Europeans dominate at the new Vanderbilt Cup

This was an attempt to race the best of European and American race drivers against each others. Sadly the organizers made the cars too slow so the European entries with their better acceleration and brakes totally dominated the event. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) led all laps except one. A late pit stop by Brivio hindered a Scuderia Ferrari double victory, Brivio finising third behind Wimille (Bugatti). Farina, the third Scuderia Ferrari entry, crashed early in the race. The only serious challenge by the Americans came from Billy Winn (Miller), who however had to retire with a rear axle problem.

From 1904 to 1910 William K. Vanderbilt Jr. organized the Vanderbilt Cup Races held on Long Island with huge crowds attending. In the 1930s American and European racing had diverged sharply. There was therefore a wish to revive Grand Prix racing in New York with European and American race teams and drivers racing each other. American businessman George Preston Marshall and Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Eddie Rickenbacker raised some $1,000,000 money for construction of a new course. They got the blessing from William K. Vanderbilt's nephew George Washington Vanderbilt III to use the Vanderbilt Cup name for the event. Architect Mark Linenthal was assigned to build a race circuit between Westbury and East Garden City, Long Island, adjacent to the Roosevelt Flying Field where Charles Lindberg started the Atlantic crossing with his Spirit of St. Louis aeroplane in 1927. Construction of the course began in June 1936 and was completed by late September. The result was a flat 4 mile anti-clockwise course with a 3775-foot straight and three winding sections with sixteen corners, ten of which were very tight. The surface consisted of a hard packed mix of sand, clay, asphalt and tar. The surface proved to be soft and the course disapprovingly slow.       The race was run to American Automobile Association "Class E" - non stock cars with engines of 366 cubic inches (5.998 litre) or less. The original plan had been to run the Vanderbilt Cup on July 4th 1936, followed by the United States Grand Prix on Columbus Day 12 October. However as work on the circuit started late the Vanderbilt Cup was moved to the latter date. The organizers first announced a 100 lap 400-mile race, but then, as the surface broke up during practice, revised it to a 75 lap 300 mile race.       There were massive prizes to attract the top European Grand Prix and American dirt track and Indy teams: $20,000 for the victory, $10,000 for the second position and $5000 for third followed by $3500, $3000, $2200, $1800, $1600, $1500 and finally $1400 for 10th position with a bonus of $50 (?) for the leader of each lap.

Entries: With the European Grand Prix season over several drivers decided to make the time consuming trip to USA for the race.       Scuderia Ferrari sent four cars, three 12-cylinders and one 8-cylinder to be raced by Tazio Nuvolari, Antonio Brivio and Nino Farina with Attilio Marinoni as reserve driver. Raymond Sommer entered his Alfa Romeo Tipo B/P3 (#50004) planning to sell the car after the race.       Jean-Pierre Wimille entered a works Bugatti T59/50B with a T59 as spare. Brian Lewis also entered a Bugatti T59 but the car suffered an engine problem. Lewis instead raced an ERA (R1A) entered for Major Sidney Cotton. R1A had been raced just once before in 1936 by Mrs Kay Petre. The ERA works team entered two cars for Earl Howe (R8B) and Pat Fairfield (R4A). Philippe Etancelin and "Raph" both entered Maserati V8RIs, Australian playboy Frederick McEvoy entered a Maserati 6CM and British driver "Teddy" Rayson a Maserati 4CM.       Against them raced America's best but with cars suitable for dirt tracks or Indy style speed circuits. With their primitive steering and brakes and mostly with two-speed gearboxes they were completely unsuited for the Roosevelt Raceway. Most of the cars were non-supercharged (listed with a "u" in the engine type column in the entry list above) Drivers included 1934 Indy winner Bill Cummings and future Indy winners Wilbur Shaw and Mauri Rose. Other famous names that can be mentioned were George Connor, Ted Horn, Rex Mays, Chet Miller, Babe Stapp, Bob Swanson and Billy Winn.       While most of the Americans raced American cars local drivers David Evans entered a Bugatti T51 and Overton Phillips a T35.

