Swiss Grand Prix 1939

The Bremgarten circuit in its most traveled version.

Location in the city area

The VI. Swiss Grand Prix took place on August 20, 1939 on the 7.280 km long Bremgarten circuit in Bremgarten near Bern . It was the last Grande Épreuve to be part of the European Grand Prix Championship in 1939 before the outbreak of World War II and was made according to the provisions of the International Grand Prix Formula (mainly racing cars up to 3 liters displacement with a compressor and up to 4.5 liters displacement without a compressor; minimum weight 850 kg; race distance at least 300 km), with racing cars up to 1.5 liters displacement (the so-called Voiturettes ) and above each having a separate preliminary run of 20 laps. The joint final run for the Swiss Grand Prix then led over 30 laps of 7.28 km each, which corresponded to a total distance of 218.4 km.

The winner of the Grand Prix was Hermann Lang in a Mercedes-Benz W 154 , which was the second and last Grand Prix victory of his career. Giuseppe Farina won the Prix ​​de Berne in an Alfa Romeo Tipo 158 "Alfetta" .

run

At the time of the 1939 Swiss Grand Prix, Grand Prix sport was once again in crisis. Due to the previous withdrawal of Alfa Romeo and after the sale of the Maserati Grand Prix racing cars to the private racing team of the American racing driver couple Laury and Lucy O'Reilly Schell , the only opponents were the Daimler-Benz teams and the car Union left over. In order to do something about the threatening monotony and, above all, to lure the Italians back in, who have now concentrated entirely on the popular category of Voiturette racing cars, the Swiss organizers had come up with a new format for the race weekend. The previously unique race for the Bern Prize for Voiturette racing cars (up to 1.5 liters displacement), which took place every year as part of the supporting program, was now also counted as a qualification run, from which six participants in the main race - the actual Grand Prix  - were allowed to participate. This was possible because, strictly speaking, the Formule International (the international racing formula) also officially included vehicles with smaller cubic capacities with corresponding weight advantage. All Voiturettes with a weight of more than 560.75 kg were automatically approved as Grand Prix racing cars. Another run-up was organized for the “real” Grand Prix racing cars (over 1.5 liters), of which the eleven best were allowed to compete in the final. Due to the relatively short distances of the individual runs, unlike other races, no refueling or tire stops were necessary.

For the last Grande Épreuve of the year - the Italian Grand Prix had already been canceled in advance due to construction work in Monza - the two German racing teams performed with everything they had to offer. Mercedes sent four Mercedes-Benz W 154s from the latest version plus a training car for Hermann Lang, who has absolutely dominated the season with four wins so far, European champion Rudolf Caracciola , the experienced Manfred von Brauchitsch and, as a young driver, Hans Hugo Hartmann on the short trip to Bern . The Auto Union team was also represented with four participants. In addition to top driver Tazio Nuvolari and Hermann Paul Müller , who had risen to become a regular driver, the tried and tested Hans Stuck and Rudolf Hasse also took the wheel of one of the Auto Union Grand Prix models Auto Union "Type D" .

The only reasonably serious competition in the Grand Prix class were the two earlier Maserati works racing cars , which had only recently been transferred to Ecurie Schell , which until then had been largely unsuccessful with their Delahaye racing cars with 4.5 liter Naturally aspirated engine had struggled. The Maserati 8CTF model was characterized by excellent handling, but was clearly inferior to the German Silver Arrows in terms of engine performance and reliability.

In the Voiturette class, however, the dominant color was red. The Alfa Romeo works team appeared with two of their outstanding Alfettas Alfa Romeo Tipo 158 for Clemente Biondetti and Giuseppe Farina , who clearly won their qualifying run against a squad of Maseratis and British ERA .

There was also a clear dominance of one brand in the run-up to the Grand Prix racing cars, where the qualification hurdle was not too high given only 13 participants. With Lang ahead of Caracciola and von Brauchitsch, there was a triple victory for Mercedes-Benz, but the Auto Union quartet and the only Maserati from Ecurie Schell with René Dreyfus at the wheel were able to secure their places for the final without any problems.

Immediately at the start of the main race it began to rain, which made the conditions on the largely paved race track extremely tricky. As expected, Lang went straight in front from the best starting position, but behind, to the general surprise, Farina on the "little" Alfetta , who had already caused quite a stir in training with the fourth-best overall time of all participants. For laps he was able to fend off all Caracciola's attacks, until when the rain subsided, the Grand Prix racing cars were able to bring their superior engine power to the road better and better and wrestled one position after the other from the Italian, who was seventh in the end.

