Chiron's first victory of the season

It was a 4 hour race. Gaupillat took the start but soon Chiron in his works Bugatti passed him for the lead. It started to rain and after five laps Chiron missed a braking and lost several positions. "Williams" in a private Bugatti was the next leader and he was challenged by Wimille's Alfa Romeo Monza until the latter had to retire when his car caught fire.       Except for temporary changes during the pit stops "Williams" then kept a half a minute lead over Chiron with the other cars lapped at least once, until the last hour when rain stopped and Chiron started to close in. With half an hour left of the race Chiron caught and passed "Williams". The latter then tried too hard to keep up with Chiron's pace and crashed into a ditch losing two laps but he was still able to keep second position until the end . Bouriat in the other works Bugatti finished third. Count Czaykowski was the winner of the 2 litre class.

The Dieppe Grand Prix was a 4 hour race, run as usual on the triangular 8.15 km circuit at the outskirts of the French harbor town. The race was split into two classes but the formula libre cars and the 2000cc cars were racing together, the cars in the latter class also competing in the major class.       Some 70000-75000 franc in total were offered as prizes in the car race.

Entries: There were 25 entries, 19 of which finally turned up. The Alfa Romeo factory team decided to skip this race so the only works team was Bugatti with two T51 cars for their drivers Louis Chiron and Guy Bouriat. Private T51 Bugattis were entered by1930 winner Marcel Lehoux, Jean Gaupillat and "W Williams". Their main rival was Jean-Pierre Wimille in a private Alfa Romeo "Monza". Goffredo Zehender also entered a "Monza" and Jean de Maleplane a 2.5 litre Maserati. The rest of the entries in the major class consisted of older Bugattis.       Bugattis also dominated the 2 litre class with 7 out of 10 entries belonging to the mark, among them Count Stanisłas Czaykowski, Jean Delorme and Pierre Bussienne . The list also included two female Bugatti entries, Mlle. Helle-Nice with her T35C and Mme. Mareuse with one of the rare 1.5 litre T51A voiturettes.       Earl Howe entered a 1.5 litre Delage in the 2 litre class as did José Scaron with his Amilcar and Antinie Valette, racing under the pseudonym "Antonio", was to race a 1.5 litre Maserati.       Missing were the Alfa Romeo "Monzas" of Le Mans winner Raymond Sommer and Pierre Félix and Prince Nicholas' 4,980cc Steyr, a car that hardly was ideal for the rather narrow circuit.

Practice: The official practice was on Friday when also the competitors of the ongoing Dieppe Rally were arriving to the city to do their special test runs on the promenade.       Saturday was market day and the roads were left open and not available for official practice. That did not hinder some drivers including Chiron and Bouriat to do some laps at high speed, meeting opposite moving traffic while doing 200 km/h on the straight.

Race: A huge crowd turned up at Sunday for the event even if "The Motor"s estimation of 150,00 to 200, 000 surely is an exaggeration. However, with its open fields Dieppe was ideal for the spectators and the hilly terrain at the "Esses" section proved to be particulary popular.       The day started off with a 2.5 hour motorcycle race from about 8.30 a.m. to 11 a.m.       In the afternoon it was then time for the car race. Nominally the race was to start at 1.30 p.m but in fact the flag was dropped fifteen minutes later.

26 Wimille Alfa Romeo 16 Gaupillat Bugatti 20 Fourny Bugatti 21 Bouriat Bugatti 19 Chiron Bugatti 15 Lehoux Bugatti 24 Zehender Alfa Romeo 22 "Williams" Bugatti 27 de Maleplane Maserati ? ? ? ? 6 Delorme Bugatti Rest of 2000cc grid unknown (Note 1)

