PART 2
X° GRAN PREMIO DI TRIPOLI AUTODROMO DI MELLAHA - Tripoli (I), 10 MAY 1936 40 laps x 13.140 km = 525.60 km
Also practiced: Lang (Mercedes-Benz), Biondetti (Alfa Romeo #54) Scuderia Torino did not bother to send their Maseratis to the fast Mellaha track. However Étancelin was there as were several other Maserati privateers. Because of the lottery the entry was restricted to exactly 26? drivers and no reserves were allowed. That did not hinder Neubauer from sending out Lang on the track during practice until spotted by the officials and black flagged. The new short wheel base Mercedes-Benz cars behaved badly on the fast track. To cure the understeer the team tried a ZF locking differential on Caracciola's car. Nuvolari had a serious crash at practice after a tyre burst on the Alfa Romeo. Nuvolari was thrown out and broke some ribs. He was forbidden to enter the race by the doctors. Grid:
Race: Not totally unexpected, Nuvolari turned up in plaster and started the race in the spare car. What the drivers did not know, when they lined up for the start, was that the Tripoli GP once again was rigged. This time however it was not about money but politics. From "very high above" came orders to the German teams that if possible the winner of this race should be an Italian! The race was dominated by the Auto Union cars because Mercedes-Benz was in trouble. Chiron was soon out and the fuel was not fed properly from the tank on von Brauchitsch's car. Then both Fagioli's and Caracciola's cars lost their front brakes due to a new brake system construction and the drivers could do nothing against the Auto Unions. Stuck was leading the race after having opened up a comfortable gap to his team mate Varzi. Rosemeyer had retired when his car caught fire just as had happened to Stuck a year earlier. But then Auto Union's new team manager Dr. Feuereissen began to give strange team orders, Stuck was ordered to slow down and Varzi to speed up. Varzi put in a new lap record on the last lap and passed a very surprised Stuck just before the finish line. The whole thing ended with great bitterness and fury for both drivers when they found out the truth. Varzi, who had done nothing wrong, was humiliated in public at the victory party when the Governor of Libya, Marshal Balbo, proposed a toast for the real winner of the race, i.e. for Stuck. Nuvolari who had finished 7th with his broken ribs took a month off and went home and a devastated Varzi went back to his Ilse. It was probably at that time she introduced him to morphia as a pain killer.
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V ELÄINTARHANAJOT/DJURGÅRDSLOPPET ELÄINTARHARATA - Helsinki (FIN), 10 MAY 1936 FORMULA LIBRE 50 laps x 2.000 km = 100 km, 9 starters As usual the field was a mix of GP cars and American Fords and Chryslers. Of the 12 entries German driver Berg never turned up, Finnish driver Puranen had engine troubles with his Delage and Estonian Citron practised with his Alfa Romeo but became a non starter after a conflict with the organzers. Ebb (Mercedes-Benz SSK) held the pole position but it was Bjørnstad who took the start to lead the field after the first lap. He was followed by Ebb, Widengren, Patama, Elo, Wallenius, Hallman (Ford) and Schauman (Chrysler). Bjørnstad, who had made the unique decision to start the race with double rear wheels, was in a class of his own. After 5 laps he already had opended up a gap of 14 seconds to a struggling Ebb who was attacked and finally passed by Widengren. Once by the Swede started to close the gap that by now had grown to 21 seconds. After 15 laps Ebb retired with a broken valve and Hallman was in the pit with a wheel problem. He returned to the track but on the next lap the wheel came loose on the main straight. The wheel rolled up the railway bank and became standing on the track, forcing a passing freight train to stop! But everyone was now watching the fight between Bjørnstad's and Widengren's Alfas. After 20 laps the gap was down to 11.2 seconds, and after 20 laps Widengren had caught the leader but was unable to pass. Lap after lap the duel continued. Five laps from the finish the cars passed the line almost side by side. But then, to the surprise of all, Bjørnstad was able to put in some extra speed and opened up the gap by a second per lap to win the Finnish GP for the second time. Widengren was second and Patama finished third to win the B class. DNA/DNS: 5 H Berg (Alfa Romeo), 6 Citron (Alfa Romeo), 7 Puranen (Delage)Grid from secret 300m run:
