Swiss Grand Prix 1947

The VII Swiss Grand Prix took place on June 8, 1947 on the Bremgarten circuit in Bremgarten near Bern . The race was the first Grande Épreuve after the Second World War and was carried out according to the International Grand Prix Formula (racing cars up to 1.5 liters displacement with a compressor or up to 4.5 liters displacement without a compressor). In two preliminary runs of 20 laps of 7.280 km each, ten participants each qualified for the final over 30 laps, which corresponded to a race distance of 145.6 km for the prelims and 218.4 km for the final.

The winner was Jean-Pierre Wimille in an Alfa Romeo Tipo 158 Alfetta .

The race

The first Grande Épreuve of the post-war period was also the first race of the new season with Alfa Romeo participating . With its "Alfettas", which are now around 275 hp, the team was practically unbeatable, but only competed in the most prestigious races, not least because of the effort to maintain such a high level. The driver line-up, consisting of the re-energized pre-war ace Achille Varzi , who was cured of his drug addiction , his bitter rival within the team, Jean-Pierre Wimille and the proven Carlo Felice Trossi, was accordingly . With the use of chief test driver Consalvo Sanesi in the fourth car, Alfa Romeo, as a state-run company, primarily met the demands of the strong Italian unions for a representative of the working class in addition to the three male drivers in the team. In order to prevent overly risky duels on the track in view of the strong rivalry between the drivers, Alfa Romeo race director Giovanbattista Guidotti had predetermined Wimille as the winner for this race, whereby political aspects as well as marketing reasons played a role in this decision .

The main opponents for Alfa Romeo - both in terms of quality and quantity - were the numerous Maserati 4CLs , which were fielded by various teams as well as some private drivers, and which occupied half of the field. Top drivers in the Maserati camp were Luigi Villoresi and Alberto Ascari, who is still considered a junior driver for the Scuderia Ambrosiana , Raymond Sommer and the Siamese Prince “B. Bira ” for Scuderia Milan , as well as Grand Prix veteran Louis Chiron , who had rented a Maserati 4CL from the Swiss racing team Écurie Autosport for this race . The model, which initially came out as a Voiturette in 1939 , was more manageable and lighter than the Alfetta , but clearly inferior with an engine output of just 220 hp. And despite the unusually short running distances of the Bern race for a Grand Prix, the 4CL, unlike its overpowering competitor, did not make it through the laps without a refueling stop.

The rest of the field consisted mainly of some older British ERA , a number of Delage Type D.6.70 racing cars and also some for race cars converted Lago-Talbot and Delahaye , who had nothing to do with the outcome of the race from the start.

As in 1939 , the race was held in the form of two preliminary runs and one main run, with the ten best participants from each of the two qualifying races being entitled to start in the final race. A big problem on race day, however, was the almost uncontrollable crowd of over 100,000 spectators who lined the edge of the always particularly accident-prone narrow, sometimes treacherous cobblestone racing track in Bern's Bremgartenwald in dense rows. Even after the first run, which Varzi had won with his Alfa Romeo in front of his team-mate Trossi despite a heavy downpour, the first tragic incident occurred when the winner on his run-off lap ran into the car with a nine-year-old boy who had been involved in the accident was killed on the spot.

In the second run, the Briton Leslie Johnson came off the road with his converted Talbot T150C racing sports car when the track was not yet completely dry and killed two other spectators, while Wimille and Sanesi ensured the Alfa Romeo success as expected.

In the final race, Sommer with his Maserati was able to surprisingly follow Varzi's second-placed Alfa Romeo for a long time, until the duel at halfway through the race was decided by the Maserati's refueling stop. After all, the Frenchman was able to claim at least fourth place ahead of Sanesi and thus prevent a four-fold victory for Alfa Romeo behind Wimille, Varzi and Trossi.