Chiron made a good start from the second row to overtake all except Gaupillat, who held on to the lead from the Monegasque when they disappeared from the spectators' view along the corn fields towards Val Gossett. They were followed by "Williams", Wimille, Lehoux, Zehender, Bouriat, Fourny and Earl Howe.       When the field apperead again Gaupillat was still leading. Lehoux retired his Bugatti with a damaged rear axle. Bussienne and Bouriat also made stops after the first lap but were both able to continue.       Light rain began to fall as Chiron took over the lead during the second lap.       The rain soon made the downhill braking point for Val Gosset, at the end the long straight, slippery and several drivers had problems taking the curve. The rain however did not hinder Chiron from putting in a new lap record on the third lap with a time of 3m46s. On the fifth lap however Chiron overshot at Val Gosset and had to reverse back to the track, dropping to third position. He then had to make a fast stop for new goggles, loosing another two positions.       Madame Mareuse, dressed completely in red with a leather face mask, had problems finding gear when shifting down for Val Gosset and stalled in the corner. She was eventually able to get away again and returned to the pits to give over the car to Pierre Leygonie. He was however soon to retire.       "Williams" now held the lead in his green Bugatti but was hard pressed by Wimille in the Alfa Romeo.       Amilcar's head driver José Scaron retired his car with transmission problems and Max Fourny retired his Bugatti after having struck clutch problems.       Wimille unsuccessfully tried to take the lead from "Williams" at the Esses and again at Maison Blance. On the eighth lap Wimille went off the road at Val Gosset but was able to rejoin the race without losing much time.       Wimille continued to challenge "Williams" for the lead but two laps later the carburettor of his "Monza" caught fire near St. Aubin and Wimille was forced to jump out of the car at speed, luckily escaping with a few cuts and bruises.       "Helle-Nice" pitted and gave her Bugatti over to Marcel Mongin. Jean de Maleplane made a lengthy stop for repairs but was able to continue for a lap or two until finally giving up.       "Willams" now held a half a minute lead over Chiron, who did his best to close the gap. While the rain kept falling the duo started a fierce duel, lowering the lap record three times, first "Williams" to 3m45s, then Chiron two laps later to 3m43s and finally "Williams" again to 3m41s.       After the first hour Willimas was leading Chiron by half a minute and both had lapped the rest of the field. In the 2 litre class Czaykowski was leading followed by Earl Howe: 1. Williams (Bugatti) 15 laps 58m34s 2. Chiron (Bugatti) 15 laps 59m07s 3. Gaupillat (Bugatti) 14 laps 59m13s 4. Czaikowski (Bugatti) 14 laps 5. Earl Howe (Delage) 14 laps 6. Bouriat (Bugatti) 13 laps 7. Zehender (Alfa Romeo) 13 laps The rain was starting to fall really heavy and the speeds dropped.       After 25 laps the situation remained unchanged for the top trio. Bouriat, who had lost the bonnet of his Bugatti and was running with the engine fully visible, was now up to fourth followed by the 2 liter cars of Czaykowski and Howe.       Nearing halfway through the race the drivers started to make their routine pit stops. Gaupillat was first in, leaving over his car to Marcel Lehoux. But it was not Lehoux's day. First the car refused to start and when the mechanics finally were able to send the car back into the race Lehoux almost immediately had to retire for the second time that day. Chiron had managed to pull in 10 seconds on Williams but then he got wide. He was however able to continue without losing too much time.       Zehender had a moment at Val Gosset and then came slowly into the pits to retire, with gearbox problems. Charles Druck also retired, leaving 10 cars in the race.       "Williams" made his routine pit stop lasting 56.8s, temporarily giving over the lead to Chiron, who however stopped as well two laps later. Chiron's stop lasted 64.6s so he lost further ground to the leader.       Situation after about two hours: 1. Williams (Bugatti) 30 laps 1h56m39s 2. Chiron (Bugatti) 30 laps 1h57m22s 3. Bouriat (Bugatti) 28 laps 2h05m32s 4. Czaikowski (Bugatti) 28 laps 5. Earl Howe (Delage) 28 laps Earle Howe made his stop as well, while his rival Chaykowski had decided to do the race nonstop. Bouriat was the last of the leading drivers to make his stop.       As the rain decreased and finally ended Chiron started to get up to speed and was closing in on Williams. After 2h50min the gap was down to 21 seconds and ten minutes later it was just 11 seconds. With 45 minutes left of the race four cars arrived at Manson Blance together in order Williams, Howe, Bouriat and Chiron. It was a tricky situation as Chiron passed the two backmarkers on the outside of the curve while Bouriat at the same time tried to find a way past Howe. However, everything went well and Chiron went past the grand stand to continue hunting "Williams" along the main straight.       Chiron took the lead at Val Gosset but "Williams" retook it when Chiron went wide and up the the sandbank at St. Aubin. At Maison Blance it was "Williams" time to go wide and Chiron was back in the lead and started to pull away.       Then, with half an hour left, the race for victory was more or less decided as "Williams", trying too hard to keep up with Chiron, went off the road and into the ditch somewhere between Val Gosset and St. Aubin. He lost over two laps before he was able to return to the race with a mud spattered car that had suspect steering and damaged brakes.       At 5.45 p.m. as the race clock passed four hours the cars are flagged in. Bouriat was the first to take the flag followed by race winner Chiron and Howe. In the end "Williams", cruising to the flag to second position, lost some 12 minutes to Chiron. Bouriat took his works Bugatti, less bonnet, to third position and Chaykowski, having led the 2 litre class from start to finish with his non stop strategy, was fourth overall. Howe finished on the same lap as Chaykowski but some 3 1/2 minutes behind his rival. Also the remaining five finishers all belonged to the 2 litre class.

