Widengren wins minor Swedish ice race

The Scandinavian ice racing season opened with this minor race in Norrköping. Five Swedes including Widengren, Sundstedt and Carlsson were challenged by Finn Ebb. Widengren in his Alfa Romeo Monza dropped to third in the start but then took control of the race to win from Ebb in a Mercedes and Sundstedt in a Bugatti.

Back in the 1930s Norrköping with some 65,000 inhabitants was the fourth largest city of Sweden. It is located some 120 km southwest of Stockholm in the end of Bråviken bay. Norrköpings motorsportklubb tried in 1933 and again in 1934 to organize an ice race but both times the event had to be cancelled because of the weather. But in 1935 the club finally succeeded. Fredenloppet had been scheduled on January 27th, but an unusually mild winter meant that they had to postpone that event for March 3rd. That meant that the Norrköping event, called Lindöloppet, was to be the first race of the season.       Tracks were plowed up on the ice outside Lindö. The event included motor cycle races on a 400m oval and a car race on a 1.5 km track with several curves including a curve at the end of the main straight, 450 meters after the start line, called "shell curve", where the curve radius decreased continuously the farther into the curve you went. A 1.5 meter high quay provided the spectators with both good visibility and some kind of protection. Buses and extra trains were arranged from Stockholm.

Entries: The entry list was quite small and included five Swedish and one Finnish driver. Per Viktor Widengren was to race his blue-yellow Monza (#2211077) rebuilt to monoposto in 1934 with engine enlarged to 2.6 litre, and Knut Gustav Sundstedt his blue ex-Chiron Bugatti (#4922) bought as rebuilt to a T35B from the factory in 1931. Helmer Carlsson entered his 6 cylinder Amilcar and Karl-Emil Rolander an ex-Carlsson Ford special known as "Guldpilen" (Golden Arrow) built by Walter Görtz, Örebro, with Ford A components and a Ford B engine on an anonymous chassis. The engine had an Italian Silvano OHV head and a Scintilla ignition system. Karl Ebb entered his familiar white Mercedes-Benz SSK (#35998). Finally, there was Gunnar Thorsell with his blue Chevrolet, tuned by Husqvarna MC engineer Folke Mannerstedt, and, as Dagens Nyheter said, had very little common with a normal Chevrolet.

Practice: Ebb arrived to Stockholm on Friday morning and immediately continued to Norrköping to get time for a possible gear ratios change. The other competitors followed on Saturday. Saturday came with snow storm that later turned into rain and slush, which created huge puddles on the ice that made the cars throw up cascades of water in the air. There were worries for the event. However tests showed that the ice was still at least 25-30 cm thick on most places and 20-22 cm even on its weakest points.

Race: On Saturday night the temperature dropped and the strong frost definitely saved the race. According to Dagens Nyheter the local police had asked the drivers for a test start at 9 a.m. to see if six cars could make it safely into the first curve! It is unknown if that test actually took place.       At 1 p.m. the first of several motor cycle heats started. After the motor cycle races it was time for the main event: The car race. The six cars were lined up in two rows:

Widengren Alfa Romeo Sundstedt Bugatti Ebb Mercedes-Benz Carlsson Amilcar Rolander Ford Torsell Chevrolet (or mirror)

Competition manager K. F. Löfgren dropped the flag and off they went. Widengren got stuck for a moment in first gear and Sundstedt took the lead followed by Ebb and Widengren. But during the first lap Widengren, once sorting out the gearbox, passed both the Bugatti and the Mercedes to take the lead. On the third lap Ebb found a way to pass Sundstedt for second position. By five laps the top positions seemed established. Further back the slower cars were struggling. Rolander retired the Ford with broken pinions in the gear box and smoke in the cockpit indicated a broken clutch in Thorsell's Chevrolet. The remaining four cars finished the race without further incidents with Widengren taking the victory from Ebb, Sundstedt and Carlsson.

Widengren wins the Norwegian GP second time in a row

The major Norwegian race of the year took place at Bogstad near Oslo. The race included racing cars and sports cars. It was snowing during the event. Swede Widengren dominated the race while home favourite Bjørnstad had two punctures. That gave second place to Finnish driver Ebb in his Mercedes with Swiss driver Rüesch third in a Maserati. Swedish driver Sundstedt walked away unhurt from a spectacular crash.

The next race of the 1935 season was the Norwegian winter Grand Prix, moved away this year from Gjersjøn to a 5 km circuit laid out on Bogstadvannet, a frozen lake in the Sørkedalen valley 10 kilometers from Oslo. 4.000 Nkr was reserved for the prizes and in addition to that came special prizes and trophies. The top three in the racing class were to receive 1,000 Nkr, 300 Nkr and 100 Nkr, and the top three in the sports car class 400 Nkr, 200 Nkr and 100 Nkr.

Entries: The racing class included a decent number of cars. Swedes Widengren and Sundstedt raced the same cars as in Lindöloppet as did Finnish driver Ebb. Norwegian Eugen Bjørnstad entered his Alfa Romeo Monza (#2111041), rebuilt to monoposto just as Widengren's ditto. Swiss Hans Rüesch was to race his red-white 3 litre Maserati. John Isberg made one of his last appearances, racing his old faithful Bugatti T35C "Blåen", bought back in 1927.       The racing class also included Finnish driver Alm, who initially had entered his bizarre Flash Gordon inspired "tail Ford" in the sports car class. The basis of the car was a 1932 Ford V-8. The wheelbase of the car had been shortened to 2 meters, the front brakes and the gearbox had been removed and a 2 meter long vertical plywood fin had been added to the rear. As the rest of the body mostly was made of fabric the car weighed only 600 kg. The driver claimed that the "tail" was efficient when cornering. The car was properly registered (plate A-4644) and the Finn had driven the car on the roads all the way from Stockholm.

Race: A snowstorm arrived to Oslo on Saturday evening and the storm continued on Sunday. That did not prevent the Norwegian race enthusiasts from turning up. With 18,000 tickets sold and some 25,000 spectators altogether turning up transports and crowd control in the snow filled valley proved troublesome and it created an enormous traffic jam on the road from Oslo.

