European Grand Prix Championship 1931
In the Grand Prix season of 1931 , the International Automobile Association ( AIACR) announced a driver competition for the first time in Grand Prix sport with the European Championship . The results of the Italian Grand Prix in Monza , France in Linas-Montlhéry and Belgium in Spa-Francorchamps were evaluated . In accordance with the provisions of the International Grand Prix racing formula applicable for this season, the only requirement for these three Grandes Épreuves was that the race duration had to be at least 10 hours, waiving almost any kind of technical restrictions for the cars (the so-called free formula ) . Two drivers had to be registered for each car, who could take turns at the wheel.
The 500-mile race in Indianapolis and the German Grand Prix were also organized as Grandes Épreuves , but not according to the provisions of the international racing formula - and accordingly of course not as races for the European Championship . In addition, nine other internationally important races as well as numerous other events at national and regional level took place in 1931.
The first European champion in 1931 was the 46-year-old Italian Ferdinando Minoia , who as a works driver in the Alfa-Romeo team did not win a race, but had covered more kilometers than his team-mate Giuseppe Campari in the event of a tie . The most successful drivers overall in terms of race wins, however, were the Monegasse Louis Chiron and the Italian Achille Varzi , both for Bugatti , just as the new Grand Prix model Bugatti Type 51 recorded the most victories.
Set of rules
The scoring of the European Championship, the basic idea of which had been adopted from the previous brand world championship, was based on a system of penalty points. The winner of a race got one, the second two and the third placed three points. The rest of the field of participants received four, five, six or seven points, depending on the race distance completed, whereby, unlike in the past, failures were also rated accordingly, up to a maximum of eight points if a race was not started. Only drivers who were registered for the respective car were rated, and the second driver only if he shared the car with the same partner in all races. At the end of the season, the overall winner was the driver who had the fewest counters on his account. In the event of a tie, the decisive factor was which driver had covered the longest race distance in total.
Season report
In order to breathe new life into the official Grand Prix sport after the world championship failed three times, the International Automobile Association made a radical cut in 1931. Instead of a traditional type of competition between automobile companies, the European championship introduced a driver’s championship for the first time. At the same time, practically every technical restriction of the racing cars with regard to weight, engine and fuel consumption etc. was dispensed with and the minimum width of 100 cm in the cockpit area was simply retained. In this way, it should be made possible for the participants in the many formula-free races to also compete in the official Grands Prix without the need for special racing cars to be laboriously constructed for this purpose. In order to maintain anyway to the "ordinary" races a demarcation, put the Sports Commission of AIACR - apparently in a last attempt to preserve the traditional elitist - a minimum of 10 hours for the championship races fixed regardless of the foreseeable consequences in the practical implementation for organizers, participants and ultimately also spectators.
Despite the immediate criticism of this format, which seemed unattractive for everyone involved, the hoped-for restart was actually achieved with the hosting of the Italian Grand Prix (which was brought forward from September to May in order to take advantage of the longer daylight), France and Belgium . Nevertheless, the general public hunger for motorsport was great enough that the important Formula Libre events, such as the Targa Florio , the races in Rome , Livorno , Pescara , Monza and the Masaryk race in Brno , continued to be very popular delighted with both participants and spectators and not infrequently surpassed the actual Grandes Épreuves . In the third year of its existence, the Monaco Grand Prix in particular was now hardly behind that of the “big” International Grands Prix . For the first time since 1926 - and for the first time ever at the Nürburgring , which opened a year later - "real" racing cars were finally registered again at the German Grand Prix , even if the ten-hour racing formula was not otherwise used for the race came.
