PART 1
INTRODUCTION:The Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR), (Note 1) the controlling body of motor sport in the 30s, introduced at 12 October 1932 a new Grand Prix formula for the 1934 season. The main requirements of this formula were:
2. A minimum bodywork width of 850 mm at the driving seat. (Note 2) 3. Free choice of fuel. 4. All races must be over a minimum distance of 500 kilometers. (Note 3) By 1932 it was considered that the racing cars were becoming too fast so the new formula was intended to keep racing on its existing level. The old Alfa Romeo, Bugatti and Maserati GP cars could adopt to the new formula with ease and the twin-engined monsters built by Alfa Romeo and Maserati during the free formula would be outlawed. However AIACR had not foreseen what modern high technology and new lightweight metallurgy would do to the new 750 kg rules. Two German companies showed their interest in building a Grand Prix car. Mercedes-Benz had been out of racing during the Great Depression but had not stopped planning racing cars. And the new company Auto Union, an amalgamation of manufacturers DKW, Audi, Horch and Wanderer, was seeking new ways to make their products known to the public. Among their employees they had Prof. Ferdinand Porsche , who enthusiastically called for building a Grand Prix car to the new formula. The German companies got their full support from Adolf Hitler's new Nazi regime, who saw motor racing as an excellent opportunity for propaganda. Transport Minister Brandenburg offered 500,000 RM yearly subsidy to the manufacturer of a successful GP car plus bonuses of 20,000, 10,000 and 5,000 RM for podium finishes. As both Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz showed their interest the subsidy was divided, each team receiving 250,000 RM. While the sums vary according to sources it has been estimated that the subsidies paid for about 1/5 of the teams' total costs. The Italian manufactures had not as large budgets as their German competitors. However, while Hitler had no real interest in motor racing except for its propaganda value and never attended any Grand Prix (Note 4), Italian dictator Mussolini was a firm racing enthusiast and Alfa Romeo fan, showing great interest in the teams, their drivers and results. Mussolini therefore organized Alfa Romeo to work under state owned "Istituto di Ricostruzione Industriale (IRI)" and was that way able to put government money into motor racing. While history was to be made in GP racing during the 1934 season, in the Voiturette class there was still a calm before the storm. The 1500cc class was not all that popular so the race calendar was rather thin. The race organizers still preferred Grand Prix racing and in France and Italy several Voiturette races were still run to the 1100cc formula. Soon however as the Germans started to dominate Grand Prix racing and the costs of racing in the GP class went sky high, more and more people started to show interest in Voiturette racing, first the privateer drivers but later also the Italian manufacturers. |
1934 SEASON LINEUP:GRAND PRIX:
After a 3 year pause Mercedes-Benz made their comeback to Grand Prix racing in 1934 with their new W25 car with independent suspension and a 3.3 litre engine. As drivers the team signed their former ace Rudolf Caracciola and young Manfred von Brauchitsch, with motor cycle racer Ernst Henne as reserve. However, after having spent almost a year in bed after a serious crash in Monaco 1933 and after having lost his wife in an ski accident, Caracciola was both physically and mentally a complete question mark as driver. Mercedes team manager Alfred Neubauer therefore decided to also sign Italian top driver Luigi Fagioli to take over as first driver if Caracciola's comeback should fail. Auto Union Newcomers Auto Union introduced their revolutionary rear engined 4.3 litre Auto Union A, also known as the P-wagen. Ex. racing driver Willy Walb functioned as team manager and Ferdinand Porsche as technical expert. As drivers the team selected a German duo of top driver Hans Stuck and the lesser known Hermann zu Leiningen with August Momberger and Wilhelm Sebastian as reserves. Both the Mercedes and the Auto Union cars introduced streamlined chassis and independent suspension on all four wheels. Car set up was however in its infancy at that time and the drivers had serious problems during the season trying to come to grips with the unfamiliar and difficult handling of the new cars. Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo produced a new, more powerful 2.9 litre version of their 1932 Tipo B Monoposto car (popularly known as the P3). For Formula Libre(Note 5) events they retained their old twin-engined Tipo A monsters. The factory cars were raced under the Scuderia Ferrari banner. Ferrari had a very able team lineup including veteran aces Achille Varzi & Louis Chiron, sensational new top driver Guy Moll, and also Count Trossi & Marcel Lehoux. In October 1933 Alfa Romeo announced that they would built Tipo B cars for sale (25 cars!) and orders dropped in from among others Lehoux, Étancelin, Earl Howe and Rose-Richards. But soon afterwards Alfa changed their mind and refused to sell any Monopostos to private owners, who had to rely on the Tipo B 2.6 litre or on the old 2.3 litre "Monza" cars. Maserati Maserati retained their 3.0 litre 8CM cars and just increased the chassis width to comply with the new regulations. The Maserati 8CM was the most popular car among the privateers with cars supplied to Gruppo Genovese San Giorgio with drivers Renato Balestrero and Clemente Biondetti, Scuderia Siena and team Whitney Straight. Privateers Tazio Nuvolari, Earl Howe and Philippe Étancelin also had their own Maseratis. Late in the season the new 6C-34 appeared with the 8CM chassis combined with a new hastily built 6 cylinder engine. The German cars had problems in their early races so for most of the 1934 season Alfa Romeo and Maserati were still able to race for the victory. This was however the last year the Italians could fight on equal terms with the Germans, by the end of the season it was clear to most people what was to come in the future. Bugatti Bugatti had introduced their 3 litre Type 59 in 1933. They developed a new 3.3 litre variant of the car in the middle of the 1934 season. Ex. driver Bartolomeo "Meo" Constantini functioned as team manager. As driver they recruited the rather wild young Jean-Pierre Wimille, who had driven private Bugattis with some success. Soon the team found that new Bugatti was both unreliable and outclassed by the German cars and there was not much effort put into any development programme.
Maserati continued to supply a limited numbers of its 4C-1500 car from 1932. The fields sometimes also included old Tipo 26 cars (from 1926). The strongest Maserati team was the Scuderia Subalpina with Count Lurani, Count Castelbarco and young Giuseppe Farina as drivers. Bugatti Bugatti had no time or money for developing their T 51 Voiturettes from 1931. The great days of the Molsheim manufacturer were over and Bugatti drivers like Pierre Veyron and E.G. Burggaller had a hard time trying to come to terms with the Maseratis. ERA An exiting newcomer to the scene was the British ERA, a company formed by drivers Raymond Mays and Humphrey Cook The new car made its race debut in May and in October Mays took the car's first international victory. Other British newcomer Dick Seaman raced MG's, first for Whitney Straight, later as privateer. Earl Howe entered his ancient 1.5 litre GP Delage from 1927 in some events. |
 | JANUARY 1934: Auto Union tested their new "P" car at Nürburgring while Ferrari drivers Varzi and Tadini tested the Alfa Romeo Tipo B at Montenero | ||
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28 JANUARY 1934. Sundstedt (Bugatti T35B) wins the first FREDENLOPPET ice race on Lake Freden - Västerås, Sweden from Carlsson (Ford) and
P-W Widengren (Mercedes SSK).
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FEBRUARY 1934: Mercedes tested their new W25 cars at Monza. Von Brauchitsch had a bad crash
due to tyre failure. | |
I VALLENTUNALOPPET Vallentunasjön (S), 18 FEBRUARY 1934 10 laps x 4 km = 40 km, 10 starters. Weather: sunny 35000 spectators turned up for the ice race held on a lake north of Stockholm. The entry list consisted mostly of drivers from the Nordic countries, Pietsch (Alfa Romeo Monza) being the most notable foreigner. When the flag dropped Pietsch took the early lead followed by Bjørnstad (Alfa Romeo Monza) and Ebb (Mercedes-Benz SSK) but on lap four Pietsch made a mistake in a curve and had to take the escape road leaving over the lead to Bjørnstad. However, on lap five Ebb, who was second, had to retire with engine failure and on the next lap Bjørnstad suffered a puncture. Pietsch was now back in the lead and held it to the finish followed by local driver Johnsson and Finnish driver Keinänen.
No grid available. Race numbers were:
40 Johansson, 41 P-W Widengren, 42 Ebb, 43 Larsson, 44 Pietsch, 45 Sundstedt,
47 H Widengren, 48 Keinänen, 50 Bjørnstad, 51 Carlsson
DNA: 46 L. Bergström (Buick), 49 Gustafsson (Miller Spl.)