Practice: Unofficial practice started on September 27th before the European visitors arrived.       Frederick McEvoy, Philippe Etancelin with wife and legendary race reporter Maurice Henry arrived on September 28th on SS Normandie, having sailed from Le Havre on September 23rd.       The Alfa Romeo team with Tazio Nuvolari, Antonio Brivio, Nino Farina, Attilio Marinoni, Luigi Bazzi, Eugenio Minetti, Nello Ugolini and racing journalist Giovanni Canestrini arrived in New York on SS Rex on October 1st 1936, having sailed from Genoa on September 24th.       The 3 October qualification for the Vanderbilt Cup was supposed to start but it was delayed due to rain. Instead the circuit was officially inaugurated with a pair of 40-mile motorcycle races on 3-4 October.       Pat Fairfield with his wife, Earl Howe and Brian Lewis arrived on SS Queen Mary on October 5th, having sailed from Southampton on September 30th.       Raymond Sommer with wife, Jean-Pierre Wimille and "Raph" arrived on October 6th on SS Ile de France having sailed from Le Havre on September 30th.       During practice Scuderia Ferrari tried locking the differentials as most American drivers did and Nuvolari was five seconds faster that way putting in a lap of 3m22.2s but in the end the team decided against using it as it put too much strain on the transmission. The team also tried Firestone tyres and the 8-cylinder car but raced with the three 12-cylinder cars and Pirelli tyres.       There were 58 entries but place for only 45 cars in the race. For qualifying times were taken for five laps in a row, with the seven top positions being decided in the first qualifying session. Brivio took pole position with a time of 17m54.15s. In the next qualifying session Nuvolari was in a class of his own setting a time of 17m09.62s (69.9mph) as well as making the fastest lap with a time of 3m25.4s (70.1 mph) followed by his team mate Farina with a time of 17m24.40s. That put the the Alfa Romeos into positions 8th and 9th on the grid. The three Scuderia Ferrari drivers were the only ones that managed 5 laps in less than 18 minutes. Fastest American was Billy Winn in a Miller fitted with 4-wheel brakes but with a single gear with a time of 18m01.77s.       There were several incidents during the practice sessions. Rex Mays crashed his Adams-Sparks and became a non-starter. Indianapolis winner Louis Meyer had not been able to find a fitting car for the race and doing a test run with Brian Lewis' Bugatti T59 he crashed the car. Brian Lewis took over Major Sidney Cotton's ERA for the race instead.

Race: On race morning, Columbus Day, the sun was shining, but the wind was blowing quite violently. Some 70,000 - 80,000 spectators turned up, a clear disappointment as the organizers, having done a big advertising campaign, had hoped for 200,000. The cars were lined up three and three with 30 meters between the rows so that the full grid exceeded 400 meters. After the contestants had been presented to the crowd and the national anthem had been played the flag was dropped at 11 a.m. by Gar Wood and the race was on its way.

9 Brivio Alfa Romeo 17m54.15s 7 Winn Well 18m01.77s 3 Shaw Stevens-M 18m13.92s 69 Connor Adams-M 18m23.22s 15 Litz Stevens-M 19m26.86s 34 Putnam Nowiak-M 19m28.17s 26 Shafer Rigling-M 20m16.09s 8 Nuvolari Alfa Romeo 17m09.62s 10 Farina Alfa Romeo 17m24.40s 51 Swanson Wetteroth-O 18m05.54s 5 Cantlon Adams-M 18m08.96s 6 S Gardner Duesemberg-M 18m12.20s 17 C Gardner Miller-M 18m27.07s 18 Wimille Bugatti 18m28.02s 42 Wilman Stevens-M 18m32.92s 29 "Raph" Maserati 18m41.80s 66 Zarka Ambler-M 18m42.93s 43 Snyder Stevens-M 18m46.62s 16 Sommer Alfa Romeo 18m49.10s 62 Marion Miller-M 18m50.04s 22 Horn Stevens-M 18m50.24s 59 Decker Duesemberg-D 18m53.45s 46 Fairfield ERA 19m02.53s 32 Rose Stevens-M 19m04.15s 53 Tormei Wetteroth-O 19m15.81s 2 Commings Miller-O 19m28.11s 4 Andres Diedt-M 19m34.34s 21 Stapp Viglioni-M 19m50.03s 25 Davis Rigling-M 19m50.34s 12 McEvoy Maserati 19m51.50s 67 Lake Ambler-M 19m53.94s 24 Etancelin Maserati 19m55.97s 36 Carew Rigling-M 19m56.88s 28 Evans Bugatti 20m01.61s 65 Banks Diedt-M 20m05.61s 48 Rayson Maserati 20m06.40s 14 Brisko Miller-M 20m06.43s 23 Snowberger Rigling-M 20m07.93s 38 Thorne Miller-M 20m24.88s 57 Chamberlain Duesemberg-M 20m36.37?s 45 Howe ERA 20m35.63?s 37 Lewis ERA 20m46.53s 44 Gulotta Stevens-M 20m54.31s 49 Phillips Bugatti 21m00.13s 52 Balus Duesemberg-D 21m13.08s?