Another Chiron victory

The Monaco inspired Nice race was run in heats for several classes with a final for the top five in the largest class plus the winner of the 2 litre class. In the final Chiron and Dreyfus (both Bugatti) made bad starts and Falchetto (Bugatti) took the lead followed by Sommer (Alfa Romeo). Falchetto soon retired and Sommer made a mistake giving Chiron and Dreyfus back the top positions. On the last laps Sommer found a way past Dreyfus to finish second behind Chiron.

The Nice race was naturally inspired by the success of the nearby Monaco Grand Prix. Nice was one of several city races that appeared in the early 1930s. It was run the same day as Coppa Ciano but that did not hinder a good, mostly French entry list.       There were events for motor cycles as well as for the cars running in five categories. The circuit selected for the event was going in a clockwise direction, starting off westwards from the grandstands opposite the Palais de Méditerrané. The circuit followed the Promenade des Anglais to the corner of Boulevard Gambetta, where a hairpin took the cars back along the northern line of Promenade des Anglais past the Hotel Ruhl (built 1913, demolished 1970). It turned left and went past the park along the Avenue de Verdun, made a double right turn at Place Massena to Avenue des Phocéens, which through a left turn led towards the water. A new left turn sent the cars east along Quai des Unites-Unis, where a hairpin led back westwards to a chicane in front of the Monument du Centenaire, before the cars returned back to the start along Promenade des Anglais. The circuit length was 3.228 km, a bit longer that the 1930s Monaco circuit but shorter than the current one.       Due to the short and narrow circuit the organizers decided to run the event in heats and a final.

