1931 Monaco Grand Prix

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The field just after the start at the port
Achille Varzi in the Bugatti in front of the Rascasse
Race winner Louis Chiron

The III. Monaco Grand Prix ( III Grand Prix de Monaco ) took place on April 19, 1931 on the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo . The race was held over 100 laps of 3.180 km each without specifying a racing formula, which corresponded to a total distance of 318.0 km. It was not a Grande Épreuve this year and was therefore not counted for the European Championship of Drivers .

The winner of the race was Louis Chiron in a Bugatti Type 51 .

run

Although not yet advanced to the status of a Grande Épreuve , the race through the streets of Monte Carlo was already one of the Grand Prix classics in 1931. Accordingly, despite the renewed cancellation of the Alfa Romeo team  - due to tire problems that had become apparent at the previous Mille Miglia - the Monaco Automobile Club had no problems in reassembling a first-class field of participants with drivers from eight nations. The focus of interest was of course the two works teams from Bugatti and Maserati , and among them in particular their two top drivers, local hero Louis Chiron and René Dreyfus , who snatched the victory with his privately entered Bugatti after a thrilling battle at the end of his competitor last year would have.

After the Maserati Tipo 26M with a 2.5-liter in-line eight-cylinder had dominated the previous season at the end, Bugatti had launched a new Grand Prix model in 1931 with the Bugatti Type 51 . The main difference to the previous Bugatti Type 35 was the newly designed 2.3-liter engine with DOHC valve control , which made significantly higher speeds possible. In addition to the works team with its regular drivers Chiron, Achille Varzi  - who had previously won the debut of the Type 51 on the new race track in Carthago , North Africa with his privately registered copy - Albert Divo and Guy Bouriat now also had their first independent drivers, such as the British Earl Howe , about Bugatti's latest Grand Prix model. The remaining Bugatti privateers, including next to William Grover-Williams (aka "W. Williams"), the winner of the race of 1929 , and the two Frenchmen Philippe Étancelin and Marcel Lehoux the three cars of strong new Renngemeinschaft German Bugatti team with Heinrich-Joachim von Morgen , Prince Hermann zu Leiningen and Ernst Günther Burggaller , however, had to be content with their older types 35B and 35C .

Maserati sent their contract drivers Dreyfus, Luigi Fagioli  - the actual number 1 in the team - and Clemente Biondetti , all three in a Maserati 26M , into the field against the Bugatti phalanx . The independent Swiss Hans Stuber was only able to compete in his older Maserati 26B because, after a training accident, his British colleague Sir Henry "Tim" Birkin provided him with a new front axle from his defective car.

The 23-strong field was completed by a somewhat older Peugeot 174 S from André Boillot (alias "Dribus", brother of the famous pre-war driver Georges Boillot ) and the top German driver Rudolf Caracciola , whose Mercedes SSKL with its mighty 7th , 1-liter in-line six-cylinder, however, looked very out of place on the narrow street circuit due to its length and weight. However, after a few misunderstandings in the previous year, Caracciola did not want to scare off the organizers again and therefore accepted his invitation to the race as the newly crowned first foreign winner of the Mille Miglia .

In 1931 the starting grid was drawn and Dreyfus made use of his luck on the drawing board and took the lead directly in front of "Williams", while his rivals behind it needed several laps to sort the field. On the fourth lap, "Williams" even passed the Maserati factory driver, but had to retire one lap later with a broken valve spring.

In the meantime, Varzi had finally worked his way up to third with the factory Bugatti and was able to overtake Lehoux, who was now second, and Dreyfus shortly afterwards, thus securing the first of the newly introduced bonus awards, which this year for the first time ten rounds were awarded to the leader. His team-mate Chiron was now fifth behind Maserati driver Fagioli and ahead of Caracciola in the Mercedes and was on the way forward, while Dreyfus was now continuously losing places. After Lehoux, the last promisingly placed private driver, was withdrawn from the race due to a defective differential, the two factory Bugattis from Varzi and Chiron were in front after 20 of the 100 laps, ahead of the two Maseratis from Fagioli and Dreyfus - the one soon afterwards had to make a longer repair stop - followed by Caracciola, Bouriat, Divo and Biondetti. With the exception of Stanisław Czaykowski from Poland , all other participants had already been lapped by this point.

Shortly before the third intermediate classification, however, Varzi had to pit after contact with a curb with a broken wheel, which meant that, to the delight of the local crowd, Chiron took the lead, which he did not give up until the end of the race. After 60 laps, only Fagioli - who had been completely ignored by his competitors for a long time due to a mistake by the timekeeper - and Bouriat together with Chiron were in one lap, who switched places after ten more laps because the Maserati had problems with the fuel supply were. When Bouriat had to pit to change the spark plugs, the Italian came back to his usual place, but now one lap behind the leader, who was able to celebrate victory in his hometown for the only time in his career. Varzi also came close to Fagioli in the end, but although both had to do another lap after Chiron had crossed the finish line, he was unable to overtake the Maserati driver - also because the timekeepers made another mistake and the race therefore a lap early was waved off.

