Belgian Grand Prix 1931

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Start of the Belgian Grand Prix
The race winners William Grover-Williams (right) and Caberto Conelli (left)

The III. Belgian Grand Prix took place on July 12, 1931 at the 14.914 km Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps . As Grande Épreuve , it was a valuation run for the European Grand Prix Championship in 1931 and was held in accordance with the applicable regulations without a predetermined racing formula for the cars (only a minimum width of 100 cm had to be adhered to) over a duration of 10 hours, with two pilots at each Took turns driving a car.

The winner was the driver pairing William Grover-Williams (under the pseudonym "W. Williams") and Caberto Conelli in a Bugatti Type 51 . However, the European title went to Ferdinando Minoia in an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 .

run

Alfa Romeo driver Giuseppe Campari (as the winner of the previous Italian Grand Prix and runner-up in the race in France ) traveled to the decisive race of the European Championship in 1931 with a clear lead of three championship points over his stable mate Ferdinando Minoia as the clear favorite for the title. Under the conditions of the regulations, a finish in the middle of the ranking would have been enough for him in any case. Minoia also had to with his partner Giovanni Minozzi with the slightly longer and heavier, but also some endurance the racing version of the Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 satisfied -Rennsportversion as previously in the Targa Florio had been used. Campari, on the other hand, had the somewhat racy "Monza" type - so named after his debut success in the Italian Grand Prix - at whose wheel he took turns with Goffredo Zehender during the race. Tazio Nuvolari and Baconin Borzacchini had the same model , who - with no hope of winning the championship - had only been targeted for Grand Prix victory.

After the home win in the French Grand Prix, the main opponents of Alfa Romeo were of course the favored Bugatti with the current Bugatti Type 51 model and the successful driver pairing Louis Chiron / Achille Varzi , plus two other cars for Albert Divo / Guy Bouriat and William Grover-Williams ( "W. Williams") / Caberto Conelli . After the defeat in Montlhéry, Maserati again decided not to participate in Belgium, as at the season opener, allegedly to instead prepare for the start of the German Grand Prix . In addition to the privately registered team Jean-Pierre Wimille / Jean Gaupillat , also on a Bugatti 51, the rest of the 12-car field was filled with additional independent participants who had already been in the 24-hour sports car race at the same place a week earlier had been.

As with the two previous Grandes Épreuves of the year, the public interest in Spa-Francorchamps was enormous and, as before, the numerous spectators were initially offered good sport in the initial phase of the race, which was scheduled to last over 10 hours due to the regulations. Above all, the two arch-rivals Varzi (Bugatti) and Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) fought a thrilling battle for the top for two and a half hours, in which both had the upper hand alternately for a few laps. Both came to the pits around the same time to change drivers, after which Varzi's team-mate Chiron was able to clearly set himself apart from Borzacchini. So the tension subsided significantly, especially since the order behind them with “Williams” / Conelli (Bugatti), Minoia / Minozzi (Alfa Romeo), Divo / Bouriat (Bugatti) and Wimille / Gaupillat as the best private team was largely the whole time remain unchanged.

Halfway through the race, it was the Campari / Zehender (Alfa Romeo) team, aiming for safety and winning the title, who had to give up the sails first, and Campari actually slipped the championship out of their hands. But even at Bugatti there were soon long faces, because shortly afterwards Chiron, who had been the safe leader until then, came to the pits on foot to fetch tools and spare parts for his Bugatti that had broken down. His attempt at repairs was unsuccessful, however, and when the second Bugatti, Divo / Bouriat, also dropped out of the race after six hours of racing, Nuvolari / Borzacchini were almost a full lap ahead of “WWilliams” / Conelli. The Nuvolari team gave the signal to slow down in order to protect the car with a victory they believed to be safe. But towards the end of the race, "Williams" - thanks to the brake drums integrated in the wheels with fresh brakes after every tire change - was finally able to intercept the Alfa Romeo, which also had to make another additional stop due to problems with the fuel supply.

