Grand Prix of Germany 1932

The Nürburgring in its most traveled version of the Nordschleife

Alfa Romeo Tipo B / P3

The VI. German Grand Prix took place on July 17, 1932 on the 22.810 km long Nordschleife of the Nürburgring . As a Grande Épreuve , it was ranked at the Grand Prix European Championship in 1932 , although in the end the actual race duration of a little less than five hours did not quite meet the requirements for the official Grand Prix races.

The race was held in three groups, Group I - the actual Grand Prix race - for vehicles without displacement restrictions over 25 laps and a total distance of 570.25 km, Group II for vehicles over 800 to 1100 cm³ displacement over 23 laps or 524.63 km and Group III for cars up to 800 cm³ displacement over 19 laps and 433.39 km.

The winner in the open Grand Prix class was Rudolf Caracciola in an Alfa Romeo Tipo B / P3 , but the European driver title was won by his Italian team-mate Tazio Nuvolari . The brand classification went to Alfa Romeo .

run

In 1932, the German Grand Prix was the first time that the European Championship was ranked. Because this meant that only three championship races were organized, after Tazio Nuvolari's two victories in the new Alfa Romeo Tipo B / P3 “ Monoposto ” in the Italian and French Grand Prix, the title was practically certain before the race. Nuvolari would only have been overtaken by his team-mate Mario Umberto Borzacchini in the event of a retirement (or arriving at a maximum of sixth place) , but the drivers' championship as well as the team standings were definitely Alfa Romeo. The clear favorite of the race and the local audience, however, was the team's third driver, local hero Rudolf Caracciola , who, unlike his stable colleagues, was very familiar with the extremely difficult course and had already achieved several successes here.

Given the superiority of the Alfa Romeo, the ambitions of the other two works racing teams were apparently no longer too high. So had Maserati the actual number 1 driver Luigi Fagioli left at home and only a Maserati 26 M for the relatively inexperienced young drivers Amedeo Ruggeri reported, according to some reports, is said to have first have here a new, enlarged to 3 liters of displacement eight-cylinder engine. Even Bugatti stepped up to the race with only one car. This was partly due to the fact that Achille Varzi had to forego participation shortly before the start due to an eye condition. But substitute driver Albert Divo wasn't ready to start either, so the team could only send Louis Chiron into the race with a Bugatti Type 51 model from the previous year that was no longer competitive against the Alfa Romeo. The stronger, but much heavier Type 54 appeared to be even less suitable for the demanding route.

In addition to these five works cars, four private drivers competed in their Bugatti Type 51 in the Grand Prix class, although they played no role in the outcome of the race. In order to still offer the audience enough entertainment on the relatively long course, the organizers of the race decided to hold two races for cars up to 1.5 and 0.8 liters together with this run. These cars each drove over shorter distances and were rated separately.

This decision quickly turned out to be the right one, because after a short time in the race the Grand Prix car had already given way to all tension. Ruggeri had to park his Maserati on the second lap with a defect and now managed the feat of competing in two different races at the same time by switching to the four-cylinder works car of company boss Ernesto Maserati, which started in the 1.5-liter class . And even Chiron with his Bugatti was only able to keep up with the Alfa Romeo at the beginning of the race, although he was able to displace Borzacchini, who had never raced at the Nürburgring, from third place. However, on the seventh lap he had to give up the race due to a rear axle defect.

This allowed the three Alfa Romeo drivers to make the decision among themselves, because apart from them, only René Dreyfus was in this class in his privately entered Bugatti, who in the end crossed the finish line far behind in fourth. Nevertheless, the race, at least for Caracciola, was not entirely free of surprises, because although he was supposed to be the winner in his home race according to the team's internal stable management, he was attacked by Nuvolari and finally overtaken. But when Nuvolari came to the pits for his scheduled refueling stop, the planned outcome of the race was made clear to him once again quite unmistakably, as the pit crew demonstratively slowly cleared the car and restored the desired sequence in this way. The race then ended with Caracciola's victory without any further highlights, whereby the minimum duration of five hours actually prescribed for Grandes Épreves was undercut by about 13 minutes. Apparently, the organizers had miscalculated a bit when specifying the number of laps and did not expect such a large increase in average speed compared to the previous races. However, since this did not affect the outcome of the race or the awarding of the European championship titles to Nuvolari and Alfa Romeo, there was apparently no protest.