Results:
1 Pietsch (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.6L) 19:40.9 (121.9 km/h, 75.8 mph)
2 Johnsson (Bugatti T43 2.3L) + 47.0
3 Keinänen (Chrysler Special 6.3L) + 2:41.2
4 Carlsson (Ford special)
DNF H Widengren (Mercedes-Benz SSK 7.1L)
DNF Ebb (Mercedes-Benz SSK 7.1L)
DNF Sundstedt (Bugatti T35B)
DNF Bjørnstad (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3L?)
DNF Larsson (Ford Special)
DNF P-W Widengren (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3L)
Fastest lap N/A
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NORGES GRAND PRIX MJØSA - Lillehammer (N), 25 FEBRUARY 1934 15 laps x 10 km = 150 km, 12 starters. The Norwegian Grand Prix or "Mjøsløpet" was run as an ice race on the lake Mjøsa south of Lillehammer. It was the third year in a row that KNA had been forced to use lake Mjøsa instead of the traditional lake Gjersjøen. Barges frozen into the lake served as grandstands for the 15000 spectators. British driver Paul Jacot was unable to start after engine failure during Saturday practice and Jac Hansen with a Chrysler was another non-starter. There had been worries before the race that the sharp nails used in ice racing should drop off the tyres and then create a multitude of punctures. Sunday at 2.30 p.m. the racing cars lined up in a row with Pietsch starting from pole position and with the sports car in a second row behind . Pietsch took the start but almost immediately the engine started to misfire and Widengren took over the lead. Hovde had remained on the starting line with a dead engine and it took 4 1/2 minutes before he could start. Pietsch was also standing still for some 5 minutes before he could rejoin. Widengren led followed by Bjørnstad, Sundstedt and Isberg but Sundstedt was soon out with engine failure. On lap three Bjørnstad had to pit with a puncture on the right rear wheel giving Isberg second place in the race that the later held to the finish. After his stop Bjørnstad tried to catch the leaders only to have to retire a few laps later with a new puncture. After stong performances both Pietsch and Hovde also had to retire leaving only two cars left in the racing class with the Swedish driver Widengren in his Alfa taking the flag as the winner. Johansen was the winner of the sports car class. Grid:
DNS: Jacot (?), J Hansen (Chrysler) Results: (Note 6) 1 Widengren (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3 L) 1:19:39 (113.0 km/h, 70.2 mph) 2 Isberg (Bugatti) + 9:40 3 Johansen (Ford Special) + 22:20/ sports 4 Andersen (Ford Special) + 24:09/+ 22:20? sports 5 Breiseth (Ford Special) + 24:09/+ 40:21? sports 6 Haeseler (Triumph) + 47:10 sports 7 Lassen (MG) + 50:57 sports DNF Pietsch (Alfa Romeo) 13 laps engine DNF Hovde (Bugatti T35C 2.0L) 13 laps DNF Lühr (Bugatti) 8 laps puncture DNF Bjørnstad (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3L? 7 laps puncture sports DNF Sundstedt (Bugatti) 1 lap engine Fastest lap Widengren (Alfa Romeo) |
| MARCH 1934: Fagioli was called in to continue the Mercedes-Benz tests at Monza. |
| 6 MARCH 1934: Auto Union tested at Berlin AVUS. Stuck made three new world records on the fast track. |
| 19 MARCH 1934: Lea-Wright (Singer) wins the Australian GP handicap race at Phillip Island. |
| MARCH 1934: Mercedes tested at Nürburgring. Henne had a heavy crash. |
VI GRAND PRIX DE MONACO CIRCUIT DE MONACO (MC), 2 APRIL 1934 (Monday) 100 laps x 3.180 km = 318km
All the Maserati drivers were in trouble because their cars had proved overweight and eventually they had to fit alloy wheels to come under the weight limit. Étancelin had to fit aluminium wings level with the driver's seat to make his 1933 car to comply with the new minimum width requirement. Trossi made a fastest time of 1:59 during the first day and was 1 second faster on Saturday. Both Straight and Benoist crashed during practice. Straight was able to repair his car with flown in spare parts while Benoist was a non-starter. Grid:
