by Unknown
At this time momentous events were taking place in Germany, for in January, Adolf Hitler was elected Chancellor. In March he opened the Berlin Motor Show with the announcement that he wanted to see a German manufacturer back in Grand Prix racing in 1934, when the new 750 kg Formula was to begin. Well aware of the effect the Depression had had on the motor industry, he offered 500,000 Reichmarks a year to the company that did his bidding. He got two for the price of one, for not only did the old firm of Mercedes-Benz take his bait, but so did the new concern of Auto Union, formed by the merger of Horch, Audi, Wanderer and DKW.
Mercedes produced a beautiful but conventional, streamlined, front-engined design which made the P3 Alfa look old-fashioned, but Auto Union went even better, with a futuristic, mid-engined, VI6 racer designed by Professor Ferdinand Porsche. Hitler was delighted and, rather than give the 500,000 RM to each firm, he cannily divided it between the two.
Also in March, Humphrey Symons announced the formation of Scuderia CC in The Motor, noting that Caracciola and Chiron had purchased ‘no fewer than three Alfa Romeos and two 2,300 cc Bugattis. The debut of the famous equipe will be in the Monaco Grand Prix, while at Le Mans they will be co-drivers of an Alfa Romeo. The cars which the German will drive will be painted white, with a blue stripe, and those to be handled by the Frenchman will be blue with a white stripe - further evidence of this interesting Franco-German friendship.’
Caracciola recalled buying only two Alfa Romeos, with no mention of Bugattis, but he added that Daimler-Benz had generously loaned them a diesel truck as transporter. Sadly, this very promising partnership never got anywhere, for during practice for the Monaco GP in April, 1933, Rudi crashed at the chicane and shattered his right thigh. There followed months of painful recuperation but, in mid-November he was buoyed by a visit from Alfred Neubauer. He brought the tremendous news that Mercedes-Benz were going racing again in 1934. Would Rudi be ready to race for his old team?
In January, Caracciola and Charly went to Stuttgart and he signed a contract with Mercedes. They then returned to Arosa and Rudi urged Charly to go skiing, which she had given up temporarily in order to look after him. As he was obviously now in much better health, Charly finally agreed and went to the slopes with some friends. She never returned. The group was struck by an avalanche and Charly was killed.
Among the first to Rudi’s side were Louis Chiron and Baby. They stayed with him and did their best to help him through his grief. It was Chiron who suggested that he do a lap of honour at Monaco before the Grand Prix in April. Caracciola reluctantly agreed, but was overwhelmed by the standing ovation that greeted him and knew that he had to go racing again. Alfred Neubauer was keen to help, but he had his doubts that Rudi could come back, after the terrible blows he had suffered. When Mercedes-Benz took their new Grand Prix cars to Berlin to practice for the AVUSrennen, Caracciola went too. The new Mercedes was the W25, a streamlined beauty with independent suspension all round and a supercharged, 3.9-litre, straight-eight engine which produced 314 bhp @5,800 rpm.
‘When I arrived the others were already there - Neubauer, Nibel (the car’s designer) and the mechanics.’ wrote Caracciola in A Racing Driver’s World. ‘The car was there, too, small and white. It looked very racy, the kind of one-seater I had always dreamed of driving.
‘It was a lovely May morning. The sky was light blue. The sun shone down on the tops of the pines and there was a warm, resinous smell around us. I drove my car close to the racer, got out and went over on my cane. The mechanics helped me get into the seat. I felt my heart pounding in my throat...
‘A mechanic started the motor and jumped back. I drove off. The first lap I drove carefully, feeling my way. The leg hurt a little, but it was bearable. I stepped down a little harder. The car developed speed. The woods to the right and left melted into a grey-green wall. The white band of the road seemed to narrow and the whistling wind rose to a high whine. Thank God, we were doing fine! I could still drive!’
Deciding that their cars were not yet ready to race, Mercedes withdrew from the AVUSrennen and Rudi wisely refrained from joining the team for its debut in the Eifel GP a week later. He made his comeback in the French GP at Montlhery on July 1 and was in third place when his gearbox failed on the 15th lap. All the Mercedes and Auto Unions failed and the race was won, to great acclaim, by Louis Chiron, who had now joined Scuderia Ferrari and drove a P3 Alfa Romeo.