After Bugatti had recently lost some ground against Alfa Romeo and Maserati last year , the French racing team once again presented a true winner with the Bugatti Type 51 . Outwardly hardly distinguishable from the predecessor Bugatti Type 35 , the decisive innovation was the use of a 2.3-liter in-line eight-cylinder with an output of around 160 hp, now controlled by two camshafts , which was developed by the American Miller racing car , the Leon Duray was used in the 1929 race in Monza and was then bought by Bugatti as a showpiece. Achille Varzi was immediately successful with the new model at the start of this last big Bugatti season in Tunis and Louis Chiron was also able to win his home race with it at the first official factory appearance in Monaco. The Bugatti was clearly the fastest car in the field and Varzi / Chiron were also definitely the strongest driver pairing of the season. The team only appeared in full strength in absolutely top-class races, while otherwise mostly only Varzi represented the brand alone or together with Chiron with privately registered cars and a reduced team at the Italian Formula Libre events . In view of the reliability of the Type 51 , which was still expandable, there were still some opportunities for success for other racing teams. At the Italian Grand Prix, Bugatti also had massive problems with Michelin tires, which were unable to cope with the strains of the long racing distances in the Grandes Épreuves . The solution only came about by switching to Dunlop in training for the French Grand Prix, where, conversely, Bugatti, with its light alloy wheels with integrated brake drums, had a considerable advantage over its competitors, who lost a lot of time changing worn linings and brake drums during pit stops. The victory of Varzi / Chiron with the subsequent success of the team William Grover-Williams ("W. Williams") / Caberto Conelli at the Belgian Grand Prix, as well as the victory of Chiron in Brno more than made up for the defeat against Alfa Romeo in Monza and Bugatti became the most successful brand overall in 1931.
The private driver Marcel Lehoux , who was born in Algeria , also had a successful season with Bugatti, and with the races in Geneva and Reims he also achieved two more important victories for the brand. At the Monza Grand Prix at the end of the season, after only two weeks of construction, Bugatti finally produced two Type 54s with eight-cylinder engines of 5 liters displacement, which were assembled from existing parts from other models and specifically designed for high-speed races, but which, like the ones , have since become somewhat fashionable Track cars from the Italian manufacturers had problems with the durability of the tires due to their weight.
Even with Alfa Romeo had the Maserati reacts Three achievements in 1930 and chief designer Vittorio Jano brought to the 8C-2300 one of the sports model Alfa Romeo 6C derived new eight-cylinder out in its different variants both as a race car as suitable for use in endurance racing was. This paid off for the first time when Tazio Nuvolari was able to catch Varzi's thoroughbred Grand Prix Bugatti on the last lap of the Targa Florio on a track that was completely soaked through mud. He not only benefited from the fact that his 8C could be equipped with fenders here, but also from a hitherto unseen effort by the Alfa Romeo team, which for the first time even set up radio communication to the numerous depots along the route to keep the drivers up to date on the progress of the race on the go.
For the Italian Grand Prix, a "real" racing car version of the 8C-2300 with a shortened wheelbase was also released, which became known under the honorable nickname Alfa Romeo Monza on the occasion of Giuseppe Campari and Tazio Nuvolari's victorious drive . For use on fast routes, Alfa Romeo had now also developed its own “track car” with two six-cylinder in-line 6C cylinders with a total displacement of 3.5 liters installed next to each other . At the same time, the Alfa Romeo Tipo A was also the first thoroughbred monoposto from a European Grand Prix manufacturer.
As usual, the Scuderia Ferrari was responsible for the operations of the Alfa Romeo in the somewhat less important races, while the official works team was nominally limited to the highest-ranking events. Campari won the race in Pescara for the Scuderia on Tipo A , while Nuvolari in Livorno - where Ferrari had entered a total of eight cars - was once again successful with the “Monza”. Baconin Borzacchini and Luigi Arcangeli also served as regular drivers , the latter then having a fatal accident during training for the Italian Grand Prix with the Tipo A. If necessary, Goffredo Zehender , Giovanni Minozzi and finally Ferdinando Minoia , who had already started his long career at the Targa Florio in 1907 , also came to the rescue. Thanks to his driving style, which is primarily geared towards consistency, Minoia was also the one who - somewhat favored by the regulations - was able, to the general surprise, to win the European Championship this year without having even won a single race.