1 Ebb Mercedes-Benz 2 Isberg Bugatti 3 Bjørnstad Alfa Romeo 4 Sundstedt Bugatti 5 Rüesch Maserati 6 P V Widengren Bugatti 7 Alm Ford The sports cars started on line 100 m behind the racing cars

The start was planned for 2.10 p.m. A few minutes before the start the grid still looked like a complete mess with cars in the wrong positions and photographers and mechanics running about but in the end things sorted themselves out and the race cars left the grid avoiding getting mingled with the sport cars that started a 100 meters behind. Hans Rüesch made the best start to take the lead with his Maserati followed by Widengren, Ebb , Isberg and Bjørnstad. But into the first corner Widengren went past to lead after the first lap followed by Bjørnstad, Ebb, Rüesch and Isberg. After three laps Widengren was leading by 7 seconds. Ebb with his huge SSK then passed Bjørnstad for second place. Soon afterwards Bjørnstad had a puncture and fell back. After seven laps Widengren was leading Ebb by 43 seconds. On lap 9 Sundstedt spun, the car made a somersault, landed on its wheels and crashed in a cloud of snow. The steering was broken and Sundstedt had to retire. He immediately went through a medical check an it was found he luckily had survived without injuries. Widengren was in his own class and on lap 18 he lapped third placed Rüesch to put all except Ebb a lap behind. Bjørnstad had another puncture and was forced to do almost a full lap on the rim before being able to reach the pit. After 25 laps Widengren took the flag to win the Norwegian Grand Prix for the second time in a row. Ebb was second. Rüesch, whose Maserati was clearly the fastest car on the straight, but whose driving in the curves left something to be desired, was a rather disappointing third, and veteran driver Isberg after a steady drive fourth. Bjørnstad finished fifth after his two punctures and Alm was sixth and last finisher.       In the sports car class Norwegian Arvid Johansen led from start to finish followed by his countryman Konrad Bryde, who after the war would be one of the top men in FIA, and by Swede Gunnar Thorsell.

Widengren wins major Swedish ice race

Nuvolari returns to Ferrari and wins

Because the circuit was so short the race was limited to 14 cars. The two Scuderia Ferrari Alfas of Nuvolari and Dreyfus dominated the event, taking turns to lead until Nuvolari pulled away late in the race to win from his team mate. Their closest opponents Etancelin (Maserati) and Lehoux (Bugatti) retired with technical problems leaving the Maseratis of Falchetto, Soffietti and Brunet to fight for third to fifth position, a fight won near the end by Soffietti.

The central European 1935 Grand Prix season started off in Pau. The 1933 GP race had taken place on 19 February in a snowstorm with sludge making the conditions into one of the worst ever in racing history. Afraid of similar weather in 1934 and the economic loss in such a case Automobile Club Basco Béarnais (ACBB) had hesitated and the race, scheduled for 18 February, was finally scratched. But in 1935 the club decided to have another attempt, this time on 24 February, as Pau tried to maintain its reputation as a winter health resort.       The 1933 circuit had proved to be too short. For that reason the 1935 circuit underwent some changes and it now circled the Casino while in 1933 the Casino had been left on the outside. The new circuit made a wide turn into the Parc Beaumiont passing through a zigzag the statue of Marshal Foch. The course was thus 120m longer than in 1933, a total length of 2769 meters.

Entries: Because of the short circuit the organizers only accepted 14 cars and entries from several French local drivers had to be turned down.       The Scuderia Ferrari with their Alfa Romeo cars was favorite. Nuvolari and Dreyfus, had both raced for Automobiles Bugatti in 1934. Dreyfus was new to the Tipo B Monoposto, while Nuvolari had not raced that car since Marseille 1932. Nuvolari's car had forward facing, reverse quarter elliptic springs at the rear as on the Bugatti Type 59, the construction surely made after recommendation from the drivers. Nuvolari's car differed also a bit from Dreyfus' by having extra fairings over the rear suspension at the side of the fuel tank. The size of the Alfa Romeo engines is not known, but there are indications that they were of the new enlarged 1935 spec 3.2 liter variant.       "Mlle. Helle-Nice" appeared with her usual ex-Lehoux Alfa Romeo Monza (#2311213), which she had raced since the middle of 1933; blue colored in two shades with a darker shade around the cockpit.       For 1935 the Maserati works team was to be represented by Count Della Chiesa's Scuderia Subalpina, but their 6C/34 was not ready so their driver Philippe Etancelin instead raced his own narrow chassis 8CM (#3010) for the last time, before he sold the car to Armand Girod.       In fact, none of the new Maserati 6C/34s were present as Hans Rüesch, who was returning from racing in Norway and Sweden via Germany, got stuck at the French customs and had to miss the race. Playboy driver Robert Brunet raced an 8CM under the Ecurie Nelly Braillard name while Italian "Gigi" Soffietti also entered an 8CM (#3014?).       There were five Bugatti T51s on the entry list. After having raced for Scuderia Ferrari and Whitney Straight in 1934 Algerian Marcel Lehoux raced his own Bugatti at Pau while waiting for the new S.E.F.A.C. to be ready. With Pau just 50 km from the Spanish border it was natural to see Spanish entries as well with Genaro Léoz-Abad racing his yellow T51. Robert Cazaux' Bugatti T51 was rebuilt with a streamlined nose and an inverted drop shaped radiator. Jean Delorme and Roger Boucly also entered T51s while Pierre Veyron raced his T51A, 8 cylinder voiturette.       Spanish manufacturer Nacional Pescara entered a yellow/red colored car for Zanelli. It was the same car that had been raced earlier by Zanelli and Esteban Tort but the engine was new even if it was of the same type as the earlier one. Zanelli seems to have raced at Pau with double rear wheels, a variety mostly used only in hill climbing and ice racing.       About a week before the race Boucly damaged the engine of his Bugatti and the organizers accepted the second Ecurie Nelly Braillard driver Benoît Falchetto (Maserati 8CM), who was first on the reserve list, into the race. Later Boucly however got his car repaired so he was also accepted, increasing the numbers of entries to 15.

