Swiss Grand Prix 1936
The III. Swiss Grand Prix took place on August 23, 1936 on the Bremgarten circuit in Bremgarten near Bern . As Grande Épreuve he was part of the European Grand Prix Championship in 1936 and was carried out over 70 laps of 7.280 km each according to the provisions of the International Grand Prix Formula (racing cars up to a maximum of 750 kg empty weight; 85 cm minimum width; race distance at least 500 km) corresponded to a total distance of 509.60 km.
The winner was Bernd Rosemeyer in an Auto Union Type C , who achieved his second Grand Prix success in a row and, together with Achille Varzi and Hans Stuck, the first triple victory for Auto Union .
run
Before the third Grande Épreuve of the 1936 season , the starting position was more uncertain than it had been for a long time. Although Mercedes-Benz was still successful at the Monaco Grand Prix at the start of the season, at the latest at the German Grand Prix the inadequacies of the Mercedes-Benz W25 K had become so glaring that the team subsequently skipped the races in Livorno and Pescara to first of all to determine your position. Under the direction of the newly founded racing department under the direction of Rudolf Uhlenhaut , numerous details of the cars were revised so that the team with the regular line-up of Rudolf Caracciola , Luigi Fagioli and Manfred von Brauchitsch could again start with some confidence in Bern. After his accident at the German Grand Prix, Louis Chiron was not yet fully fit again, so that he could only take part as a reserve driver. In his place, young driver Hermann Lang - with a bandaged hand because he broke his little finger at the Nürburgring - started as the fourth regular participant for the team.
In view of the low form at Mercedes-Benz in the spring races, it had looked like Auto Union would now instead take on the role of favorites, which seemed to be impressively confirmed by the success of the new crowd favorite Bernd Rosemeyer in the Eifel race and in the German Grand Prix. However, the duels with Alfa Romeo surprisingly ended in a draw with a triple victory for the Italians in Livorno and for Auto Union in Pescara, and there were also problems with the driver line-up. Rosemeyer was of course seeded after his two Nürburgring successes, but Hans Stuck - currently the leader in the European championship standings - had to compete with an arm injury that he sustained during training in Pescara. The condition of Achille Varzi , the originally number 1 driver of the team, whose season was marked by strong form fluctuations, was even more uncertain . During a training session in Bern, race director Dr. Feuereissen carried out a search of his hotel room and found drugs. Nevertheless, the Italian had one of his better phases here and was able to qualify for the front row of the grid together with Rosemeyer alongside the Caracciola Mercedes. The fourth car of the team was driven by young driver Rudolf Hasse , who made his Grand Prix debut with it.
For Alfa Romeo , represented by Scuderia Ferrari as always at the races , Tazio Nuvolari had proven with his victory in Livorno that the German Silver Arrows were at least not unbeatable. In addition, there were currently no problems with the staff, so that the team with him and René Dreyfus could compete in the two new Alfa Romeo 12C-36 twelve-cylinder racing cars and Giuseppe Farina in the older Alfa Romeo 8C-35 eight-cylinder with the best line-up.
In contrast, Scuderia Torino , the other quasi-works team for Maserati , had not even reported , where they had finally given up on getting the current Grand Prix type Maserati V8-RI somehow competitive. The brand was only represented with Philippe Étancelin on his personal V8-RI and a few other private drivers with older models. At Bugatti , Jean-Pierre Wimille, as the only representative of the plant, once again had the choice between an older two-seater Bugatti Type 59 model - which was also used by British privateer Earl Howe - and the new Type 59 / 50B - Monoposto , which he also preferred for the race this time.
After Richard Seaman and his ten-year-old Grand Prix Delage had previously won the Voiturette class race for the Prix de Berne , the 17 Grand Prix racing cars then gathered to start. From the best starting position , Caracciola went straight to the front with the Mercedes-Benz, but Rosemeyer in the Auto Union gave him a gripping battle for the lead over several laps, in which both gradually separated from the rest of the field. In third place was Nuvolari in an Alfa Romeo, but later had to give up with overheating problems after Fagioli had parked his Mercedes with an over-revved engine and Farina his Alfa Romeo with a cracked cylinder head.
Caracciola was only able to defend himself against the attacks of the young Grand Prix star several times by blocking them in his overtaking attempts. Such a driving style was not yet common in Grand Prix racing at the time, so that Caracciola was even shown the blue flags as an invitation to give way to the pursuer. Nevertheless, it took until the ninth lap before Rosemeyer was finally able to overtake. This was then able to continuously expand the lead, especially since Caracciola soon had problems with a hanging gas linkage. A little later he finally had to give up the Mercedes completely due to a defect in the rear axle suspension.
In the meantime, Varzi had also passed Lang, so that from the 30th lap onwards, Auto Union took a one-two lead in front of the Mercedes duo Lang and von Brauchitsch. Stuck already followed in fifth place, although he was unable to go too fast due to his injury and had already been lapped twice by his young team-mate at half-time of the race.