In the meantime, Caracciola at the helm, as a rain specialist, had set out to pursue his team-internal arch rival Lang and was continuously working her way up. By the start of the last lap, the lead had melted to two seconds, but with a final record lap, Lang was able to secure his second - and last - success at a Grande Épreuve .

Registration list

Voiturette class (1500 cm³)

No.	driver	constructor	vehicle	team	comment
40	Paul Pietsch	Maserati	Maserati 4CL	Officine A. Maserati ?
42	Heinz Dipper	Maserati	Maserati 6CM	South German racing community	not started
44	Leonhard Joa	Maserati	Maserati 4CM	South German racing community
46	Marc Horvilleur	Maserati	Maserati 4CM	M. Horvilleur
48	Robert Ansell	ERA	ERA B-Type	R. Ansell
50	Allen Pollock	ERA	ERA A-Type	A. Pollock
52	Tony Rolt	ERA	ERA B-Type	A. Rolt	not started
54	John Peter Wakefield	Maserati	Maserati 4CL	J. Wakefield
56	Guido Barbieri	Maserati	Maserati 6CM	G. Barbieri
58	Ettore Bianco	Maserati	Maserati 4CL	E. Bianco	not started
60	Giovanni Rocco	Maserati	Maserati 4CL	Officine A. Maserati ?
62	Emilio Romano	Maserati	Maserati 6CM	E. Romano	not started
64	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo Tipo 158	Alfa Corse
66	Clemente Biondetti	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo Tipo 158	Alfa Corse
68	Arialdo Ruggeri	Maserati	Maserati 4CL	Scuderia Ambrosiana	not started
70	Piero Taruffi	Maserati	Maserati 4CL	Scuderia Ambrosiana	not started

Grand Prix class (3000 cm³)

No.	driver	constructor	vehicle	team	comment
02	Rudolf Hasse	Auto Union	Auto Union Type D	Auto Union AG
04th	Hermann Paul Muller	Auto Union	Auto Union Type D	Auto Union AG
06th	Tazio Nuvolari	Auto Union	Auto Union Type D	Auto Union AG
08th	Hans Stuck	Auto Union	Auto Union Type D	Auto Union AG
10	Manfred von Brauchitsch	Mercedes Benz	Mercedes-Benz W 154	Daimler-Benz AG
12	Hans-Hugo Hartmann	Mercedes Benz	Mercedes-Benz W 154	Daimler-Benz AG
12	Heinz Brendel	Mercedes Benz	Mercedes-Benz W 154	Daimler-Benz AG	not started (reserve driver)
14th	Rudolf Caracciola	Mercedes Benz	Mercedes-Benz W 154	Daimler-Benz AG
16	Hermann Lang	Mercedes Benz	Mercedes-Benz W 154	Daimler-Benz AG
18th	Robert Mazaud	Delahaye	Delahaye 135S	R. Mazaud
20th	Raymond Summers	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo Tipo 308	R. summer	not started
22nd	Luigi Chinetti	Delahaye	Delahaye	Ecurie Lucy O'Rilley Schell	not started
24	Max Christians	Maserati	Maserati Tipo 26B	M. Christians
26th		Delahaye	Delahaye	Ecurie Lucy O'Rilley Schell	not started
28	René Dreyfus	Maserati	Maserati 8CTF	Ecurie Lucy O'Rilley Schell
30th	"Raph"	Maserati	Maserati 8CTF	Ecurie Lucy O'Rilley Schell
32	Kenneth Evans	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo Tipo B	K. Evans
72	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	Maserati 6C-34	Baron de Graffenried

classification

Race 1 - Voiturette class (1500 cm³)

Starting grid

1		2		3
Farina 2: 45.2 min		Rocco 2: 48.1 min		Pietsch 2: 50.1 min
	4th		5
	Wakefield 2: 50.9 min		Biondetti 2: 53.6 min
6th		7th		8th
Pollock 3: 05.5 min		Joa (unknown)		Ansell 3: 18.1 min
	9		10
	Horvilleur 3: 34.7 min		Barbieri 3: 45.3 min

Race result

Item	No.	driver	constructor	Round	time	Failure reason
1	64	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	20th	56: 28.0 min
2	66	Clemente Biondetti	Alfa Romeo	20th	+ 37.0 s
3	54	John Peter Wakefield	Maserati	20th	+1: 08.9 min
4th	60	Giovanni Rocco	Maserati	20th	+1: 46.9 min
5	40	Paul Pietsch	Maserati	19th	+ 1 lap
6th	48	Robert Ansell	ERA	19th	+ 1 lap
7th	44	Leonhard Joa	Maserati	18th	+ 2 rounds
8th	50	Allen Pollock	ERA	17th	+ 3 rounds
DNF	56	Guido Barbieri	Maserati	unknown		unknown
DNF	46	Marc Horvilleur	Maserati	1		unknown

