held first place for two laps but was passed by Brilli Peri (Bugatti) who led for four laps until his car slowed before retirement. Nuvolari then led for the following four laps until Varzi (Alfa Romeo) advanced into the lead for five laps. Materassi who had earlier held fourth place encountered problems, losing time in the pits and then crashed on lap 18. Out of respect, the other Talbot teammates withdrew. As of lap 20, Chiron (Bugatti) moved into first place until the end at lap 60. Borzacchini (Maserati) held fourth place but crashed. There were 12 retirements which enabled some lesser drivers to finish in better positions than expected. Following Chiron in first place was Varzi with Campari's help finishing second and Nuvolari third. Drouet (Bugatti) finished fourth, Maggi with Pastore's and Borzacchini's help fifth, followed by Ernesto Maserati, Bouriat and Foresti in Bugattis. Probst and d'Ahetze in Bugattis exceeded the allowable time and were not classified.

The CSI (International Sports Commission) of the AIACR decided at their March 17, 1928 meeting that the European Grand Prix would no longer be open exclusively to constructors but also to other cars as long as they had the approval of their constructors. This decision would affect the future of the upcoming Grands Prix and meant nothing else than a new way to address the common lack of interest in Grand Prix racing and finally allow independent drivers to take part. The CSI also announced that the British club had declined to hold the race due to the disinterest of the manufacturers. However Italy was prepared to take over and proceed with the European Grand Prix which was to take place again at Monza on September 9. The Gran Premio d'Europa was held for the sixth time and was part of the 1928 World Championship. It was also the eighth Italian Grand Prix counting towards the Italian Championship. The Commissione Sportiva des RACI and the Societŕ Autodromo di Monza carried out the organization under the supervision of Count Vincenzo Florio and Cavaliere Renzo Castagneto, the Race Director.       Article 14 of the regulation read that the time of the end of the race will be decided later, but the race will be stopped within a maximum time equal to the average hourly speed of 120 km (which translates to 5 hours). But the stewards may in case of necessity stop the race before the fixed time. The total prize fund amounted to 250,000 lire. The overall victor was presented with 100,000 lire, second place 30,000, third 20,000, fourth 10,000, fifth 10,000, sixth to ninth each 5,000 lire. The first who completed 200 km received 5,000 lire; the first who completed 300 km received 10,000 lire; the competitor who beat the local record of 600 km received 10,000 lire; the competitor who beat the local lap record of 10 km received 5,000 lire; the first 10 competitors who completed at least 100 km received 3,000 lire.

Entries: The Bugattis of Louis Chiron and Williams were entered independently by their drivers. Thus Williams' Bugatti was painted green even though he enjoyed factory support with Meo Costantini, the Bugatti Manager, present. Chiron had his blue car's radiator and hood painted in Monaco colors. He was regarded as the most threatening of the foreign drivers and was considered to be a likely winner. In this season alone he had won the Grands Prix in France, Rome and San Sebastian. He was a driver with perfect style and able to reach higher speeds without giving the slightest impression of effort in the car.       Maserati was the only team that entered two cars especially designed for the 1928 Formula, the 26R with a 1700 cc 8-cylinder engine to be driven to be driven by Maggi and Borzacchini. Additionally, Maserati entered one proven two-liter car which was allocated to Ernesto Maserati. The reserve drivers for the official team were Alfieri Maserati and Cesare Pastore. The 1700 Maserati and the modified two-liter would be very close in terms of speed. The 1700 with the smaller chassis was very light at only 720 kg, much more docile to drive at high speeds and exceptionally stable. The two-liter, however, would have more power but weighed very close to the maximum allowed limit of 750 kg. The remaining two Maseratis were entered independently by the Sicilians Fisauli and Piccolo.       All the remaining participants were independents, even the so-called Talbot team of the famous Italian race driver Materassi who had acquired five Talbot grand prix cars for which he had selected Italian drivers to start in the race. This was the Scuderia Materassi which dominated the 1500 class with three of the fast low 8-cylinder Talbots to be driven by Materassi, Arcangeli and Brilli Peri. The Scuderia also entered two 4-cylinder 1500 supercharged 1924 Talbots for Comotti and Brivio while Carlo Rosti also practiced but did not start.       Besides these cars, there were 11 Bugattis of which Nenzioni and the Frenchman D'Ahetze raced types with 1500 cc engines, while the others were all two-liter types. Only the Swiss driver Probst did not have a supercharged car. Additionally there was an old but fast Alfa Romeo P2 which Varzi had acquired from Campari after he won the Coppa Acerbo. Now Varzi was the leading hope for an overall Italian victory.       Two old Delages were entered with 2-liter 12-cylinder engines, one with a supercharger and the other without. In well prepared condition these cars could hold their own against most opponents, but from the day they were brought to the various Italian races the Delages never ran properly. Aymini had raced the Delage this year in Tripoli, Catania and Messina but had found little success. Only in Rome and Susa Moncenisio was Aymini able to classify, despite the fact that in both races the car experienced problems. For the European Grand Prix Aymini drove the twelve-cylinder car. He was a top class driver, was always found in leading positions if the Delage was well prepared. The other Delage without a supercharger had little chance in the race. It was entered by Ceratto but it was not known if he would start. A complete list of entries is at the beginning if this report.

