 
GRAN PREMIO DI MILANO
Autodromo di Monza (I), 11 September 1938
25 laps x 6.993 km (4.345 mi)= 174.825 km (108.631 mi)
Alfa Duel
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Voiturette race held in connection with the Italian GP. Both Alfa Romeo and Maserati turned up in force. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) initailly had the lead, then
Luigi Villoresi. The race turned into a duel between Alfa drivers Emilio Villoresi and Francesco Severi, a fight the former won with a 1.2 s margin.
Aldo Marazza had a fatal crash after the race had ended.
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Entries:
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Practice:
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Race:
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| | | | | | |
|  |
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6
L Villoresi
Maserati
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2
Sommer
Alfa Romeo
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8
E Villoresi
Alfa Romeo
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14
Pietsch
Maserati
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38
Castelbarco
Maserati
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16
Severi
Alfa Romeo
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32
Marinoni
Alfa Romeo
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40
Cortese
Maserati
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22
Hug
Maserati
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44
Pelassa
Maserati
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20
Bianco
Maserati
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42
Ruggeri
Maserati
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4
Marazza
Maserati
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12
de Teffé
Maserati
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?
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34
Negro
Maserati
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28
L Platé
Talbot
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24
Brezzi
Maserati
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|
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10
Dobson
ERA
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46
Garagnani
Maserati
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30
G Barbieri
Maserati
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26
Teagno
Maserati
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In the Voiturette race held in connection with the Italian GP the Alfa Romeo and Maserati teams faced each other for the third time
in 1938. The Alfa team entered Sommer, Emilio Villoresi, Marinoni and Severi while the Maserati team relied on Luigi Villoresi and Pietsch.
Sommer took the lead at the start followed by L. Villoresi. The only ERA entry, Dobson's private car, was already out of
the race. When Sommer's Alfa started to misfire Villoresi took the lead but soon he also got engine trouble and had to
see his brother Emilio pass. Severi closed in on the leader and the race developed into an intense fight between the
two Alfa drivers both taking their turns to lead. At last Villoresi was able to take a marginal victory over his team mate.
The race ended in a sad way. The promising youngster Aldo Marazza (Maserati 6CM) was blinded by smoke from Sommer's burning
Alfa Romeo and failed to see the chequered flag. He continued at full race speed, overturned the car in the Lesmo curve,
and crashed into the woods. Marazza had a lung pierced on a branch of a tree and died at the hospital the same evening.
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Results
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XVI° GRAN PREMIO D'ITALIA
Autodromo di Monza (I), 11 September 1938
60 laps x 6.993 km (4.345 mi)= 419.58 km.(260.715 mi)
Nuvolari takes Auto Union back to the top
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For 1938 the Italian Grand Prix was back at Monza. After practice Mercedes-Benz was a clear favourite but on race day Auto Union was suddenly competitive. Nuvolari worked his way up to the second position
and on lap 8 he took over the lead from Lang and held it for the rest of the race to give Auto union its first victory since Rosemeyer's death. One by one the Mercedes cars struck problems. Caracciola
with burned feet from the exhaust struggled home in the last surviving Mercedes, three laps behind the winner and beaten by Farina in an Alfa Romeo. Still, with that result, Caracciola became European
Champion for the third time.
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After a one year interval the Italian Grand Prix was back at Monza, this time to be run on yet another track configuration with the chicanes reduced from five to one. The single remaining chicane
was in the south curve, not that far from the current parabolica.
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Entries:
Auto Union finally started with the definitive D type cars at Monza. Maserati was back with 8CTF cars for
L Villoresi, Zehender and Trossi and Mercedes came with three of their new W154 cars and one of the old type for Lang,
who had not been impressed with the new type car at the Swiss GP.
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Practice:
After Friday Müller held the provisional pole, but during the final practice the Mercedes team managed
to take back the three fastest positions with Lang taking the pole.