Results

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
SA Alfa Romeo	02	Rudolf Caracciola	Alfa Romeo Tipo B / P3	Alfa Romeo 2.6L I8 compressor	P
	10	Tazio Nuvolari
	12	Baconin Borzacchini
	14th	Giuseppe Campari
Wilhelm Merck	04th	Hans Stuck	Mercedes-Benz SSKL	Mercedes-Benz M06 RS 7.1L I6 compressor	C.
Whitney Straight	06th	Whitney Straight	Maserati 26M	Maserati 2.5L I8 compressor
Marcel Lehoux	08th	Marcel Lehoux	Bugatti T51	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
Pilesi Racing Team	14th	Hans Lewy	Bugatti T51	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor	FU
	30th	Paul Pietsch	Bugatti T35B	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
	42	Hans Simons	Bugatti T37A	Bugatti 1.5L I4 compressor
Automobiles Ettore Bugatti	18th	Louis Chiron	Bugatti T51	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor	M.
	20th	Achille Varzi
	22nd	Guy Bouriat
		Albert Divo
László Hartmann	24	László Hartmann	Bugatti T35B	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
	50	László Hartmann	Bugatti T37A	Bugatti 1.5L I4 compressor
Officine Alfieri Maserati	26th	Amedeo Ruggeri	Maserati 8C 2800	Maserati 3.0L I8 compressor
	58	Ernesto Maserati	Maserati 4CM	Maserati 1.1L I4 compressor
Willy Longueville	28	Willy Longueville	Bugatti T35B	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
	64	Willy Longueville	Bugatti
René Dreyfus	32	René Dreyfus	Bugatti T51	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
Earl Howe	36	Earl Howe	Delage 15S8	Delage 1.5L I8	D.
Anthony Alfred Fane peers Agabeg	38	Alfred Fane	Frazer Nash	Frazer Nash 1.5L I8
Willi Seibel	40	Willi Seibel	Bugatti T37A	Bugatti 1.5L I4 compressor
Eric Siday	44	Eric Siday	Frazer Nash	Frazer Nash 1.5L I8
Henry Tauber	46	Henry Tauber	Alfa Romeo 6C 1500	Alfa Romeo 1.5L I6
Émile Dourel	48	Émile Dourel	Amilcar	Amilcar 1.2L I6
Carl Wagner	52	Carl Wagner	Bugatti T37A	Bugatti 1.5L I4 compressor
Just-Émile Vernet	54	Just-Émile Vernet	Salmson	Salmson 1.1L I4
Anne-Cécile Rose-Itier	56	Anne-Cécile Rose-Itier	Bugatti T37A	Bugatti 1.5L I4 compressor
Count Stafan Gyulai	60	Stafan Gyulai	Alfa Romeo 6C 1500	Alfa Romeo 1.5L I6
José Scaron	62	José Scaron	Amilcar MC0	Amilcar 1.3L I6
Joseph Zigrand	66	Joseph Zigrand	Bugatti T37A	Bugatti 1.5L I4 compressor
Claude Ozannat	68	Claude Ozannat	Bugatti T51A	Bugatti 1.5L I8
Armand Girod	70	Pierre Félix	FG Lombard	Lombard 1.1L I4
Engelbert von Arco-Zinneberg	72	Engelbert von Arco-Zinneberg	Amilcar	Amilcar 1.1L I6
Bugatti Team Germany	74	Ernst Günther Burggaller	Bugatti T51A	Bugatti 1.5L I8	M.
		Heinrich-Joachim of tomorrow	Bugatti T49	Bugatti 5.0L I8
Gerhard Macher	76	Gerhard Macher	DKW	DKW 0.78L I2
Hugo Urban-Emmerich	78	Hugo Urban-Emmerich	MG Midget Type C	MG 0.75L I4
Mike Milbank Marquis de Belleroche	80	Mike Milbank	Austin 7 Sports	Austin 0.75L I6
Walter Bäumer	82	Walter Bäumer	Austin 7 Sports	Austin 0.75L I4
Captain Noakes	84	Hugh Caulfield Hamilton	MG Midget Type C	MG 0.75L I4	D.
Fritz Hedderich	86	Fritz Hedderich	BMW 3/15 PS DA 3 type Wartburg	BMW 0.75L I4
Bobby Kohlrausch	88	Bobby Kohlrausch	BMW 3/15 PS DA 3 type Wartburg	BMW 0.75L I4
Hans Ruesch	90	Hans Ruesch	MG Midget	MG 0.75L I4
Harold John Aldington		Harold John Aldington	Frazer Nash	Frazer Nash 1.5L I4	D.
Heinz Risse		Heinz Risse	Bugatti
Joseph Reynartz		Joseph Reynartz	Bugatti
Alphonse Evrard		Alphonse Evrard	Bugatti
Rudolf Steinweg		Rudolf Steinweg	Amilcar	Amilcar 1.1L I6
Principe Demenious		Principe Demenious	Maserati	Maserati 1.5L I4
Domenico Ruggero-Rosso Count di Cerami		Domenico Ruggero-Rosso	Maserati	Maserati 1.5L I4