Practice: Practice was scheduled for Friday and Saturday from 12:30 to 13:45. Friday practice was free for the spectators, while tickets were sold for Saturday.       Friday practice started in good weather conditions. Nuvolari proved to be fastest, setting a time of 1m55s. Lehoux was second with a time of 1m58s, Dreyfus third after doing 2m02s and Brunet fourth with a time of 2m04s. Etancelin's Maserati suffered from a bad misfire and Veyron also had technical problems with his car. Léoz-Abad had an incident when he lost a rear wheel but he managed to handle the situation without crashing.       Zanelli's Nacional Pescara proved to be ill prepared and received some less than flattering comments from the other competitors during practice.       During Saturday practice Nuvolari lowered his time to 1m53s. Etancelin with his repaired Maserati drove a lap in 1m55.4s as did Dreyfus. Etancelin was still not satisfied with his car and the mechanics had to work all Saturday night on the engine.       Near the end of practice there was what in modern terms is called a "red flag situation". Boucly came with his newly repaired Bugatti at high speed on the main straight along Avenue du Bois Louis but went too fast into the pit curve. The car slid to the left, the driver overcompensated to the right and crashed into a private car that carelessly had been parked on the inside of the corner by the president of a major French racing club (Note 1). Boucly was thrown out of the car. The session was immediately stopped but a catastrophe was only just avoided when spectators rushed to the scene while cars were still running on the track. Boucly was sent to hospital. Initially there were fears of a skull fracture but in the end the driver had survived the crash with a broken nose and some cracked ribs.

Race: During the night a heavy storm passed over the area with hail followed by heavy rain all night. Fortunately the storm did not cause any serious damage to the circuit or the facilities.       On Sunday morning it was still cloudy, windy and rainy. However, as time went by the weather improved and some 20,000 spectators turned up for the race, which was planned to start at 2:30 p.m. That meant 150,000 Fr incomes to the box office, which together with a sum guaranteed by the local government secured the economic success of the event.       The grid looked like this (it seems that times were taken with at least 1/5s accuracy but sources only give the times in full seconds):

16 Etancelin Maserati 1m55s 14 Nuvolari Alfa Romeo 1m53s 24 Soffietti Maserati 1m58s 4 Lehoux Bugatti 1m57s 20 Dreyfus Alfa Romeo 1m55s 2 Brunet Maserati 2m02s 26 Falchetto Maserati 1m59s 6 Hellé-Nice Alfa Romeo 2m06s 22 Cazaux Bugatti 2m04s 28 G Léoz-Abad Bugatti 2m03s 10 Delorme Bugatti 2m07s 12 Zanelli Nacional Pescara 2m06s 18 Veyron Bugatti _