Caracciola’s acid test came two weeks later in the German GP, when he returned to the NurburgRing for the first time since his victory with the Alfa in 1932, and how things had changed since then! Only nine GP cars had started that race, none of them German, and now there were 19 on the grid - and six of them were from the Fatherland. Caracciola recalled trying a white Mercedes at AVUS in May, as, of course, white was the German racing colour traditionally carried by Mercedes (the huge SSK and SSKL models had been cheerfully referred to as White Elephants). However, when the new cars had been weighed prior to the Eifel GP in June, Alfred Neubauer had been surprised to find that they were just over the 750 kg limit. Someone had the bright idea of scraping off all the white paint (and a considerable amount of filler underneath) which duly brought the W25 under the limit. The opposing Auto Unions eschewed tradition and never painted their cars white, covering them instead with a thin coat of aluminium paint. Now both the German teams presented silver cars and the term Silver Arrows was born soon thereafter.
The six Silver Arrows that lined up on the grid for the 1934 German GP comprised three, 3.9litre Mercedes W25s of Caracciola, Luigi Fagioli and Hanns Geier (the latter a last-minute replacement for the injured Manfred von Brauchitsch, who had crashed in practice) and three, 4.4-litre Type A Auto Unions, which were in the hands of Hans Stuck, August Momberger and Ernst Burggaller.
Hoping against hope that the German cars would fail, just as they had at Montlhery, were Louis Chiron, Achille Varzi and Guy Moll in the Scuderia Ferrari P3 Alfas. Also present was Tazio Nuvolari, who had fallen out with Ferrari and was driving a works Maserati.
Louis Chiron made the best start and led the field away, but it was Hans Stuck in the Auto Union who was ahead at the end of the opening lap, with Caracciola’s Mercedes right behind him and Varzi (Alfa Romeo) in third position. On the second tour Chiron passed Varzi, who now had Nuvolari (Maserati) on his tail. But the race was between Hans Stuck and Rudolf Caracciola and the battle between the mid-engined Auto Union and the front-engined Mercedes had the spectators hanging over the fences all round the circuit.
Rudi was the first to come in for fuel and new tyres, getting away in 1 min 10 secs. Stuck took 15 seconds longer, which cut his lead to just eight seconds. Caracciola then lapped in 10 mins 44.0 secs and, as Rodney Walkerley, The Motor’s new Sports Editor, noted ‘At half-time, during the thirteenth lap, Caracciola saw that his time had come for a tremendous spurt, by which he actually passed Stuck in a hair-raising second. The cheering of the crowd was indescribable, but terrible was the suspense, when in the following lap Stuck again returned in the lead. Two minutes passed and still nothing was to be seen of Caracciola. In his stead came Fagioli’s Mercedes. It was a relief when the loudspeakers announced that Caracciola’s engine had given out on the course and that he had not crashed.’
In his book The German Grand Prix Cyril Posthumus (who had access to some German race reports) revealed that Rudi had ‘surprised Stuck on the Karussell by passing him on the outside road while the Auto Union was on the banked inner portion!’ If true, this poses the idea that drifting round the Karussell on the road was faster than using the banking, a neat reversal of Rudi’s 1931 theory!
But, as before, Caracciola makes no mention of this in his autobiography. Indeed, he dismissed his remarkable performance in just six lines, his main comment being, ‘I had driven only half the race and again the question remained whether I could last 500 kilometres.’ Which is astonishing in view of the fact that after his Monaco crash the doctors had told him that he would never race again. Yet here he was, sh
attered physically with his right leg now two inches shorter than his left, and emotionally by the death of Charly, fighting for the lead during the first 12 laps of the German Grand Prix at the Nurburg-Ring! It was a phenomenal comeback and, although his car only lasted for half the race, Caracciola had made it absolutely clear that he was still the unchallenged King of the Nurburg-Ring.
However, this was about to change, for in 1935 two drivers - first a young unknown, then an old rival - combined to topple Caracciola from his Eifel throne, albeit temporarily. The first was Bernd Rosemeyer who, with just a couple of years on motorcycles under his belt, made his debut as a racing driver at the AVUSrennen, driving an Auto Union. He failed to finish and Caracciola can hardly have noticed him, but in his next race, the Eifel GP, young Bernd set the Grand Prix world alight with a performance that is barely credible. Auto Union entered four of their latest B-Type cars for the race, their VI6 engines now enlarged to 4.9 litres and giving 375 bhp. The drivers were Hans Stuck, Achille Varzi, Paul Pietsch and Bernd Rosemeyer. There were four of the latest Mercedes W25s, too, now with 3.9-litre engines producing 430 bhp and they were for Rudolf Caracciola, Luigi Fagioli, Manfred von Brauchitsch and Hermann Lang. There were also two Scuderia Ferrari P3 Alfas for Louis Chiron and Rene Dreyfus.
