One man show

Earl Howe (Delage) completely dominated the event, lapping everyone else at least twice, to take the flag over 17 minutes before the next competitor. Steinweg (Amilcar) was second for most of the race but struck a late problem and had to let Barnes (works Austin) by. Of 17 starters only 8 were running in the end.

For details about the event, see the main race.       Unlike 1931 the 1500cc and 800cc classes raced together in 1932. They had to complete 10 laps Prizes were 2,500 RM, 1,000 RM, 800, RM, 600 RM, 400 RM & 300 RM for the top six finishers.

Entries: In the 1.5 litre class Swiss driver Henri Täuber entered an Alfa Romeo 6C-1500 and Earl Howe arrived with his six year old Delage, carried inside Howe's new Commer Invader van (see: 8w forix "Transports of delight").       Most of the entries were naturally German. Rudolf Steinweg from München entered his white Amilcar. The rest of the 1500cc field consisted entirely of Bugatti T37A drivers: Adolf Brudes from Breslau, Beatrice Gilka-Bötzow from Dresden, Willi Seibel from Diez an der Lahn, Czech driver Zdeněk Pohl and the mysterious "Fani", whose real name seems to have been Hans Holm von Wedelstaedt.       In the 800cc class Gerhard Macher from Berlin and Anton "Toni" Bauhofer from München were to race the DKW Stromlinienwagen they had finished 1st and 3rd with at the 1931 Avusrennen. Two other DKWs were entered by Hans Simons from Berlin and Kurt May.       The Austin works team had sent two of their special built Austin Seven "Rubber Duck" single seaters for their drivers Charles Goodacre and James Donald Barnes to race while Walter Bäumer from Bünde had entered an Austin Seven "Ulster".       "Bobby" Kohlrauch from München and Eugen Stößer racing BMW-Wartburgs, completed the entry list.

Race: Weather that had been hot and sunny all the week turned colder on Sunday with wind, clouds and occasional drops of rain. That did not hinder a record crowd of more than 200,000 spectators to gather at Avus for the races.       The event started off with Ernst Henne making a successful 500cc motorcycle speed record attempt. He had already on Saturday made a record in the 750cc class, doing 5 km in 1m22.30s equalling 218.71 km/h. Now, he did the same distance in 1m30.84s equalling 198.15 km/h.       Then it was time for the voiturette race and the 17 starters lined up for the start in 3-2-3 formation.       The positions in the grid are mostly unknown apart from the fact that Brudes definitely had the position to the right in the first row and that Howe was in the center of third row. According to The Motor Howe was in the second row (sic) behind Goodacre while Barnes and Brudes were in the first row.

18 Barnes Austin 17 Goodacre Austin 6 Brudes Bugatti 9 Seibel Bugatti 2 Steinweg Amilcar 15? Macher? DKW 1 Howe Delage 19 Bäumer Austin 7 Gilka-Bötzow Bugatti 8 Pohl Bugatti ? ? DKW? 20 May DKW ? ? DKW 12 Kohlrausch BMW 3 Täuber Alfa Romeo 11 Fani Bugatti 16? Stösser? BMW? (Note 1)

Once started the race was just about one man and one car: Earl Howe and the Delage. He went away with an incredible pace opening up the gap to the others by some 1m40s a lap. After half the race he had lapped everyone else. After eight laps he had lapped all the others twice. And that was on the almost 20 km long Avus. Even at the 2015 Le Mans even the slowest amateur GTE car made a better job to keep up with the overall leader (counting both overall results and fastest laps) than did the second positioned car at Avus 1932 when trying to keep up with Howe. That's how big the speed difference between Delage and the others was.       It did not help that many of the others were struggling. It started off with Gilka-Bötzow, who had to retire her Bugatti almost immediately with engine problems. She was soon followed by Brudes (oil leak), May (magnetto), Täuber (broken oil pipe or broken axle depending on source), Kohlrausch (distributor) and Stößer (engine). Bauhofer made a pit stop for repairs and then raced another lap before retiring with a broken suspension spring. When "Fani" retired with a broken crank shaft bearing almost half the field was already eliminated at half distance.       Far behind Howe Steinweg held second position until the end of the last lap when within sight of the finish the Amilcar suffered a fuel blockage and Steinweg had to slow down and see Barnes in his little Austin Rubber Duck pass for second while Steinweg rolled in to take the flag 8 seconds later for second position. Howe was waiting at the finish line for the ceremonies to start, having taken the chequered flag 17 minutes earlier.       Five cars remained in the race, as Simons had retired, but they were flagged off a lap early. The main event was planned to start 15 minutes after the finish of the voiturette race and the cars were already lined up at the grid and waiting.       It was one of the greatest walkovers in the history of motor racing. The Delage, one of the finest Grand Prix cars ever, had, 6 years old, shown its class. At the same time it had showed how slow the development had been in the voiturette classes during the last years and how much potential there was in the class for any manufacturer interested to build even a half decent car.       This particular Delage should however not see the end of the year. It was totally destroyed when hitting a tree at Monza on 11th September.