Results: 1 Bjørnstad (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3L) 56:24.6 2 Widengren (Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3L) + 4.5 3 Patama (Ford Special) + 5:53.4 4 Wallenius (Ford) + 5:53.8 5 Elo (Bugatti) + 6:54.6 6 Schauman (Chrysler) + 7:40.7 7 Sorri (Chrysler) + 8:45.2 DNF Hallman (Ford) 16 laps lost wheel DNF Ebb (Mercedes-Benz SSK) 15 laps valve |
 | 16 MAY 1936: Tongue (ERA 1.5L) wins the Cork GP handicap race at the Carrigrohane track, Ireland. |
GRAND PRIX DE TUNISIE CARTHAGE (F), 17 MAY 1936 30 laps x 12.714 km = 381.42 km
Auto Union had their usual driver trio. Mercedes only sent two cars to Tunis and they were driven by Caracciola and Chiron. Grid:
Race: It was a changed Varzi who took part in the Tunis GP. Gone was his usual calmness and he forced himself into the lead sliding the Auto Union all over the road. On the long straight where the cars were traveling at high speed the wind suddenly grabbed the Auto Union and pushed it out of the track. In one of the most horrifying accidents ever seen in GP racing Varzi's Auto Union spun in some 250 km/h, turned over several times and disintegrated completely, the rests of the wreck ending up in a cactus wood. Amazingly Varzi walked away from the wreck unhurt! He was however seriously shaken as it was his first crash in a career that had started in the mid 20:s That probably meant the Varzi used morhia again that night. It was a costly day for the team as Rosemeyer's Auto Union caught fire just as in Tripoli, this time completely destroying the car. Stuck also retired as did Chiron in his Mercedes and Étancelin in his private Maserati. That all left the field open for Caracciola in his ill handling Mercedes and he won by two laps from Pintacuda who was the best Ferrari driver of the day, Nuvolari being a non starter with his broken ribs.
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| 24 MAY 1936: "Paris" (Delahaye 135S) wins the "LES TROIS HEURES DE MARSEILLE" on the Miramas track in France. (Results) |
IV RAC INTERNATIONAL LIGHT CAR RACE DOUGLAS-Isle of Man (GBM), 28 MAY 1936 VOITURETTE 50 laps 18 starters It was Seaman in his rebuilt 1927 GP Delage against 10 ERA's on the bumpy and narrow TT race track on Isle of Man. Howe (works ERA) took the lead in front of Seaman and Paul. But soon the ERA works cars were once again in trouble and Seaman took the lead on lap 4 and started to pull away. When it was realized that Seaman was on a nonstop strategy against ERA's one pitstop there were no doubt about the winner. Mays and Howe retired their works ERA's leaving the fight for the other podium positions between the private ERA's of Bira, Lehoux and Paul. After the race there was a scandal when RAC tried to change the sums of the promised prize money. DNA/DNS: 1 Bartlett (Alta), Dwyer (Alta), 4 Wakefield (Alta), 5 Driscoll (Austin) 7 Goodacre (Austin), 23 Kautz (Maserati), 26 Dixon (Riley)Grid:
Results: 1 Seaman (Delage 15S8) 2:52:01 2 "B Bira" (ERA B) + 2:17 3 Paul (ERA B *2) + 3:01 4 Fairfield (ERA A *2) + 3:22 5 Lehoux (ERA B *3) + 3:46 6 Manby-Colegrave/ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 MAY 1936: Meyer (Stevens-Miller) wins the INDIANAPOLIS 500 race. |
XI GRAND PRIX DES FRONTIÈRES CHIMAY (B), 31 MAY 1936 20 laps x 10.87 km = 217.4 km, 12 starters. DNA: 4 Chambard (Bugatti), 18 Kautz (Maserati), 20 Wüstrow (Bugatti), 26 A C Dobson (Maserati)Grid:
Results: 1 Hertzberger (MG K3) 1:48:30 2 Fourny (Bugatti T37A) + 7:10 3 Mme. Rose-Itier (Bugatti T51A) + 9:27 4 Herkuleyns (MG Q) - 2 laps DNF Legat (Bugatti T37A) 13 laps engine DNF "Barowski" (Bugatti T51A) 6 laps crash DNF Rüesch (Maserati 4CS 1.5L) 4 laps mechanical DNF Durand (Maserati 4Cm 1.5L) 1 laps mechanical Fastest lap: Hertzberger (MG) 5:16 |
| 6 JUNE 1936: Mays (ERA) wins the Shelsley Walsh hillclimb in England. |
FOOTNOTES:
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