Race:The season started at Monaco on Easter Monday. Before the start of the race Caracciola, who had crashed in Monaco the year before, did a slow lap of honor around the track under applauds from the spectators. Trossi had put his Alfa Romeo on the pole position but when the flag dropped Dreyfus was fastest. But almost immediately Chiron came from behind to take an early lead followed by Dreyfus, Étancelin, Varzi, Moll, Taruffi, Nuvolari and Straight. Trossi was in for new plugs on lap two. A hard fight for the third position between Étancelin and Varzi ended when the latter had to do a two minute stop with plug, brakes and magneto problems. A fight between Nuvolari and Taruffi resulted in a spin for Taruffi as he came out of the tunnel. Étancelin closed up on Dreyfus and soon he took the Maserati up to second place and Étancelin continued his high speed advance, trying to catch Chiron's Alfa. The order after 20 laps was Chiron, Étancelin, Dreyfus, Moll, Nuvolari, Taruffi, Straight, Lehoux, Siena, Varzi, Balestrero and Veyron. At half distance Ètancelin, who was 46 seconds behind the leading Alfa, overdid it at the station hairpin (Loews), crashed into the sand bags and had to retire with broken steering. The other Maserati cars were unable to challenge the Ferrari-Alfa Romeo duo of Chiron and Moll, who had taken over the second place on lap 65 when Dreyfus made a stop to attend to a slipping clutch. Both Trossi and Varzi had made further pitstops. Varzi had clearly given up any hope for a good position and was now cruising around with a cigar in his mouth! Nuvolari was up to third but had to fall back with brake troubles. Chiron had almost a one lap lead but with just two laps to go he made a mistake and run into the sandbags at the station hairpin. It took three minutes before Chiron had managed to pull the Alfa out of the sandbags and restart. He returned to the race in second place behind Moll and it was Moll who took the flag a minute in front of his teammate. The best of the Maserati drivers, Taruffi, laying fourth had to retire on the very last lap with misfire so Alfa Romeos and Bugattis filled the top six positions with the Maseratis following. Howe, who had had carburation trouble throughout the race, limped home 10th and last. The result was a sensation as this was Ferrari recruit Moll's first race as a works driver! It proved also to be the greatest moment of the young Algerian's short racing career.
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| 7 APRIL 1934: Varzi / Bignami (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.6L) wins the MILLE MIGLIA sports car race in Italy. (Results) |
| 19 APRIL 1934: Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union teams decided together what races to start in during the 1934 season. |
CIRCUITO DI PIETRO BORDINO ALESSÁNDRIA (I), 22 APRIL 1934 2 heats of 8 laps x 8 km = 64 km, 15 lap final x 8 km = 120 km
Just as in 1933 the event consisted of two eight lap (64 km) heats with the five best drivers from each heat going to the 15 lap (120 km) final. Entries: The entry list was much dominated by the Alfa Romeos. Scuderia Ferrari entered a stong team for the race. Moll was left resting after his Monaco victory but the team sent Chiron, Varzi, Tadini, Comotti and Trossi to race the P3s, of which at least two had the new enlarged 2.9 litre engines. Scuderia Sciena, Scuderia Subalpina and Scuderia Balestrero turned up with Alfa Romeo Monzas. There was also a long series of private Monza entries: Penn-Hughes, Sofietti, Pietch, Minozzi, Pages, Battaglia, Giussani and Bonetto. Nuvolari, disappointed with the performance of the Bugatti T59 at Monaco (insufficient acceleration and unreliable brakes), was back at the wheel of his 3 litre Maserati 8CM. Other Maserati 8CM cars were entered by Scuderia Balestrero, Gruppo San Giorgio, Scuderia Siena and Hans Rüesch. Some Bugattis, some 1.5 litre Maseratis and a MG completed the entries. With so many entries the organizers even considered a "B-final" but were in the end unable to run one within the current rules. Practice: Nuvolari gave a good impression during practice setting in a series of very fast laps on the avenues of leafless trees, being faster than his main rivals Varzi and Chiron. Other active drivers during the practice session included Tadini, Delmot, Minozzi, Soffietti, Biondetti, Pedrazzini, Trossi and Cecchini. Swiss drivers Maag and Rüesch seem both to have went off and damaged their cars and thus they became non-starters. Heat 1: The Alessandria GP had a history of bad weather. Once again the luck proved to be against the organizers even if the bad weather did not hinder the enthusiastic Italians from turning up in huge numbers. At 10 a.m. it started to rain. By 11 a.m. it rained cats and dogs. Then the rain seemed to slow down a bit and there was hope that the track would dry up. But as the 14 cars were already lined up for the start the heavy wind pushed the clouds back over the track and when the flag dropped the conditions were very bad with a dark and slippery track surface.