Fastest race lap : Giuseppe Farina ( Alfa Romeo ), 2: 46.5 min = 157.4 km / h  

Race 2 - Grand Prix class (3000 cm³)

Starting grid

1		2		3
Long 2: 33.3 min		von Brauchitsch 2: 34.3 min		Caracciola 2: 35.6 min
	4th		5
	Piece 2: 35.8 min		Nuvolari 2: 36.2 min
6th		7th		8th
Hasse 2: 38.7 min		Müller 2: 39.6 min		Hartmann 2: 40.9 min
	9
	Dreyfus 2: 50.0 min
10		11		12
de Graffenried (unknown)		Evans 3: 04.1 min		Mazaud (unknown)
	13
	Christians 3: 19.5 min

Race result

Item	No.	driver	constructor	Round	time	Failure reason
1	16	Hermann Lang	Mercedes Benz	20th	53: 40.0 min
2	14th	Rudolf Caracciola	Mercedes Benz	20th	+ 04.8 s
3	10	Manfred von Brauchitsch	Mercedes Benz	20th	+ 30.7 s
4th	06th	Tazio Nuvolari	Auto Union	20th	+ 40.5 s
5	12	Hans-Hugo Hartmann	Mercedes Benz	20th	+ 2: 53.1 min
6th	08th	Hans Stuck	Auto Union	19th	+ 1 lap
7th	04th	Hermann Paul Muller	Auto Union	19th	+ 1 lap
8th	02	Rudolf Hasse	Auto Union	19th	+ 1 lap
9	28	René Dreyfus	Maserati	19th	+ 1 lap
10	32	Kenneth Evans	Alfa Romeo	18th	+ 2 rounds
11	72	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	18th	+ 2 rounds
12	18th	Robert Mazaud	Delahaye	17th	+ 3 rounds
DNF	24	Max Christians	Maserati	unknown		unknown
DNF	30th	"Raph"	Maserati	unknown		unknown

Fastest race lap : Rudolf Caracciola ( Mercedes-Benz ), 2: 36.0 min = 168.0 km / h  

final

Starting grid

1		2		3
Long		Caracciola		Caracciola
	4th		5
	Nuvolari		Hartmann
6th		7th		8th
Farina		Piece		Biondetti
	9		10
	Müller		Hate
11		12		13
Wakefield		Rocco		Dreyfus
	14th		15th
	Pietsch		Ansell
16		17th
Evans		de Graffenried

Race result

Item	No.	driver	constructor	Round	time	Failure reason	EM points
1	16	Hermann Lang	Mercedes Benz	30th	1: 24: 47.6 h		1
2	14th	Rudolf Caracciola	Mercedes Benz	30th	+ 03.1 s		2
3	10	Manfred von Brauchitsch	Mercedes Benz	30th	+1: 09.9 min		3
4th	04th	Hermann Paul Muller	Auto Union	30th	+ 2: 13.7 min		4th
5	06th	Tazio Nuvolari	Auto Union	30th	+ 2: 25.0 min		4th
6th	12	Hans-Hugo Hartmann	Mercedes Benz	29	+ 1 lap		4th
7th	64	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	29	+ 1 lap		4th
8th	28	René Dreyfus	Maserati	28	+ 2 rounds		4th
9	66	Clemente Biondetti	Alfa Romeo	28	+ 2 rounds		4th
10	08th	Hans Stuck	Auto Union	28	+ 2 rounds		4th
11	32	Kenneth Evans	Alfa Romeo	27	+ 3 rounds		4th
12	54	John Peter Wakefield	Maserati	26th	+ 4 rounds		4th
13	48	Robert Ansell	ERA	25th	+ 5 rounds		4th
DNF	72	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	22nd		unknown	5
DNF	02	Rudolf Hasse	Auto Union	20th		lubrication	5
DNF	40	Paul Pietsch	Maserati	7th		unknown	7th
DNF	60	Giovanni Rocco	Maserati	3		unknown	7th

Fastest race lap : Hermann Lang ( Mercedes-Benz ), 2: 38.4 min = 165.4 km / h  

Web links

Commons : Automobilsport 1939  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• VI Swiss Grand Prix. www.teamdan.com, accessed September 4, 2014 . 
• Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: VI SWISS GRAND PRICE. www.kolumbus.fi, May 4, 2014, accessed September 4, 2014 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The type designation of the Auto Union racing cars was only introduced later by specialist authors to differentiate between the individual models