1935 German Grand Prix

The 1935 German Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at the Nürburgring on 28 July 1935.

1935 German Grand Prix
Race 4 of 7 in the 1935 European Championship
Race details
Date 28 July 1935
Official name VIII Großer Preis von Deutschland
Location Nürburgring
Nürburg, Germany
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 22.810 km (14.17 miles)
Distance 22 laps, 501.82 km (311.82 miles)
Weather Wet, overcast
Pole position
Driver Auto Union
Grid positions set by ballot
Fastest lap
Driver Germany Manfred von Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz
Time 10:32.0
Podium
First Alfa Romeo
Second Auto Union
Third Mercedes-Benz

Classification

Race

The 1935 event was considered to be one of the greatest motorsports victories of all time. The 1935 German Grand Prix will always be remembered as Tazio Nuvolari's greatest race. In a monumental drive, the Italian beat nine superior German Silver Arrows with an inferior red Alfa Romeo.[1] The 1935 German Grand Prix at Nürbugring was held under chilling and dreadful conditions.[2] An estimated 300,000 German fans including some of the most powerful and high ranking Third Reich officers showed up for the race that was run over the course of 22.8 km consisting of 174 turns.[3] There were high expectations that one of the German drivers would win the race since they had the most powerful and advanced cars. Three Alfa-Romeos were presented by the Scuderia Ferrari team and were driven by Italian drivers Tazio Nuvolari and Antonio Brivio, along with Monegasque driver Louis Chiron. The rest of the competitors were from Maserati, ERA and Bugatti and were contested under private teams. Italian legend, Tazio Nuvolari's Alfa Romeo P3 Tipo B enjoyed the maximum engine capacity used in these cars, 3.2 litre, 290 bhp.

The race position was determined by a ballot[4] and Tazio Nuvolari secured the front row at P2 but due to a poor start, Nuvolari dropped down to the third place with teammates Brivio retiring at lap 1 and Chiron at Lap 5 leaving Tazio with the only Alfa Romeo left competing in the race.[5] Italian legend Tazio Nuvolari, drove a very hard race in appalling conditions, and after a dreadful start was able to pass a number of cars, particularly while some of the German cars pitted. By lap 10, Nuvolari was already leading the race while the rest of the cars were struggling to maintain a grip on the now rain-soaked track. After a botched pit in which he lost a total of 2 minutes and 14 seconds due to refueling delays from a broken pressure pump, he joined the race at 6th place. He drove on the limit, made up the time and was 2nd by the start of the last lap- 35 seconds behind leader Manfred von Brauchitsch in a Mercedes. But von Brauchitsch had ruined his tyres by pushing very hard in the dreadful conditions- and Nuvolari was able to catch the German, passing him when one of von Brauchitsch's tyres blew out, and took victory in front of the stunned German High Command and 300,000 spectators. The small 42-year-old Italian ended up finishing in front of 8 running Silver Arrows- and 2nd placed Hans Stuck was 2 minutes behind Nuvolari.

For 1935, Nuvolari set his sights on a drive with the German Auto Union team. The team were lacking top-line drivers, but relented to pressure from Achille Varzi who did not want to be in the same teams as Nuvolari. Nuvolari then approached Enzo Ferrari, but was turned down as he had previously walked out on the team. However, Mussolini, the Italian prime minister, intervened and Ferrari backed down.

Manfred Von Brauchtisch the race leader at time was a full 35 seconds in the led at the start of the last lap. But Von Brauchtisch had been pushing so hard though to get the win that his tyres were totally destroyed and the great Nuvolari passed the German when the Germans tyres finally gave up and fell apart and Nuvolari took the chequered flag to win the race. Von Brauchtisch was nearly inconsolable but it was due to the pace of Nuvolari that the German had to drive so aggressively which was the German's downfall.[6]

In this year, Nuvolari scored his most impressive victory, thought by many to be the greatest victory in car racing of all times, when at the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, driving an old Alfa Romeo P3 (3167 cc, 8C, compressor, 265 hp) versus the dominant, all conquering home team's cars of five Mercedes-Benz W25 (3990 cm3, 8C, compressor, 375 hp (280 kW)), driven by Caracciola, Fagioli, Hermann Lang, Manfred von Brauchitsch and Geyer) and four Auto Union Tipo B (4950 cc, 16C, compressor, 375 hp (280 kW)), driven by Bernd Rosemeyer, Varzi, Hans Stuck and Paul Pietsch). This victory is known as "The Impossible Victory". The crowd of 300,000 applauded Nuvolari, but the representatives of the Third Reich were frustrated and enraged.

Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 12 Italy Tazio Nuvolari Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo Tipo B 22 4:08:04.1 2 1
2 1 Germany Hans Stuck Auto Union Auto Union B 22 +2:14.3 1 2
3 5 Germany Rudolf Caracciola Daimler-Benz AG Mercedes-Benz W25B 22 +3:09.0 7 3
4 3 Germany Bernd Rosemeyer Auto Union Auto Union B 22 +4:46.9 12 4
5 7 Germany Manfred von Brauchitsch Daimler-Benz AG Mercedes-Benz W25B 22 +6:13.3 5 4
6 6 Italy Luigi Fagioli Daimler-Benz AG Mercedes-Benz W25B 22 +7:54.2 13 4
7 8 Germany Hanns Geier Daimler-Benz AG Mercedes-Benz W25A 21 +1 Lap 19 4
8 2 Italy Achille Varzi Auto Union Auto Union B 21 +1 Lap 11 4
9 4 Germany Paul Pietsch Auto Union Auto Union B 20 +2 Laps 15 4
10 21 Switzerland Hans Ruesch Private entry Maserati 8CM 20 +2 Laps 9 4
11 16 Italy Goffredo Zehender Scuderia Subalpina Maserati 6C-34 19 +3 Laps 4 4
12 22 Italy Pietro Ghersi Luigi Soffietti Maserati 8CM 19 +3 Laps 16 4
Ret 17 France Philippe Étancelin Scuderia Subalpina Maserati 6C-34 18 Engine 6 4
Ret 9 Germany Hermann Lang Daimler-Benz AG Mercedes-Benz W25A 15 Engine 17 5
Ret 10 United Kingdom Raymond Mays ERA ERA B 11 Oil pressure 10 5
Germany Ernst von Delius n/a
Ret 20 Hungary László Hartmann Private entry Maserati 8CM 9 Ignition 14 6
Ret 14 Monaco Louis Chiron Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo Tipo B 5 Differential 8 7
Ret 23 Italy Piero Taruffi Bugatti Bugatti T59 3 Accident 18 7
Ret 15 Italy Antonio Brivio Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo Tipo B 1 Differential 20 7
Ret 11 Italy Renato Balestrero Gruppo San Giorgio Alfa Romeo Tipo B 0 Accident 3 7
DNS 15 France René Dreyfus Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo Tipo B 8
DNS 19 Germany Ernst von Delius ERA ERA B Practice accident 8
DNS 22 Italy Luigi Soffietti Luigi Soffietti Maserati 8CM 8

Starting grid positions

1st Row 3 Pos. 2 Pos. 1 Pos.
Italy
Balestrero
Alfa Romeo
Italy
Nuvolari
Alfa Romeo
Germany
Stuck
Auto Union
2nd Row 2 Pos. 1 Pos.
Germany
von Brauchitsch
Mercedes-Benz
Italy
Zehender
Maserati
3rd Row 3 Pos. 2 Pos. 1 Pos.
Monaco
Chiron
Alfa Romeo
Germany
Caracciola
Mercedes-Benz
France
Étancelin
Maserati
4th Row 2 Pos. 1 Pos.
United Kingdom
Mays
ERA
Switzerland
Ruesch
Maserati
5th Row 3 Pos. 2 Pos. 1 Pos.
Italy
Fagioli
Mercedes-Benz
Germany
Rosemeyer
Auto Union
Italy
Varzi
Auto Union
6th Row 2 Pos. 1 Pos.
Germany
Pietsch
Auto Union
Hungary
Hartmann
Maserati
7th Row 3 Pos. 2 Pos. 1 Pos.
Italy
Taruffi
Bugatti
Germany
Lang
Mercedes-Benz
Italy
Ghersi
Maserati
8th Row 2 Pos. 1 Pos.
Italy
Brivio
Alfa Romeo
Germany
Geier
Mercedes-Benz

Notes

  • Ernst von Delius destroyed his car during practice, so shared Mays' car in the race.

References

  1. "1935 GRAND PRIX SEASON – PART 7, 1935 Grosser Preis von Deutschland, 1935 German Grand Prix, 1935 Comminges Grand Prix". www.kolumbus.fi. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2019-04-08.
  2. "History of Formula 1 – The German Grand Prix 1935". www.grandprixhistory.org. 2 May 2009. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  3. "1935 German Grand Prix | Motor Sport Magazine Archive". Motor Sport Magazine. 2014-07-07. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
  4. "1935 GRAND PRIX SEASON – PART 7, 1935 Grosser Preis von Deutschland, 1935 German Grand Prix, 1935 Comminges Grand Prix". www.kolumbus.fi. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
  5. "1935 German Grand Prix | Motor Sport Magazine Archive". Motor Sport Magazine. 2014-07-07. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
  6. Hill, Matt. "Nuvolari and His Most Legendary Drive: The 1935 German Grand Prix". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2019-04-08.
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