Off the competitors went through the town, over the bridge, over the Tanaro river, and on to the macadam road. Tadini firmly held the lead followed by Chiron while Nuvolari behind them found the Maserati a real handful to handle in these slippery conditions and struggled to keep contact with the leading duo. Two minutes after the start there was a serious accident when the cars after having passed the hairpin were returning cross the river over the new bridge. Probably there was a gust of wind that made the Maserati of Swiss driver Pedrazzini to slide sideways as it was going over the bridge. The car crashed into the balustrade, breaking it, and continued in a series of pirouettes. The unfortunate driver was thrown out and was was urgently sent to an ambulance with a broken leg, broken ribs and internal injuries that he was to succumb to soon after his arrival to hospital. The other cars, leaving the devastation behind them, continued onto the sector with tram lines next to the road, leading back to the start. There Maserati driver Gerolamo Ferrari lost control, hit a brick wall and his car started to burn. Luckly the driver escaped with just slight burns and a shock. After three laps Tadini was leading by seven seconds over Chiron with Nuvolari already some 40 seconds further behind. Chiron pulled in two seconds but then the situation became stabilized with five seconds distance between the cars of the Ferrari duo until lap seven when Tadini had difficulties lapping Biondetti and Chiron caught up. The car in front sprayed mud onto Tadini's goggles and immediately the Monégasque driver was by Tadini and up into the lead. So Chiron took the heat victory from Tadini with Nuvolari a distant third 1m11s behind, the Maserati having proved no match for the Alfas in the rain. Comotti was fourth after a confident Tipo B debut. Soffietti was fifth and last finalist in front of Rovere. Chiron's winning speed and fastest lap were in fact very good considering the conditions.
Heat 2: At the end of the first heat the rain slowed down to a drizzle and then decidedly stopped before the start of the second heat. So the sixteen cars were flagged off onto a slowly drying track.
As the flag dropped Varzi took the lead and on the first three laps he opened up a huge gap to Trossi, who unable to keep Varzi's pace seemed quite content just to secure his second position. Behind them there was a duel with Minozzi in an Alfa challenging Valpreda in a Maserati for third position. Eventually Minozzi found a way past and soon afterwards Valpreda also had to concede his fourth position to British driver Penn-Hughes. After that the race stabilized itself. Varzi took the victory 16 seconds in front of Trossi. Having secured a place in the final Minozzi lifted his foot from the pedal as he saw the chequered flag and cruised into finish only to see himself beaten on the line by Penn-Hughes. Penn-Hughes' pit crew had agreed to wave a handkerchief as a signal that the driver had made it to the final but they were so excited by their driver's performane that they lost the handkerchief.
Final: The final, scheduled for 4 p.m., was delayed by 20 minutes. Possibly it was an attempt to make the track dry up further. If so, it was a vain attempt. Slowly but surely the rain started anew and when the ten cars took off the track conditions had turned really bad again.