Manfred von Brauchitsch surprised at the international Avusrennen in Berlin

From the elite of 16 international drivers only five finished at this fastest high-speed race in Europe. Dreyfus was the first leader and had to stop his 16-cylinder Maserati after lap one. Divo in the 5-liter Bugatti then held the lead until lap five when his engine started leaking oil badly. World record holder Sir Malcolm Campbell in the 4-liter V-12 Sunbeam also retired early. From lap six onwards Caracciola with his 2.3-liter Alfa Romeo was in front. The young German von Brauchitsch in his strange looking streamlined 7.1-liter Mercedes-Benz SSKL followed closely. This duo provided an exciting battle for the lead until the end when von Brauchitsch came out on top as a surprising winner. Behind Caracciola were the Swiss Stuber (Bugatti) in third place, then the Germans Stuck (Mercedes-Benz SSKL) and Kotte (2.5-liter Maserati). Chiron and Varzi were not allowed to start. The remaining drivers all retired their cars, which did not hold up in this high-speed chase. Lewy (Bugatti) crashed on lap one, as did Czechoslovakian driver Prince Lobkowicz who died shortly thereafter in hospital.

In 1931, after an interruption of five years, the ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club) had once again staged an automobile race on the Avus at Berlin. The success of this event had surpassed all expectations and reassured the organizer to risk another race for 1932, although the economic conditions in Germany were not encouraging. The Avus could lay claim to the fastest automobile race in Europe. In 1931 the cars were racing along the open stretch at speeds of 230 km/h. On no other track were there such exceptionally high speeds as in Berlin, where the long Avus straights made such speeds possible. The circuit served both as an automobile test track and as a connecting road between Berlin and Potsdam, comprising two 9.5 km long parallel straights joined at the Potsdam end by the slightly banked South Loop and at the Berlin end in the North by a 180-degree flat bend. Only at these two turns did the drivers have to slow their speed to 70 or 80 km/h, otherwise they could get going at maximum speed on the two very long stretches. As a result tires were always of particular concern at the Avus. The previous year several drivers had had problems with their tires.       The event was again split into two separate races; Race 1, Class F-J racecars up to 1500 cc, which had to complete 10 laps or 195.561 km and Race 2, Class A-E racecars over 1500 cc, which had to do 15 laps equal to 294.426 km. The 1931 race had been won by Rudolf Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) when he completed the 15 laps in 1h35m07.6s at an average speed of 185.705 km/h. For 1932 a special prize of 1,000 Reichsmark was donated by Dr. Fritz Opel for the fastest lap. The winner of the Avusrennen was to receive 7,000 Reichsmark. The second-place finisher would receive 3,000 RM, the third 2,000 RM, fourth 1,000 RM, fifth 800RM and sixth 400 RM.