Entries: As could be expected several local drivers took the opportunity to enter the race. In the end there were no less than ten drivers from Nice nominated in the different car classes and nine of them actually raced.       There were no works entries so in the free formula local drivers Benoit Falchetto and Rene Dreyfus took on fellow Bugatti privateers Louis Chiron, Stanislas Czaykowski, Paul Morand and Antoine Canin, the last mentioned from Marseille.       An interesting new name was Raymond Sommer. As son of one of France's pioneer airplane manufacturers Sommer had started off his racing career with sports cars. Six weeks earlier he had won the Le Mans 24 hours race in his second attempt together with Luigi Chinetti in a race in which Chinetti had been ill and Sommer had been forced to race for 20 hours. Sommer was now turning his interest to Grand Prix racing, having entered a newly bought Alfa Romeo "Monza". Italian Goffredo Zehender also entered a "Monza".       Stanislas Czaykowski entered a Bugatti in the 2 litre class as well, the rules allowed him that, and there were three other Bugatti entries in the class, "Eminente" from Paris, Moulin from Grenoble and Louis Trintignant, still unknown enough to have his name spelt incorrectly by all papers (and probably by the organizers as well).       In the 1.5 litre class local drivers Frédéric Toselli in a Bugatti and Pierre Veyron with his Maserati were the favorites. The entry list also included Mistral from Marseille in a Bugatti and Lerquin in an Amilcar.       All the 1.1 and 0.75 litre class entries came from the south coast of France with the Nice locals Albert "Raymond" Chambost, Gegauf, Labbay, Lebas, Victor Marret (DNA) and François Martinatti, meeting Porre from Toulon, Ferreol and Calms from Marseille and Reveiller and Rey from Nimes. Just as Czaykowski, Rey had entered two cars in different classes. Emile Dourel from Mazamet did not appear. Their cars were a mix of Salmsons, Amilcars, a Rosengart of Austin origin and some more or less homemade specials.

Practice: Official practice results: Chiron 2m03s, Dreyfus 2m03s, Sommer 2m03s, Zehender 2m04s, Czaykowski 2m10s, Canin 2m12s, Toselli 2m14s, Veyron 2m16s, Martinatti 2m20s.

Heat 1 (750cc & 1100cc): Racing started off at 2:30 p.m. After that the motorcycles had raced their heats it was time for the first car heat, in which the 750cc and 1100cc cycle car classes raced together.

Reveiller Amilcar Martinatti Salmson Chambost Salmson Porre Amilcar Gegauf Tony Spl. Lebas Lebas Spl. Labbay Mathis Rey Peugeot Calms Rosengart

In the bigger class Martinatti took the lead. Gegauf tried to pass him as the cars entered the cormer at Hotel Ruhl. Martinatti's car touched the front wheel of Gegauf's car sending the Tony special into a 180 degree spin, whereafter it crashed into the sand bags, just missing a tree in the garden.       Martinatti soon lost his lead to Chambost and then dropped further back as the race instead developed into a duel between Chambost and Reveiller. The latter made a class lap record and passed Chambost in front of the grand stand but Chambost was soon afterwards able to re-pass. The duel ended when Reveiller got trapped behind while the duo was trying to lap a backmarker and he was then unable to catch Chambost again before the chequered flag.       Camille Porre from Toulouse had also crashed during the race and had injured his hand so he was transported to the St. Antonie hospital.       Labbay initially led the minor class but then Lebas passed him and took control of the race to win. Labbay retired so Calms, who had received spare parts to his Rosengart delivered only the day before and had been unable to practice, was second at the end, but a lap behind Lebas.

Heat 2 (1500cc & 2000cc): In the second heat the 1.5 litre and 2.0 litre cars raced together, in theory all for a place in the final. In the end only the 2 litre winner would appear in the final. Rey obviously started in this heat as well, replacing his Peugeot with a Bugatti.

Moulin Bugatti Rey Bugatti Czaykowski Bugatti * Trintignant Bugatti Leurquin Amilcar Mistral Bugatti Toselli Bugatti Veyron Maserati **   * Eminente DNS ** Corsi DNS

Louis Trintignant just managed to take the lead at the start from Czaykowski and the duo soon left the other cars far behind. Trintignant was able to open up the gap to Czaykowski by one or two seconds a lap.       In the smaller class local driver Frédéric Toselli took the lead and held the overall third position followed by Mistral and Veyron. Veyron soon passed Mistral for second in the class.       Trintignant continued to control the race to win by 18 seconds from Czaykowski, while in the smaller class Lerquin got up to speed and made the fastest lap but was unable to do anything against Toselli and Veyron, the former taking a popular class victory.