At 2:45 p.m., fifteen minutes behind schedule, Charles Faroux, the legendary organizer of the Le Mans 24h race, finally dropped the flag and the race was on its way.       Nuvolari was a bit slow at the start and from second row Lehoux shot past in the gap between him and Etancelin to take the lead as the cars braked for the first curve and then sorted each other out while climbing Avenue Leon Say. Lehoux was followed by Etancelin, Nuvolari, Dreyfus, Falchetto and Brunet.       Lehoux finished the first lap in 2m02s. He was chased by Nuvolari, who had passed Etancelin. Behind them followed Dreyfus, Falchetto, Soffietti, Brunet, Léoz-Abad, Zanelli, "Helle-Nice", Cazaux, Veyron and Delorme.       Veyron was out of the competition almost immediately. The engine of the voiturette Bugatti had turned frightfully hot on the very first lap, and Veyron had to do a seven and a half minute stop while the mechanics were trying to cure the problem.       On the second lap Nuvolari took over the lead from Lehoux and Dreyfus moved into third position at the expense of Etancelin. On the next lap Dreyfus passed Lehoux as well to make it a Scuderia Ferrari one-two. The duo started to pull away from the rest of the field seemingly without any major effort. Dreyfus finished the fourth lap in 1m56s, closing in on Nuvolari. The race order was Nuvolari, Dreyfus, Lehoux, Etancelin, Falchetto, Brunet and Soffietti.       Zanelli with the Nacional Pescara was soon in trouble. Either something had broken in the rear axle, or the right hand brake had disintegrated and he eventually retired.       The sun was now shining, and the race continued in beautiful February weather.       After seven laps the Ferrari duo, racing in formation and visibly cruising but still keeping a higher pace than the rest, had opened up a ten second gap.       Etancelin closed in on Lehoux and managed to pass for third position but Lehoux was able to keep up with him, following him closely. Behind them the Maserati trio of Falchetto, Brunet and Soffietti had a good fight for fifth to seventh positions. The fight was resolved as Falchetto managed to pull away from the other two.       After 10 laps the order was: 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 19m49s 2. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 19m50s 3. Etancelin (Maserati) 20m02s 4. Lehoux (Bugatti) 20m04s 5. Falchetto (Maserati) 20m16s 6. Brunet (Maserati) 20m21s 7. Soffietti (Maserati) 20m28s 8. Leoz-Abad (Bugatti) 20m55s 9. Cazaux (Bugatti) 21m10s 10. "Hellé-Nice" (Alfa Romeo) 21m14s 11. Delorme (Bugatti) 21m15s On the 13th lap Veyron retired as the overheating problem on his voiturette Bugatti reoccurred. Falchetto in fifth position was closing in fast on Etancelin and Lehoux.       On the 17th lap Etancelin parked his Maserati at Virage du Lycée on the far side of the circuit with a broken oil pump. That meant that Lehoux took over third position but he only managed to hold on to it for one lap before Falchetto caught him and passed.       On lap 18 Dreyfus passed Nuvolari, the Ferrari duo continuing to cruise, now with the Frenchman in the lead.       Order after 20 laps: 1. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 39m35s 2. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 39m36s 3. Falchetto (Maserati) 40m09s 4. Lehoux (Bugatti) 40m10s 5. Brunet (Maserati) 40m35s 6. Soffietti (Maserati) 40m38s 7. Leoz-Abad (Bugatti) 41m39s 8. Cazaux (Bugatti) 41m42s 9. Delorme (Bugatti) 42m28s 10. "Hellé-Nice" (Alfa Romeo) 42m31s On the 21st lap Lehoux succeeded by passing Falchetto again and managed to keep his position until lap 23 when Falchetto passed him once more and the duel went on to the joy of the spectators. On the 23rd lap Soffietti, who was chasing Brunet, had a spin but he was able to continue and eventually managed to catch the French driver.       After 30 laps the Ferrari duo was leading by some 40 seconds over Falchetto, who had managed to shake off Lehoux. Brunet and Soffietti were still having a close fight. Only those six cars remained on the lead lap: 1. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 59m22s 2. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 59m29s 3. Falchetto (Maserati) 1h00m04s 4. Lehoux (Bugatti) 1h00m21s? 5. Brunet (Maserati) 1h00m48s 6. Soffietti (Maserati) 1h00m49s 7. Leoz-Abad (Bugatti) 1h01m43s 8. Cazaux (Bugatti) 1h02m49s 10. Delorme (Bugatti) 1h03m46s 9. "Hellé-Nice" (Alfa Romeo) 1h04m39s Lehoux' race ended after 32 laps when his Bugatti came to a standstill next to Etancelin's parked car at Virage du Lycée. According to Automobil-Revue a bolt had broken in the transmission.       At halfway distance the situation had stabilized at the top. The Alfas were holding on to their double lead with Falchetto, now the only other driver remaining on the lead lap, over 70 seconds behind: 1. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 1h19m09s 2. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 1h19m11s 3. Falchetto (Maserati) 1h20m23s 4. Brunet (Maserati) 1h21m15s 5. Soffietti (Maserati) 1h21m42s 6. Leoz-Abad (Bugatti) 7. Cazaux (Bugatti) 8. Delorme (Bugatti) 9. "Hellé-Nice" (Alfa Romeo) Soffietti had taken up the chase on Brunet and was closing in by some two seconds a lap. Further down the field there was some decent racing with Cazaux passing Léoz-Abad for 6th position on lap 46 and "Hellé-Nice" overhauled Delorme for 8th two laps later. Pictures from the race show "Hellé-Nice's" spectacular driving technique as she pushed her upper body far out of the cockpit in the right hand curves. Also, the knob on the gear lever had come loose and "Hellé-Nice" got blisters in her hand when changing gears. Situation after 50 laps: 1. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 1h38m47s 2. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 1h38m51s 3. Falchetto (Maserati) 1h39m45s 4. Brunet (Maserati) 1h41m50s 5. Soffietti (Maserati) 1h42m00s Dreyfus had opened up a five or six second gap to Nuvolari. A recent illness had taken its toll of Brunet, who was now showing signs of fatigue and he also started to have problems with the plugs. Meanwhile Soffietti's Maserati had turned larger and larger in Brunet's mirrors. On lap 54 Soffietti tried to pass Brunet but the Maserati went into a skid. Two laps later Soffietti made a new attempt, this time with greater success.       Nuvolari drove lap 58 with a lap time of 1m56s, equaling Dreyfus time from lap four. Order after 60 laps: 1. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 1h58m34s 2. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 1h58m36s 3. Falchetto (Maserati) 2h01m08s 4. Soffietti (Maserati) 2h01m59s 5. Brunet (Maserati) 2h02m12s 6. Cazaux (Bugatti) 7. Leoz-Abad (Bugatti) Soffietti now went on to reel in Falchetto, who was under the impression that he was quite safe in third position. Falchetto was known for a rough driving style and his brakes were beginning to fail. During the next ten laps Soffietti pulled in 18 seconds on Falchetto. Situation after 70 laps: 1. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 2h18m41s 2. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2h18m44s 3. Falchetto (Maserati) 2h21m56s 4. Soffietti (Maserati) 2h22m10s 5. Brunet (Maserati) 2h23m11s 6. Cazaux (Bugatti) With less than ten laps to go, Dreyfus was still leading and there was naturally much speculation among the spectators. Was Ferrari planning to let Dreyfus win? Or was Nuvolari perhaps unable to challenge him? The answer came soon. Nuvolari suddenly closed in on Dreyfus and on the 75th laps the "flying Mantuan" pushed the pedal to the floor and took over the lead from his team mate as they passed the grandstand. Nuvolari immediately opened up a seven second gap to Dreyfus, who seemed unable to reply. Nuvolari's last laps were impressive as he pushed the quarter elliptic sprung Alfa to its limit, showing the superiority of the new suspension and driving ever faster laps. After having completed a 1m54 s lap, on lap 78 he went faster than his qualifying time, and set the lap record for the new circuit to1m51.7s. On the last five laps he left Dreyfus 26 seconds behind and he passed the grand stand and took the flag in a spectacular four wheel slide, which was Nuvolari's trademark.       Two laps behind him, Falchetto was now also suffering from a broken shock absorber and was passed by Soffietti. But he did not give up and the two cars actually crashed, fortunately without damage, after having passed the checkered flag two seconds apart with Soffietti finishing third and Falchetto fourth.       In fifth place followed Brunet, who was the first to be flagged off before doing all 80 laps. next followed Cazaux, Léoz-Abad, "Helle-Nice" with a badly blistered hand, who was specially celebrated by the spectators and finally Delorme.       An enthusiastic Nuvolari was not satisfied by making one lap of honor but did two! By then lots of spectators had managed to get across the barriers and stormed the circuit, or as Motor Sport put it: "...the usual failure of the gendarmerie to prevent the crowd from attempting suicide".       The race had been a great success and it would secure Pau in the race calendar for decades.