Practice: On Monday, September 3rd Brivio, Foresti, Tonini and Drouet were active in the morning. The best times recorded during these practice runs were around 3m43s and 3m44s. In the afternoon Brilli Peri, Maggi and Arcangeli appeared who were waiting for their cars that were due to arrive Tuesday morning. Maggi, however, managed to take a few practice laps with one of the Maseratis which was already at Monza. The 1924 lap record of Ascari stood at 3m35.6s.       On Wednesday morning only Tonini and Varzi were out on track. When the siren declared the beginning of the afternoon practice, Chiron drove some laps with times of 3m50s, 3m45s and 3m43s. He was expected to develop the new Bugatti which had arrived at Monza damaged. Nuvolari, Borzacchini, Rosti, Tonini, Williams, Drouhet, Nenzioni, Aymini, Gilera, D'Ahetze completed the afternoon practice.       Thursday's activity was very busy. In the morning all the Talbot drivers, Brilli Peri, Arcangeli, Comotti and Materassi took part at different times on the circuit with times from 3m50s to 3m52s. In the afternoon, the activity was also intense. Finally the remaining two Maserati drivers arrived. Maggi and Ernesto were at the wheel of the 1700 cars but practiced without forcing the new cars. The Talbots also continued the work they had begun in the morning. Chiron (Bugatti) and Borzacchini (Maserati) attempted to beat Ascari's record. Chiron did a magnificent time of 3m33.6s while Arcangeli's best was a lap in 3m35.6s. Nearly all the competitors practiced, amongst them Nuvolari, who completed a fast lap in 3m40s.       Friday was the last practice day. In the morning they began scrutineering of the cars, which was supervised by Commissioner Momo and Engineer Crepaldi. All cars had to be within the regulatory weight limit of 550 to 750 kg. Blancas, an Argentinian who lived in France, had his blue Bugatti damaged pretty badly on Friday but nothing else could be learned about his car. The two Maserati drivers Fisauli and Piccolo were allowed to start since they passed the 150 km/h speed test around the entire 10 km circuit. Williams, Materassi, Borzacchini and Maggi also practiced. Williams, so as not to be outdone by his friend Chiron, completed several fast laps in 3m35s and 3m34.8s among others. According to unofficial stopwatches Williams drove a lap in 3m32.8s, also beating Ascari's record. In the morning Chiron was busy painting his car in the colors of Monte Carlo, his hometown. He changed the right half of the radiator to white and the left side red plus two white stripes separated by a red one around the hood just behind the radiator. Later in the afternoon he was on the track to test tires. As the most popular French diver of the time, he was fully convinced that the records would be beaten, but for his part had no intention of running a record lap, wrecking the car and compromising a possible victory. Materassi planned to have all the Talbots of his team finish the race. He registered laps in 3m40s and 3m41s but did not give the impression of trying too hard during practice. The Swiss driver Probst who had previously announced that he would not start, arrived at Monza in the afternoon and almost immediately drove onto the track.       On Saturday a crash happened during practice involving Ugo Stefanelli in his 2-liter Bugatti, which at first appeared as a rather serious accident. Steffanelli had been allowed to practice in the evening to test his brakes. During a sudden stop on the Curva Grande, the car overturned and came to rest upside down with the driver thrown out. Some spectators witnessed the accident, collected the race driver and transported him to the hospital. He had suffered some injuries, one of which was quite a deep wound on his nose, but he was not in a serious condition, because he was able to tell the people who found him, how the accident happened. The day after the race Stefanelli was out of danger and left the hospital early to transfer on September 13th into a nursing home in Milan and then after a week, it was expected that he would be able to return to Bologna.