Tadini took the early lead. Reaching the corner before the bridge Minozzi found himself blocked and losing control of the car he spun through a fence and into the spectator area. Several spectators had to be sent to hospital but fortunately their injuries proved to be slight. Tadini held the lead after the first lap by five seconds from Chiron followed by Trossi one second behind and Varzi a further 1.6 seconds behind. Nuvolari was in fifth position desperately trying to keep pace with the Alfa Romeos. The rest of the field lead by Comotti were already falling behind. On lap two Chiron took over the lead. Passing the second bridge where the fatal accident earlier had occured Nuvolari found his way blocked by Trossi. He turned right but then obviously the Maserati began to slide in the rain and touched the rear of Varzi's car. In some 110 km/h Nuvolari's Maserati spun, hit a tree, rolled over on its side, hit another tree and spun back to the track upside down with torn off front suspension. Nuvolari, who had been thrown off the car, tried to get up but immediately fell back. He had broken his right leg. The race continued with Chiron leading while Tadini fell further back being passed by Trossi and Varzi. Then Varzi passed Trossi and started to pull in the gap to Chiron. On lap seven Varzi was right behind Chiron and the Monégasque seemed to ease up and let the Italian take over the lead in front of his home crowd. On the next lap Varzi did the fastest lap of the race: 3m18.8 s. After that the conditions started to deteriorate further and the lap times went up. With three laps to go Trossi retired into the pits giving back third position to Tadini. With the Maseratis out of luck the race now became a straightforward parade for the Alfa Romeo monopostos of the Ferrari team. Varzi took an easy victory from team mates Chiron, Tadini and Comotti. Penn-Hughes and Soffietti were fifth and sixth with their Monzas and Valpredi was seventh and last, the only non Alfa Romeo to finish. In retrospect: Nuvolari's injury proved to be a simple fracture. At the hospital he was presented with a section of the tree he had crashed into with the inscription: "To Tazio Nuvolari intrepid ace of the wheel, as a record of the providential obstacle which although preventing a sure victory, saved a precious existence". Nuvolari would return to racing less than a month later. Clifton Penn-Hughes claimed in "The Motor" that Chiron had given Varzi the victory as the race was a part of the Italian Championship. Swiss "Automobile Revue" was highly critical to the safety arrangements claiming that the spectators more or less decided themselves where the spectator area ended and the track began. There are several question marks in the entry list and heat lists of this race and I have mostly followed Paul Sheldon. "Automobile Revue" has Beccaria taking part in the first heat, finishing 8th, and a C. Piccolo (Piccolo Cucinotta?) taking part in heat 2 with a 1.5 litre Talbot.
Primary newspaper sources used for this article: IL LITTORIALE with thanks to Davide Grappolo. AUTOMOBIL-REVUE with thanks to Hans Etzrodt. THE MOTOR with thanks to Vladimir Kovalenko. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 28 APRIL 1934: Straight (Maserati 8CM 3.0L) wins the JCC INTERNATIONAL TROPHY handicap race at Brooklands, England. |
VIII° GRAN PREMIO DI TRIPOLI AUTODROMO DI MELLAHA - Tripoli (I), 6 MAY 1934, FORMULA LIBRE 40 laps x 13.140 km = 525.60 km (Note 8), Weather: hot.
The Formula Libre (Note 5) Tripoli Grand Prix was held on the high-speed Mellaha circuit in Libya (an Italian colony in those days). The track had been widened and the high speed corners had received a slight banking. As the race was held in conjunction with the state lottery there was as usual a high number of entries. After the 1933 scandal where there were accusations that the result may have had been fixed, the rules had been changed (Note 9) so that the owners of the drawn tickets could not come in contact with the drivers before the race. The Maserati team entered their twin-engined "Sedici Cilindri" monster for Taruffi. There was also the usual field of private Maseratis and Ferrari Alfa Romeos. A rather unusual sight in Grand Prix racing was the two American Miller cars, a four-wheel-drive 5 litre Indianapolis car (Gus Schrader 1932, crash lap 8) driven by de Paolo, the first 4WD car to start in a GP, and a 3723 cc ex-Indianapolis Duesenberg for Moore (Foreman Axle Special/Maley & Scully, Moore 1933, 3rd) After practice ended there was a near miss between Varzi, who had not slowed down, and Dreyfus, who was towing Brivio's car back to the pits. Varzi missed the Bugatti duo but hit a road bank, braking the halfshaft and damaging the engine. An new engine was flown down to Tripoli for the race.