Bjørnstad beats Widengren

Luigi Fagioli in command

The Mercedes-Benz cars of Caracciola, von Brauchitsch and Fagioli were fastest in practice to take the front row of the grid. Fagioli held the lead followed by Caracciola and the Ferrari Alfa Romeos of Dreyfus and Nuvolari while von Brauchitsch had to retire on the first lap. The Ferrari Alfas of Nuvolari and Chiron soon suffered brake problems and fell back while Etancelin in a six cylinder Maserati moved up to third and then managed to catch up with Caracciola and even temporarily pass him for second position. Both cars suffered in the duel. Caracciola had to retire while Etancelin fell back with brake problems. Now the Alfas of Dreyfus and Brivio took over second and third positions. Dusio, Earl Howe and Villapadierna retired after crashing. Fagioli took the flag having led from start to finish.

The first major Grand Prix of the year was held at Monaco on Easter Monday with qualifying sessions on Friday to Sunday. It was run according to the international formula (even if it did not meet the minimum distance of 500 km requirement) and entries were restricted to those specially invited by the organizers. The participants had time until March 31 to answer the invitations to l'Automobile Club de Monaco.       The Monaco GP on April 22 was the first race of the newly organized AIACR European Championship but took place before the CSI enforced this Championship on May 8, 1935 in Paris. As usual the length of the race was 100 laps on the 3.18 km circuit.       The circuit had been improved by levering some outwardly sloping sections. The chicane had been moved some 180 m down the Quai de Plaisance towards the Tabac corner, giving the drivers plenty of time to prepare for the braking, once out of the tunnel.       A total of over 170,000 Fr was offered in prizes. Apart from the Prince of Monaco trophy the winner would receive a prize of 100,000 Fr, 40,000 Fr went to the 2nd position, 20,000 Fr to third, etc. Fastest lap of the race was worth 3,000 Fr and 1,000 Fr was given to the race leader at every 10th lap. There were also special prizes and trophies.

Entries: As usual in Monaco the cars were numbered according to the French name of the country, starting off with Allemagne, then Angleterre, Espagne, France and Italie.       The Auto Union and Bugatti teams were absent. The Bugatti team was in decline and team manager Meo Costantini had retired at the end of the 1934 season and returned home to Italy. Auto Union considered the circuit did not suitable their long wheelbase cars. Still it's a bit odd as Monaco was one of the events on the 1935 calendar where the German teams competed for a Nazi government bonus of 10,000 RM (equaled to about 60,000 Fr) for a victory and 5,000 RM for a second place.       Mercedes-Benz entered three new built cars with the new 3,990cc M25B engine for Rudi Caracciola, Luigi Fagioli and Manfred von Brauchitsch. The gearboxes were redesigned to withstand the higher power of the engines. Caracciola's car also featured wider 65mm rear brakes in an effort to change the brake balance towards the rear. A new fuel formula called X.M. had been developed during the winter. Technical director was now Max Sailer replacing Hans Nibel, who had died of a stroke in November 1934.       A 1934 type spare car with the 3,360cc M25A engine, race number 3, was used during practice by reserve drivers Hanns Geier and Hermann Lang.       Earl Howe was driving his recently acquired 3.3 litre Bugatti repainted in dark green. According to Howe it was the same car that Dreyfus had raced at Monaco in 1934.       Scuderia Ferrari entered four cars for Tazio Nuvolari, René Dreyfus, Louis Chiron and Antonio Brivio. All Scuderia Ferrari Tipo B Alfas now featured the new rear suspension with quarter elliptic springs and double hydraulic shock absorbers. Apart from that all four cars were different. Nuvolari's and Dreyfus' cars had the new enlarged 3.160cc engines. Nuvolari's and Chiron's cars featured tubular front axles with the new Dubonnet independent suspension (Note 1) and were also equipped with cockpit adjustable Ariston hydraulic brakes made by Farina in Turin. Chiron's car was probably the same that Dreyfus had raced to victory at the La Turbie hill climb.       It is quite easy to separate the independent suspension cars from the older ones. The frame rails of the Dubonnet cars are cut off in front of the radiator and the metallic tubular front axle is easy to notice. The rebuilding was made by Scuderia Ferrari at Modena, not by Alfa Romeo.       The S.E.F.A.C. failed to appear again so there was only one French blue car in the race, Raymond Sommer's Tipo B/P3 (#5003), which Sommer had managed to buy from Scuderia Ferrari. It was of an early type with the bodywork hanging down outside the frame to comply with the 850 mm bodywork rule. It was the same car that one day would end up as Chris Stanisland's "Multi Union".       Scuderia Subalpina, which handled the Maserati works entries in 1935, still had just one 3.724cc 6C- 34 car ready and it was raced by Etancelin. Therefore Giuseppe Farina was to race a 6C-34 owned by Gino Rovere instead.       After having raced Alfa Romeo Monza at Mille Miglia and Targa Abruzzi, Piero Dusio made his Grand Prix debut for Scuderia Subalpina in a 3.0 litre 8CM Maserati.       Goffredo Zehender, also entered by Scuderia Subalpina, raced a development of the 8CM with the engine bored out to 3.2 litre and a new front suspension with torsion bars running parallel to outside the chassis above the steering rod with arms at right angle to support the wheel pivots and with transversely mounted shock absorbers connected to the forward end of the bars.       Apart from the Scuderia Subalpina entries there were two other 8 cylinder Maseratis in the race. Count José de Villapadiera entered his canary yellow car and Luigi "Gigi" Soffietti a red one.

