Grand Prix of Germany 1926

Race winner Rudolf Caracciola on the lap of honor

View from the stands

The 1st German Grand Prix took place on July 11, 1926 at the AVUS in Berlin .

It was the first international race in Germany after the First World War and was nominally advertised as a sports car race , but in reality it was held as a formula-free race with its own regulations. It led over 20 laps of 19.57 km, which corresponded to a total distance of 391.38 km. Several serious accidents occurred during the event. Carlo Cattaneo had a fatal accident as the co-driver and mechanic of Luigi Platé during training on July 9th . Two racing officials were killed in Adolf Rosenberger's racing accident .

The winner was Rudolf Caracciola in a modified Mercedes M218 Grand Prix racing car from 1924.

run

After the automobile club of Germany was re-accepted into the International Automobile Association AIACR in the previous year, an international Grand Prix race was held in Germany for the first time in 1926. However, since the Nürburgring was still under construction, the decision was made for the Avus in Berlin, which opened in 1921, as the venue, which essentially consisted of two almost 10 km long parallel straights with a curve at each end.

One such event was seen by the Association of the German Automotive Industry ambivalent, because felled by a late 1925 decision to ensure that its members do not would participate in racing events in the coming year, no manufacturer had a competitive structure for the current International Grand Prix racing formula developed , in which two-seater racing cars with a maximum displacement of 1.5 liters were specified.

In order to keep the superior racing cars away from abroad, the German Grand Prix was at least formally announced for sports cars that were divided into three classes and started separately. Nevertheless, an overall ranking was determined from the times driven. In the two "large" displacement classes from 1.5 to 2 liters (minimum weight 800 kg) and from 2 to 3 liters (minimum weight 1000 kg), the cars had to have four seats, in the "small" class from 1.1 to 1, 5 liters, on the other hand, were allowed for two-seaters. In addition to these provisions, however, the regulations left the participants with a lot of freedom, which "sports cars" disguised by some "relief" such as the removal of fenders, lighting, bumpers, windshield, etc., the waiver of silencers in the exhaust and by increasing the performance of the engines Transform racing cars. The newly merged Mercedes-Benz group even provided the two nominally "independent" drivers Rudolf Caracciola and Adolf Rosenberger with two real Grand Prix eight-cylinders from 1924, the body of which was lengthened by two jump seats in the rear in order to comply with the regulations .

All in all, an impressive field of 38 participants gathered at the start, including numerous German brands with the eight-cylinder OM from Ferdinando Minoia, even a current Grand Prix model from Italy and two French Talbot four-cylinder models that were very successful in the Voiturette class in 1925 Czechoslovaks Hugo Urban-Emmerich and the French Jean Chassagne . During the training, Luigi Platé and his Chiribiri collided with another participant, in which his co-driver Carlo Cattaneo was killed.

In front of 230,000 spectators, Rosenberger initially took the lead in front of Minoia and the two Talbot, while Caracciola first had to work his way through the field with the second Mercedes. The engine had died at the start, so that his mechanic Eugen Salzer had to push the car. Shortly afterwards, Minoia also fell behind after a pit stop and finally had to give up the race due to a technical defect.

When it started to rain in the meantime, Rosenberger came off the track at the end of the seventh lap at around 150 km / h in the north curve and crashed into the timekeeping system built up there. A helper and the operator of the scoreboard died from their injuries, but Rosenberger and his mechanic got away with injuries. As a result, Urban-Emmerich was now in the lead ahead of Chassagne and Caracciola, but on the ninth lap his car was also carried out of the north curve on the slippery surface and got into the spectator stands, among which there were three injured. Urban-Emmerich was able to free his Talbot again and continue the race. Almost at the same time, his brand companion Chassagne also had a multiple rollover at the opposite end in the south curve, but just as in the accident of Pluto driver Mederer in the north curve, the spectators narrowly escaped a catastrophe. After Caracciola had made his planned pit stop shortly before, the Austro-Daimler driver Deilmann was now ahead of Cleer in an Alfa Romeo and Clause in a Bignan . Caracciola worked his way up again under the extremely adverse conditions and after Deilmann's retirement on lap 14, he took the lead without even realizing it. Only when he crossed the finish line did he recognize from the cheering of the crowd that he had won. This victory earned him the nickname “the rain champion”, although his success was partly due to the failure of his opponents. He won the race in a time of 2: 54: 17.8 hours or an average speed of 135 km / h ahead of Christian Rieken on NAG . Ferdinando Minoia drove the fastest lap with 7: 29.9 minutes or 161.2 km / h.