Race result

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Rudolf Caracciola	Alfa Romeo	25th	1	4: 47: 22.800	1
02	Tazio Nuvolari	Alfa Romeo	25th	1	+ 31,000	3	10: 49,400
03	Baconin Borzacchini	Alfa Romeo	25th	1	+ 7: 10.200	4th
04th	René Dreyfus	Bugatti	25th	1	+ 13: 42,200	9
-	Louis Chiron	Bugatti	6th		DNF	6th		Axle break
-	Hans Lewy Paul Pietsch	Bugatti	5		DNF	5		accident
-	Marcel Lehoux	Bugatti	3		DNF	2		Axle break
-	Amedeo Ruggeri	Maserati	2		DNF	7th		Engine failure
-	Paul Pietsch	Bugatti	1		DNF	8th		Radiator damage

Race result Voiturette up to 1.5 liters displacement

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Henry Tauber	Alfa Romeo	23		4: 54: 46.800	17th	12: 21,800
02	László Hartmann	Bugatti	23		+ 12: 35,600	16
03	Ernesto Maserati Amedeo Ruggeri	Maserati	23		+ 18: 59.200	19th
04th	Earl Howe	Delage	23		+ 20: 18,600	10
05	Carl Wagner	Bugatti	23		+ 20: 58,000	15th
06th	Joseph Zigrand	Bugatti	23		+ 22: 50.600	22nd
07th	José Scaron	Amilcar	23		+ 25: 29.200	21st
08th	Willi Seibel	Bugatti	23		+ 26: 45.400	12
09	Hans Simons	Bugatti	23		+ 34: 24.800	13
10	Anne-Cécile Rose-Itier	Bugatti	23		+ 39: 04.200	18th
-	Pierre Félix	Lombard	17th		DNF	23		failure
-	Stafan Gyulai	Alfa Romeo	13		DNF	20th		Crack in the cylinder block
-	Eric Siday	Frazer Nash	12		DNF	14th		no more fuel pressure
-	Alfred Fane	Frazer Nash	10		DNF	11		Engine failure
-	Ernst Günther Burggaller	Bugatti	4th		DNF	24		Axle break

Race result Voiturette up to 0.8 liter displacement

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Hugh Caulfield Hamilton	MG	19th		4: 33: 29,000	29	13: 29,000
02	Bobby Kohlrausch	BMW	19th		+ 12: 31.800	31
-	Walter Bäumer	Austin	16		DNF	28		Axle break
-	Hugo Urban-Emmerich	MG	9		DNF	26th		mechanics
-	Fritz Hedderich	BMW	8th		DNF	30th		defective crankshaft
-	Gerhard Macher	DKW	2		DNF	25th		Piston damage
-	Mike Milbank	Austin	1		DNF	27		Axle break

Web links

• VI Grand Prix of Germany. www.teamdan.com, accessed July 31, 2014 (English). 
• Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: VI GRAND PRIZE OF GERMANY. www.kolumbus.fi, June 4, 2014, accessed July 31, 2014 .