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Race:
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| | | | | | | |
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20
Müller
Auto Union
2m34.4s
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12
Caracciola
Mercedes-Benz
2m33.3s
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4
Brauchitsch
Mercedes-Benz
2m33.1s
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26
Lang
Mercedes-Benz
2m32.4s
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24
Kautz
Auto Union
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16
Seaman
Mercedes-Benz
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22
Nuvolari
Auto Union
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14
Trossi
Maserati
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34
Taruffi
Alfa Romeo
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28
Wimille
Alfa Romeo
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6
Biondetti
Alfa Romeo
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36
Stuck
Auto Union
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30
Farina
Alfa Romeo
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8
Villoresi
Maserati
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32
Belmondo
Alfa Romeo
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18
Zehender
Maserati
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2
Ghersi
Alfa Romeo
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Seen from practice times, a Mercedes victory seemed assured, but Müller in the Auto Union did the best start and took the lead
followed by Lang. However, before reaching the Lesmo curves the Mercerdes driver had retaken the lead and it
was Lang who led Müller, Seaman and the other "Silver Arrows" and "Silver Fishes" when they passed the line for the
first time.
On the second lap Caracciola made a mistake in a chicane and run into the straw bales. The driver had to
jump out and push the car free, no small feat for a man with one leg 2" shorter than the other.
Kautz was the first to retire after only two laps.
Nuvolari was gradually working his way up to the second position and when Lang's engine lost some of its
power the Italian took over the lead on lap 8 never to lose it again.
Seaman, who had been fighting for the second position with Nuvolari, had to retire with engine trouble on lap 14 and five laps
later it was von Brauchitsch's turn to call it a day.
Lang in second place had been trying to keep up with Nuvolari. The Auto Unions had higher speed but the Mercedes cars
had the edge in the corners and Lang made the fastest lap of the race, but by doing so he finally destroyed his sick
engine and he was the third Mercedes retirement.
Caracciola was having a very unpleasant ride as leaking exhaust was burning his feet and when he came into the pits
for fuel he handed over the car to von Brauchitsch.
The Auto Union team now held the three first positions with Nuvolari leading Stuck and Müller
Von Brauchitsch found the Mercedes car very hot and uncomfortable and soon handled it back to Caracciola!
With 19 laps left the Auto Union trio became a duo as Stuck in second place retired with engine trouble and
the same happened to the luckless Müller only three laps from the finish.
Nuvolari took the flag in the single remaining Auto Union car to the great joy of the spectators . It was the first
victory for Auto Union in what had been a disastrous year.
Farina finished second in the 16 cylinder Alfa and Caracciola struggled home three laps behind to take the third
position and the 1938 European Championship.
Trossi took the Maserati 8CTF to its first finish in fifth place but was later disqualified for having
received help from the mechanics outside the pit area.
Neubauer was disgusted with the performance of the Mercedes cars, so that evening the team instead celebrated the European Championship win and
the engagement between Dick Seaman and Erica Popp, daughter of the BMW president.
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Results
Footnote:
1. I'm very grateful to Patrick Italiano who have used official documents and period press to find out
the correct Alfa Romeo start numbers given here (Ghersi, Wimille & Taruffi).
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11 September 1938: Le Bègue/Morel (Talbot 4.5L) wins the 12 Heures de Paris sports car race at Montlhéry, France. (Results)
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17 September 1938: B.A.R.C. 50 Mile and 192 Mile handicap races were held at Brooklands,
Wooding (Talbot 95), winning the first race and "B. Bira" (ERA 1.5L) the second one.
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CIRCUITO DI MODENA
Modena (I), 18 September 1938
55 laps x 3.2 km (2.0 mi) = 176.0 km (109.4 mi)
Cortese wins for Maserati as Alfa fails.
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All four Alfa Romeos struck serious engine problems during the race and had to retire one after another.
Luigi Villoresi retired his Maserati, then took over Pietsch's car and retired once more. That left Cortese to win in a works Maserati from Hugh in a private Maserati
and Dobson an a ERA.