Heat 3 (libre): The third heat was a 15 lap race for the free formula cars, and they lined up on the grid like this:

Morand Bugatti Canin Bugatti * Dreyfus Bugatti Zehender Alfa Romeo Falchetto Bugatti Czaykowski Bugatti Sommer Alfa Romeo Chiron Bugatti **   * Moll DNA ** Premoli DNA

Czaykowski was to race in this heat as well, this time with his T51. Falchetto took the best start followed by Canin, but soon Dreyfus took over the lead. Then Dreyfus was passed by Chiron on the third lap. Behind them Falchetto, Zehender and Czaykowski were having a good fight but eventually Czaykowski dropped back and was passed by Sommer. After having fallen a bit behind Chiron, Dreyfus speeded up again at the latter half of the race and somehow found a way by Chiron on the 14th lap to take the victory.

Final: After the some half an hour long motorcycle final it was time for the car final, in which the top five from the third heat took part joined by Trintignant.

Zehender Alfa Romeo Falchetto Bugatti Sommer Alfa Romeo Chiron Bugatti Dreyfus Bugatti Trintignant Bugatti

Both Chiron and Dreyfus made bad starts and it was local driver Falchetto who surprisingly took the lead followed by Sommer. They were followed by in order Dreyfus, Chiron, Zehender and Trintignant. On the third lap Sommer took over the lead from Falchetto, who found himself in some kind of trouble (accelerator or carburettor?) and slowed down to retire. Sommer then went wide on the next lap and Chiron and Dreyfus passed him. After five laps the order was as follows: 1. Chiron (Bugatti) 10m19s 2. Dreyfus (Bugatti) 3. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 4. Zehender (Alfa Romeo) 5. Trintignant (Bugatti) There was a close fight between the top trio with just a second or two between the cars. It was announced that Chiron had made a 2minute flat lap, which Dreyfus and Sommer behind him answered with even faster laps. After 10 laps the order was unchanged: 1. Chiron (Bugatti) 20m.21s 2. Dreyfus (Bugatti) 3. Sommer (Alfa Romeo) 4. Zehender (Alfa Romeo) 5. Trintignant (Bugatti) The time, if correct, would indicate that the medium lap time for the last five laps had been something like 2m00.4s ! The cars kept close together but Dreyfus and Sommer seemed unable to find a way past their opponents. Then on the last lap Dreyfus missed a gear shift at the Gambetta hairpin at the end of the Boulevard and that was all that Sommer needed. He was immediately past to take the flag behind Chiron. Dreyfus lost 6 seconds on that last lap finishing fourth while Zehender was fifth half a lap behind and Trintignant in the 2 liter car finished last having been lapped during the race.

Nuvolari wins the Coppa Ciano

The end of the international motor sport week at Livorno consisted of the 200 km race for the Coppa Ciano. The Swiss driver Villars was the only foreign entry in this otherwise national race in which the presence of the Alfa Romeo works team contributed extra importance. The only serious competition to Nuvolari, Borzacchini and Campari in works Alfa Romeos came from their countryman Varzi in his red Bugatti. The remaining entries played only a statistical role and consisted of eight Alfa Romeos, four Maseratis, two specials, one OM and one Bugatti. Nuvolari won in new record time, followed by his two teammates, then Varzi who had to be content with fourth place ahead of four Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Monzas. Two independent entries were the last finishers. From the 17 starters only 10 cars reached the finish in time. The remaining cars retired, except for Biondetti who crashed his MB-Speciale and was lucky to survive. Six cycle cars raced concurrently with the grand prix cars in a separate class up to 1100 cc. Principe Cerami won this 160 km race ahead of Matrullo, both in Maseratis, followed by Pratesi and del Re, who were the only other finishers.