Results

Registration list

team No. driver chassis engine tires
German EmpireGerman Empire Bugatti Team Germany 02 German EmpireGerman Empire Ernst Günther Burggaller Bugatti T35B Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
06th German EmpireGerman Empire Heinrich-Joachim of tomorrow
04th German EmpireGerman Empire Hermann zu Leiningen Bugatti T35C Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor
German EmpireGerman Empire Rudolf Caracciola 08th German EmpireGerman Empire Rudolf Caracciola Mercedes-Benz SSKL Mercedes-Benz M06 RS 7.1L I6 compressor C.
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Earl Howe 10 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Earl Howe Bugatti T51 Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor D.
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Clifton Penn-Hughes 12 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Clifton Penn-Hughes Bugatti T35 Bugatti 2.0L I8 D.
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Sir Henry Birkin 14th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Henry Birkin Maserati 26M Maserati 2.5L I8 compressor D.
AustriaAustria Bernhard Ackerl 16 AustriaAustria Bernhard Ackerl Bugatti T35A Bugatti 1.5L I4
ChileChile Juan Zanelli 18th ChileChile Juan Zanelli Bugatti T35B Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
Third French RepublicThird French Republic Automobiles Ettore Bugatti 20th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Guy Bouriat Bugatti T51 Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor M.
22nd MonacoMonaco Louis Chiron
24 Third French RepublicThird French Republic Albert Divo
26th Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Achille Varzi
Third French RepublicThird French Republic Philippe Étancelin 28 Third French RepublicThird French Republic Philippe Étancelin Bugatti T35C Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor M.
Poland 1928Second Polish Republic Count Stanisław Czaykowski 30th Poland 1928Second Polish Republic Stanislaw Czaykowski Bugatti T35C Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor
Third French RepublicThird French Republic Marcel Lehoux 32 Third French RepublicThird French Republic Marcel Lehoux Bugatti T35B Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
United KingdomUnited Kingdom William Grover-Williams 34 United KingdomUnited Kingdom William Grover-Williams Bugatti T35C Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor
Soviet Union 1923Soviet Union Boris Ivanovsky 36 Soviet Union 1923Soviet Union Boris Ivanovsky Mercedes-Benz SSK Mercedes-Benz M06 7.1L I6 compressor
Third French RepublicThird French Republic André Boillot 38 Third French RepublicThird French Republic André Boillot Peugeot 174S Peugeot 4.0L I4 M.
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) SA Alfa Romeo 40 Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Luigi Arcangeli Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Alfa Romeo 1.8L I6 compressor P
42 Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Baconin Borzacchini
44 Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Tazio Nuvolari Alfa Romeo Monza Alfa Romeo 2.3L I8 compressor
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Scuderia Ferrari 46 Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Goffredo Zehender Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS Alfa Romeo 1.8L I6 compressor E.
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Officine Alfieri Maserati 48 Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Clemente Biondetti Maserati 26M Maserati 2.5L I8 compressor P
50 Third French RepublicThird French Republic René Dreyfus
52 Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Luigi Fagioli
SwitzerlandSwitzerland Carlo Pedrazzini 54 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Carlo Pedrazzini Maserati 26B Maserati 2.0L I8
SwitzerlandSwitzerland Hans Stuber 56 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Hans Stuber Bugatti T35C Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor

Race result

Item driver constructor Round Stops time begin Fastest lap Failure reason
01 MonacoMonaco Louis Chiron Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 100 3: 39: 09,200 11 2: 07,000
02 Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Luigi Fagioli Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Maserati 100 + 3: 55,400 14th 2: 07,000
03 Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Achille Varzi Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 100 + 4: 04,000 10 2: 07,000
04th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Guy Bouriat Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 98 + 2 rounds 20th
05 Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Goffredo Zehender Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Alfa Romeo 97 + 3 rounds 13
06th Third French RepublicThird French Republic André Boillot Third French RepublicThird French Republic Peugeot 96 + 4 rounds 8th
07th Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Clemente Biondetti Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Maserati 91 + 9 rounds 9
08th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Clifton Penn-Hughes Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 89 + 11 rounds 15th
09 Poland 1928Second Polish Republic Stanislaw Czaykowski Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 86 + 15 rounds 21st
- Third French RepublicThird French Republic René Dreyfus Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Maserati 91 DNF 1 Magneto
- Third French RepublicThird French Republic Albert Divo Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 66 DNF 6th Engine failure
- United KingdomUnited Kingdom Earl Howe Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 66 DNF 17th defective oil pump
- SwitzerlandSwitzerland Hans Stuber Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 59 DNF 2 defective drive shaft
- AustriaAustria Bernhard Ackerl Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 55 DNF 3 Power transmission
- German EmpireGerman Empire Rudolf Caracciola German EmpireGerman Empire Mercedes 53 DNF 5 Clutch and engine damage
- ChileChile Juan Zanelli Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 47 DNF 19th Piston damage
- German EmpireGerman Empire Hermann zu Leiningen Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 31 DNF 22nd Gearbox damage
- German EmpireGerman Empire Heinrich-Joachim of tomorrow Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 28 DNF 12 Power transmission
- German EmpireGerman Empire Ernst Günther Burggaller Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 26th DNF 18th Engine failure
- Third French RepublicThird French Republic Marcel Lehoux Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 15th DNF 7th Power transmission
- SwitzerlandSwitzerland Carlo Pedrazzini Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Maserati 13 DNF 23 Ignition damage
- Third French RepublicThird French Republic Philippe Étancelin Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 6th DNF 16 Piston damage
- United KingdomUnited Kingdom William Grover-Williams Third French RepublicThird French Republic Bugatti 5 DNF 4th Valve damage
- United KingdomUnited Kingdom Henry Birkin Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Maserati DNS
- Soviet Union 1923Soviet Union Boris Ivanowski German EmpireGerman Empire Mercedes DNS

Web links

Commons : Monaco Grand Prix 1931  - Collection of images, videos and audio files