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Entries:
Alfa Romeo arrived in force for their "home" Voiturette race with 4 cars for Biondetti, Severi, Sommer and
Emilio Villoresi.
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Practice:
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Race:
During the early laps Luigi Villoresi in his works Maserati 6CM and Biondetti had a fight for the lead. Soon the
Alfa team found out that there were serious bearing problems with the cars. The first victim was Biondetti pitting after
4 laps. Luigi Villoresi also retired leaving the lead to his brother from Cortese and Severi. Severi was also forced to do
a pitstop as was Sommer and when the leading Emilio Villoresi as the fourth Alfa driver pitted the catastrophe for Alfa Romeo was a fact.
One after another the Alfa drivers retired as did Luigi Villoresi for the second time, having taken over Pietsch's car.
Cortese now held a one lap lead and coasted home to a fine victory for the Maserati works team. The only other finishers
were Hug, Dobson and Enrico Platé (Maserati).
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| | | | | |
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22
L Villoresi
Maserati
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32
Biondetti
Alfa Romeo
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24
Severi
Alfa Romeo
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2
Cortese
Maserati
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6
E Villoresi
Alfa Romeo
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28
Sommer
Alfa Romeo
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4
Pietsch
Maserati
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16
Ghersi
Maserati
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26
Barbieri
Maserati
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8?
Pagliano
Maserati
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18
Teagno
Maserati
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14
Dobson
ERA
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34
Hug
Maserati
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10
de Teffé
Maserati
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12
Pelassa
Maserati
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38
Lanza
Maserati
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20
Garagnani
Maserati
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30
E Platé
Maserati
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36
Corsi
Maserati
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Results
Footnote:
1. A preview of the race in the well informed Italian sports newspaper "Il Littoriale" shows totally different race numbers. However race historian Alessandro Grimaldi has
found from photographic evidence that the ones shown here are the correct ones. A great thanks to Alessandro Silva for providing me with that information.
It was not unusual for the Italian race organizers to do late changes in the car numbering as a countermeasure against counterfeit race programs.
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19 September 1938: ERA announces that they have abandoned their GP car project.
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24 September 1938: Dunlop fifteeth anniversary jubilee meeting at Brooklands.
The ten races were won by Chris Staniland (Multi Union 2.9L), V. H. Tuson (Fiat 1.1L), Mike Coupler (Talbot), C. J. Baker-Carr (Bentley),
Johnny Wakefield (ERA 1.5L), A. H. B. Hurst (M.G.), Bert Hadley (Austin), Arthur Ashby (Alfa Romeo P3 2.9L), I. H. Nikols (M.G 0.7L), Raymond Mays (ERA 2.0L)
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25 September 1938: Stuck (Auto Union) wins the Maloja Pass hillclimb in.
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28 September 1938: Munich crisis. The German teams, who are at Donington for the GP race, are getting order from the
German embassy to leave England as fast as possible and in worst case leave the material. The teams leave Donington for Harwich and
the Netherlands on two hours notice. The mechanics are prepared to put fire on the cars if stopped on the road.
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2 October 1938: Stuck (Auto Union) wins the Feleac hillclimb in Romania.
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10 October 1938: George Abecassis (Alta 1.5L) wins the Imperial Trophy 32 mile handicap race in torrential rain at Crystal Palace, England.
The event is televised.
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SIAM CHALLENGE TROPHY
Brooklands (GB), 15 October 1938
10 laps x 3.648 km (2.267 mi) = 36.5 km (22.7 mi)
| No. | Driver | Entrant | Car | Type | Engine |
|
| Eugenio Minetti | Scuderia Ambrosiana | Maserati | 6CM | 1.5 | S-6 |
| "B Bira" | Prince Chula | ERA | C | 1.5 | S-6 |
| Arthur Dobson | A. C. Dobson | ERA | B | 1.5 | S-6 |
| John Wakefield | J. Wakefield | ERA | B | 1.5 | S-6 |
| Tony Rolt | A. Rolt | ERA | B | 1.5 | S-6 |
| Ian Connell | I. Connell | ERA | B | 1.5 | S-6 |
| George Abecassis | G. Abecassis | Alta | | 1.5 | S-4 |
| Angus Cuddon-Fletcher | A. Cuddon-Fletcher | MG | | |
| Percival Maclure | P. Maclure | Riley | | 1.7 |
| Herbert Hadley | H. Hadley | Austin | | |
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| Entry list possibly incomplete |
Bira wins ERA duell with Dobson.