Entries: By April 26 the race secretary of the ADAC had already received 12 entries for racecars over 1500 cc and that grew to 17 entries by the middle of May. Ernst Henne, the fastest motorcycle rider in the world, was to open race day with some demo laps of his own. The first entry was the 270 hp Mercedes-Benz SSKL of Manfred von Brauchitsch, the same car that he had raced here the year before except it was now equipped with an ugly but effective streamlined body, painted silver, and built speedily in two weeks by Vetter in Cannstatt. The German designer Baron Reinhard Koenig-Fachsenfeld hoped that the aerodynamic improvements would increase the speed of the car by about 20 km/h to a calculated top speed of over 230 km/h, which would be equivalent to an increase of about 80 hp. The car was last year's SSKL and belonged to Baron von Zimmermann, who had sponsored von Brauchitsch since 1929. However, Daimler-Benz through Alfred Neubauer gave indirect support by performing a quick reconditioning of the engine and a new rear axle. This was not an official works entry because the Stuttgart factory management had decided not to support racing in 1932 due to the grave economic situation. Another Mercedes-Benz was driven by Hans Stuck, also a 7.1-liter SSKL, modified with a streamlined tail section. Stuck likewise was privately sponsored with minor support by the factory in the form of advise and help again from Alfred Neubauer. The famous Berlin driver Heinrich-Joachim von Morgen arrived with a white 2.3-liter Bugatti T51. He had returned his 5-liter Bugatti T54 to Molsheim, which he had raced at Tunis but had encountered various mechanical problems with this machine. The Type 51 was not as fast but substantially more reliable. At the Rome Grand Prix he was able to finish third with this car behind Fagioli and Taruffi, despite tire problems. Rudolf Caracciola, who had been hired for 1932 as a works driver for SA Alfa Romeo, appeared in a white Alfa Romeo Monza with a red radiator cowl and he also tried a second Monza, which was red. Ernst Kotte with his white 2.5-liter Maserati 26M was another German, as were Hermann Prinz zu Leiningen with his white 2.0-liter Bugatti and Hans Lewy in the latest 2.3-liter white Bugatti T51, both independent drivers. The Swiss Hans Stuber also arrived with a Bugatti T51, with a white body and red hood, while the Hungarian László Hartmann showed up with a red-white-green 2.3-liter Bugatti T35B. The Czechoslovakian Prince Georg-Christian Lobkowicz just recently purchased one of the 5-liter Bugattis which he entered here for the first time, painted white and blue in the Czechoslovakian colors.       Automobiles E. Bugatti works entries were received for Louis Chiron and Achille Varzi with Albert Divo and Guy Bouriat in reserve with the 5-liter Bugatti T54 and 2.3-liter T51. "Williams" came as an independent driver in a 2.3-liter Bugatti T51. Officine A. Maserati had originally entered two cars for Ernesto Maserati and René Dreyfus. During practice and the race Dreyfus drove the 16-cylinder car capable of over 260 km/h top speed and Luigi Fagioli the 2.8-liter 26M. Ernesto Maserati, who now managed the factory business, had decided that he should no longer race after the death of his brother Alfiero. He also wanted Dreyfus to have a trouble-free car with a chance of winning the race. World record holder Sir Malcolm Campbell brought along a 1926 4-liter V12 re-bodied 2-seat Sunbeam racecar, which produced 306 hp. Sir Henry (Tim) Birkin, was expected to enter his stripped down 4½-liter Bentley with a four-seater touring body, but neither car nor driver appeared. Juan Zanelli with an Alfa Romeo Monza was entered but did not show up. Austrian Charly Jellen was an early entry as was Italian Tazio Nuvolari but neither appeared for the race.