Behind the two leading teams, Minoia / Minozzi and their Alfa Romeo crossed the finish line three laps behind, which meant that Ferdinando Minoia had drawn level with Campari on points in the European Championship standings. For such a case, the rules, which were not very well thought out anyway - which rewarded victories too little compared to other placements - stipulated that in such a case the title would be awarded to the driver with the greatest total distance covered over all races. Minoia was declared European champion, although he had not won any of the three races, while Campari was about 70 km away from driving or five laps to win the title.

Results

Registration list

team No. driver chassis engine tires
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) SA Alfa Romeo 02 Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Ferdinando Minoia Giovanni Minozzi
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) 
Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Alfa Romeo 2.3L I8 compressor P
10 Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Tazio Nuvolari Baconin Borzacchini
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) 
14th Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Giuseppe Campari Goffredo Zehender
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) 
Third French RepublicThird French Republic Automobiles Ettore Bugatti 04th United KingdomUnited Kingdom William Grover-Williams Caberto Conelli
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) 
Bugatti T51 Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor M.
06th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Albert Divo Guy Bouriat
Third French RepublicThird French Republic 
12 MonacoMonaco Louis Chiron Achille Varzi
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) 
Third French RepublicThird French Republic Henri Stoffel 08th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Henri Stoffel Boris Iwanowski
Soviet Union 1923Soviet Union 
Mercedes-Benz SSK Mercedes-Benz M06 7.1L I6 compressor
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Tim Birkin 16 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Tim Birkin Brian Lewis
United KingdomUnited Kingdom 
Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 LM Alfa Romeo 2.3L I8 compressor D.
Third French RepublicThird French Republic Jean-Pierre Wimille 18th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Jean-Pierre Wimille Jean Gaupillat
Third French RepublicThird French Republic 
Bugatti T51 Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor M.
Third French RepublicThird French Republic Charles Montier et Cie 20th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Ferdinand Montier Montier 1 Speciale Ford 3.3L I4 M.
22nd Third French RepublicThird French Republic Charles Montier François Ducolombier
Third French RepublicThird French Republic 
Third French RepublicThird French Republic Jean Pesato 24 Third French RepublicThird French Republic Jean Pesato Pierre Félix
Third French RepublicThird French Republic 
Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Alfa Romeo 1.8L I8

Race result

Item driver constructor Round Stops time begin Fastest lap Failure reason
01 United KingdomUnited Kingdom William Grover-Williams Caberto Conelli
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) 
Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 88 10: 00: 00,000 2
02 Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Tazio Nuvolari Baconin Borzacchini
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) 
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Alfa Romeo 88 + 7: 00,000 5
03 Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Ferdinando Minoia Giovanni Minozzi
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) 
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Alfa Romeo 85 + 3 rounds 1
04th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Tim Birkin Brian Lewis
United KingdomUnited Kingdom 
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Alfa Romeo 83 + 5 rounds 8th
05 Third French RepublicThird French Republic Henri Stoffel Boris Iwanowski
Soviet Union 1923Soviet Union 
German EmpireGerman Empire Mercedes 81 + 7 rounds 4th
06th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Jean Pesato Pierre Félix
Third French RepublicThird French Republic 
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Alfa Romeo 73 + 15 rounds 12
07th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Jean-Pierre Wimille Jean Gaupillat
Third French RepublicThird French Republic 
Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 65 + 23 laps 9
08th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Charles Montier François Ducolombier
Third French RepublicThird French Republic 
Third French RepublicThird French Republic Montier 58 + 30 rounds 11
- Third French RepublicThird French Republic Ferdinand Montier Third French RepublicThird French Republic Montier 56 DNF 10 mechanics
- Third French RepublicThird French Republic Albert Divo Guy Bouriat
Third French RepublicThird French Republic 
Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 51 DNF 3 defective differential
- MonacoMonaco Louis Chiron Achille Varzi
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) 
Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 44 DNF 6th 6: 18,600 1 defective igniter drive
- Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Giuseppe Campari Goffredo Zehender
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) 
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Alfa Romeo 40 DNF 7th Wagon fire

1 Louis Chiron

Web links

Commons : Belgian Grand Prix 1931  - Collection of images, videos and audio files