The Montenero circuit races near Livorno (called Leghorn in English) had been held since 1921. From 1922 onwards a 22.5 km circuit was used, which in 1931 was shortened to 20 km and routed from Ardenza Mare - Montenero - Savolano - Castellaggio - and back to Ardenza Mare. The 1932 event was the 12th time that the race was held on the Circuito del Montenero and the organizer named it misleadingly the 12th Coppa Ciano but in reality, 1932 was the 6th Coppa Ciano. The Coppa or trophy was donated by Italian Navy hero Costanzo Ciano for a 1927 Montenero sports car race, which was named after the trophy. The Coppa Ciano name was applied for the second time to the 1928 Montenero sports car race. As of 1929, when the sports car race was dropped from the program, the Coppa Ciano name was assigned to the racecar event for the first time. The races were held annually and 1932 was the sixth running of the Coppa Ciano and the twelfth race on the Montenero circuit.       The Coppa Ciano race took place on the same day of the first Nice Grand Prix in France. The Italian event on the Montenero Circuit was considered the more important of the two because of its long tradition plus works entries from Alfa Romeo and results counting for the Italian Championship. The 20 km circuit had to be lapped ten times by the cars over 1100 cc and the smaller cars up to 1100 cc had to cover only eight laps.

Entries: The class over 1100 cc received 26 entries of which the main contenders came from S.A. Alfa Romeo with two 2.6-liter monoposti for Tazio Nuvolari and Mario Umberto Borzacchini plus a 2.3-liter Monza for Giuseppe Campari. The strongest rival to this formidable team was last year's winner Achille Varzi in his red 2.3-liter Bugatti. Four additional independent Bugatti entries were received from Cappagli, Giovanni Minozzi, Carlo Cazzaniga and Renato Danese. The Scuderia Ferrari sent four 2.3-liter Alfa Romeo Monzas for Piero Taruffi, Pietro Ghersi, Guido D'Ippolito and Conte Antonio Brivio. Another seven independent Alfa Romeos were entered by Eugenio Fontana, Renato Balestrero, Carlo Gazzabini and Mario Tadini in 2.3-liter Monzas, also Giovanni Salvati, Umberto Berti and Julio Villars in 6C 1750s. Maserati was represented by four independent entries by Secondo Corsi, Conte Luigi Castelbarco, Signora Vittoria Orsini and Ferdinando Barbieri. Clemente Biondetti brought his MB Speciale and Conte Luigi Premoli his PBM, both hybrids of Bugatti and Maserati origin.       The up to 1100 cc cycle car class comprised 13 entries which are listed at the beginning of this report. All cars were from independents except Amedeo Ruggeri's Maserati, which was the only factory car. Luigi Platè entered two of the odd Talbot "700-s" that were first raced in 1931. The 1500cc 8-cylinder engines were altered to comply with 1100 cc engine size by having two of their pistons removed.

Practice: Some of the Thursday practice times were published: Nuvolari in 15m8.4s, Borzacchini in 13m56.2s and Campari in 14m24.6s. On Friday Varzi was registered at 13m57.8s, Taruffi 14m58.4s, Ghersi 14m57.2s, D'Ippolito 16m15.6s and Fontana in 16m43.2s. In the small car class Prince Cerami's best time was 16m2.4s while Matrullo was stopped at 17m38.2s. The practice times had no influence on the starting positions since the starting grid was based upon the race numbers, which were drawn by lots.