Practice: Due to the high speeds that were attained at the Avusrennen, great demands were made on the tires. The year before several drivers had been forced to change their tires during the race and lost much time because the tires did not last the distance. Therefore the Avus track had been opened several times during the weeks before the 1932 race for test drives. Hans Stuck with his 7.1-liter Mercedes-Benz undertook tire tests on May 9 that turned out relatively satisfactory. Less favorable results showed up during some drives with the Bugatti of Divo, who undertook tire tests for his teammates Varzi and Chiron. In one case a rear tire lasted just one lap. Teams were determined that the results of the race would not depend on failing tires.       AUTOMOBIL-REVUE reported that Hans Stuck with his Mercedes-Benz SSKL was successful during test drives before official practice, establishing a new Avus lap record in the fantastic time of 5m37s, an 209.1 km/h average speed, despite the fact that the track was not barricaded off and private cars were on the track. The previous record of 5m59s (196.3 km/h) had been put up by Caracciola with a Mercedes-Benz in 1931.       On Thursday morning, the first official practice day, Divo also was able to do some fast laps in the 5-liter factory Bugatti, capable of 260 km/h or better top speed. His best lap was at an outstanding 214 km/h, which was a new unofficial lap record. During the practice days many spectators were in attendance and displayed great interest in the proceedings. To their dismay only few drivers participated in Thursday's practice. Caracciola made some fast laps with his new Alfa Romeo, then pursued the streamlined 7.1-liter Mercedes-Benz SSKL of Manfred von Brauchitsch. A few of the small cars buzzed speedily around the track, to be followed by some of the big cars in the afternoon. Chiron appeared and was greeted cheerfully. Later everybody crowded around the British racing green Sunbeam Tiger of Campbell as it was pushed to the start. After the first lap he stopped and critically examined the car.       Friday was considerably busier. The Maserati team appeared early in the morning and put up several remarkable lap times, the fastest achieved by Dreyfus unofficially in 5m29s, a speed of 214.3 km/h. The Berlin daily "BZ am Mittag" reported that after only one lap by Dreyfus one of the tires had thrown a thread. It was suggested that they should change to Continentals. The Bugatti team had speedily ordered per telex special Dunlop tires from England, which were to arrive by plane. Temporarily, they had received a few of these tires from Caracciola, who had ordered them before, but had decided to use Continentals instead. Then Varzi and Chiron had these tires mounted not to the 5-liter Bugattis but to the smaller 2.3-liter cars. On Chiron's car they lasted ten laps. Consequently the Bugatti team felt inclined to race with the smaller cars instead of the 5-liter types and hesitated about which car to use before scrutiny on Saturday. The special Continental tires used at the previous Avusrennen sufficed the demands of 1931 when Caracciola drove the fastest lap at 196.3 km/h. But now lap speeds had climbed to 215 km/h, an increase of 10%. Last year's tires could not handle that speed. Varzi drove some laps and reached 5m28s with the 5-liter Bugatti, a speed of almost 215 km/h. For several laps Caracciola tried also a red Alfa Romeo Monza, which had arrived by truck during Friday's practice. He did not yet know whether he would start with the white or the red car. Then Stuck drove his SSKL for several laps and so did Stuber in his Bugatti. Later Campbell and Caracciola drove a few laps. The air was filled for hours with the droning and screaming of the engines. During a pause the motorcycle world record holder Ernst Henne established two new world records for 750- and 1000 cc motorcycles at 218.7 km/h.

Race: The International Avusrennen on Sunday was a major event for the people of Berlin and had been well promoted by the local press. After some warm days a slight rain shower came down Sunday morning. It was a cool day with cloud cover and a slight wind blowing. The drivers were most pleased with the weather not only for the engines but more so to keep the tire temperatures down. At the time of the start, the grandstands were tightly packed and along the entire course a gigantic crowd of over 200,000 spectators shoved their way. (MOTOR UND SPORT reported 150,000 to 160,000 paying spectators plus 50,000 non-paying onlookers but inflated figures of 250,000 and even 300,000 were also published. The ADAC Amtliche Mitteilungen reported that 83,000 tickets were sold for 210,000 RM. The cost for the Avusrennen was 205,000 RM, leaving a moderate 5,000 RM profit for the Club.)       The spectators greatly regretted the non-appearance of Louis Chiron and Achille Varzi. Although they had practiced with the factory cars, they did not show up for the start. Not only had both drivers entered at the Avusrennen but they had also submitted entries on the same day for the Grand Prix of Casablanca in Morocco. A protest had been lodged against their start in Berlin because double entries were not admissible. In order not to receive a disqualification, both drivers were not allowed to start. Divo in a 5-liter Bugatti T54 replaced Chiron and Bouriat drove for Varzi in a 2.3-liter T51 instead of the big Bugatti.       The event opened at 1:30 in the afternoon with a renewed record attempt by Henne on his BMW motorcycle. Despite a head-wind the rider was again able to establish a new international record over 5 km in both directions on his 500 cc BMW at a speed of 198.15 km/h. Shortly thereafter the 20 small cars started in the 10-lap overture of the Avusrennen, which was won by Earl Howe in his Delage. Finally the big cars lined up to the order of lots drawn.