Results

Registration list

team	No.	class	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Hans Lohmann	01	D 1	Hans Lohmann	Komnick 8/30	Komnick 2.1L I4
National Automobile Society	02	D.	Hans Berthold	NAG C.4b	NAG 2.6L I4
	05		Christian Riecken
	09		Edwin Orska
	11		Wilhelm Heine
Steiger AG	03	D.	Ernst Hofer	Steiger 12/70 Sport	Steiger 2.9L I4
Austro-Daimler	04th	D.	Carl Deilmann	Austro-Daimler ADM 3 liters	Austro-Daimler 3.0L I6	S.
	06th		Paul of Guilleaume
Willi Cleer	07th	D.	Willi Cleer	Alfa Romeo RL Super Sport	Alfa Romeo 3.0L I6
Richard Carl Kruger	08th	D.	Richard Carl Kruger	Alfa Romeo RL Super Sport	Alfa Romeo 3.0L I6
Fritz Feldmann	10	D.	Fritz Feldmann	Hansa 2.1	Lloyd 2.1L I4
Arno Hansel	12	E 2	Arno Hansel	Bugatti T30	Bugatti 2.0L I8
Rudolf Breier	13	E.	Rudolf Breier	Bugatti T30	Bugatti 2.0L I8
Rudolf Caracciola	14th	E.	Rudolf Caracciola	Mercedes 2-liter 8-cylinder racing car	Mercedes M218 2.0L I8 compressor	C.
Josef Ludewig	15th	E.	Josef Ludewig	Bugatti T30	Bugatti 2.0L I8
Max zu Schaumburg-Lippe	16	E.	Max zu Schaumburg-Lippe	OM 665 Superba	OM 2.0L I6
Dürkopp & Co	17th	E.	Reinhold Dürkopp	Dürkopp P8A	Dürkopp 2.0L I4
AF Komnick AG	18th	E.	Otto Komnick	Komnick 8/40 HP	Komnick 2.0L I4
Adolf Rosenberger	19th	E.	Adolf Rosenberger	Mercedes 2-liter 8-cylinder racing car	Mercedes M218 2.0L I8 compressor	C.
Pierre Clause	20th	E.	Pierre Clause	Bignan	Bignan 2.0L I4
Hans Kolb	21st	E.	Hans Kolb	Bugatti T30	Bugatti 2.0L I8
Rittmeister von Mosch a. D.	22nd	E.	Otto von Mosch	Dürkopp P8A	Dürkopp 2.0L I4
Brauda Motoren AG	23	E.	Hans Santner	OM 665 Superba	OM 2.0L I6
Hans Hanft	24	F 3	Hans Hanft	Bugatti Brescia	Bugatti 1.5L I4
Brennabor-Werke AG	25th	F.	Albert Mitzlaff	Brennabor 1500 Sport	Brennabor 1.5L I4
	41		Eduard Reichstein
	44		Fritz Backasch
AF Zella-Mehlis GmbH	26th	F.	Alfred Mederer	Pluto Sport s / c	Pluto 1.1L I4
	31		Hermann Friedrich
	43		Cord of one
Officine Meccaniche	27	F.	Ferdinando Minoia	OM Tipo 856 Grand Prix	OM 1.5L I8	P
Neckarsulm vehicle works	28	F.	Jakob Scholl	NSU 6/60 s / c	NSU 1.5L I6 compressor
	29		Josef Müller
	32		Georg Klöble
	37		Franz Islinger
	39		August Momberger
Max Georg Fiedler	30th	F.	Max Georg Fiedler	Bolle-Fiedler BFA 2-stroke	Fiedler 1.5L I4
Max Wälti	33	F.	Max Wälti	Bugatti T13	Bugatti 1.5L I4
Otto Groninger	34	F.	Otto Fettkenheuer	Bob 1020cc	Siemens & Halske 1.0L I4
Luigi Platé	35	F.	Luigi Platé	Chiribiri 12/16 Monza S	Chiribiri 1.5L I4
Inga industrial company	36	F.	Jean Chassagne	Talbot 3 VC Supersport	Talbot 1.5L I4	M.
Georg Kimpel	38	F.	Georg Kimpel	Bugatti T39	Bugatti 1.5L I8
GM Gendron & Co	40	F.	Theo van Horn	GM	Janvier 1.5L I4	M.
Hugo Urban-Emmerich	42	F.	Hugo Urban-Emmerich	Talbot 3 VC Supersport	Talbot 1.5L I4
Dr. Kurt Bucket	45	F.	Willi Loge	Aga 30 hp	Aga 1.5L I4
Heinz Hereditary	46	F.	Heinz Hereditary	Alfi	Alfi 1.5L I4