Race: Under a blue Sunday morning sky at 7:30 in Monza uncountable cars lined up in single file but most of the public arrived between 8.30 and 10. Many thousands of spectators were present at 9:00 in the morning in the stands along the racetrack with a marvelous view. Everything was decorated festively. Shortly before the start the officials arrived, including Arnaldo Mussolini, Senator Silvio Crespi President of the R.A.C.I., Count Vincenzo Florio CSI President of the R.A.C.I., Arturo Mercanti the Director of the Milano AC and Renzo Castagneto, the Race Director of Monza.       The following drivers did not start: Blancas (Bugatti) damaged his car on Friday, Stefanelli (Bugatti) had crashed Saturday, Fisauli (Maserati) practiced but did not start, the same for Gilera (Bugatti), while Ceratto (Delage) and Prince Jean Ghica Cantacuzino (Cozette Special) did not appear. At 10.20 AM drivers and mechanics left the pits, pushing the 22 cars along the track to the start and finish line, where they positioned the cars on the starting grid. The drivers were cheered and applauded, especially Varzi who presented the major Italian hope in his Alfa Romeo.       For this race, the start and finish line was placed on the back straight of the inner circuit opposite the timekeepers stand and ahead of the pits. The reason for this change was to make the first turn easier for drivers given the significant number of starters. Also for safety reasons they did not want the compact mass of cars to chase into the difficult turns of the outer road circuit, preferring the wider Curva Nord of the oval. Therefore the first lap was 15.5 km or one and a half laps long, beginning with the 4.5 km oval followed by the 5.5 km road circuit plus a second tour of the oval to end the lap. The last lap of the race consisted of only the 5.5 km road circuit. The 22 cars were arranged in nine rows according to race numbers drawn by lots. The places of #14, #16 and #34 were left open since those cars did not start, however this rule was not applied to the missing #4 car in the first row.

2 Borzacchini Maserati 6 Maggi Maserati 8 Brilli Peri Talbot 10 Foresti Bugatti 12 Williams Bugatti 14 - 16 - 18 Materassi Talbot 20 Aymini Delage 22 Bouriat Bugatti 24 Probst Bugatti 26 Nuvolari Bugatti 28 Blacque-Bélair Bugatti 30 Nenzioni Bugatti 32 Tonini Bugatti 34 - 36 d'Ahetze Bugatti 38 Varzi Alfa Romeo 40 Drouet Bugatti 42 Maserati Maserati 44 Brivio Talbot 46 Arcangeli Talbot 48 Comotti Talbot 50 Chiron Bugatti 52 Piccolo Maserati

A siren was sounded one minute before the start. At 10:30 the Assistant State Secretary Giunta gave the signal to start by lowering the flag for the 22 drivers who immediately shot away with a deafening roar to the excitement of the very large crowd. Williams moved immediately to the front, followed by Nuvolari, Borzacchini, Materassi, Brilli Peri and Varzi. Comotti remained on the grid with his Talbot's engine stalled and lost 41seconds before it started while Brivio also made a slow start. After half a lap, as they passed the timekeeper's stand, Williams was in the lead, closely followed by a tight group of Nuvolari, Borzacchini, Materassi, Brilli Peri and Varzi, heading towards the road circuit. Williams completed the first lap in 5m20.4s passing the grandstands five seconds ahead of Nuvolari, Borzacchini, Materassi, Brilli Peri and Varzi with a gap to Chiron, Arcangeli, Foresti and Maggi, while the others were widely separated. The fight for second place, just half a second apart, was really exciting. After the first lap the leading group was in the following order: 1. Williams (Bugatti) 5m20.4s 2. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 5m25.4s 3. Borzacchini (Maserati) 5m25.8s 4. Materassi (Talbot) 5m29.8s 5. Brilli Peri (Talbot) 5m33.2s 6. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 5m33.8s 7. Chiron (Bugatti) 5m45.4s 8. Arcangeli (Talbot) 5m48.0s 9. Foresti (Bugatti) 5m50.0s 10. Maggi (Maserati) 5m51.0s After the second lap, Williams had increased his lead to ten seconds with a lap in 3m39.2s. Nuvolari with a 3m44s lap headed an intense battle with Borzacchini and Materassi, followed by the duo of Brilli Peri and Varzi who drove a lap in 3m41s, trying to catch up. Maserati stopped at the pits at the beginning of lap two for spark plugs but left immediately. Nenzioni and D'Ahetze experienced poorly performing engines. Both stopped at the pits where Nenzioni retired his 1500 Bugatti while D'Ahetze rejoined the race after more than four minutes. Piccolo with the independent Maserati also retired. After two laps the leading group was in the following order: 1. Williams (Bugatti) 8m59.6s 2. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 9m09.4s 3. Borzacchini (Maserati) 9m10.4s 4. Materassi (Talbot) 9m10.6s 5. Brilli Peri (Talbot) 9m14.0s 6. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 9m14.8s 7. Chiron (Bugatti) 9m30.0s 8. Arcangeli (Talbot) 9m33.4s 9. Maggi (Maserati) 9m43.0s 10. Foresti (Bugatti) 9m52.0s After three laps the field was down to 20 cars. With a lap in 3m38.8s, Williams had increased his lead to 14 seconds. Nuvolari was still second with a lap in 3m42.6s but had shaken off his followers by eight seconds, a battling group of four, Borzacchini, Varzi who had passed Materassi and Brilli Peri. Those four cars crossed the finish line a mere 1.2 seconds apart, with only yards between Borzacchini in third and Brilli Peri in sixth. The closeness of the racing with the deafening roar of the engines excited the crowd. Ernesto Maserati passed Foresti to gain tenth place. After three laps the leading group was in the following order: 1. Williams (Bugatti) 12m38.4s 2. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 12m52.0s 3. Borzacchini (Maserati) 13m00.0s 4. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 13m00.2s 5. Materassi (Talbot) 13m01.0s 6. Brilli Peri (Talbot) 13m01.2s 7. Chiron (Bugatti) 13m14.6s 8. Arcangeli (Talbot) 13m18.4s 9. Maggi (Maserati) 13m37.0s 10. E. Maserati (Maserati) 13m44.2s On lap four Williams drove a lap in 3m37.6s at 165.441 km/h average speed which was a new lap record. His advantage had increased to over 20 seconds to Nuvolari who drove a 3m45s lap. Varzi lapped in 3m40.4s, passing Borzacchini's Maserati which elevated him to third place. Brilli Peri with a lap of 4m41.2s likewise passed the Maserati to keep up with Varzi. Materassi stopped at the beginning of lap four for less than a minute to adjust the steering and change the two front wheels but this dropped him to ninth place. He did not seem satisfied with the ease with which Varzi's Alfa Romeo overtook him on lap three. After four laps the leading group was in the following order: 1. Williams (Bugatti) 16m16.0s 2. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 16m37.0s 3. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 16m41.2s 4. Brilli Peri (Talbot) 16m42.4s 5. Borzacchini (Maserati) 16m48.0s 6. Chiron (Bugatti) 16m58.0s 7. Arcangeli (Talbot) 17m02.4s 8. Maggi (Maserati) 17m30.0s 9. Materassi (Talbot) 17m31.2s 10. E. Maserati (Maserati) 17m31.6s Near the end of the fifth lap Williams slowed with a smoking engine that sounded really sick. His lap had come down to 8m16.2s as he crawled to his pit where they changed spark plugs. But the problem was more serious and he retired with broken piston rings. Speculation had it that Williams' early pace was a predetermined tactic of Chiron's race. If so, Williams had certainly done his job and was eliminated from the race. As a result Nuvolari found himself in the lead, followed by Varzi, Brilli Peri and Borzacchini. Materassi had fallen from fourth to ninth place during his pit stop on lap four and must have stopped again on lap five when he dropped to tenth position with laps of 4m30.2s and 4m31.4s on laps four and five. With Williams' departure the race for the lead had suddenly become exciting with the first three cars separated by less than five seconds. After five laps Nuvolari led at 147.373 km/h average race speed with the field in the following order after 50 km: 1. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 20m20.4s 2. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 20m24.8s 3. Brilli Peri (Talbot) 20m25.0s 4. Borzacchini (Maserati) 20m35.2s 5. Chiron (Bugatti) 20m42.8s 6. Arcangeli (Talbot) 20m45.4s 7. Maggi (Maserati) 21m24.8s 8. E. Maserati (Maserati) 21m25.0s 9. Drouet (Bugatti) 22m01.0s 10. Materassi (Talbot) 22m02.6s 11. Foresti (Bugatti) 22m09.6s 12. Tonini (Bugatti) 22m32.0s 13. Bouriat (Bugatti) 22m36.2s 14. Blacque-Bélair (Bugatti) 22m38.0s 15. Aymini (Delage) 22m57.0s 16. Brivio (Talbot) 23m01.4s 17. Probst (Bugatti) 23m36.4s 18. Comotti (Talbot) 23m43.2s 19. Williams (Bugatti) 24m32.2s - one lap behind 20. D'Ahetze (Bugatti) 31m15.4s - two laps behind Between lap six and ten the battle between the top three intensified. Earlier, Borzacchini in his two-liter Maserati had raced in third place but he was slowly losing ground. Chiron kept in touch with the leading group, although 20 seconds or so behind the leader and Arcangeli was clinging to fifth position. On lap seven Brilli Peri drew level with Nuvolari on the straight and moved into the lead with Varzi following him and also passing Nuvolari. The tall Brilli Peri sitting in the low and fairly small Talbot looked almost comical. Chiron increased his pace and overhauled Borzacchini. Brilli Peri maintained the lead but Varzi followed in hot pursuit. Nuvolari repassed Varzi on the next lap, regaining second place and both of them were now chased by Chiron. After a short gap Arcangeli followed ahead of Borzacchini, who had fallen to sixth place. D'Ahetze stopped on lap nine to change spark plugs which took three minutes while Comotti pitted on the next lap and left after more than five minutes. After 100 km, Brilli Peri remained in the lead at 154.043 km/h average speed with the field in the following order after ten laps: 1. Brilli Peri (Talbot) 38m57.0s 2. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 38m57.4s 3. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 39m03.0s 4. Chiron (Bugatti) 39m03.6s 5. Arcangeli (Talbot) 39m20.8s 6. Borzacchini (Maserati) 39m46.0s 7. Materassi (Talbot) 40m25.0s 8. Maggi (Maserati) 40m34.6s 9. E. Maserati (Maserati) 40m35.8s 10. Drouet (Bugatti) 41m23.4s 11. Foresti (Bugatti) 42m32.6s 12. Bouriat (Bugatti) 42m40.6s - on lap behind 13. Blacque-Bélair (Bugatti) 43m02.2s - on lap behind 14. Tonini (Bugatti) 43m21.2s - on lap behind 15. Aymini (Delage) 43m33.2s - on lap behind 16. Brivio (Talbot) 43m50.0s - on lap behind 17. Probst (Bugatti) 45m03.0s - on lap behind 18. Comotti (Talbot) 50m18.0s - 3 laps behind 19. D'Ahetze (Bugatti) 57m26.4s - 4 laps behind On lap 11 Probst stopped at the pits for around eight minutes. Brilli Peri who had held the lead from lap seven to lap eleven, stopped at the beginning of lap twelve for nearly three minutes and dropped from first to ninth position. Nuvolari now found himself in first place once again with Chiron second after he had passed Varzi, followed by Arcangeli and Borzacchini, who was some distance ahead of Materassi. Maggi was eighth, ahead of Ernesto Maserati who stopped at his pit on lap 12 for over two minutes and dropped to thirteenth place. Meanwhile, during his determined pursuit of Chiron and Varzi, Arcangeli had made the fastest lap of the day in 3m37.2s on lap eleven. Comotti pitted again on lap thirteen for over two minutes. D'Ahetze stopped once more on the same lap and lost much time during the following two laps, possibly with further pit stops. With a lap of 3m38.6s Varzi passed Chiron on lap 13. Nuvolari, who had led from lap 11 to 14, was overhauled by Varzi and Chiron before the end of lap 15. On the same lap Brilli Peri stopped at his pit for over three minutes and Probst made another long pit stop of over six minutes. Aymini retired at the beginning of lap 15 with an overheating engine while Tonini ended his race at the end of the same lap. Arcangeli's fast pace brought him within three seconds of Nuvolari, as he had reduced his deficit by about 20 seconds during the last five laps. The erstwhile leader Brilli Peri, continued to fall back and had now been lapped by Varzi. The race was more than ever undecided and entertaining after 150 km when Varzi completed the lap at an increased average speed of 156. 675 km/h with the field in this order after 15 laps: 1. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 57m26.6s 2. Chiron (Bugatti) 57m30.2s 3. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 57m34.2s 4. Arcangeli (Talbot) 57m37.2s 5. Materassi (Talbot) 58m49.0s 6. Borzacchini (Maserati) 59m28.0s 7. Maggi (Maserati) 59m43.0s 8. Drouet (Bugatti) 1h00m40.6s 9. Foresti (Bugatti) 1h02m23.0s - one lap behind 10. E. Maserati (Maserati) 1h02m29.6s - one lap behind 11. Blacque-Bélair (Bugatti) 1h02m58.0s - one lap behind 12. Bouriat (Bugatti) 1h02m59.2s - one lap behind 13. Brilli Peri (Talbot) 1h04m34.6s - one lap behind 14. Tonini (Bugatti) 1h04m48.2s - two laps behind 15. Brivio (Talbot) 1h04m48.8s - two laps behind 16. Comotti (Talbot) 1h13m08.6s - four laps behind 17. Probst (Bugatti) 1h21m28.0s 18. D'Ahetze (Bugatti) 1h29m41.4s On lap 16, Varzi still headed the field, which was down to 18 cars. Chiron was in second place followed by Arcangeli who passed Nuvolari for third position while Materassi in fifth place was over a minute behind the leader trying to catch up. At the end of lap 17 the order of the front group remained the same. On the beginning of lap 18, Maggi stopped for over three minutes at the pits to have the steering adjusted.       