1937 Italian Grand Prix

The XV. The Italian Grand Prix took place on September 12, 1937 at the Circuito di Montenero in Livorno . As Grande Épreuve , the race was part of the European Grand Prix Championship in 1937 , but deviating from the provisions of the International Grand Prix Formula (racing cars up to a maximum of 750 kg empty weight; 85 cm minimum width; race distance at least 500 km) was only over 50 laps of 7.218 each km, which corresponded to a total distance of 360.9 km.
The winner was Rudolf Caracciola in a Mercedes-Benz W125 , who secured his second European championship title after 1935 with his third win of the season in a championship run .
run
For the first time since 1921 , the Italian Grand Prix was not held on the traditional Monza racetrack , but relocated to the Montenero race track near Livorno , the usual venue for the Coppa Ciano race , where Tazio Nuvolari and his Alfa Romeo last took place in 1936 could defeat the overwhelming power of the German Silver Arrows .
Nuvolari, who, after his short and unsuccessful excursion to the Auto Union camp at the Swiss Grand Prix, had returned somewhat disillusioned to the arms of Scuderia Ferrari , the official works agency for Alfa Romeo, had to do as much as his team-mate Carlo Felice Trossi , Giuseppe Farina and Clemente Biondetti , are still content with the same Alfa Romeo 12C-36 , with which he had achieved the success of the previous year. The new Alfa Romeo 12C / 37 model , which was immediately withdrawn from racing after its disastrous first appearance at the Pescara race , was only driven here in Livorno by Alfa Romeo's top test driver Gianbattista Guidotti , who had the car just before the halfway point had to stop the race with a technical defect.
The German teams were not too impressed by the change of location, however, and Rudolf Caracciola , who was two points behind his teammate Manfred von Brauchitsch in the European championship standings , immediately set the fastest training time with his Mercedes-Benz W125 , the most powerful racing car of its time which also meant the best starting position. However, in the square next to it there was a surprise because Achille Varzi - because of his drug use and other escapades in the Auto Union actually retired at the end of last year - were to return to the team as cured and promptly with the Auto Union "Type C" the Second fastest lap shot in training. He was even faster than star pilot Bernd Rosemeyer , the current top driver of the team, who completed the front row with third place.
The second row was also completely occupied by Silver Arrow drivers with Hermann Lang (Mercedes), Hans Stuck (Auto Union) and Manfred von Brauchitsch, before Nuvolari as the best Alfa Romeo driver together with Mercedes junior Richard Seaman and Carlo Felice Trossi took up position on the third row of the grid on the second Alfa Romeo.
Caracciola had the best start, making the first lap ahead of Lang, Rosemeyer, von Brauchitsch and Varzi. But his team-internal rival could not be shaken off and was able to take the lead in the fourth lap. In their duel, the two Mercedes drivers at the front increasingly separated themselves from the rest of the field, in which the positions initially remained largely unchanged. To the delight of the audience, only Nuvolari was able to briefly fight past Varzis Auto Union with his Alfa Romeo, before he then continuously lost ground again and finally came to the pits on the 31st lap, to the exasperated Farina, who had already retired cede.
In the meantime, Lang had also made a stop on the 23rd lap to change a defective tire. The Mercedes pit team took a noticeably long time, probably to defuse the team-internal duel and to restore the predefined ranking in the team. But after Caracciola also stopped later, Lang was back at his rear a few laps later and tried to get past. But Caracciola was able to block all attempts to attack until the finish and finally crossed the line as the winner with a blink of an eye ahead of Lang. Since von Brauchitsch had also previously failed due to a technical defect, this also meant Caracciola's second title win after 1935 .
Results
Registration list
team | No. | driver | chassis | engine | tires |
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2 |
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Mercedes-Benz W 125 | Mercedes-Benz M 125 F 5.7L I8 compressor | C. |
4th |
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6th |
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8th |
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10 |
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12 |
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Auto Union C | Auto Union 6.0L V16 compressor | C. |
14th |
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16 |
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18th |
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20th |
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Alfa Romeo 8C-35 | Alfa Romeo 3.8L I8 compressor | |
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22nd |
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Alfa Romeo 12C-36 | Alfa Romeo 4.1L V12 compressor | E. |
24 |
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26th |
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28 |
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28 |
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30th |
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Alfa Romeo 12C / 37 | Alfa Romeo 4.5L V12 compressor | P |
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32 |
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Alfa Romeo 8C-35 | Alfa Romeo 3.8L I8 compressor |
Qualifying
Item | driver | constructor | Qualification training | begin | |
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time | Ø speed | ||||
1 |
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3: 11.0 min | 136.046 km / h | 1 |
2 |
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3: 13.6 min | 134.220 km / h | 2 |
3 |
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3: 14.2 min | 133.804 km / h | 3 |
4th |
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3: 15.6 min | 132.850 km / h | 4th |
5 |
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3: 17.4 min | 131.635 km / h | 5 |
6th |
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3: 18.6 min | 130.840 km / h | 6th |
7th |
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3: 20.8 min | 129.406 km / h | 7th |
8th |
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3: 21.6 min | 128.893 km / h | 8th |
9 |
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3: 22.2 min | 128.510 km / h | 9 |
10 |
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3: 22.4 min | 128.383 km / h | 10 |
11 |
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3: 24.2 min | 127.251 km / h | 11 |
12 |
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3: 24.4 min | 127.127 km / h | 12 |
13 |
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3: 24.6 min | 127.003 km / h | 13 |
14th |
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3: 29.0 min | 124.329 km / h | 14th |
15th |
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3: 40.0 min | 118.113 km / h | 15th |
Race result
Item | No. | driver | constructor | Round | time | Failure reason | EM points |
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1 | 2 |
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50 | 2: 44: 54.4 h | 1 | |
2 | 6th |
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50 | + | 0.4 s2 | |
3 | 12 |
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50 | + | 2: 25.4 min3 | |
4th | 8th |
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49 | + | 1 lap4th | |
5 | 18th |
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49 | + | 1 lap4th | |
6th | 14th |
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49 | + | 1 lap4th | |
7th | 22nd |
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49 | + | 1 lap4 / - | |
8th | 26th |
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47 | + | 3 rounds4th | |
9 | 16 |
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47 | + | 3 rounds4 / - | |
10 | 20th |
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45 | + | 5 rounds4th | |
DNF | 10 |
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43 | 4th | ||
DNF | 28 |
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38 | 4th | ||
DNF | 4th |
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36 | mechanics | 5 | |
DNF | 30th |
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24 | mechanics | 6th | |
DNF | 24 |
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13 | mechanics | 6th |
Fastest race lap : Rudolf Caracciola and Hermann Lang ( Mercedes-Benz ), 3: 11.2 min = 135.9 km / h
Web links
- XV Gran Premio d'Italia. www.teamdan.com, accessed on August 11, 2014 .
- Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: XV ° GRAN PREMIO D'ITALIA. www.kolumbus.fi, May 4, 2014, accessed on August 11, 2014 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ The type designation of the Auto Union racing cars was only introduced later by specialist authors to differentiate between the individual models