The '''
German Grand Prix ''' was a 750kg Formula race held on
July 28 , 1935 on
Nürburgring . It remains today as one of the most famous Grand Prix races of all time.
An estimated 250.000 to 300.000 spectators showed up at
Nürburgring for the
German Grand Prix . It had been raining during the night and dark clouds and fog still hung over parts of the track as the 20 cars lined up, the order having been decided by a ballot.
The old starting method of a waved flag was replaced with light signals. First the red light came on for attention and stop. Then yellow lit up meaning the start would take place within 15 seconds and at green was the start.
There was drama from the very start of the race on a still wet circuit as
Hans Stuck 's car in the first row stalled. An
Auto Union mechanic (
Rudolf Friedrich ) foolhardily ran out to the car to help just as the lights changed and the race started.
Varzi , coming from the fifth row through oil-smoke and water spray already at high speed, saw too late and could not avoid the mechanic and hit the poor man who fell to the track with a fractured skull as the field went by into the Südkehre.
Nuvolari shot immediately to the front but it was
Caracciola from the third row who led the field into the Südkehre from Nuvolari,
Fagioli ,
Manfred Von Brauchitsch and
Thomas Raymond Mays . At the bottom of the field were the three Auto Union cars of Stuck, Varzi and
Paul Pietsch ! Stuck had been push-started after the field had gone and had a hard time to work himself up the field in the water spray. Varzi, a sensitive driver, was clearly disturbed by the incident with the mechanic, and drove listlessly at the beginning of the race.
On lap two, Caracciola had opened up a gap of 16 seconds as Nuvolari spun at Bergwerk when trying to pass the Mercedes.
Bernd Rosemeyer had passed the Mercedes cars of von Brauchitsch and Fagioli for second place. Behind them came
Louis Chiron , Nuvolari,
Antonio Brivio , Varzi and
Piero Taruffi . The young Auto Union driver was in great form, closing up on Caracciola. For the next three laps it was a great duel between leading Caracciola and Rosemeyer, the duo building up a gap to another duel for third place between Fagioli, Stuck, Nuvolari and von Brauchitsch, Chiron having to retire. On lap six Rosemeyer's hard driving took its toll as he came into the pits with his tyres in shreds after having left the track in a curve.
Far behind the leading group a curious duel took place between the Auto Unions of Varzi and Pietsch. The cars were all over the track banging wheels with each other and doing every dirty trick in the book. They would finish the race in a miserable 8th and 9th place.
Now there were three Mercedes cars at the top, Caracciola, Fagioli and von Brauchitsch. Nuvolari and Rosemeyer followed. On the ninth lap Nuvolari suddenly got inspired. In his old
Alfa Romeo , the "Flying Mantuan" did the first sub-11 minute race lap ever on the Nürburgring and passed two Mercedes cars to take the second place. Soon thereafter the loudspeakers could tell the crowd that the Alfa was now up in the lead! At the same time the other two Ferrari-entered Alfas retired with gearbox problems but all the eyes were now on the remaining Alfa.
The spectators rose as Nuvolari went by on lap 10 followed by Caracciola because Rosemeyer was back in the race again. On new tyres he had followed Nuvolari through the field and after the Südkehre he passed Caracciola, who was in pain and soon also had to let von Brauchitsch past. Rosemeyer was in top form throwing his Auto Union through the curves in impossible angles. After 11 laps, the top four came into the pits almost at the same time. The pit crews went to work, three mechanics per car. Von Brauchitsch was first out after a 47 second pitstop. Caracciola was next out (67 seconds) and then Rosemeyer (75 seconds).
Back in the pit Nuvolari was jumping for fury. The Ferrari fuel pressure pump had broken down and the crew members were filling the tank by hand. After 2 min. 14 seconds the Alfa finally left the pit in sixth place. Fagioli was in the lead but on the next lap he also had to do his pitstop (51 seconds), like Stuck (49 seconds).
After the pit stops von Brauchitsch was leading from Rosemeyer but the Auto Union driver was soon back to the pits with fuel feed problems. Caracciola was also falling back and incredibly, Nuvolari was back into second place after just one lap, racing at the limit. Von Brauchitsch, too, determined to win his home Grand Prix, was driving at full speed, but his driving style put great pressure on his tyres. On lap 14 he led by 86 seconds, on the next lap 88, then 77, 63, 47, 43, 32 seconds.
As tyre wear had been low on the wet circuit, von Brauchitsch's tyres had lasted well during the early part on the race and he had changed to a one stop tactics. However, as the track dried out, the tyre temperature rose and at the end of lap 19, the white breaker strip was already visible at von Brauchitsch's left rear tire. Since lap 14, Neubauer had given him repeatedly signs to slow down. At the end of lap 20, when von Brauchitsch passed his pits, he pointed towards his rear tires. Neubauer interpreted his sign language that the driver would stop the following lap. To the disbelief of a stunned Mercedes team, Brauchitsch then passed the grand stands at full speed on the end of lap 21. He must have changed his mind, believing more in his own luck than in his mechanics skill.
Von Brauchitsch started the last lap 35 seconds in front of the Alfa, but with his tyres in miserable shape. As the Mercedes went into the Karussell Kurve, the left rear tyre blew. Von Brauchitsch continued on the rim only to have to see the Alfa Romeo pass and go on to win in front of the astonished spectators. With half a kilometer to go a second tyre blew on the Mercedes and a crying von Brauchitsch had to see three more cars pass before he could get his car over the line. For a second there was silence, but then the Italian was met by tremendous cheers from the crowd.
There was an embarrassing moment at the victory ceremonies as the organizers, confident for a German victory, had only the German national anthem available. Fortunately Nuvolari always brought his own record to the races!
This was Nuvolari's greatest race because with a car lacking 100 horses to his strongest foes, he had beaten eight German cars, Lang being the only German retirement. Von Brauchitsch however would probably had been the winner hadn't the Mercedes team neglected to order him into the pits sometimes around on lap 18. When it was done, they all had a big tea party and Nuvolari stood up on a table and sang show tunes for everybody. A great time was had by all.
