1933 Spanish Grand Prix

The factory Bugatti in the box

The VIII. Grand Prix of Spain took place on September 24, 1933 on the Circuito Lasarte near San Sebastián . The race was one of the Grandes Épreuves and was held according to the applicable regulations (minimum distance 500 km) over 30 laps of 17.315 km, which corresponded to a total distance of 519.5 km. As one of the last international Grand Prix races of the era, it opened with a rolling start.

The winner was Louis Chiron in an Alfa Romeo Tipo B / P3 from Scuderia Ferrari .

run

After a six-year break, a Spanish Grand Prix was held for the first time in 1933 . Most recently, there was no race at all for three years on the classic street circuit due to political quarrels - harbingers of the approaching Spanish civil war . The organizers could be all the more satisfied with the field of participants that appeared on this last Grande Épreuve of the “free formula” era in Grand Prix racing . In addition to the Scuderia Ferrari with their Alfa Romeo Tipo B for Louis Chiron and Luigi Fagioli and the Maserati 8CM by Tazio Nuvolari , Piero Taruffi and Goffredo Zehender , attention was mainly focused on the reappearance of the Bugatti team, which after a delay of several months was otherwise Having set priorities, he was able to complete three copies of his latest Grand Prix model for Achille Varzi , René Dreyfus and William Grover-Williams (pseudonym "W. Williams"). Although the engine of the Bugatti Type 59 was increased from 2.3 to 2.8 liters displacement compared to the previous Bugatti Type 51 and the center of gravity of the chassis was again significantly reduced, the design of the two-seater racing car was still very similar to his Leaning against the forerunner, it already looked out of date when compared to the new, classy racing single-seaters (" Monopostos ") of the competitors.

Immediately after the start, which was carried out for the last time in Grand Prix racing from a rolling formation, the three favorites - Fagioli, Chiron and Nuvolari - determined the event. Nuvolari, who had overtaken the two Alfa Romeo drivers after the first lap, was initially able to continuously extend his lead in the following laps. However, when heavy rain set in in the second half of the race, he made one of his rare driving mistakes. When braking into a curve, it lost control, the Maserati climbed an embankment, then rolled over several times and was finally completely smashed when it hit a rock. Fortunately for him, Nuvolari had been thrown out of the car beforehand, so that he got away with a severe shock but comparatively minor injuries.

In the otherwise low-climax race, the way to victory was clear for Chiron, although the team would have preferred to see a success for Fagioli for marketing reasons. His car was equipped with Pirelli tires, while Chiron's Belgian tire brand Englebert was not present on the Spanish market.

Bugatti was also visibly dissatisfied with the outcome of the race, whose new Type 59 , which was far behind, with top driver Achille Varzi at the wheel, had even been ousted from third place by French privateer Marcel Lehoux in his old Type 51 shortly before the end of the race .

Results

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Juan Zanelli	02	Juan Zanelli	Alfa Romeo Monza	Alfa Romeo 2.3L I8 compressor
Automobiles Ettore Bugatti	04th	William Grover-Williams	Bugatti T59	Bugatti 2.8L I8 compressor	M.
	18th	Achille Varzi
	26th	René Dreyfus
		Albert Divo
Scuderia Ferrari	06th	Eugenio Siena	Alfa Romeo Monza	Alfa Romeo 2.6L I8 compressor	E.
	10	Luigi Fagioli	Alfa Romeo Tipo B / P3
	38	Louis Chiron
		Antonio Brivio
Marcel Lehoux	08th	Marcel Lehoux	Bugatti T51	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
Arrigo Sartorio	12	Arrigo Sartorio	Maserati 26M	Maserati 2.5L I8 compressor
Joaquín Palacio	14th	Joaquín Palacio	Bugatti T35	Bugatti 2.0L I8
Walter Grosch	16	Walter Grosch	Alfa Romeo Monza	Alfa Romeo 2.3L I8 compressor
Pierre Bussienne	20th	Pierre Bussienne	Bugatti T51	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
Philippe Étancelin	22nd	Philippe Étancelin	Alfa Romeo Monza	Alfa Romeo 2.3L I8 compressor
Officine Alfieri Maserati	24	Piero Taruffi	Maserati 8CM	Maserati 3.0L I8 compressor	P
	32	Goffredo Zehender
	36	Tazio Nuvolari
Emil Frankl	28	Emil Frankl	Bugatti T35B	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
Summer Wimille	30th	Jean-Pierre Wimille	Alfa Romeo Monza	Alfa Romeo 2.3L I8 compressor
Benoît Falchetto	34	Benoît Falchetto	Bugatti T51	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor

Race result

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Louis Chiron	Alfa Romeo	30th		3: 50: 57.400	14th
02	Luigi Fagioli	Alfa Romeo	30th		+ 4: 24,400	4th
03	Marcel Lehoux	Bugatti	30th		+ 21: 52.400	3
04th	Achille Varzi	Bugatti	30th		+ 23: 17,000	5
05	Jean-Pierre Wimille	Alfa Romeo	30th		+ 24: 00,000	10
06th	René Dreyfus	Bugatti	29		+ 1 lap	8th
-	Philippe Étancelin	Alfa Romeo	27		DNF	6th		Tire damage
-	Juan Zanelli	Alfa Romeo	20th		DNF	1		failure
-	Tazio Nuvolari	Maserati	19th		DNF	13	6: 41,200	accident
-	Piero Taruffi	Maserati	18th		DNF	7th		accident
-	Benoît Falchetto	Bugatti	13		DNF	12		failure
-	Goffredo Zehender	Maserati	13		DNF	11		failure
-	Emil Frankl	Bugatti	7th		DNF	9		accident
-	Eugenio Siena	Alfa Romeo	5		DNF	2		failure

Web links

Commons : Spanish Grand Prix 1933  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• VIII Gran Premio de España. www.teamdan.com, accessed September 7, 2014 . 
• Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: VIII ° GRAN PREMIO de ESPAÑA. www.kolumbus.fi, April 4, 2013, accessed September 7, 2014 .