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This race was part of the B.A.R.C. Autumn Meeting. Minotti took the lead at the start but soon the race developed into a fight between the ERAs of Dobson and Bira, the latter finally winning by one second.
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The Siam Challenge Trophy scratch race was part of the B.A.R.C. Autumn Meeting.
The meeting started off with two "long" handicap races, won by C. G. H. Dunham (Alvis 2.5L) and Chris Staniland (Multi Union 2.9L) and then came the Siam Challenge Trophy run on the Campbell Circuit.
It was open for 2 litre unsupercharged and 1.5 litre supercharged cars.
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Entries:
Entries included Eugino Minetti in Scuderia Ambrosiana's red voiturette Maserati 6C, "B. Bira" with is Zoller blown ERA (R12C "Hanuman") , Arthur Dobson in his white ERA (R7B).
John Wakefield (R14), Ian Connell (R6B) and Tony Rolt (ex Bira R5B "Remus") were two other ERA entries. George Abecassis (Alta), Angus Cuddon-Fletcher (M.G.) "Bert" Hadley with his "baby" Austin
and "Percy" Maclure in a Riley are other known entries.
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Race:
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Grid Unknown
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The race started in front of the Paddock Stand and Minotti took the lead at the start from Connell's ERA and Hadley's Austin and led the field into a hairpin that took them out to the road course.
At the end of the lap Dobson in his white ERA was leading from Minotti, Connell, Bira, Wakefied, Hadley and Abecassis. After two laps Bira was up to second and closing in on Dobson and
On lap three the ERA's of Wakefield and Rolt were up to fourth and fifth positions as Minotti was falling back, the ERAs were now
holding the top five positions. On the next lap Wakefield passed Connell for third. The race developed into a fight between Dobson and Bira, the leader reciving urgent signals from the pits about the approaching Siamese.
Bira took the lead, Dobson retook it going into members Hill bend only to see Bira pass again before the Railroad Straight. Meanwhile Minotti had to retire his Maserati. Dobson tried twice to re-pass Bira without
success and the Siamese driver took the flag just one second in front of Dobson with Wakefield third, 29.4s behind Bira.
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Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Entrant | Car | Type | Engine | Laps | Time/Status | Diff |
|
| 1. | | "B Bira" | "B Bira" | ERA | C | 1.5 | S-6 | 10 | 18m32.9s (Note 1) |
| 2. | | Arthur Dobson | A. C. Dobson | ERA | B | 1.5 | S-6 | 10 | 18m33.9s |
| 3. | | John Wakefield | J. Wakefield | ERA | B | 1.5 | S-6 | 10 | 19m02.3s |
| ? | | Percival Maclure | P. Maclure | Riley | | 1.7 | | ? | finished |
| ? | | Ian Connell | I. Connell | ERA | B | 1.5 | S-6 | ? |
| DNF | | Eugenio Minetti | Scuderia Ambrosiana | Maserati | 6CM | 1.5 | S-6 | ? | retired |
| DNF | | Tony Rolt | A. Rolt | ERA | B | 1.5 | S-6 | ? | engine? |
| DNF | | George Abecassis | G. Abecassis | Alta | | 1.5 | S-4 | ? | valve gear |
| DNF | | Angus Cuddon-Fletcher | A. Cuddon-Fletcher | MG | | lost wheel |
| DNF | | Herbert Hadley | H. Hadley | Austin | | |
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Fastest lap: "B Bira" (ERA) in 1m47.8s = 121.8 km/h (75.71 mph) (Note 1)
Winner's medium speed: 73.33 mph
Weather: sunny and dry
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Footnote:
1. Times calculated from winning speed (75.71 mph).
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Main source is Bill Boddy's "The history of Brooklands Motor Course", sports magazine "Motor Sport" November 1938.