The soaring of Maserati in the preseason, however, had only stopped briefly in 1931 came Tipo 26M against the new models of the competitor of Bugatti and Alfa Romeo already back behind and the team had to boot insert with the disposal of Achille Varzi to Bugatti another setback have to. To compensate, last year's winner from Monaco , René Dreyfus , was hired, who thus got his first contract with a works team to strengthen the team around the number 1 driver Luigi Fagioli and the also newly added Clemente Biondetti . After Bugatti, Maserati had now also begun to assemble its team from drivers of different nationalities, a trend that in Grand Prix racing, contrary to the general, often still nationalist zeitgeist, began to take hold. In order to reconnect with Bugatti and Alfa Romeo, Maserati also increased the displacement of the eight-cylinder again to 2.8 liters during the season. Nevertheless, it was initially Ernesto Maserati in the now two-year-old twin-engine Maserati V4 Track Car who - albeit in the absence of Alfa Romeo - achieved the first Maserati success of the season with the race on the fast track from Littorio near Rome. Fagioli, on the other hand, was able to impressively demonstrate the performance of Maserati's latest Grand Prix model against the entire squad of these overpowered “monster racing cars” at the so-called race of the giants at the end of the season in Monza - because of the numerous track cars gathered there .
Last but not least, after a rather sporadic appearance, Mercedes-Benz returned to the Grand Prix slopes a little more frequently in 1931. Rudolf Caracciola , who was the first foreigner to win the Mille Miglia , and his partner Otto Merz were the first ever German participants in a Grand Prix de l'ACF after the war in Montlhéry . The mighty Mercedes SSKL with its in-line six-cylinder displacement of 7.1 liters was, however, still more sports car than racing car and overall still too heavy, so that it was Caracciolas despite numerous reductions in weight compared to the base model - including holes in the chassis frame It took all talents and track knowledge to achieve a highly acclaimed victory in an internationally important race in the rainy German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring . With more or less support from the factory, Hans Stuck and the young up-and-coming pilot Manfred von Brauchitsch also competed in some races in their privately registered SSKL.
Racing calendar
Grandes Épreuves for the European Championship
The term “Grandes Épreuves” was used to describe the official races of the European Championship, and that means something like “Great Trials” or “Great Competition”.
| date | run | route | winner | statistics | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 24th |
 Italian Grand Prix
|
Autodromo di Monza |
Giuseppe Campari / Tazio Nuvolari ( Alfa Romeo ) |
statistics |
| 2 | 06/21 |
 ACF Grand Prix
|
Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry |
 Louis Chiron / Achille Varzi ( Bugatti ) |
statistics |
| 3 | 07/12 |
 Belgian Grand Prix
|
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps |
 W. Williams / Caberto Conelli ( Bugatti ) |
statistics |
More races
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Ice races
| date | run | route | winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02/22 |
 Swedish Grand Prix
|
Framing |
 Karl Ebb ( Auburn )
|
Driver ranking
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| colour | meaning | Points |
|---|---|---|
| gold | winner | 1 |
| silver | 2nd place | 2 |
| bronze | 3rd place | 3 |
| green | covered more than 75% of the race distance | 4th |
| blue | covered between 50% and 75% of the race distance | 5 |
| violet | covered between 25% and 50% of the race distance | 6th |
| red | covered less than 25% of the race distance | 7th |
| black | Disqualified (DQ) | 8th |
| Blank | not started | 8th |
Bold - Pole Position
Italic - Fastest race lap
The following drivers were removed from the scoring:
- Baconin Borzacchini was co-pilot of Minoia (Italy), Campari (France) and Nuvolari (Belgium), so he was not entitled to points according to the regulations.
- George Eyston was co-pilot of Birkin (France), Birkin was co-pilot of Lewis (Belgium), so he was not entitled to points according to the regulations.
- Pietro Ghersi was co-pilot of Klinger (Italy) and Dreyfus (France), so according to the regulations he was not entitled to points.
- Brian E. Lewis was co-pilot of Howe (France) and Birkin (Belgium), so he was not eligible for points according to the regulations.
- Attilio Marinoni was the actual co-driver of Campari (Italy), on the 40th lap Nuvolari took over the car. Most likely he didn't get any points because he wasn't driving himself.
- Giovanni Minozzi was co-pilot of Nuvolari (France) and Minoia (Belgium), so according to the regulations he was not eligible for points.
- Goffredo Zehender was co-pilot of Minoia (France) and Campari (Belgium), so according to the regulations he was not entitled to points.
References
Web links
- Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: Detailed history of the 1931 European Grand Prix Championship. Www.kolumbus.fi, accessed on July 28, 2014 (English).
Remarks
- ↑ Ivanovsky was a native Russian, but had been in exile in France since the October Revolution