46 Divo Bugatti 33 Caracciola Alfa Romeo 32 von Morgen Bugatti 36 "Williams" Bugatti 31 von Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz 40 Dreyfus Maserati 47 Bouriat Bugatti 39 Campbell Sunbeam 37 zu Leiningen Bugatti 43 Stuck Mercedes-Benz 41 Fagioli Maserati 48 Hartmann Bugatti 42 Stuber Bugatti 34 Kotte Maserati 44 Lewy Bugatti 38 Lobkowicz Bugatti

At the start Divo in the 5-liter Bugatti and Dreyfus in the 16-cylinder Maserati were fighting for the lead while "Williams", Fagioli, Caracciola and von Morgen followed some distance behind. After a few minutes when the cars returned to the start and finish at incredible speed, Dreyfus with his 16-cylinder Maserati was in the lead with a starting lap of 6m03.6s at 202 km/h, followed closely by Divo in the 5-liter Bugatti and 11 seconds behind was Bouriat's 2.3-liter Bugatti. Von Morgen stopped at his pit, as did Fagioli and Hartmann. Prinz zu Leiningen retired his Bugatti with a supercharger problem.       After the first lap the loudspeakers announced a serious accident. The Bugatti of the Czechoslovakian Prince Lobkowicz had left the track just before the South Loop. B. von Lengerke in MOTOR UND SPORT reported: "The regrettable accident happened at kilometer 7.7, near the Forsthaus where cars approached normally from the left side of the track for a slight right kink before turning right for the South Loop. A close group of three cars, at right front a blue car, behind in the middle Lobkowicz and to the left Lewy, who attempted to pass Prince Lobkowicz on the left at the Havelchaussee underpass, where Lewy scraped the concrete wall with the left rear wheel hub. Prince Lobkowicz who only now noticed the passing car, gave way, but was afraid to hit the grass to the right of the track and moved again to the left, whereby he must have underestimated the speed of over 200 km/h and turned too sharply to the left. His car skidded sideways, side-slipped in its entire width across the eight meter wide grass median, made a jump and crashed tumbling onto the raised railway embankment beyond the second straight." The Freiburger Zeitung wrote that the driver was thrown onto the railroad tracks above from where he was brought immediately to the nearby Hildegard Hospital. The author Erwin Tragatsch recounted that Lobkowicz died hours later from his severe head injuries without having regained consciousness.       Lewy instinctively had pulled his car to the left onto the grass median to avoid a collision with the out of control Lobkowicz in front of him crossing the track. Lewy briefly rolled along the second straight where Divo was approaching from the opposite side, brought his car back onto the median, then the left front wheel broke apart when the car hit a ditch. ADAC in Motorwelt wrote that wheel splinters were flying against Divo's car, which at this moment passed on the second straight coming from the South turn. Lewy who by good luck had missed Lobkowicz's car and Divo's Bugatti, Divo fortunately remained uninjured. After the first lap the cars passed the finish in this order: 1. Dreyfus (Maserati) 2. Divo (Bugatti) 3. Bouriat (Bugatti) 4. Caracciola (Alfa Romeo) 5. "Williams" (Bugatti) 6. v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 7. Stuber (Bugatti) 8. Campbell (Sunbeam) 9. Stuck (Mercedes-Benz) 10. v. Morgen (Bugatti) 11. Fagioli (Maserati) 12. Kotte (Maserati) 13. Hartmann (Bugatti) After lap two Divo was leading in the big Bugatti, although the race average had now dropped to 200 km/h. After 27 seconds there followed Bouriat and Caracciola close together, then the streamlined Mercedes and von Morgen who had made up time after his pit stop. Next came Stuck, then "Williams" who stopped at his pit. Dreyfus had serious problems with a sticking throttle, Fagioli stopped for spark plugs and Hartmann retired with a damaged engine. After lap two the order was: 1. Divo (Bugatti) 2. Bouriat (Bugatti) 3. Caracciola (Alfa Romeo) 4. v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 5. v. Morgen (Bugatti) 6. Stuck (Mercedes-Benz) 7. "Williams" (Bugatti) 8. Stuber (Bugatti) 9. Campbell (Sunbeam) 10. Kotte (Maserati) 