Race: A crowd of 60 000 spectators witnessed the race, which was attended by the donor of the Cup, Signor Ciano, Minister of Communications, Vincenzo Florio and other luminaries. Some drivers withdrew, which were Salvati (Alfa Romeo), Cappagli (Bugatti), Minozzi (Bugatti), Cazzaniga (Bugatti), Tadini (Alfa Romeo), Villars (Alfa Romeo) and Danese (Bugatti). Additionally, Gazzabini and Barbieri also did not appear at the start, which reduced the field to 17 cars. The twisting and hilly Montenero Circuit was considered too dangerous for a massed start. Consequently the cars were sent off three at a time with a minute interval to the next row, so that the entire starting procedure lasted just over five minutes, starting at 3:30 PM for the first three. The official Alfa Romeo team cars were in the fourth and fifth groups leaving the start. The small car class followed after a one minute delay after the last of the large cars. Only six cars of the class up to 1100 cc started because Savelli (Talbot), Levi (Salmson), Aymini (Monaco), Platè (Talbot), Ardizzone (Fiat), Gazzabini (Alfa Romeo) and Cappagli (Bugatti) had withdrawn.

6 Rondina OM 4 Varzi Bugatti 2 Corsi Maserati 12 Fontana Alfa Romeo 10 Castelbarco Maserati 8 Biondetti MB Special 18 Gazzabini Alfa Romeo 16 Balestrero Alfa Romeo 14 Orsini Maserati ? ? ? ? ? ? 26 Campari Alfa Romeo 36 Borzacchini Alfa Romeo 34 Taruffi Alfa Romeo 30 Nuvolari Alfa Romeo ? ? ? ? ? ?   64 Matrullo Maserati 62 del Re Fiat-Lombard 60 Cerami Maserati 82 Barbieri Maserati 78 Cambi Salmson 74 Pratesi Salmson (Note 1)