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VIII MOUNTAIN CHAMPIONSHIP
Brooklands (GB), 15 October 1938
10 laps x 1.883 km (1.170 mi) = 18.8 km (11.7 mi)
Mays controls the race
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This race was also part of the B.A.R.C. Autumn Meeting. Mays in his ERA led from start to finish and was never challenged. Staniland was second and Dobson third.
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The Mountain circuit scratch race was part of the B.A.R.C. Autumn Meeting. It followed the Siam Challenge and was the only Mountain Circuit race of 1938.
The race was then followed by three five lap road handicap races, won by Soames (Bugatti 1.5L) and Rolt (ERA 1.5L) and Ansell (ERA 1.5L).
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Entries:
The entry list above is probably incorrect/incomplete.
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Practice:
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Race:
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Grid unknown
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Mays in his 2 litre ERA took the lead of the race followed by Beadle's Alta. Then Staniland took over second position and Dobson and Minetti had a tight fight for third place.
Ashby had to retire almost immediately with a slipping clutch. Rolt and Connell had engine troubles and had to retire as did lord Avebury, Wakefield and Beadle.
Mays was never challenged and went on to take the flag as the winner. Staniland in his Mercedes-inspired Multi-Union was second and Dobson in his white ERA third.
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Results
Footnotes::
1. Lap time calculated from speed (82.27 mph)
2. 80.39 mph is given by both "Motor Sport" and Bill Boddy and is obviously the official result. Using 11.7 mi and 8m44s a calculation gives 80.38 mph.
An possible explanation could be that the time has been rounded off in "Motor Sport" from 8m43.9s. Due to the nature of the Brooklands races (mostly short handicaps), medium
speed rather than total time was the usual quantity used in the results.
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Main source is Bill Boddy's "The history of Brooklands Motor Course", sports magazine "Motor Sport" November 1938.
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16 October 1938: Stuck (Auto Union) wins the Schulerau hillclimb in Romania.
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IV DONINGTON GRAND PRIX
Donington Park (GB), 22 October 1938 (moved form 1 October)
80 laps x 5.029 km (3.125 mi) = 402.3 km (250.0 mi)
Nuvolari wins again
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Race moved three weeks because of the Munich crisis. Bäumer replaced ill Caracciola. Nuvolari collided with a stag during practice.
Nuvolari took the lead of the race but had to do an extra pit stop, leaving the lead over to Lang who was followed by Müller.
The engine on Hanson's Alta blew and Hasse and Seaman spun in the oil, Hasse crashing and Seaman loosing a lap.
At halfway Müller was leading from Lang but the latter passed during the pit stop and started to open up a gap.
Nuvolari passed Müller for second. Lang then had to slow down with a broken windscreen and Nuvolari took over the lead and held it to the flag.
Lang finished second and Seaman passed Müller at the end for third position.
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Entries:
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Practice:
After the political situation had calmed down the Donington GP was raced after all, three weeks after the
original date. Both Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union turned up with four cars.
Hasse was racing for Auto Union instead of Stuck and Bäumer raced the Mercedes of the ill
Caracciola.(Note 1). Ecurie Bleue used both the 155 Monoplace and their rebuilt
type 145 sports car and Maserati entered one car for Villoresi. The rest of the field
was filled by a mix of local drivers and cars.
The circuit had been improved since last year but was still bumpy. During practice Nuvolari
collided with a stag, an incident that ended badly for the poor animal while the driver escaped unhurt.
Nuvolari dominated the early practice but in the final session Lang succeeded to take the pole position.