11. Fagioli (Maserati) 12. Dreyfus (Maserati) On the third lap the front part of the field remained in the same order. Campbell returned from the South Loop with a heavily smoking car and retired his Sunbeam with a broken oil pipe. "Williams" and Dreyfus headed for the pits to change spark plugs and had fallen to the end of the field while Stuber stopped to get new tires. After lap three the order was: 1. Divo (Bugatti) 2. Bouriat (Bugatti) 3. Caracciola (Alfa Romeo) 4. v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 5. v. Morgen (Bugatti) 6. Stuck (Mercedes-Benz) 7. Stuber (Bugatti) 8. Kotte (Maserati) 9. Fagioli (Maserati) 10. "Williams" (Bugatti) 11. Dreyfus (Maserati) At the end of lap four Bouriat had fallen from second to eighth place and slowly rolled to his pit. The engine was inspected for some time and then the car was pushed onto the center median with a broken supercharger Caracciola had now inherited second position, followed by von Brauchitsch and Stuck. Von Morgen lost time while he had his Bugatti's engine inspected and Fagioli had to stop once again for more spark plugs. After four laps the cars passed the finish in this order: 1. Divo (Bugatti) 2. Caracciola (Alfa Romeo) 3. v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 4. Stuck (Mercedes-Benz) 5. Stuber (Bugatti) 6. Kotte (Maserati) 7. "Williams" (Bugatti) 8. Bouriat (Bugatti) 9. Fagioli (Maserati) 10. v. Morgen (Bugatti) 11. Dreyfus (Maserati) After five laps the race average had fallen to 199 km/h. Divo was still leading Caracciola by 40 seconds. "Williams" who had pitted early on made up a lot of time and turned one lap at 207 km/h average. Stuck brought his Mercedes in for spark plugs and lost valuable time. After five laps the order was: 1. Divo (Bugatti) 2. Caracciola (Alfa Romeo) 3. v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 4. Stuck (Mercedes-Benz) 5. Stuber (Bugatti) 6. "Williams" (Bugatti) 7. Kotte (Maserati) 8. Fagioli (Maserati) 9. v. Morgen (Bugatti) 10. Dreyfus (Maserati) At the completion of lap six Caracciola's Alfa Romeo was in the lead. Close behind him followed still the young German v. Brauchitsch in his streamlined Mercedes-Benz and there was a long interval to "Williams" in third place. At the end of the sixth lap Divo, who had dictated a hellish speed, arrived at the North Turn enveloped in a cloud of smoke and stopped at his pit with a broken oil pipe. This Bugatti also ended up on the center grass median. Von Morgen who had stopped several times at his pit, retired his Bugatti because of a cracked coolant manifold on top of the engine, which had broken a few days ago, was poorly repaired and now leaked water onto the sparkplugs. The order after six laps was: 1. Caracciola (Alfa Romeo) 2. v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 3. "Williams" (Bugatti) 4. Stuber (Bugatti) 5. Stuck (Mercedes-Benz) 6. Kotte (Maserati) 7. Fagioli (Maserati) 8. Dreyfus (Maserati) There were no changes on lap seven except that Stuck passed Stuber for fourth place. 1. Caracciola (Alfa Romeo) 42m32.2s = 194.5 km/h 2. v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 42m34.4s = 194.3 km/h 3. "Williams" (Bugatti) 45m07.8s = 183.2 km/h 4. Stuck (Mercedes-Benz) 5. Stuber(Bugatti) 6. Kotte (Maserati) 7. Fagioli (Maserati) 8. Dreyfus (Maserati) Münchner Neueste Nachrichten reported that on lap eight von Brauchitsch went by Caracciola and passed the finish in first place, shadowed by the Alfa Romeo. But then Caracciola took the lead again and the young German contented himself by again following closely. The fight between the two Germans, which had started on lap two, became increasingly severe. While Caracciola in the nimble Alfa Romeo always gained an advantage in the corners, the bulky Mercedes-Benz made up the lost time on the straights. At one time both Germans drove next to each other, then again behind each other and the battle raged with enormous vehemence lap after lap along the track. The spectators took very great interest in the uniquely sharp duel of the leading drivers. Von Brauchitsch was regularly informed by his pit through signs and flags, displayed