The standing start departure of 45 race cars was an impressive sight, as can be seen from films from the event. Drivers like Farina and "Red" Shafer on both sides of Nuvolari made good starts while others like Bob Swanson and Milt Marion stalled their cars. Billy Winn was first across the starting line but at the end of the first lap Nuvolari despite not being the fastest starter had taken over the lead of the race followed by his team mate Farina and Winn. The race order of the top ten after the first lap was: 1. Tazio Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2. Antonio Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 3. Billy Winn (Miller) 4. Nino Farina (Alfa Romeo) 5. J-P. Wimille (Bugatti) 6. William Cantlon (Miller) 7. Wilbur Shaw (Shaw) 8. Tony Wilman (Stevens) 9. Jimmy Snyder (Stevens) 10. Raymond Sommer (Alfa Romeo) It soon turned out that Winn was the great American hope against the European drivers and cars. With a single gear and stiff suspension Winn didn't bother to slow down his Miller sprint car for the curves but instead broadslided through them. On the third lap he managed to pass Brivio, who by a late decision of the team had started in the 12-cylinder Alfa Romeo instead of the more nimble 8-cylinder car. On the fourth lap there was the first incident as Wilbur Shaw spun out and retired. Out came the first full course yellow of the day. The race order after five laps looked like this: 1. Tazio Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 110.5 km/h 2. Billy Winn (Miller) 3. Antonio Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 4. Nino Farina (Alfa Romeo) 5. J-P. Wimille (Bugatti) 6. William Cantlon (Miller) 7. Tony Wilman (Stevens) 8. Raymond Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 9. George Connor (Weil) 10. "Raph" (Maserati) Brivio passed Winn for second position but the American stubbornly held on to third position in front of Farina. "Raph" was the first European retirement as he was black flagged for being push started after having done a series of spins. Nuvolari caught the first backmarkers after only 5 laps and was soon lapping a lot of them, the flying Mantuan using all his skills not to loose time while passing through the clutter of American cars. The situation after 10 laps: 1. Tazio Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2. Antonio Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 3. Billy Winn (Miller) 4. Nino Farina (Alfa Romeo) 5. J-P. Wimille (Bugatti) 6. William Cantlon (Miller) 7. Tony Wilman (Stevens) 8. Raymond Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 9. George Connor (Weil) 10. Bob Swanson (Hogan) After an hour of racing Nuvolari was leading by half a minute over Brivio, who in turn had a one minute advantage over Winn and Farina. When Nuvolari was lapping "Deacon" Litz the Miller car of the latter hit the rear wheel of the Alfa Romeo but no harm was done and Nuvolari was able to continue in the lead. On the 16th lap Farina overdid it in a corner and crashed his Alfa Romeo. Wimille took over fourth position and soon started to violently attack Winn. After 20 laps the race order was as follows: 1. Tazio Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2. Antonio Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 3. Billy Winn (Miller) 4. J-P. Wimille (Bugatti) 5. Raymond Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 6. Bob Swanson (Hogan) 7. Tony Wilman (Stevens) 8. Ted Horn (Wetteroth) 9. George Connor (Weil) 10. Philippe Etancelin (Maserati) Whenever there was an incident it became a full course yellow situation, a thing familiar to the Americans but totally confusing to the Europeans, who did not hesitate to pass under the yellow flag. One by one the European drivers received what could be called a "stop and go" penalty. Maurice Henry in L'Auto mentions Brivio, Fairfield, MacEvoy and Wimille. While the other drivers stopped Wimille at least temporarily refused to obey the penalty. There was also time for the first refueling stops. Winn made a minute-and-a-half stop for fuel on the 24th lap, followed by Nuvolari on the 25th lap. Brivio held the lead for one lap until he also stopped. That proved to be the only lap during the race not led by Nuvolari. Bob Swanson was up to fourth and Wimille after two stops was down to fifth position. This was the race situation after 30 laps: 1. Tazio Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2. Antonio Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 3. Billy Winn (Miller) 4. Bob Swanson (Hogan) 5. J-P. Wimille (Bugatti) 6. Ted Horn (Wetteroth) 