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Race:
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| | | | | | | |
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7
Lang
Mercedes-Benz
2m11.0s
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4
Nuvolari
Auto Union
2m11.2s
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6
Brauchitsch
Mercedes-Benz
2m11.4s
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8
Seaman
Mercedes-Benz
2m12.2s
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1
Müller
Auto Union
2m12.6s
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5
Bäumer
Mercedes-Benz
2m13.8s
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2
Hasse
Auto Union
2m15.4s
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3
Kautz
Auto Union
2m18.6s
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11
Villoresi
Maserati
2m21.0s
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19
Dobson
ERA
2m24.6s
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9
Dreyfus
Delahaye
2m25.4s
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15
Connell
ERA
2m27.2s
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18
Cotton
ERA
2m28.6s
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17
Cuddon-Fletcher
M.G.
2m29.8s
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12
Maclure
Riley
2m30.4s
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14
Hanson
Alta
2m32.2s
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10
"Raph"
Delahaye
2m36.4s
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Until the Italian GP Mercedes-Benz had dominated the season.
When the Donington GP was started at noon by Duke of Kent, Nuvolari shot away to take the lead followed by his
teammate Müller, who made a terrific start from the second row. After one lap the order was Nuvolari, Müller,
von Brauchitsch, Seaman, Lang, Bäumer, Hasse, Kautz and Dreyfus.
The first to retire was Kautz who went out of the track twice on the third lap. "Raph" had to make a pitstop with a sick
engine on lap 3 and again on lap 8 before calling it a day.
Nuvolari started to pull away from the rest by a second per lap as the Mercedes drivers were trapped behind Müller.
On lap 4 Seaman took over third place from von Brauchitsch but he too was unable to do anything against the Auto Unions.
In the midfield Villoresi was once again showing the speed of the Maserati. After a miserable start he advanced from 11th
up through the field to 6th when he had to retire after 18 laps with the usual Maserati engine problems.
Dreyfus was the next retirement and on lap 26 things started to happen.
Nuvolari, who held a half a minute lead, came in to have a plug changed. The stop lasted 53 seconds and he came out in
fourth place behind Lang and in front of von Brauchitsch, Hasse and Bäumer.
Then Hanson's Alta blew up between Holly Wood (Craner Curves) and Old Hairpin and spread oil all over the track. Nuvolari was first
on the place and slid into the grass but managed to bring the Auto Union back in control. Von Brauchitsch also somehow managed
to hold his Mercedes on the road even if he spun twice and came sideways to the hairpin. But Hasse spun and destroyed his car when it went
backwards into a fence. Second placed Seaman also spun on the next lap and even if he avoided hitting anything he
stalled his engine. He lost a lap while waiting for the officials to push him back (no, he was not disqualified).
The order was now Müller, Lang, Nuvolari, von Brauchitsch, Bäumer, Seaman and Dobson.
At the midpoint of the race came the pitstops. First in was Lang on lap 38 with a fast 33 second stop for fuel only.
Two laps later it was Müller's turn. The Auto Union team tanked and changed rear tyres in 40 seconds but that was enough
for Lang to pass the Auto Union and take his Mercedes up into the lead. Bäumer and Seaman were next in
for 44 s (fuel) respective 79 s (fuel and plugs). On the next lap the Auto Union team, after having lost Müller's lead in the pits,
showed what they could do by tanking Nuvolari's car and changing four wheels in 35 s.
Once in front of the Auto Union Lang quickly opened up a huge gap. By 50 laps he held a 40 seconds lead but Nuvolari was also
inspired and made the fastest lap of the race, throwing the Auto Union through the curves to the spectators' cheers.
Lang had his windscreen destroyed by a stone and the wind
pressure on his face forced him to slow down and he was losing 3 seconds per lap. Nuvolari made a new lap record on the 53th
lap and again on the 56th. After 60 laps Nuvolari passed Müller for second place and started to catch up on the leader. The gap was down to 20
seconds and it took just 7 more laps for the "Flying Mantuan" to catch Lang and pass him on the straight. The rest of the race was just a
Nuvolari show.