by Mercedes team manager Alfred Neubauer and mechanic Willy Zimmer. After a tire replacement Dreyfus had previously gone out to establish the fastest lap of the race in 5m35.45s at 209.84 km/h and won the donated prize of 1,000 RM. In his book "My Two Lives" Dreyfus remembered: "I began having trouble with a sticking accelerator, and then the butterfly of the carburetor snapped. I pushed the enormous car several hundred yards to the pits..."After a long time Ernesto Maserati had fixed the broken throttle of the carburetor, but two laps later, on lap eight Dreyfus had to retire his Maserati with a defective carburetor throttle. "Williams", whose Bugatti lay for a long time close behind the two Germans in third place, fell back with supercharger problems. Stuber again found a way around Stuck's Mercedes and Fagioli once more had spark plugs changed on his Maserati. The order looked different after lap eight: 1. v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 2. Caracciola (Alfa Romeo) 3. Stuber (Bugatti) 4. Stuck (Mercedes-Benz) 5. Kotte (Maserati) 6. "Williams" (Bugatti) 7. Fagioli (Maserati) On the ninth lap Caracciola regained first place, Williams retired with a bad supercharger and Fagioli climbed out of his Maserati with the spark plug problem still unresolved. Now only five cars were left. 1. Caracciola (Alfa Romeo) 2. v. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 3. Stuber (Bugatti) 4. Stuck (Mercedes-Benz) 5. Kotte (Maserati) On the tenth lap only one position changed, Stuck passed the grandstand ahead of Stuber and their battle continued. After 11 laps the same five cars remained in the race. While Caracciola and von Brauchitsch carried on with their desperate battle for the lead, half a lap behind a similar fierce duel for third and fourth place kept going between Stuber in his Bugatti and Stuck in the Mercedes-Benz. The quick Swiss driver succeeded in freeing himself from the tough Mercedes driver on the eleventh lap, so that Stuber could place himself behind the leading pair. Stuck was no longer able to maintain his previous speed, because the oil pressure of the Mercedes' engine was too low and therefore he could not risk bringing the engine to full revolutions. Stuck had to stop once more at his pit and thereby lost even more time.       There were no further position changes from lap 12 to 14. Caracciola and von Brauchitsch on one hand and Stuber and Stuck on the other hand, these were now the four drivers, between which the race would be decided. Caracciola was leading von Brauchitsch at the grandstand by 2 to 3 seconds, while Stuber in third place followed with a gap of several minutes. Stuck had fallen further back and obviously slowed down near the end of the race. The closer the end drew near, the stronger grew the tension, because it was still entirely uncertain who would pass the finish in first place. Could the young von Brauchitsch succeed in beating the great Caracciola?       The last lap started with Caracciola in the lead and brought a tremendous climax to the battle. As Caracciola and von Brauchitsch left the south loop, the Alfa Romeo was still about 100 meters ahead. But the streamlined Mercedes whizzed with a speed of over 230 km/h along the straight and passed Caracciola. The silver Mercedes entered the North Turn only five seconds ahead, the last critical stumbling block. But the little white Alfa Romeo could not catch his heavy opponent and von Brauchitsch passed the finish just 3.6 seconds ahead of Caracciola. With this forced demonstration von Brauchitsch established the first noteworthy victory of his career. Enormous applause surrounded the young German. Both drivers had Continental tires mounted, which lasted brilliantly since neither driver had to undertake the generally expected tire change. Again after almost four minutes the crowd burst out in celebration when Stuber arrived as third finisher. For Stuber the race was a great success, especially since he was an independent driver who did not have the resources, equipment or preparation of a works or semi-works driver. Stuck and Kotte were the last two finishers.