Practice: In 1933 Monaco had been the first Grand Prix that had adopted the practice that starting grid positions were determined by the times obtained during practice and not by ballot. By 1935 each Monaco practice session itself had turned into an event followed with interest by the numerous spectators. There were three practice/qualifying sessions from Friday to Sunday morning between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.       At the first day of practice Nuvolari was fastest, setting a time of 2m02s. The circuit was new to the Mercedes team but Caracciola and Fagioli knew the circuit well and did just 8 and 9 laps. Von Brauchitsch was now fully fit after his 1934 Nürburgring crash and did some fast laps around the track that was unknown to him, driving with his usual rugged style. He did 15 laps and ended up one second slower than Nuvolari with a time of 2m03s. Dreyfus, Brivio and Zehender were equally fast. Etancelin was the busiest driver, doing 23 laps. Full Friday results: Driver Time Laps Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2m02s 14 Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 2m03s 15 Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 2m03s 15 Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 2m03s 17 Zehender (Maserati) 2m03s 21 Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2m04s 8 Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 2m04s 9 Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 2m04s 18 Etancelin (Maserati) 2m04s 23 Farina (Maserati) 2m04s 13 Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 2m08s 16 Soffietti (Maserati) 2m08s 10 Dusio (Maserati) 2m10s 12 Earl Howe (Bugatti) 2m11s 18 Villapadierna (Maserati) 2m11s 14 Times were improved on Saturday with von Brauchitsch ending up fastest with a new lap record of 1m57s. However, witnesses of his laps describe them as rather dangerous with the driver really pushing in the corners and the tail of the car swinging. Fagioli, making a much smoother work, was second fastest two seconds slower. Dreyfus with the old suspension type Alfa equaled Fagioli's time and Brivio was fourth. Chiron had problems getting the new hydraulic brakes to work. Driver Time Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 1m57s Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 1m59s Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 1m59s Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 2m01s Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 2m02s Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2m02s Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2m03s Etancelin (Maserati) 2m03s Earl Howe (Bugatti) 2m04s Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 2m04s Zehender (Maserati) 2m06s Dusio (Maserati) 2m06s Farina (Maserati) 2m06s Soffietti (Maserati) 2m06s Villapadierna (Maserati) 2m17s During Sunday practice the Mercedes cars went even faster with Caracciola taking pole position with a time of 1m56.6s. Fagioli drove in a 1m57.3s and Nuvolari was third followed by Dreyfus. The time of the Mercedes spare car was also announced: 2m02.7s (good enough for a 10th place in the grid). Driver Time Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1m56.6s Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 1m57.3s Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 1m59.4s Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 1m59.9s Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 2m00.8s Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 2m01.6s Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 2m01.8s Etancelin (Maserati) 2m02.2s Farina (Maserati) 2m05.1s Soffietti (Maserati) 2m05.1s Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 2m06.4s Villapadierna (Maserati) 2m07.3s Zehender (Maserati) 2m08.4s The time keepers used a very odd and highly suspect procedure taking (or at least publishing) the times in whole seconds during the first two sessions but with 1/10 second accuracy in the third to make up the grid, as the times are mathematically incompatible. (For example Brauchitsch's 1m57s isn't of course exactly 1m57.0s but rather anything between 1m56.5s and 1m57.4s, or possibly between 1m57.0s and 1m57.9s, depending on the procedure used.)       Anyway, with Caracciola's and Fagioli's Sunday times considered to be first and third fastest and thus Brauchitsch's time from Saturday was enough for second position, it made an all Mercedes-Benz front row: Driver Fri Sat Sun Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2m04s 2m03s 1m56.6s Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 2m03s 1m57s 2m00.8s Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 2m04s 1m59s 1m57.3s Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 2m03s 1m59s 1m59.9s Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2m02s 2m02s 1m59.4s Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 2m03s 2m01s 2m01.6s Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 2m04s 2m04s 2m01.8s Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 2m08s 2m02s 2m06.4s Etancelin (Maserati) 2m04s 2m03s 2m02.2s Zehender (Maserati) 2m03s 2m06s 2m08.4s Farina (Maserati) 2m04s 2m06s 2m05.1s Earl Howe (Bugatti) 2m11s 2m04s - Soffietti (Maserati) 2m08s 2m06s 2m05.1s Dusio (Maserati) 2m10s 2m06s - Villapadierna (Maserati) 2m11s 2m17s 2m07.3s

Race: During the weeks before the race Monaco had seen a blue sky but it started to rain on the night before the race. Early Eastern Monday morning dark clouds still filled the sky but the weather improved and at noon the sun appeared for a brief moment. The interest in the race was getting bigger from year to year.       Ticket sales for standing places started at 10 a.m. and the grandstands opened for spectators at 11:30. Spectators had the option to pay a six person box for 1000 Fr, spend from 30 to 200 Fr for a place on a grandstand depending on its location, pay15 Fr for standing on the quay near the chicane or 10 Fr for a place in the grass. Apart from the people on the stands and on the streets all balconies and windows of the buildings around the circuit were of course crammed with spectators.       This was politically a time of high tension. On 1st March Germany had reintegrated the Saarland into the Third Reich after the referendum on territorial status held on 13th January, when the unification option had received 90.73 % of the votes. Luftwaffe was established on 26 February 1935. On 15th March Germany announced reintroduction of conscription and on the next day the French Army extended the time of conscription to two years. The German Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung commented that it was embarrassing to notice that the Monaco organizers pretended not to know of the German black-white-red flag and on the flagpole instead had the black-red-gold Weimar flag, which had been scrapped on 30 January 1933.       The race start was planned at 1:30 p.m. This year the 15 cars lined up on a 3-2-3 grid at the Boulevard Albert I, replacing the 3-3 used since 1929.       There were jeers and catcalls as the German cars were put to the grid but naturally cheers for Chiron and Etancelin as well as for Nuvolari. The engines were started 2 minutes before the race start.