Initially, the race was dominated by Manfred von Brauchitsch, who led handsomely for the first half and after six laps was 62 seconds ahead of Caracciola. Rudi now had an Auto Union right on his tail and it must have come as a considerable shock when he realised that the driver was not Stuck or Varzi, but Rosemeyer. The shock must have turned to disbelief when Bernd, in only the second motor race of his life, proceeded to pass the King of the Nurburg-Ring on the eighth lap and show him the way round the circuit!
At the very end of the final tour Rosemeyer’s inexperience caught up with him and Caracciola took advantage of it to beat him to the chequered flag by 1.9 seconds (See Ringmeister 3, Bernd Rosemeyer). Rudi’s win was hailed as a great triumph, but he had won by the skin of his teeth and young Rosemeyer had given him the fright of his life.
Another failing of Caracciola’s autobiography is that it makes no mention of this extraordinary race (nor of any others in 1935). However, in Speed Was My Life Alfred Neubauer recalls a fascinating vignette: ‘A trivial, yet in its way revealing, incident took place that evening when Caracciola’s victory was celebrated. I saw him, at one point, walk over to Rosemeyer’s table and say a few words to him.
I could not hear what was being said, but I had a feeling of uneasiness. Since his accident Rudi had become even more reserved than before, and there were many who thought him overbearing and arrogant. Moreover, I could well imagine his sense of triumph at having outwitted the cocksure youngster, Rosemeyer.
‘As I learned afterwards, he said to Rosemeyer rather patronisingly; “Well done, my dear fellow. But in future don’t just drive round the circuit; use your head.”
‘And Rosemeyer, completely taken aback, found a swizzle stick pressed into his hand. For the next two years he wore nothing else in his buttonhole.’
By 1935 Rudi had made a remarkable recovery from his Monaco crash and this was in no small way due to his relationship with Baby Hoffmann, who was dividing her affections between him and Louis Chiron. Revitalised by her love and driving the superb Mercedes-Benz W25, Caracciola won no fewer than six Grands Prix and became the first European Champion. It was a stunning comeback after the catastrophes of 1933, yet all he has to say in A Racing Driver’s World is, ‘In 1935 luck was with me - with seven (sic) Grand Prix and two other races I had become German Champion and had earned the European Championship for Mercedes.’
Luck was not with him in the German GP, however. Auto Union and Mercedes fielded the same teams as for the Eifel GP, Hanns Geier being an addition to the latter and there were three Scuderia Ferrari Alfa P3s for Nuvolari, Chiron and Brivio. Caracciola led the race from the start, but by the end of lap two it was Rosemeyer who was on his tail - again - until Bernd hit a bank on lap six, losing three places when he stopped to change a wheel. Tazio Nuvolari now began his assault on Caracciola’s Nurburg-Ring throne, which Rosemeyer had so ruthlessly undermined in the Eifel race.
Driving his three-year-old P3, Tazio produced a drive every bit as impudent as Rosemeyer’s had been and when von Brauchitsch emerged in the lead after the pit stops, Nuvolari hunted him down mercilessly (See Ringmeister 2, Tazio Nuvolari). Caracciola was not having a good day, feeling unwell, according to one report, being troubled by fading brakes according to another.
Hans Stuck had made a bad start, but by lap
14 he was up to fourth place and catching Caracciola, who was losing ground to Nuvolari and race
leader von Brauchitsch. As The Autocar reported,
‘At eighteen laps the Mercedes control are not relieved by the fact that Caracciola - third - is dropping back also, so we have Nuvolari catching von Brauchitsch and now Stuck catching Caracciola. Neubauer now exhibits faster signals. There are only four laps to go... At nineteen laps Stuck still continues to catch Caracciola and at the Karussell is close behind him. Fever point once more!... Who will appear first? Here they are! Stuck has got by the Mercedes and leads by a few yards only. It is a sign of crisis when Neubauer begins to walk up and down in front of his pit.
‘Now for the last lap. von Brauchitsch! A pause, here is Nuvolari, driving like a demon; but the Mercedes has gone faster still and is now 35 secs ahead. A minute and a half later Stuck comes by third, and then Caracciola as he passes his pit shakes his head and gestures that he can go no faster.’