7. Raymond Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 8. George Connor (Weil) 9. Philippe Etancelin (Maserati) 10. Jimmy Snyder (Stevens) Due to the stops the average speed had dropped to 107 km/h. Nuvolari held on to a confortable lead. With multiple pit stops, yellow flags and a lot of cars on different laps the race was getting harder and harder to follow or as Maurice Henry wrote it "unfolded into a general confusion". However Nuvolari, even after having made his second one minute routine pit stop, was leading by a huge margin over his team mate Brivio. Wimille was finally able to find a way past Winn to take over 3rd position. Winn hung on to fourth and Ted Horn, having raced without making a pit stop so far, was temporarily up to fifth. Bob Swanson seems to have had problems and pit stops put him down all the way to 32th position. Lord Howe with his ERA had advanced from 29th position after the first lap up to 14th before falling back a bit during his refueling stop. Etancelin had dropped to 11th after two stops having been as high as 9th. The race order after 40 laps looked like this: 1. Tazio Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2. Antonio Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 3. J-P. Wimille (Bugatti) 4. Billy Winn (Miller) 5. Ted Horn (Wetteroth) 6. Raymond Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 7. George Connor (Weil) 8. Pat Fairfield (ERA) 9. Bill Cummings (Miller) 10. "Chet" Gardner (Miller) While the situation among the top four remained the same Ted Horn had to retire after 45 laps when during his pit stop the engine stalled in the pits. Sommer, who had raced among the top ten throughout the race and had made his only pit stop, was back up to fifth. Fairfield had advanced through the field from his early 19th position up to 6th. The race order after 50 laps was thus: 1. Tazio Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2. Antonio Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 3. J-P. Wimille (Bugatti) 4. Billy Winn (Miller) 5. Raymond Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 6. Pat Fairfield (ERA) 7. Philippe Etancelin (Maserati) 8. George Connor (Weil) 9. "Deacon" Litz (Miller) 10. Mauri Rose (Miller) Most drivers had done their pit stops but there were still a few who stopped between laps 50 and 60, among them Fairfield, Winn and Etancelin. McEvoy, having been out of the top 20 during the first half of the race, was now up to 10th position. Otherwise the situation remained much he same. The situation after 60 laps looked like this: 1. Tazio Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2. Antonio Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 3. J-P. Wimille (Bugatti) 4. Billy Winn (Miller) 5. Raymond Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 6. Philippe Etancelin (Maserati) 7. George Connor (Weil) 8. Pat Fairfield (ERA) 9. Bill Cummings (Miller) 10. Fred McEvoy (Maserati) After 64 laps Winn's miraculous drive was over because of rear axle problems. The European drives now held the top five positions but the distances between them were huge so there were no interesting duels. Race order after 70 laps: 1. Tazio Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2. Antonio Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 3. J-P. Wimille (Bugatti) 4. Raymond Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 5. Pat Fairfield (ERA) 6. Bill Cummings (Miller) 7. Fred McEvoy (Maserati) 8. Mauri Rose (Miller) 9. George Connor (Weil) 10. Philippe Etancelin (Maserati) After the 72th lap Brivio slowly entered the pit with a cracked fuel pipe. The loose track surface in the curves had at the end of the race created vibrations that had cracked the pipe. A fast refueling was followed by repairs. When Brivio finally returned to the race after 9m15s he had inevitably lost second position to Wimille.       After having done 75 laps Nuvolari took the chequered flag as the winner of the event. Even with the fact that Nuvolari's 12-cylinder Alfa Romeo after the first laps had been running on only 11 cylinders the "Flying Mantuan" had dominated the race completely winning by over 8 minutes over Wimille's Bugatti. Brivio was third from Sommer with Fairfield fifth and with McEvoy and Trossi sharing a Maserati sixth.       Although the track layout was incredibly twisty, the Americans were sadly totally outclassed by the GP cars once the European drivers came to terms with the very loose dirt track surface. The first American home was Bill Cummings in his Miller-Offenhauser finishing seventh almost 25 minutes behind Nuvolari.

Mays, finally!

A South American affair