The usual fuel and tire stops were due in the middle of the race, and while Fagioli took over the car from Lang, who was also ailing, the team at von Brauchitsch put everything on one card and decided not to change the tires in order to perhaps start again with the time saved the two Auto Union to get at the top. But on lap 41, the Mercedes had to come in for a change with a puncture. This practically decided the race, especially since Varzi refrained from attacking his team-mate who was now leading in the championship. In the end, Brauchitsch's car with an overheated engine and stuck brakes was taken out of the race completely, so that only Fagioli's Mercedes remained. After a lengthy repair stop, Stuck battled it out for third place at the end of the race, but then had to be content with fourth place, while the Auto Union team with Rosemeyer in front of Varzi and Stuck was able to celebrate not only an impressive triple victory , but with the fifth-placed team Hasse / von Delius even brought all cars to the finish line. All other participants had failed against it.
Results
Registration list
Qualifying
| Item | driver | constructor | Qualification training | begin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| time | Ø speed | ||||
| 1 |
.svg){kind=small} Rudolf Caracciola
|
Mercedes Benz
|
2: 37.900 | 165.980 km / h | 1 |
| 2 |
Bernd Rosemeyer
|
Auto Union
|
2: 39,300 | 164.520 km / h | 2 |
| 3 |
 Achille Varzi
|
Auto Union
|
2: 39,500 | 164.310 km / h | 3 |
| 4th |
Manfred von Brauchitsch
|
Mercedes Benz
|
2: 40,200 | 163,600 km / h | 4th |
| 5 |
Hermann Lang
|
Mercedes Benz
|
2: 40,400 | 163.390 km / h | 5 |
| 6th |
Tazio Nuvolari
|
Alfa Romeo
|
2: 41,500 | 162.280 km / h | 6th |
| 7th |
 René Dreyfus
|
Alfa Romeo
|
2: 45,200 | 158.640 km / h | 7th |
| 8th |
Luigi Fagioli
|
Mercedes Benz
|
2: 45.600 | 158.260 km / h | 8th |
| 9 |
Hans Stuck
|
Auto Union
|
2: 45.800 | 158.070 km / h | 9 |
| 10 |
Rudolf Hasse
|
Auto Union
|
2: 46.300 | 157.590 km / h | 10 |
| 11 |
Jean-Pierre Wimille
|
Bugatti
|
2: 52.600 | 151.840 km / h | 11 |
| 12 |
Giuseppe Farina
|
Alfa Romeo
|
2: 53,400 | 151.140 km / h | 12 |
| 13 |
Clemente Biondetti
|
Maserati
|
2: 58.200 | 147.070 km / h | 13 |
| 14th |
Raymond Summers
|
Alfa Romeo
|
2: 58.700 | 146.660 km / h | 14th |
| 15th |
Philippe Étancelin
|
Maserati
|
3: 12,100 | 136.439 km / h | 15th |
| 16 |
 Earl Howe
|
Bugatti
|
3: 13,800 | 135.230 km / h | 16 |
| 17th |
 Jacques de Rham
|
Maserati
|
3: 18,400 | 125.760 km / h | 17th |
Race result
| Item | driver | constructor | Round | Stops | time | begin | Fastest lap | Failure reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Bernd Rosemeyer
|
Auto Union
|
70 | 3: 09: 01,600 | 2 | 2: 34,500 | ||
| 2 |
Achille Varzi
|
Auto Union
|
70 | + 52,600 | 3 | |||
| 3 |
Hans Stuck
|
Auto Union
|
69 | + 1 lap | 9 | |||
| 4th |
Hermann Lang Luigi Fagioli
|
Mercedes Benz
|
69 | + 1 lap | 5 | |||
| 5 |
Rudolf Hasse Ernst von Delius
|
Auto Union
|
67 | + 3 rounds | 10 | |||
| - |
Raymond Summers
|
Alfa Romeo
|
51 | DNF | 14th | defective drive shaft | ||
| - |
Manfred von Brauchitsch
|
Mercedes Benz
|
50 | DNF | 4th | broken right rear brake disc | ||
| - |
Philippe Étancelin
|
Maserati
|
34 | DNF | 15th | defective accelerator linkage | ||
| - |
Rudolf Caracciola
|
Mercedes Benz
|
29 | DNF | 1 | Axle break | ||
| - |
René Dreyfus
|
Alfa Romeo
|
26th | DNF | 7th | Motor overheated | ||
| - |
Earl Howe
|
Bugatti
|
24 | DNF | 16 | Task after driving error | ||
| - |
Tazio Nuvolari
|
Alfa Romeo
|
18th | DNF | 8th | Motor overheated | ||
| - |
Clemente Biondetti
|
Maserati
|
10 | DNF | 13 | Motor overheated | ||
| - |
Luigi Fagioli
|
Mercedes Benz
|
6th | DNF | 8th | defective connecting rod | ||
| - |
Giuseppe Farina
|
Alfa Romeo
|
6th | DNF | 12 | defective cylinder head gasket | ||
| - |
Jean-Pierre Wimille
|
Bugatti
|
3 | DNF | 11 | broken gear lever | ||
| - |
Jacques de Rham
|
Maserati
|
1 | DNF | 17th | Engine misfire |
Web links
- III Swiss Grand Prix. www.teamdan.com, accessed September 3, 2014 .
- Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: III SWISS GRAND PRICE. www.kolumbus.fi, August 28, 2019, accessed on May 7, 2020 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ The type designation of the Auto Union racing cars was only introduced later by specialist authors to differentiate between the individual models