It was on that fantastic last lap that a rear tyre on von Brauchitsch’s Mercedes burst, allowing Nuvolari to score an epic victory (See Ringmeister 2, Tazio Nuvolari), which confirmed him as a Ringmeister and usurped the throne of Caracciola. Rudi would regain his throne, but not before it had been stolen again, this time by Bernd Rosemeyer. Success in 1935 was followed by abject failure in ‘36 yet, in his autobiography Caracciola dismisses both seasons in just fifteen words, despite the fact that they were two of the most remarkable of his career, the first being an unqualified triumph, the second an equally unqualified disaster.
Throughout 1935 Caracciola’s relationship with Baby Hoffmann blossomed without any apparent objection from Louis Chiron. Perhaps as a quid pro quo, Rudi encouraged Alfred Neubauer to sign Chiron to the Mercedes team for 1936, which he did. For the new season Mercedes made the mistake of modifying their victorious W25, producing a short-chassis version powered by a 4.7-litre engine. It looked terrific and Caracciola won the opening race at Monaco, where heavy rain was the order of the day and Rudi was in his element.
Although Nuvolari in the new 8С Alfa took the lead for several laps, it was Regenmeister Rudi who ailed his Mercedes around the waterlogged circuit to victory. He won at Tunis, too, a month later and that was the last time he or a Mercedes saw the chequered flag that year. Auto Union were now running the C-Type, its magnificent VI6 enlarged to six litres and producing 520 bhp. This time Rosemeyer made no mistake in the Eifel GP, producing another unbelievable performance to drive through the fog faster than seemed possible and beat Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) by more than two minutes (See Ringmeister 3, Bernd Rosemeyer). Caracciola took the lead initially, only to be passed by Nuvolari and then Rosemeyer. On the fourth lap a rear shock absorber broke on the Mercedes and Rudi retired next time round.
In the German Grand Prix Mercedes fielded five cars for Caracciola, von Brauchitsch, Fagioli, Chiron and Hermann Lang, formerly Fagioli’s racing mechanic who had been elevated to racing driver the year before. They were up against the four Auto Unions of Rosemeyer, Stuck, Ernst von Delius and newcomer Rudolf Hasse. Scuderia Ferrari brought along two new 12C Alfas for Nuvolari and Dreyfus and 8Cs for Brivio and Severi. Manfred von Brauchitsch made a lightning start and led for the opening lap, but then damaged his steering in an excursion, handing the lead to Rosemeyer and Lang - youth to the fore. Caracciola never got going properly and on lap four the Mercedes stopped out on
the circuit with a broken fuel pump. Rudi walked back to the pits. Meanwhile, Lang took the lead when Rosemeyer made his pit stop on lap seven, only to stop himself two laps later. He was in some distress, having broken his little finger against the side of the cockpit when changing gear. In a flash, Neubauer had him out of the Mercedes and Caracciola climbed aboard, to the boos and hisses of the spectators in the grandstand, who were unaware of Lang’s predicament and angry that he was being replaced after such a fine drive. Rudi rejoined in fourth place, which became third when Chiron stopped, but on lap 13 Mercedes’ fortunes took a double hit when Chiron had a big accident on the main straight. He was lucky to escape with minor injuries. On the same lap Caracciola fell out again, when the supercharger failed on Lang’s car. Nothing daunted, he took over Fagioli’s machine and brought that home in fifth place. The race was won, of course, by Bernd Rosemeyer.
‘A cloud hangs over the Mercedes-Benz camp.’ noted Motor Sport’s Continental Correspondent. ‘Apart from the fact that the cars are not completely reliable, all is not well with the personnel. Perhaps a too-rigid discipline has resulted in smouldering resentment, but whatever it is, the team does not seem to pull as a team.
‘Some people say that Caracciola is favoured above the rest of the drivers, and we all know that Fagioli has been a “rebel” in the past. Chiron does not like the behaviour of the new cars...von Brauchitsch seems to lose all interest as soon as his car gives the slightest trouble, Hermann Lang, the youngest of the team is the only one to appear at all happy...
‘The scene outside the Eifelerhof Hotel in Adenau during the evening after the race reminded me of the fall of the Bastille. A vast horde of people thronged the narrow street, pressing so close to the hotel that the doors were bolted and barred. “We want Carracciola.” was their oft-repeated cry. Later, an entry into the hotel was made and von Brauchitsch was almost buried under a struggling mass of autograph hunters. Caracciola was sitting quietly in a corner, and told everyone who approached him that “his brother” had gone to bed!’