Meanwhile on the inside circuit in front of the grandstands, the leading group of Varzi, Chiron, Arcangeli and Nuvolari had just passed, when seconds later on the outside track the back marker Foresti was chased by the fifth placed Materassi, who was completing lap 17 to start the 18th. Materassi passed the finish line a few meters behind in Foresti's wake and moved to one side with the obvious intention of overtaking. In the blink of an eye his Talbot lurched alarmingly first right and then left, the car shot at incredible speed to the left, it passed the three meter wide strip of grass, the barbed wire fence and a three meter wide deep ditch lining the straight. It landed with a giant cloud of dust among the spectators that crowded the limits of the trench. The red car tragically mowed down the spectators at the edge of the ditch for 50 meters and then plunged into the ditch. The body of the poor Materassi was clearly seen to be thrown into the air. The frightened crowd immediately rushed to the site of the accident. With admirable promptness the police cordoned off the scene of the accident and hastened to give first aid to the 36 injured victims. But 22 spectators were dead having been struck by the car at no less than 185 km/h per hour and were reduced to pitiful corpses.       Messrs. Giunta, Casalini and Lessona, the Prefect of Milan, Senator Crespi, Arnaldo Mussolini and the Race Director Renzo Castagneto were rushed to the scene of the accident. They immediately realized the gravity of the situation and gave the necessary orders. The group had a meeting to see if it was appropriate to suspend the race. To proceed with the race despite the terrible situation was a prudent decision as a sudden stoppage would have evoked panic. Many of the spectators who had been direct witnesses of the accident left immediately and the remainder lost interest in the race. Referring to the causes of the disaster, one hour later the RACI released the following statement: "This morning at 11:30 AM at the Monza circuit in the race for the European Grand Prix a very serious accident occurred. The race driver Materassi drove at a speed of about 200 km/h and started the 18th lap. In an attempt to overtake the competitor Foresti on the straight facing the grandstands, he bumped with the right front wheel of his car [sic] into the left rear wheel of Foresti's car [sic]. His car careened wildly, crossed the lawn, the barrier and the ditch that divide the race track from the public, and swooped into the crowd. We regret the 19 [sic] dead and 26 [sic] injured some of them very seriously. Among the dead is apparently the race driver Materassi."       Meanwhile the race continued with the spectators calm and disciplined. Most spectators did not yet know about the disaster. But the battle continued, the drivers on the track guessed that the accident was not that serious and drove on. The Talbots abandoned the race in mourning and withdrew out of respect for their team leader's death. Comotti who was four laps behind with his Talbot completed 16 laps, Brilli Peri was one lap behind the leader and completed 17 laps, Brivio who was two laps behind completed 18 laps and Arcangeli 19. Tonini was two laps behind when he retired with lubrication problems on lap 18 but had completed just 15 laps. Foresti made a brief stop on lap 20 at the pits to change his goggles. His Bugatti had apparently not been damaged by Materassi's Talbot. Drouet who was 13th on lap 15, found himself in fifth place but was lapped by Chiron and Varzi. With Nuvolari about three quarters of a minute behind, subject to pit stops, it had become a two horse race. On the 20th lap Chiron passed Varzi to take the lead, finishing at 158.033 km/h average speed with the field in the following order after 200 km: 1. Chiron (Bugatti) 1h15m58.0s 2. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 1h15m58.8s 3. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 1h16m42.4s 4. Borzacchini (Maserati) 1h19m26.6s 5. Drouet (Bugatti) 1h19m52.0s - one lap behind 6. E. Maserati (Maserati) 1h22m06.8s - one lap behind 7. Bouriat (Bugatti) 1h23m05.0s - one lap behind 8. Maggi (Maserati) 1h23m12.0s - one lap behind 9. Blacque-Bélair (Bugatti) 1h23m19.0s - one lap behind 10. Foresti (Bugatti) 1h23m39.4s - two laps behind 11. Probst (Bugatti) 1h42m37.6s 12. D'Ahetze (Bugatti) 1h53m36.0s From lap 21 onwards only 12 cars were left in the race. Chiron held on to the lead, Varzi followed a few seconds behind and Nuvolari in third place lost ground. The battle was now between the first two, but Drouet, who drove fast and smoothly, attacked Borzacchini in fourth place. Maserati and Maggi continued their steady race while Foresti had engine problems. On lap 23, D'Ahetze stopped to refuel. Blacque-Bélair retired on lap 25. Chiron finished lap 25 at 159.010 km/h average speed with the field in this order: 1. Chiron (Bugatti) 1h34m20.0s 2. Varzi (Alfa Romeo) 1h34m29.0s 3. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 1h36m06.4s 4. Borzacchini (Maserati) 1h39m05.0s - one lap behind 5. Drouet (Bugatti) 1h39m05.4s - one lap behind 6. E. Maserati (Maserati) 1h41m45.0s - two laps behind 7. Maggi (Maserati) 1h43m02.4s - two laps behind 8. Foresti (Bugatti) 1h43m36.0s - two laps behind 9. Bouriat (Bugatti) 1h46m04.0s - three laps behind 10. Probst (Bugatti) 2h13m27.0s 11. D'Ahetze (Bugatti) 2h19m30.4s On lap 26 another bad accident happened at precisely the same point on the straight where Materassi had crashed except that it now happened on the inside track. When Blacque-Bélair retired he parked his Bugatti opposite the grand stands on the edge of the track, on the line of cones separating the two race tracks. Borzacchini, who raced in fourth position, arrived on the inner circuit. Apparently he did not realize that Blacque-Bélair's car was stopped in the middle of the track and collided at full speed with a front wheel into the stationary car. The impact was tremendous from which the Maserati emerged minus the wheel that had struck (some reports claim both front wheels). Borzacchini's car was catapulted at full speed and skidded out of control along the ground towards the alarmed dense crowd on the inside track separated only by a simple fence. The car tore down at least 20 meters of the barriers but nobody was injured. It came to a stop 200 meters beyond at the last pit against the fence where Borzacchini climbed out uninjured and was able to participate as a reserve driver a short time later. Thus, the best placed Maserati disappeared from the battle, having carried out a magnificent race. Maggi in the 1700 Maserati had followed a few meters behind Borzacchini and miraculously managed to avoid the out of control car. We could not find explanations as to why Blacque-Bélair's Bugatti was allowed to be parked dangerously between the two straights or whatever happened to his car after it was hit.       Ernesto Maserati had carburation trouble and pitted for seven minutes on lap 28. Bouriat also stopped on that lap to refuel for over eight minutes. Nuvolari stopped on the following lap for over six minutes which dropped him one lap down and gradually all the others made their pit stops at mid-race. There were no position changes for the first three from lap 26 to lap 30 when Chiron and Varzi both stopped to refuel the former in 1m40s and the latter in 1m45s. Varzi got out of the car to let Campari take over driving since he was the Monza specialist, a move that the spectators approved with great applause. Maggi also stopped on lap 30 for almost four minutes and handed the car over to Pastore. After the mid-race pit stops Chiron's average speed had dropped to 156.717 km/h with the field in the following order after lap 30: 1. Chiron (Bugatti) 1h54m51.4s 2. Varzi/Campari (Alfa Romeo) 1h55m05.4s 3. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 2h02m20.4s - one lap behind 4. Drouet (Bugatti) 2h03m21.6s - one lap behind 5. Maggi/Pastore (Maserati) 2h08m34.6s - two laps behind 6. E. Maserati (Maserati) 2h13m45.4s - three laps behind 7. Foresti (Bugatti) 2h13m55.0s - three laps behind 8. Bouriat (Bugatti) 2h19m46.8s - four laps behind 9. D'Ahetze (Bugatti) 2h44m57.4s 10. Probst (Bugatti) 2h45m17.6s After 31 laps Ernesto Maserati continued to fix a problem on his car and stopped at the pits each lap from 28 to 32. Foresti's Bugatti was in poor condition and continued to run at reduced speed. Probst stopped on lap 31 for over two minutes. Nuvolari's car was not strong enough to fight off the storming Drouet and he lost his third place when he was passed on lap 32. Campari was unable to make any impression on Chiron and was still 13 seconds behind. Chiron finished after 350 km at 157.107 km/h average speed when the order at lap 35 was as follows: 1. Chiron (Bugatti) 2h13m40.0s 2. Varzi/Campari (Alfa Romeo) 2h13m53.0s 3. Drouet (Bugatti) 2h21m13.4s - two laps behind 4. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 2h21m54.0s - two laps behind 5. Maggi/Pastore (Maserati) 2h30m00.4s - four laps behind 6. Foresti (Bugatti) 2h38m32.4s 7. Bouriat (Bugatti) 2h40m06.8s 8. E. Maserati (Maserati) 2h45m19.8s 9. Probst (Bugatti) 3h09m17.4s 10. D'Ahetze (Bugatti) 3h10m08.2s Pastore who had relieved Maggi on lap 30 did a few laps but apparently was too slow. He was called in on lap 37 to be replaced quickly by, unbelievably, but true, Borzacchini who jumped in the car, unimpaired by his crash. Campari who was unable to catch Chiron with Varzi's Alfa Romeo, was about 25 seconds behind the Frenchman. He stopped unexpectedly on lap 37 to let Varzi take over again but the exchange took 50 seconds. From this moment on, Varzi's race seemed hopelessly compromised. He attacked Chiron running now with laps in 3m41s and 3m40s but Chiron was alert and promptly responded to the attack. D'Ahetze and Probst stopped on lap 38 for spark plugs. Ernesto Maserati pitted almost every time from lap 36 to 39 to address a problem. After two-thirds of the race Chiron was still in the lead finishing lap 40 at 157.635 km/h average speed with the field in following order after 400 km: 1. Chiron (Bugatti) 2h32m15.0s 2. Varzi/Campari (Alfa Romeo) 2h33m21.6s 3. Drouet (Bugatti) 2h40m17.4s - two laps behind 4. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 2h41m38.8s - two laps behind 5. Maggi/Pastore/Borzacchini (Maserati) 2h51m53.8s - five laps behind 6. Bouriat (Bugatti) 3h00m04.0s 7. Foresti (Bugatti) 3h03m50.8s 8. E. Maserati (Maserati) 3h11m21.6s 9. D'Ahetze (Bugatti) 3h36m15.4s 10. Probst (Bugatti) 3h41m31.2s After lap 42, the race continued without position changes for many laps. Chiron maintained the lead with Varzi in second place about one minute behind. On lap 42 Drouet stopped for three minutes to fix a leaking pipe enabling Nuvolari to take back third position and to be sure of staying ahead of the French driver. Chiron finished lap 45 at 158.061 km/h average speed with the field in the following order after 450 km: 1. Chiron (Bugatti) 2h50m49.0s 2. Varzi/Campari (Alfa Romeo) 2h51m53.6s 3. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 3h01m32.4s - two laps behind 4. Drouet (Bugatti) 3h03m27.0s - two laps behind 5. Maggi/Pastore/Borzacchini (Maserati) 3h11m41.0s - five laps behind 6. Bouriat (Bugatti) 3h20m36.8s 7. Foresti (Bugatti) 3h26m33.2s 8. E. Maserati (Maserati) 3h30m52.0s 9. Probst (Bugatti) 4h07m36.8s On lap 46, Chiron and Varzi maintained their leading positions but with an increased gap of 1m08.6s. Borzacchini who had driven Maggi's 1700 Maserati at a fast pace for ten laps, was stopped by his team on lap 46 to hand the car back to Maggi who would drive the remaining laps. Bouriat stopped on the same lap for over four minutes. Foresti did likewise for nearly three minutes but continued with his engine running dreadfully. Chiron had slightly increased his pace after 500 km and beat Ascari's existing record. He finished at 158.478 km/h average speed with the field in the following order after 50 laps: 1. Chiron (Bugatti) 3h09m18.4s 2. Varzi/Campari (Alfa Romeo) 3h10m27.0s 3. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 3h21m31.0s - three laps behind 4. Drouet (Bugatti) 3h22m40.4s - three laps behind 5. Maggi/Pastore/Borzacchini (Maserati) 3h32m10.4s - five laps behind 6. Bouriat (Bugatti) 3h46m56.0s 7. E. Maserati (Maserati) 3h50m37.8s 8. Foresti (Bugatti) 3h52m40.4s After lap 51 Chiron remained in the lead further increasing his advantage over Varzi to 1m22.4s. On lap 54 Ernesto Maserati passed Bouriat's Bugatti to gain sixth place, while Foresti completed only 54 laps. Chiron finished lap 55 at 158.659 km/h average speed while the field remained in the same order: 1. Chiron (Bugatti) 3h27m59.6s 2. Varzi/Campari (Alfa Romeo) 3h29m22.0s 3. Nuvolari (Bugatti) 3h41m14.0s - three laps behind 4. Drouet (Bugatti) 3h41m57.2s - three laps behind 5. Maggi/Pastore/Borzacchini (Maserati) 3h52m00.0s - six laps behind 6. E. Maserati (Maserati) 4h10m29.6s 7. Bouriat (Bugatti) 4h57m10.8s Varzi appeared to have resigned himself to second place and the race ended without position changes. Drouet meanwhile had increased his pace trying to catch Nuvolari but did not succeed. At the end of 60 laps Chiron crossed the finish line after 3h45m08.6 s with an increased average speed of 159.898 km/h, a new record for Monza, beating Ascari's previous record of 3h47m13s at 158.439 km/h established in 1924. Varzi followed 2m20.4s behind in second place and was the only car on the same lap. Nuvolari and Drouet who had fallen four laps behind kept on driving to complete the full distance of 60 laps as did the 1700 Maserati of Maggi in fifth place. Maserati, Bouriat, Foresti, Probst and D'Ahetze followed next but were all flagged off. The latter two were not classified because they exceeded the maximum allowable time.       Chiron the brilliant winner of this race was deprived of the applause he deserved because the crowd was heavy-hearted due to the disaster. Chiron was only informed after the race about the terrible accident that had occured. He spoke words of regret for the victims and for his friend Materassi and immediately requested to visit his corpse in Monza, accompanied by Meo Costantini, Giulio Binda and Musy. In this way the winner of the Grand Prix of Europe made a tribute to the fallen of this day which will not be forgotten.