4 Fagioli Mercedes-Benz 1m57.3s 6 Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz 1m57.0s 2 Caracciola Mercedes-Benz 1m56.6s 20 Nuvolari Alfa Romeo 1m59.4s 18 Dreyfus Alfa Romeo 1m59s 14 Sommer Alfa Romeo 2m02s 16 Chiron Alfa Romeo 2m01.8s 22 Brivio Alfa Romeo 2m01s 26 Zehender Maserati 2m03s 24 Etancelin Maserati 2m02.2s 32 Soffietti Maserati 2m05.1s 8 Howe Bugatti 2m04s 30 Farina Maserati 2m04s 10 Villapadierna Maserati 2m07.3s 28 Dusio Maserati 2m06.0s

When Charles Faroux dropped the Tricolour, Fagioli on the left side made a good start to take the lead. On the right side Caracciola was slower away but held on to second position. In the middle of the first row however von Brauchitsch struggled badly and was unable to get up to speed. He steered to the right of the track and had dropped to 14th position just as he entered St. Dévote.       Villapadierna had stalled his Maserati at start and lost some half a minute before he was able to join the race. Fagioli finished the first lap in 2m02.2s. He was followed by Caracciola 1.1s behind and Dreyfus 1.4s behind. After them followed Nuvolari, Chiron and Etancelin. Von Brauchitsch returned to the pit at the end of the lap to retire. Most newspapers claimed it was due to gearbox problems but according to Automobil-Revue the bevel gears driving the compressor had gone into pieces. The order after the first lap: 1. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 2m02.2s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2m03.3s 3. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 2m03.6s 4. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2m09.6s 5. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 2m16s 5. Etancelin (Maserati) The two remaining Mercedes cars were slowly pulling away from the Alfa Romeos.       Dusio, who was chasing Soffietti, made a mistake at St. Dévote. The tail of the Maserati hit the sand bags and the car spun around and stalled with petrol spurting out of the tank. The driver jumped out of the car and over the sandbags to safety. The car was quickly pushed away.       Etancelin was in great form with the six-cylinder Maserati and passed Chiron. The latter had problems with his Alfa's new hydraulic brakes and on the fifth lap Brivio passed him as well for 6th position.       Fagioli was going flat out and after five laps he had opened up a 3.6 second gap to Caracciola and a 13.6 gap to Dreyfus in third position: 1. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 10m00.7s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 10m04.3s 3. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 10m14.3s 4. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 10m22.2s 5. Etancelin (Maserati) 10m24.1s 6. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 7. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 8. Zehender (Maserati) 9. Farina (Maserati) 10. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 11. Soffietti (Maserati) 12. Howe (Bugatti) 13. Villapadierna (Maserati) Fagioli drove the 6th lap in 1m58.6s (96.53 km/h). He had opened up a 5 second gap to Caracciola and a half a minute gap to Dreyfus in third position. Zehender had brake problems and Farina passed him for 9th position. Soffietti seems to have made a pit stop as he was passed by Howe and got lapped by Fagioli while Villapadierna was already a lap down. The situation after 10 laps looked like this: 1. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 19m55.6s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 20m00.2s 3. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 20m25.0s 4. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 20m28.3s 5. Etancelin (Maserati) 20m31.5s 6. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 20m37.6s 7. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 21m03.0s 8. Farina (Maserati) 21m14.2s 9. Zehender (Maserati) 21m24.7s 10. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 21m57.3s 11. Howe (Bugatti) 22m35.3s 12. Soffietti (Maserati) 23m35s 13. Villapadierna (Maserati) 24m16.3s On the 11th lap Fagioli lapped Howe as well. Zehender pitted for a 3 1/2 minute stop to adjust the brakes dropping to 13th and last. Farina made a stop as well and returned in 12th position. On the 14th lap Nuvolari went past his team mate Dreyfus, but Dreyfus managed to re-pass a few laps later.       On the 17th lap Fagioli drove what would be the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1m58.4s (96.69 km/h).       Like Chiron Nuvolari also had problems with the hydraulic brakes, with the left front wheel locking up in every corner. On the 18th or 19th lap Etancelin with the six-cylinder Maserati went by Nuvolari to take fourth position.       At 20 laps Fagioli was leading Caracciola by 10.6 seconds and 40 seconds further behind was the trio of Dreyfus, Etancelin and Nuvolari. Brivio followed 10 seconds behind them and then there was an almost half a minute gap to Chiron, who was just getting lapped by Fagioli: 1. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 39m53.7s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 40m04.3s 3. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 40m44.1s 4. Etancelin (Maserati) 40m44.8s 5. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 40m47.9s 6. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 40m58.1s 7. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 41m54.2s 8. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 43m31.9s 9. Howe (Bugatti) 43m36.3s 10. Soffietti (Maserati) 44m57.8s 11. Villapadierna (Maserati) 45m53.3s 12. Farina (Maserati) 46m01.2s 13. Zehender (Maserati) 46m05.8s After the 21th lap Farina retired the Gino Rovere six-cylinder Maserati with fuel feed problems. In the sister car Etancelin was in great form, marginally even faster than Fagioli. He took over third position from Dreyfus on lap 25 and started closing in on Caracciola, whose lap times had dropped by 1.5 seconds. Brivio had also passed the struggling Nuvolari and further back Zehender overhauled Villapadierna in the battle for 11th position. The race order after 30 laps: 1. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 1h00m02.6s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h00m24.2s 3. Etancelin (Maserati) 1h00m52.7s 4. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 1h00m58.7s 5. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 1h01m19.7s 6. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 1h01m28.2s 7. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 1h02m39.4s 8. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 1h05m02.4s 9. Howe (Bugatti) 1h05m28.3s 10. Soffietti (Maserati) 1h06m40.7s 11. Zehender (Maserati) 1h07m34.6s 12. Villapadierna (Maserati) 1h07m39.0s On lap 36 Howe, running ninth, locked his brakes in the chicane, ended up in the sand bag barrier and retired.       Chiron's and Nuvolari's serious brake problems continued and on lap 39 Nuvolari pulled into the pit and jumped out. Reserve driver Count Trossi was sent out to have a try with the car.       Etancelin was now closing in on Caracciola, whose lap times had dropped further by up to two seconds a lap to 2m00s-2m04s. On the 36th lap the gap was 17 seconds. Caracciola tried to answer but after 40 laps the gap was down to 13.7 seconds. The order after 40 laps: 1. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 1h20m24.9s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h20m57.9s 3. Etancelin (Maserati) 1h21m11.6s 4. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 1h21m26.0s 5. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 1h21m47.4s 6. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 1h23m57.5s 7. Nuvolari/Trossi (Alfa Romeo) 1h24m07.4s 8. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 1h26m45.3s 9. Soffietti (Maserati) 1h28m59.2s 10. Zehender (Maserati) 1h28m59.9s 11. Villapadierna (Maserati) 1h29m15.5s Zehender was in the pit again for more brake adjustments and Soffietti was in even greater trouble, losing a lap on Zehender. He was now six laps behind Fagioli.       In the most interesting fight of the race Etancelin had closed by lap 45 to within 10 seconds of Caracciola and on the next lap the gap was down to 5 seconds. On lap 48 Etancelin was right behind the German and on the next lap the Maserati driver, to the cheers of the crowd, pushed himself on the inside of the Mercedes-Benz in the Gasometre (now Rascasse) and up to second behind Fagioli. However Caracciola did not let Etancelin escape but followed him closely. The situation was like this after 50 laps: 1. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 1h40m40.4s 2. Etancelin (Maserati) 1h41m32.1s 3. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h41m32.9s 4. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 1h41m56s 5. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 1h42m21s 6. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 1h44m51.6s 7. Nuvolari/Trossi (Alfa Romeo) 1h45m07s 8. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 1h48m18.1s 9. Villapadierna (Maserati) 1h48m50.1s 10. Zehender (Maserati) 1h50m28s 11. Soffietti (Maserati) 1h52m47s Trossi finally retired the brakeless Alfa Romeo on the 53rd lap. Soffietti made a stop for fuel. Etancelin managed to open up a 5 second gap to Caracciola but the hard charge had proved to be too much for the brakes on his Maserati and soon he lost 2 ½ seconds a lap. Caracciola re-passed him on the uphill to the Casino on lap 56. The situation on lap 60 was like this: 1. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 2h00m55.8s 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2h02m05.8s 3. Etancelin (Maserati) 2h02m17.7s 4. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 2h02m24s 5. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 2h02m46s 6. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 2h05m43.5s 7. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 2h09m44.1s 8. Villapadierna (Maserati) 2h10m21.3s 9. Zehender (Maserati) 2h11m53.9s 10. Soffietti (Maserati) 2h15m39.1s On lap 63 Fagioli made a 25 seconds stop for fuel, losing about a minute in total but returning to the race still well in the lead. Etancelin's brake problems did not get better and he had to give over third position to Dreyfus.       On lap 65 Caracciola made his way into the pit but not for fuel. Steam was coming out of the bonnet and he had to retire the Mercedes because of a broken valve.       On the same lap de Villapadierna repeated Howe's incident by locking the brakes in the chicane and crashing into the sand bags. At 70 laps Fagioli held a 40 seconds lead over Dreyfus with Brivio closing in on Etancelin. All the other competitors had been lapped.       Chiron seemed to finally have sorted out the brakes and now managed to do 2m03s laps going 2 seconds quicker than earlier, but he was still slower than his team mates. The order after 70 laps: 1. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 2h22m10.3s 2. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 2h22m50.1s 3. Etancelin (Maserati) 2h23m06.6s 4. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 2h23m15.4s 5. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 2h26m16.8s 6. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 2h31m23.2s 7. Zehender (Maserati) 2h34m06.2s 8. Soffietti (Maserati) 2h38m12.6s On lap 73 Brivio also passed Etancelin, who apart from the brakes now also had oil pressure problems and had been forced to slow down even further. Apart from that there were no position changes in the field.       On lap 79 Zehender was a third time in for brake adjustments, after nearly having crashed at the station corner (Loews) when the brakes locked. He possibly refueled as well. The Scuderia Ferrari drivers were trying to put pressure on Fagioli as two Mercedes cars had failed already, but Fagioli carefully controlled his lead keeping the gap constant without problems. With 20 laps to go the situation had stabilized like this: 1. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 2h42m33.9s 2. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 2h43m13.0s 3. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 2h43m36.4s 4. Etancelin (Maserati) 2h43m54.4s 5. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 2h46m52.8s 6. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 2h53m10.8s 7. Zehender (Maserati) 2h56m41.8s 8. Soffietti (Maserati) 3h00m38s Fagioli and Dreyfus drove laps 80-90 equally fast with lap times around 2m02s. Etancelin was losing some 3.4s a lap to the duo and Fagioli appeared behind him on lap 88. The situation after 90 laps: 1. Fagioli (Mercedes-Benz) 3h02m55.5s 2. Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) 3h03m34.6s 3. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 3h04m03.5s 4. Etancelin (Maserati) 3h04m49.6s 5. Chiron (Alfa Romeo) 3h07m31.7s 6. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 7. Zehender (Maserati) 8. Soffietti (Maserati) Etancelin was lapped by Fagioli on lap 91 leaving just the Mercedes and the two non-independent suspension Ferrari Alfas on the lead lap.       During the last laps the drivers slowed down, concentrating on keeping their positions and getting their cars to the flag. Fagioli let his lap-times drop by 3 seconds letting Dreyfus close in by 10 seconds. In the end Fagioli took the flag 31.5 seconds ahead of Dreyfus with Brivio finishing third over a minute behind.       Three laps before the end Chiron stopped in front of the grand stand because of fuel shortage. For the spectators, already feeling betrayed as no one and particularly not their home favorite had been able to challenge the German victory, this was the last straw and they took it out on poor Chiron with a mighty whistle concert. Scuderia Ferrari chief mechanic Attilio Marinoni rushed to the place from the pits and after a hectic conversation and much work with the hand pump the engine finally came to life and Chiron was able to cross the finish line to take the flag.       Unlike some other races the lapped cars were not allowed to complete the full distance but were flagged off immediately like in modern races.       Fagioli made a lap of honor. The Prince of Monaco trophy was handed over to the winner. The German National anthem was played (obviously with the winner still in the car!). The top trio received enormous bouquets of red and yellow tropical flowers. The Italian National anthem was played and after presentation at the royal box a smiling Fagioli threw the flowers over his back and walked away. And the sun finally appeared.

The last "real" Targa Florio