46 year old Nuvolari took his second victory in a row in a superb style to tremendous ovations from the crowd.
Lang, who finished a distant second, collapsed after climbing out of the car. His head had been exposed to a cold
200km/h wind for an hour and that had seriously affected the blood circulation.
Seaman had passed Müller near the end of the race to finish third.
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Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Entrant | Car | Type | Engine | Laps | Time/Status | Diff |
|
| 1. | 4 | Tazio Nuvolari | Auto Union AG | Auto Union | D | 3.0 | V-12 | 80 | 3h06m22s |
| 2. | 7 | Hermann Lang | Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes-Benz | W154 | 3.0 | V-12 | 80 | 3h08m00s | + 1m38s |
| 3. | 8 | Richard Seaman | Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes-Benz | W154 | 3.0 | V-12 | 79 | 3h06m22.8s |
| 4. | 1 | Hermann Müller | Auto Union AG | Auto Union | D | 3.0 | V-12 | 79 | 3h07m09.0s |
| 5. | 6 | Manfred von Brauchitsch | Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes-Benz | W154 | 3.0 | V-12 | 79 | 3h08m21.0s |
| 6. | 19 | Arthur Dobson | A. C. Dobson | ERA | B | 2.0 | S-6 | 74 | 3h07m56.2s |
| 7. | 18 | W. Cotton / W. Wilkinson | W. Cotton | ERA | B | 2.0 | S-6 | 74 | 3h08m14.6s |
| 8. | 15 | I. Connell / P. Monkhouse | I. Connell | ERA | B | 2.0 | S-6 | 74 | 3h08m52.4s |
| DNF | 5 | Walter Bäumer | Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes-Benz | W154 | 3.0 | V-12 | 43 | fire during tanking/engine |
| DNF | 2 | Rudolf Hasse | Auto Union AG | Auto Union | D | 3.0 | V-12 | 25/29? | spun on oil |
| DNF | 14 | Robin Hanson | Mrs Hall Smith | Alta | | | S-4 | 25/22? | engine blow up |
| DNF | 9 | René Dreyfus | Ecurie Bleue | Delahaye | 155 | 4.5 | V-12 | 23 | oil pressure |
| DNF | 11 | Luigi Villoresi | Officine A. Maserati | Maserati | 8CTF | 3.0 | S-8 | 18 | engine |
| DNF | 17 | Humphrey Cuddon-Fletcher | H. Cuddon-Fletcher | MG | K3 Magnette | 1.1 | S-6 | 17 | brakes |
| DNF | 12 | Percy Maclure | P. Maclure | Riley | 2000/6 | 2.0 | S-6 | 12 | half shaft |
| DNF | 10 | "Raph" | Ecurie Bleue | Delahaye | 145 | 4.5 | V-12 | 10 | oil pressure |
| DNF | 3 | Christian Kautz | Auto Union AG | Auto Union | D | 3.0 | V-12 | 2 | crash |
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Fastest lap: Tazio Nuvolari (Auto Union) in 2h14.4s = 134.7 km/h (83.7 mph)
Winner's medium speed: =129.5 km/h (80.5 mph)?
Pole position lap speed: 138.2 km/h (85.8 mph)
Weather:
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In retrospect:
No one of the spectators, who went home after having seen a tremendous race, could have imagined that it would take
55 years before the next Donington GP was run. As Donington winner Rosemeyer and Nuvolari got a worthy successor: Ayrton Senna!
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Footnote:
1. Caracciola had also been ill during the German and the Italian GPs. The sources give a multitude of explanations:
trouble from the wounded hip, burned feet, worms, piles or different combinations of these. Natuarally
Caracciola was not too keen to make his medical problems public.
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7 December 1938: Richard Seaman married Erica Popp, daughter of the BMW president.
Richard's mother was not present as she went to a matinee instead in protest.
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