¹ racing class up to 3 liter displacement ² racing class up to 2 liter displacement ³ racing class up to 1.5 liter displacement

Race result

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Rudolf Caracciola	Mercedes	20th	1	2: 54: 12.8 h
02	Christian Riecken	NAG	20th	1	+ 3: 15.4 min
03	Willi Cleer	Alfa Romeo	20th	1	+ 5: 59.0 min
04th	Pierre Clause	Bignan	20th		+ 7: 49.6 min
05	Georg Klöble	NSU	20th		+ 13: 09.2 min
06th	Max zu Schaumburg-Lippe	OM	20th		+ 16: 39.4 min
07th	Jakob Scholl	NSU	20th		+ 17: 36.4 min
08th	Franz Islinger	NSU	20th		+ 19: 41.0 min
09	Hans Santner	OM	20th		+ 22: 36.4 min
10	Josef Müller	NSU	20th		+ 24: 07.6 min
11	Fritz Backasch	Brennabor	20th		+ 27: 08.4 min
12	Eduard Reichstein	Brennabor	20th		+ 32: 16.0 min
13	Fritz Feldmann	Hansa	20th		+ 33: 28.0 min
14th	Edwin Orska	NAG	20th		+ 33: 53.2 min
15th	Albert Mitzlaff	Brennabor	20th		+ 34: 43.8 min
16	Hugo Urban-Emmerich	Talbot	20th		+ 35: 20.0 min
17th	Max Wälti	Bugatti	20th		+ 37: 00.0 min
-	Hans Hanft	Bugatti	17th		DNF			failure
-	Hermann Friedrich	Pluto	16		DNF			failure
-	Georg Kimpel	Bugatti	16		DNF			Connecting rod damage
-	Josef Ludewig	Bugatti	15th		DNF			failure
-	Paul of Guilleaume	Austro-Daimler	14th		DNF			failure
-	Otto Komnick	Comic	13		DNF			failure
-	Carl Deilmann	Austro Daimler	12		DNF			failure
-	Robert Breier	Bugatti	9		DNF			failure
-	Jean Chassagne	Talbot	8th		DNF			accident
-	Alfred Mederer	Pluto	8th		DNF			accident
-	Theo van Horn	Gendron	8th		DNF			broken valve timing
-	Adolf Rosenberger	Mercedes	6th		DNF			accident
-	Ferdinando Minoia	OM	6th		DNF		7: 17.0 min	Engine failure
-	Hans Lohmann	Comic	6th		DNF			failure
-	Hans Berthold	NAG	5		DNF			failure
-	Richard Carl Kruger	Alfa Romeo	3		DNF			Clutch damage
-	Willi Loge	Aga	2		DNF			Radiator damage
-	Ernst Hofer	Steiger	1		DNF			Radiator damage
-	Max Georg Fiedler	Bolle-Fiedler	1		DNF			Tire damage
-	Otto Fettkenheuer	bob			DNS			withdrawn
-	Heinz Hereditary	Alfi			DNS			withdrawn

Class winner

• Class D (2000–3000 cm³)
  • 1. Christian Riecken ( NAG ), 132.5 km / h 
  • 2. Willy Cleer ( Alfa Romeo ) 
  • 3. Fritz Feldmann ( Hansa ) 

• Class E (1500–2000 cm³)
  • 1. Rudolf Caracciola ( Mercedes-Benz ), 135.1 km / h 
  • 2. Pierre Clause ( Bignan ) 
  • 3. Max zu Schaumburg-Lippe ( OM ) 

• Class F (1100–1500 cm³)
  • 1. Georg Klöble ( NSU ), 125.8 km / h 
  • 2. Jakob Scholl ( NSU ) 
  • 3. Franz Islinger ( NSU ) 

Web links

Commons : Grand Prix of Germany 1926  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: GRAND PRIZE OF GERMANY. www.kolumbus.fi, August 9, 2019, accessed on May 13, 2020 . 
• I Grand Prix Of Germany. (No longer available online.) Www.teamdan.com, archived from the original on February 7, 2019 ; accessed on February 17, 2020 (English).