Grand Prix of Germany 1934
The VII Grand Prix of Germany took place on July 15, 1934 on the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring . The race belonged to the Grandes Épreuves category and was held in accordance with the provisions of the International Grand Prix racing formula (racing cars up to a maximum of 750 kg curb weight; 85 cm minimum width; race distance at least 500 km) over 25 laps of 22.810 km, which corresponds to a total distance of 570 , Corresponded to 25 km.
The winner was Hans Stuck in an Auto Union Type A , who was able to achieve the first Grand Prix victory of his career, as well as for the Auto Union brand .
The 1934 Grand Prix of Germany was the last official Grand Prix in which lapped drivers had to finish the race for the remaining number of laps after crossing the finish line in order to be classified.
run
After the debacle at the French Grand Prix , the two German racing teams from Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union were under great pressure to succeed in their home race. In addition, there were personnel problems in the cockpits in both camps. At Auto Union, the second regular driver in the team, Hermann zu Leiningen, was seriously ill, so that as a replacement for him, the former Bugatti privateer Ernst Günther Burggaller had to take a seat at the wheel of one of the unfamiliar rear-engined racing cars alongside Hans Stuck and August Momberger . The problems in the Mercedes team were even greater, where the actual team captain Rudolf Caracciola was still severely hampered by the injuries he had suffered in Monaco last year, especially in long and demanding races . As a replacement for him, the Italian Luigi Fagioli had been committed, who had to fear for his status in the team whether the early comeback Caracciolas in Linas-Montlhéry had. After his previous victory at the Eifel race , some hopes for the German Grand Prix had also rested on him in the same place, then the third driver of the team, Manfred von Brauchitsch , retired from one of the unofficial test drives in the run-up to the Grand Prix Accident injuries so that he could not compete in the race. But Ernst Henne , the actual substitute in the team, was in bed with a bad cold, so that finally the Mercedes team had to put a very inexperienced driver in the cockpit of the third Mercedes-Benz W25 with the young driver Hanns Geier .
Only serious competition for the German team presented at the Nurburgring, the Italian Scuderia Ferrari is in the name of Alfa Romeo to use the factory race car Alfa Romeo Tipo B / P3 operation. This model, developed as early as 1932 - as the very first monoposto for Grand Prix sport - was somewhat inferior in terms of engine performance and handling, but on the other hand it was in contrast to the sophisticated new Silver Arrows from Germany, which often still struggled with teething problems had, already very mature. In terms of drivers, too, the Italian team with Louis Chiron , Achille Varzi and the new Grand Prix hope Guy Moll had an absolutely top line-up, so that the outcome of the race, especially after the Alfa Romeo triple victory at the French Grand Prix, was definitely was not yet in sight.
For the rest of the field of participants, which was made up almost exclusively of private drivers - with or without factory support - there was virtually no real chance of success from the outset. This also applied to an absolute top driver like Tazio Nuvolari , who, after his very disappointing experience at Bugatti (and because the French team had not even entered the race), is now back with his own, no longer really competitive Maserati 8CM from the previous year had to compete. On top of that, the Italian's driving was significantly hampered by the injuries sustained in a racing accident in Alessandria earlier in the season .
On the day of the race, Chiron in an Alfa Romeo once again had the best start from the grid - which is usually still drawn by lots - but on the long and winding track, Auto Union driver Hans Stuck had ample opportunity to test his skills before the end of the first round to put it at the top. Mercedes driver Caracciola had already left Chiron behind by this point and a few laps later his stable colleague Fagioli also moved up to third place. The three Alfa Romeos were now increasingly having transmission problems and after seven laps only Chiron's car was left, but it could no longer keep up with the pace of the three cars in front of him. This sequence then remained for a long time until Caracciola finally managed to overtake Stuck in the carousel on the outside lane with the maneuver of the year shortly after half of the race. However, Caracciola's luck did not last too long, because shortly afterwards he had to park his Silver Arrow in almost the same place with engine failure. With that, Stuck was back in front and did not give up his lead on Fagioli, who leveled out at around two minutes, until the end of the race.
In front of an enthusiastic home crowd of 200,000 spectators, Hans Stuck, who until then had mainly been successful in hill climbs, not only celebrated his first major victory in a circuit race, but also the first Grand Prix victory for Auto-Union as well as for the new German Silver Arrows overall. Behind Fagioli, Chiron, who had only one gear left at the end, managed to cross the finish line in third place.
Results
Registration list
Race result
| Item | driver | constructor | Round | Stops | time | begin | Fastest lap | Failure reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Hans Stuck
|
Auto Union
|
25th | 4: 38: 19,200 | 10 | 10: 43.800 | ||
| 2 |
 Luigi Fagioli
|
Mercedes Benz
|
25th | + 2: 07,000 | 13 | |||
| 3 |
 Louis Chiron
|
Alfa Romeo
|
25th | + 8: 13,600 | 5 | |||
| 4th |
Tazio Nuvolari
|
Maserati
|
25th | + 16: 51,000 | 4th | |||
| 5 |
Hanns Geier
|
Mercedes Benz
|
25th | + 20: 46,200 | 19th | |||
| 6th |
Goffredo Zehender
|
Maserati
|
25th | + 36: 25,600 | 7th | |||
| 7th |
.svg){kind=small} László Hartmann
|
Alfa Romeo
|
23 | + 2 rounds | 12 | |||
| - |
 Ulrich Maag
|
Alfa Romeo
|
25th | DSQ | 9 | Vehicle too heavy | ||
| - |
August Momberger Ernst Günther Burggaller
|
Auto Union
|
20th | DNF | 15th | Gearbox damage | ||
| - |
Hans Ruesch Guglielmo Sandri
|
Maserati
|
18th | DNF | 17th | defective fuel pump | ||
| - |
Luigi Soffietti Renato Balestrero
|
Alfa Romeo
|
14th | DNF | 16 | Axle break | ||
| - |
Rudolf Caracciola
|
Mercedes Benz
|
13 | DNF | 8th | Valve damage | ||
| - |
Giovanni Minozzi
|
Alfa Romeo
|
10 | DNF | 1 | Gearbox damage | ||
| - |
 Guy minor
|
Alfa Romeo
|
6th | DNF | 14th | Gearbox damage | ||
| - |
Renato Balestrero
|
Alfa Romeo
|
4th | DNF | 3 | Gearbox damage | ||
| - |
Achille Varzi
|
Alfa Romeo
|
4th | DNF | 11 | Gearbox damage | ||
| - |
Ernst Günther Burggaller
|
Auto Union
|
2 | DNF | 18th | Gearbox damage | ||
| - |
 Hugh Caulfield Hamilton
|
Maserati
|
2 | DNF | 2 | Valve damage | ||
| - |
Attilio Battilana
|
Alfa Romeo
|
2 | DNF | 6th | mechanics |
Web links
- VII German Grand Prix. www.teamdan.com, accessed August 1, 2014 (English).
- Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: VII GRAND PRIZE OF GERMANY. www.kolumbus.fi, June 4, 2014, accessed on January 28, 2020 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ The type designation of the Auto Union racing cars was only introduced later by specialist authors to differentiate between the individual models