Lehoux wins after Wimille retires

The race was run the same day as Avusrennen with mostly French drivers. Wimille (Bugatti T51) dominated the first part of the race but then had to retire with engine failure giving the victory to Lehoux (Bugatti T54). Behind them Etancelin (Alfa Romeo) eventually proved victorious in a fight against the Bugattis of Czaykowski and Falchetto to finish second from Czaykowski. In the voiturette class the Maseratis dominated with Veyron winning after Joly retired.

The Casablanca Grand Prix was organized for the second time on the roads of Anfa, west of the city center of Casablanca in Marocco. The event included a combined car race for the Formula Libre and the 1.5 litre voiturette classes and motorcycle races.       For 1932 there was a totally new course, located a bit more east than the former one. It circled the Bourgogne district and had a length of 8.861 km. Using modern street names the route went like this: Boulevard de la Cornice - Boulevard Mohamed Zerktouni - Boulevard d'Anfa- Boulevard Franklin Roosevelt.

Entries: There was quite a scandal as Achille Varzi and Louis Chiron, both Bugatti factory drivers, had submitted entries for both the Avusrennen and Grand Prix of Casablanca, run on the same day. Obviously some of the Maserati drivers racing at Avus had also made a promise to the Casablanca organizers to attend but went to Berlin instead. When it became obvious that the Bugatti team would go to Berlin the angry Casablanca organizers sent a protest to A.I.A.C.R. against the two Bugatti drivers because double entries were not admissible, and in the end Varzi and Chiron were not allowed to start at Avus. The French Automobile Club also decided that from 1 August onwards, works drivers themselves had no longer the right to submit entries to a race but it should be handled by the factory.       Still most of the French elite were present at Anfa. Just as in Oran Philippe Etancelin and Italian Goffredo Zehender entered Alfa Romeo Monzas and Jean de Maleplane a Maserati. Pierre Félix entered a Monza as well.       Lehoux was back with the big Bugatti T54 he had raced at Tunis and his protégé Guy Moll was to race Lehoux's T35C.       Wimille entered his Oran GP winning Bugatti T51 and there were three additional Bugatti T51entries from Count Czaykowski, Jean Gaupillat and Nimes winner Benoit Falchetto.       Bugatti T35Cs were also entered by Louis-Aimé Trinignant, Charles Druck, Dominici, and Mlle. "Helle Nice" but for some reason the latter did not appear.       There were 14 Bugattis in total in the race and of them five Bugatti entries in the 1.5 liter voiturette class: Mlle. Itier, Emmanuel Galba, Henri Durand, André Vagniez and Chiquito. In that class, however, the 8 cylinder Maseratis entered by Pierre Veyron and Louis Joly had the edge over the 4 cylinder Bugattis, as had the Amilcar entered by José Scaron.

Race: A huge crowd gathered on the grandstands and the streets. The weather was excellent for the spectators but a strong sea breeze gave the drivers headwind and lowered the top speed on the straight along the coast.       The event started off with 350cc and 500cc motorcycle races and at 2.40 p.m. it was time for the cars. They were lined up three and three on the grid like this (probably in number order):

6 Falchetto Bugatti 4 Etancelin Alfa Romeo 2 Wimille Bugatti 10 Gaupillat Bugatti 18 Czaykowski Bugatti 16 de Maleplane Maserati 14 Zehender Alfa Romeo Dominici Bugatti Trintignant Bugatti Lehoux Bugatti Moll Bugatti Druck Bugatti Félix Alfa Romeo Scaron Amilcar Joly Maserati Rose-Itier Bugatti Vagniez Bugatti Durand Bugatti Galba Bugatti Chiquito Bugatti Veyron Maserati

Wimille took the start to lead the race from Lehoux, Falchetto, Etancelin and Czaykowski. To the surprise of many Wimille immediately started to open up a gap to more seasoned Lehoux with his bigger car while Falchetto, Etancelin and Czaykowski started an internal fight for third position that went on for much of the race.       Zehender and Moll fell back and were early retirements.       Etancelin found a way past Falchetto and after 10 laps Wimille was leading Lehoux by 16 seconds while Etancelin was 40s further behind, still closely followed by Falchetto and Czaykowski. The latter eventually found a way past Falchetto and later possibly temporarily past Etancelin as well.       At half distance Wimille was leading Lehoux by 52 seconds. They were followed by Etancelin, Czaykowski, de Maleplane, Veyron (1500cc) and Gaupillat. On lap 28 Wimille made his routine pit stop for fuel and tyres, giving the lead temporarily over to Lehoux. But a lap later it was Lehoux' turn to make his pit stop and the situation went back to what it had been.       Then on the 32rd lap Wimille suddenly retired with an engine trouble and Lehoux once again took the lead of the race, now 2 minutes in front of Etancelin. Several other drivers had retired as well including Trintignant, Felix and Druck and after coming up through the field Gaupillat had to call it a day as well.       So at the end Lehoux, in his big T54, won the race in convincing style, lapping all but Etancelin, who finished 3 1/2 minute behind the winner with his blue Monza. Count Czaykowski was third and Falchetto fourth. De Maleplane and Dominici were the only other finishers in the Grand Prix class.       On the slowing down lap Falchetto crashed his Bugatti and the driver was sent to hospital by ambulance. There it was found he had got hit on the hip but that it was nothing serious. Indeed Falchetto would race again two weeks later at the Picardie GP.       In the 1500cc class Joly took the lead with his Maserati. He was followed by Veyron in the other Maserati and Scaron in the Amilcar, while the Bugatti entries were also runs. After a while Scaron fell behind the Maserati duo and when Joly retired Veyron took over the lead to win the race by over 1 1/2 minute from Bugatti driver Durand.       Scaron obviously struck some kind of serious problem during the latter part of the race as he in the end lost 6 ½ minutes to Durand and finished a distant third.