Race:At the start Taruffi took the "Sedici Cilindri" up in front and began to pull away from the rest of the field until he missed a braking in a corner that later would be known as the "Taruffi corner" and went hard straight through a beer advertisement poster (Note 10). Chiron took over the lead and held it in his Alfa Romeo until having to do a pit stop for new tyres and letting Varzi and Hamilton by. After the pit stop Chiron was soon able to retake the second place from Hamilton but the Maserati driver put up a great effort to follow Chiron and only had to give up when the car developed a carburettor failure. WIth ten laps to go Varzi held the lead with Chiron close behind and Moll almost minutes back. Just as in Monaco Moll did a great job, closing in on the top duo, who were running a tactical game, watching out each other. With just a few laps to go Moll passed Chiron, who was suffering from dropping oil pressure. In the last corner Moll tried to pass Varzi but the veteran driver was not to be surprised and closed the gate. Moll later accused Varzi for trying to push him off the road. At the flag Moll was only a car's length behind Varzi who took the victory just as he had done in 1933, but this time there was no talk about any foul play.
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III ELÄINTARHANAJOT/DJURGÅRDSLOPPET ELÄINTARHARATA - Helsinki (FIN), 13 MAY 1934 50 laps x 2.000m = 100.00 km, 9 starters. Weather: overcast/sunny Bjørnstad's and Pietsch's Monza Alfas and Berrone's Maserati 8CM put a international impression on the race held in downtown Helsinki. The start was delayed due to an engine fire on the grid. When the race finally started local hero Ebb took the lead from pole position with his big Mercedes but on the second lap he was passed by Bjørnstad. Soon he also had to let the second place over to Pietsch and at 1/3 race distance Ebb dropped to forth as Keinänen (Chrysler) passed. On lap 36 Keinänen was out with broken rear axle leaving Ebb back in third place again. Norwegian driver Bjørnstad was totally dominant, lapping everyone but Pietsch at least once. Grid:
Results: 1 Bjørnstad (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3L) 59:23.1 (101.0 km/h, 62.8 mph) 2 Pietsch (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.6L) + 47.0 3 Ebb (Mercedes Benz SSK 7.1L) - 1 lap 4 Wallenius (Ford special) ? DNF Keinänen (Chrysler 35 laps broken rear axle DNF Patama (?) 21 laps run off/crash DNF Berrone (Maserati 4Cm 2.0L) 6 laps fuel line DNF Suurkuukka (Ford) 0 laps crashed into tree DNS Nyström (Chevrolet) 0 laps fire on the grid DNS Sundstedt (Bugatti T35B) | ||||||||||||||||
XXV° TARGA FLORIO PICCOLO CIRCUITO DELLE MADONIE - Sicily (I), 20 MAY 1934 6 laps x 72 km = 432 km, 12 starters. Weather: rain. Count Vincenzo Florio was absent from the organizing commitee and the Targa was a shadow of its former glory. Race length was down to 5 laps from 8 in 1932 and 7 in 1933. A single Bugatti and a single Maserati challenged 10 Alfa Romeos. The race was run in bad weather conditions. Alloatti went over a bridge parapet on lap one and received wounds that eventually proved fatal. Ghersi led for the first two laps but then run off and had to do a 20 minute repair of the steering. Varzi's works Ferrari took over the lead and dominated the rest of race in the rain to take the flag followed by 6 other Alfa drivers.
