Grand Prix of Germany 1928

The Nürburgring in its frequented version with north and south loop

The III. The Grand Prix of Germany was a sports car race and took place on July 15, 1928 on the Nürburgring, consisting of the north and south loop . It led over 18 laps of 28.3 km each, which corresponds to a total distance of 509.4 km.

The race

At the second German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, which was again advertised for sports cars, there was for the first time significant competition for the vehicles of Daimler-Benz AG . Ettore Bugatti reported four vehicles for his company: Gastone Brilli-Peri , Caberto Conelli , Ferdinando Minoia and Louis Chiron . They encountered the revised 7-liter six-cylinder cars from Daimler-Benz, which were driven by Rudolf Caracciola , Christian Werner , Otto Merz , Willy Walb , Georg Kimpel and Adolf Rosenberger . Despite strong driving skills, the factory Bugattis could not prevent the Daimler triple victory, led by Caracciola and Werner. The best Bugatti was the 35 C from Brilli-Peri in fourth place in the overall ranking.

This race saw the first fatal accidents on the Nürburgring. Čeněk Junek , who took turns with his wife Eliška Junková , had an accident in his Bugatti in the Breidscheid section . Ernst von Halle died a day after his Amilcar rolled over in the kettle .

On race day, it was extremely hot with temperatures of up to 40 ° C in the shade. This heat put a strain on drivers and vehicles and was probably the main reason only ten out of 41 participants made it to the finish. Rudolf Carraciola suffered heat stroke. Werner took over the car, even though he had injured his arm and had been replaced by Walb. Walb was available after losing his car in a slip. The only Mercedes driver who managed the entire 500 km distance and almost five hours under the blazing sun alone and had victory in mind was Otto Merz. But on the last lap he suffered a tire damage at Breidscheid, whereupon Christian Werner overtook him and won the race. Merz was second, 1:38 minutes behind Walb, who followed with a gap of 8:21 minutes.

The patron of the event was the mayor of Cologne, Konrad Adenauer , one of the supporters of the racetrack, who saw the construction as an opportunity to employ thousands of unemployed people.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round	time
1	S + 3.0	6th	Daimler-Benz AG	Rudolf Caracciola Christian Werner	Mercedes-Benz SS	18th	4: 54: 24.0 h
2	S + 3.0		Daimler-Benz AG	Otto Merz	Mercedes-Benz SS	18th	+1: 38.0 min
3	S + 3.0		Daimler-Benz AG	Christian Werner Willy Walb	Mercedes-Benz SS	18th	+ 9: 59.0 min
4th	S 3.0	23	Automobiles Bugatti	Gastone Brilli-Peri	Bugatti T 35 C	18th	+ 10: 52.0 min
5	S + 3.0		Daimler-Benz AG	Georg Kimpel Adolf Rosenberger	Mercedes-Benz SS	18th	+ 12: 05.0 min
6th	S 3.0		Automobiles Bugatti	Louis Chiron	Bugatti T 35 C	18th	+ 23: 02.0 min
7th	S 3.0		Automobiles Bugatti	Ferdinando Minoia	Bugatti T 43	18th	+ 29: 04.0 min
8th	S + 3.0		Tim Birkin	Tim Birkin Walter Hassan	Bentley 4½ liter	18th	+ 31: 04.0 min
9	V			Hans Simons	Bugatti
10	V			Hans Kersting	Bugatti
Failed
11	3.0	6th	Karl Kappler	Karl Kappler	Bugatti T 35 C
12	3.0	9	Čeněk Junek	Eliška Junková Čeněk Junek	Bugatti T 35 B
13	V		Gerhard Macher	Gerhard Macher	Dixi
14th	V		Jean Martin	Jean Martin	Lancia
15th	V		Hessian automobile company	Harry Stumpf-Lekisch	HAG gastell
16	V		Paul Bischoff	Paul Bischoff	Chiribiri
17th	S 3.0		Federico Gomeri	Federico Gomeri	Itala
18th	V		Automobiles Lombard	Freddy Charlier	Lombard
19th	S + 3.0		Daimler-Benz AG	Willy Walb	Mercedes-Benz SS
20th	S 3.0		National Automobile Society	AW Modersohn	NAG
21st	V		Raymond Siran, Cyclecars D'Yrsan	Raymond Siran de Cavanac	D'Yrsan K Sport
22nd	V		Raymond Siran, Cyclecars D'Yrsan	Simas	D'Yrsan K Sport
23	S 3.0			Antonio Tommasini	OM
24	V		DMK Marendaz Limited	Donald Marendaz	Marandez 11/120 HP
25th	V		Automobiles Lombard	André Morel	Lombard
26th	3.0		Ernst Günther Burggaller	Ernst Günther Burggaller	Bugatti T 35 B
27	V		Hugo Urban-Emmerich	Hugo Urban-Emmerich	Talbot 70
28	V		Bollack, Netter et Cie	Michel Doré	BNC
29	3.0		Fritz Mettenheimer	Fritz Mettenheimer	Bugatti T 35 B
30th	3.0		Automobiles Bugatti	Caberto Conelli	Bugatti T 43
31	3.0		Automobiles Bignan	Pierre Clause	Bignan
32	V			Heinrich-Joachim of tomorrow	Amilcar
33	V			Hans von Meister	Amilcar
34	V		Ernst von Halle	Ernst von Halle	Amilcar
35	3.0			Willi Seibel	Bugatti
36	3.0		Ottokar Bittmann	Ottokar Bittmann	Bugatti
37	3.0			Eckart of Kalnein	Bugatti T 35 B
38	3.0		August Momberger	August Momberger	Bugatti T 35 B
39	3.0			Carl Walter Andreae	Bugatti
40	3.0		Huldreich Heusser	Huldreich Heusser	Bugatti T 35 B
41	3.0		Margot von Einsiedel	Margot von Einsiedel	Bugatti T 35

Only in the entry list

No further reports are known for this race.

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
S + 3.0	Rudolf Caracciola	Christian Werner	Mercedes-Benz SS	Overall victory
S 3.0	Gastone Brilli-Peri		Bugatti T35C	Rank 4
V	Hans Simons		Bugatti	Rank 9

Racing data

• Registered: 41
• Started: 41
• Valued: 10
• Race classes: 3
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: Extreme heat (up to 40 ° C in the shade)
• Route length: 28.3 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 4: 54: 24.0 hours
• Overall laps of the winning team: 18
• Total distance of the winning team: 509.4 km
• Winner average: 104 km / h
• Pole position: none
• Fastest race lap: Rudolf Caracciola - Mercedes-Benz SS (# 7) - 15: 13.2 min = 111.6 km / h
• Racing series: did not belong to any racing series

literature

• Cyril Posthumus: Germany's Grand Prize 1926–1966 . 1st edition. Motorbuch Verlag , Stuttgart 1967, DNB  575424540 , p. 36–40 (English: The German Grand Prix . London . Translated by Günther von Held).

Web links

• Race results at Wsrp.cz
• 1928 German Grand Prix at Racing Sports Cars

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Thora Hornung: 50 years Nürburgring - curve labyrinth for experts . Görres-Verlag, Koblenz 1977.
2. ↑ Jörg-Thomas Födisch, Bernhard Völker, Michael Behrndt: The Grand Prix of Germany - all races since 1926 . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2008, ISBN 978-3-86852-043-9 .