1934 Monaco Grand Prix
The VI. Monaco Grand Prix ( VI Grand Prix de Monaco ) took place on April 2, 1934 at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo . As Grande Épreuve , it was the first race under the newly introduced International Grand Prix racing formula (racing cars up to 750 kg total weight; minimum width 85 cm), but deviating from the minimum distance of 500 km also specified therein, thanks to a special permit, it was only over the traditional distance of 100 laps of 3.180 km each, which corresponded to a total distance of 318.0 km.
The winner was Guy Moll, from the French colony of Algeria (at that time still part of the French motherland ) in an Alfa Romeo Tipo B from Scuderia Ferrari . At the age of 23 years and 10 months, Moll remained the youngest winner of an official International Grand Prix for more than 25 years .
run
The now traditional start to the Grand Prix season in Monaco was given special attention in 1934 because it was the first race after the reintroduction of a new International Grand Prix formula in which technical restrictions again for the first time in several years were issued for the participating racing cars. In order to limit the motor performance - and thus not least the speed - which had recently increased to an acceptable level in the previous period of the formula-free races, the International Motorsport Authority CSI of the World Automobile Association ( AIACR ) had limited the curb weight of the car to 750 kg. Another provision also regulated a minimum width of the chassis of 85 cm.
Due to the special route characteristics of the Monte Carlo street circuit - in view of the relatively low achievable average speeds there, the duration of the race would otherwise have been too long - the Monaco Automobile Club was allowed , as in the previous year, with an exemption from the one also specified in the Grand Prix formula The minimum distance should differ from 500 km and organize the race over the classic distance of 100 laps or 318 km since it was first held in 1929 .
Since the new racing formula was based on the previously existing vehicle material and the models of the only two new teams from Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union were not yet ready to race, the composition of the field offered a sight that was in principle largely that of the Corresponded to the previous year. Only with the Maserati 8CM were there problems with the minimum weight, which were circumvented by all sorts of creative measures, such as draining any lubricant or fitting special light alloy wheels just for the weighing process. With some of the cars, additional sheets had to be welded in the cockpit area in order to meet the specified minimum width.
In keeping with the importance of the race, Scuderia Ferrari , to which racing operations for the Alfa Romeo factory cars had been outsourced, brought an impressive team of five of their Alfa Romeo Tipo B monopostos to the start. In at least one of them, which was driven by the newly signed up team captain Achille Varzi , the engine displacement was increased from 2.65 to 2.9 liters and the output increased from 215 to around 265 hp. It is possible that Carlo Felice Trossi , who, as the new president, had acquired part of the team's shares, had such an improved model available. The star driver Louis Chiron , who joined the team in 1933 , the newly signed French Marcel Lehoux , and his young Algerian teammate Guy Moll, who was considered one of the greatest talents of his time and also contested his first race for Scuderia Ferrari here, had to compete against it practically unchanged cars from the previous year.
The main competitor of the favored Alfa Romeo team was, as usual, Tazio Nuvolari , who had switched to Maserati in the previous year in a dispute , but who now tried a Bugatti Type 59 borrowed from the factory in Monaco . The Bugatti factory team itself also appeared with three more copies of this model for René Dreyfus , new signing Jean-Pierre Wimille , and old master Robert Benoist , who returned to the cockpit of a Grand Prix car after several years of abstinence from racing, but then bent his car so badly during training that he couldn't take part in the race. Another, semi-officially used, older Bugatti Type 51 was driven by Pierre Veyron .
Maserati remained true to its company policy of relying primarily on paying customers for their drivers, who were offered the right service for their mostly privately registered cars for a corresponding fee, depending on the extent to which they could afford it. Such was Philippe Étancelin with his Maserati 8CM the actual top representative of the brand, even if Piero Taruffi , with a slightly less powerful, but also more agile four-cylinder model that was the only official representative of the factory team at the start. The organizers also were Eugenio Siena and the team of the Englishman Whitney Straight , consisting of himself and the Briton Lord Howe was invited as more private Maserati drivers, as well as Renato Balestrero , who with his older Alfa Romeo type "Monza" the Field limited to 16 participants completed.
As in the previous year, the starting positions were again assigned according to the lap times achieved in training, a practice that was only adopted some time later in most other Grand Prix races. The training sessions were accordingly hotly contested, especially since overtaking on the narrow and winding track was difficult even then. The front row of the grid was shared with Trossi (Alfa Romeo), Étancelin (Maserati) and Dreyfus (Bugatti) drivers of all three brands represented in the race.
Nevertheless, as almost usual, it was Chiron, who came out on top in his Alfa Romeo on the first lap, closely followed by Dreyfus, Étancelin and Varzi. After the latter had initially fought for third position for a while, the Maserati driver managed to move past Dreyfus to second place at the end of the first third of the race. Étancelin's attempt to catch up with Chiron ended in the 63rd lap with a flight into the sandbags used to secure the route. With the exception of his team mate Moll, Chiron had lapped the entire field in the meantime and could now afford to drive safely in order to win his home race for the second time since 1931 . But on the penultimate lap he made a driving error, as a result of which it cost him three minutes to get his car back on the track. As a result, his young team-mate Guy Moll got his first win in an International Grand Prix right from his first start as a works driver for Scuderia Ferrari, which was to be the only one of his short career.
Results
Registration list
Race result
| Item | driver | constructor | Round | Stops | time | begin | Fastest lap | Failure reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Guy minor
|
 Alfa Romeo
|
100 | 3: 31: 31,400 | 7th | |||
| 2 |
 Louis Chiron
|
Alfa Romeo
|
100 | +1: 02,000 | 6th | |||
| 3 |
 René Dreyfus
|
Bugatti
|
99 | + 1 lap | 3 | |||
| 4th |
Marcel Lehoux
|
Alfa Romeo
|
99 | + 1 lap | 10 | |||
| 5 |
Tazio Nuvolari
|
Bugatti
|
98 | + 2 rounds | 5 | |||
| 6th |
Achille Varzi
|
Alfa Romeo
|
98 | + 2 rounds | 4th | |||
| 7th |
 Whitney Straight
|
Maserati
|
96 | + 4 rounds | 11 | |||
| 8th |
Eugenio Siena
|
Maserati
|
96 | + 4 rounds | 12 | |||
| 9 |
Pierre Veyron
|
Bugatti
|
95 | + 5 rounds | 14th | |||
| 10 |
Earl Howe
|
Maserati
|
85 | + 15 rounds | 15th | |||
| - |
Carlo Felice Trossi
|
Alfa Romeo
|
95 | DNF | 1 | 2: 00,000 | defective power transmission | |
| - |
Piero Taruffi
|
Maserati
|
54 | DNF | 8th | Ignition damage | ||
| - |
Philippe Étancelin
|
Maserati
|
63 | DNF | 2 | accident | ||
| - |
Renato Balestrero
|
Alfa Romeo
|
51 | DNF | 13 | Differential damage | ||
| - |
Jean-Pierre Wimille
|
Bugatti
|
18th | DNF | 9 | Brake defect |
Web links
- VI Grand Prix de Monaco. www.teamdan.com, accessed September 8, 2014 .
- VI GRAND PRIX DE MONACO. www.kolumbus.fi, August 21, 2014, accessed on January 28, 2020 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ until Bruce McLaren won the 1959 US Grand Prix