No grid. Cars started in intervals. Race numbers:
2 Barbieri, 4 Alloatti, 6 Ghersi, 8 Carraroli, 10 Varzi, 12 Balestrero, 14 Battaglia,
18 Pages, 22 Magistri, 24 D'Agata, 28 Fiorello, 30 Battilana
DNA: 16 Pellegrini (Alfa Romeo), 20 Baldo (Bugatti), 26 Beccaria (Alfa Romeo)
Results:
1 Varzi (Alfa Romeo Tipo B 2.9 L *) 6:14:26.8 (69.2 km/h, 43.0 mph)
2 F Barbieri (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.6L *) + 12:47.4
3 Magistri (Alfa Romeo 6C 1.5L) + 25:35.8
4 Balestrero (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.6L) + 31:16.2
5 Pages (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3L) + 35:02.0
6 Ghersi (Alfa Romeo Tipo B 2.6L *) + 35:05.2
7 Fiorello (Alfa Romeo 6C 1750) + 39:34.4
DNF Battaglia (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.6L) 5 laps
DNF Carraroli (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.6L *) 4 laps differential
DNF Battilana (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3L **) 3 laps
DNF D'Agata (Maserati 26M 2.3L) 2 laps ignition
DNF Alloatti (Bugatti T51) 1 lap (fatal) crash
* Entered by Scuderia Ferrari
** Entered by Gruppo Genovese
Fastest lap: Ghersi (Alfa Romeo) 58.40.0 (73.6 km/h, 45.8 mph)
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IX GRAND PRIX DES FRONTIÈRES CHIMAY (B), 20 MAY 1934 15 laps x 10.87 km = 163.05 km, 5 starters The 1934 Frontières GP had a very disappointing start list consisting of only one GP car plus four voiturettes. But there was also a 8 lap, 1100c cycle car race with five cars run at the same time. Longueville in his 2.3 L Bugatti dominated the race leading from start to finish. Rouleau in a Amilcar won the 1100cc class. No grid or race numbers available. DNA: Houp (Bugatti), Meert (Alfa Romeo), Simons (Bugatti), Straight (Maserati), de Texidor (Alfa Romeo) Results: 1 Longueville (Bugatti T35B 2.3L) 1:22:58 (117.9 km/h, 72.8 mph) 2 Sojka (Bugatti T51A 1.5L) + 1:26 3 Porter (Bugatti T37A 1.5L) + 1:36 4 "Barowski" (Bugatti T51A 1.5L) DNF Legat (Bugatti T37A 1.5L) 5 laps valve Fastest lap: Longueville (Bugatti) on lap 1, 5:19.2 (122.6 km/h, 76.2 mph) |
I GRAND PRIX DE CASABLANCA/GRAND PRIX DU MAROC ANFA - Casablanca (F), 20 MAY 1934 60 laps x 6.37 km = 382.2 km, 15 starters Ferrari entered three old 2.6 litre cars for the Casablanca Grand Prix to be driven by Chiron, Lehoux and Comotti. They were challenged by seven Maseratis with drivers including Biondetti, Ètancelin, Hamilton, Sommer and Straight. Private Monzas were entered by Mlle. Hellé-Nice, Minozzi, Sofietti and Zanelli. Chiron took the lead followed by Lehoux, Étancelin and Hamilton. Lehoux had an early pitstop but was soon back in the fight for second position. Chiron had opened a gap to Lehoux and Étancelin who were swapping places several times. Behind them there was a fight for fourth between Comoti, Straight and Hamilton who had stopped for new tyres. A puncture and a series of pitstops then pushed Lehoux backwards in the field. Chiron was dominant leading from start to finish and taking the flag almost a minute in front of Étancelin's private Maserati. Team mates Straight and Hamilton both struck tyre trouble and Hamilton had to retire with a leaking fuel tank. Lehoux fought back to take the last podium position away from Straight near the end of the race. Grid:
Results: 1 Chiron (Alfa Romeo Tipo B 2.6L *) 2:55:42.4 (130.5 km/h, 81.1 mph) 2 Étancelin (Maserati 8CM 3.0L) + 50.2 3 Lehoux (Alfa Romeo Tipo B 2.6L *) - 1 lap 4 Straight (Maserati 8CM 3.0L *4) - 2 laps 5 Comotti (Alfa Romeo Tipo B 2.6L *) - 2 laps 6 Minozzi (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3L *2) - 3 laps 7 Zanelli (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.6L) ? 8 Biondetti (Maserati T26M 2.5L *3) ? 9 Brunet (Bugatti T51) ? DNF Soffietti (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.6L *2) 54 laps DNF Hamilton (Maserati 8CM 3.0L *4) 42 laps fuel tank DNF Corsi (Maserati 26M 2.8L *3) 29 laps oil pipe DNF Sommer (Maserati 8CM 3.0L) 15 laps? clutch DNF Mlle. Hellé-Nice (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3L) 13 laps? rear axle DNF Menco (Maserati 26M 2.8L) 1 lap crash * Entered by Scuderia Ferrari *2 Entered by Scuderia Siena *3 Entered by Grupa Genovese San Giorgio *4 Entered by Whitney Straight Fastest lap: Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 2:49.2 (135.5 km/h, 84.2 mph) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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