The first driver to complete lap one was Varzi in 14m08s, then came Biondetti over two minutes later, but he stopped at his pit to change spark plugs in 1m30s, then joined the race again. Corsi arrived next in third place almost three minutes behind Varzi, then Campari, Ghersi, Rondina and Brivio. When Nuvolari passed the finish line after 13m52s, there was great applause. He was followed by Balestrero, Borzacchini, Fontana, Castelbarco, Taruffi, Orsini and D'Ippolito. Gazzabini and Premoli's arrival was not mentioned in the reports. Since the cars had started at different times, their positions on the track were different from their actual race order, which was as follows: 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 13m52s 2. Varzi (Bugatti) 14m08s 3. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 14m05s 4. Campari (Alfa Romeo) 14m22s 5. Taruffi (Alfa Romeo) 14m26s 6. Ghersi (Bugatti) 14m42s 7. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 14m50s 8. D'Ippolito (Alfa Romeo) 14m57s 9. Castelbarco (Maserati) no time 10. Biondetti (MB-Speciale) 15m08s 11. Balestrero (Alfa Romeo) 16m00s 12. Corsi (Maserati) 16m51s 13. Fontana (Alfa Romeo) 17m07s 14. Rondina (OM) 17m45s 15. Signora Orsini (Maserati) 17m56s On the first lap Premoli had a bad crash at the descent towards Calafuria where his 2.8-liter BMP hit a stone road marker, lost a rear wheel, spun, overturned and fell into a small ravine. He injured his shoulder and suffered other severe injuries. The unfortunate bleeding Premoli was put in an ambulance and taken to the Rosignano Solvay hospital, where his condition was not considered life-threatening. Giovanni Lurani wrote, "Gigi Premoli with his special car had the most frightening accident, knocking his head so seriously that he had to remain out of action for over a year." In the 1100 cc class Cerami (Maserati) was first in 15m57s, followed by Matrullo (Maserati) 16m15s, Pratesi (Salmson) 16m52s, Ruggeri (Maserati) 17m04s and Del Re (Fiat) 17m50s. Varzi completed the second lap in 14m01s, Nuvolari in 13m55s. However Borzacchini established a new record lap in 13m46.2s at an average speed of 87.146 km/h, which enabled him to overtake Varzi. Signora Orsini retired due to sickness. The positions at the end of lap two were: 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 27m47s 2. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 27m52s 3. Varzi (Bugatti) 28m09s 4. Campari (Alfa Romeo) 28m28s 5. Taruffi (Alfa Romeo) 28m45s 6. Ghersi (Bugatti) 29m18s 7. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 29m25s 8. D'Ippolito (Alfa Romeo) 29m51s 9. Castelbarco (Maserati) 31m24s 10. Biondetti (MB-Speciale) 31m58s In the small car class the battle between Matrullo and Cerami continued. Cerami (Maserati) remained first in 32m04s, followed by Matrullo (Maserati) 32m29s, Pratesi (Salmson) 33m34s and Ruggeri (Maserati) 33m56s. On the third lap Nuvolari established a new record lap of 13m42.2s at an average speed of 87.570 km/h, which improved upon last year's record of 14m00.6s at 85.652 km/h, made by Varzi in his Bugatti. Borzacchini followed not far behind and Campari drove his usual steady race. Gazzabini was a slow driver, so it is not surprising that he was not mentioned in the reports. The order after three laps was: 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 41m29s 2. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 41m37s 3. Varzi (Bugatti) 42m06s 4. Campari (Alfa Romeo) 42m30s 5. Taruffi (Alfa Romeo) 42m46s 6. Ghersi (Bugatti) 43m55s 7. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 43m59s 8. D'Ippolito (Alfa Romeo) 44m30s 9. Biondetti (MB-Speciale) 47m10s 10. Balestrero (Alfa Romeo) 47m37s 11. Castelbarco (Maserati) 47m39s 12. Corsi (Maserati) 50m32s 13. Rondina (OM) 52m00s 14. Fontana (Alfa Romeo) 52m49s In the 1100 cc class Cerami (Maserati) 47m58s was still in the lead, followed by Matrullo (Maserati) 48m43s and Del Re (Fiat) 53m25s. Cambi's Salmson retired with a broken oil pipe. After four laps the Nuvolari-Varzi duel had changed to one between Nuvolari and Borzacchini. "Nivola" completed another lap in 13m45s, which was equaled by Borzacchini. Varzi still held third place but was no match to the Alfa monoposti. Taruffi was still matching the pace of Campari. The standings were: 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 55m14s 2. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 55m22s 3. Varzi (Bugatti) 56m03s 4. Campari (Alfa Romeo) 56m33s 5. Taruffi (Alfa Romeo) 56m52s In the small car class Cerami (Maserati) remained first with 1h04m, followed by Matrullo (Maserati) 1h05m, Pratesi (Salmson) 1h06m50s, Del Re (Fiat) 1h11m31s and Ruggeri (Maserati) 1h16m46s. On lap five Nuvolari was still leading Borzacchini but only by nine seconds, then came Varzi in third place but already over one minute behind Nivola, followed by Campari, Taruffi, Ghersi, Brivio and D'Ippolito. Perhaps the highlight of this race was the battle between Ghersi and Brivio for 6th and 7th places. After the first lap Ghersi was eight seconds ahead, but Brivio reduced this consistently to seven seconds on lap two, four seconds a lap later and after five laps they were only two seconds apart. The order after five laps was: 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 1h08m59s 2. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 1h09m08s 3. Varzi (Bugatti) 1h10m00s 4. Campari (Alfa Romeo) 1h10m36s 5. Taruffi (Alfa Romeo) 1h11m04s 6. Ghersi (Bugatti) 1h12m55s 7. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 1h12m57s 8. D'Ippolito (Alfa Romeo) 1h14m00s 9. Biondetti (MB-Speciale) 1h18m00s 10. Balestrero (Alfa Romeo) 1h18m42s 11. Castelbarco (Maserati) 1h19m58s 12. Corsi (Maserati) 1h23m57s 13. Rondina (OM) 1h25m25s 14. Fontana (Alfa Romeo) 1h23m25s In the small car classification Cerami (Maserati) led in 1h19m59s, followed by Matrullo (Maserati) 1h21m05s, Pratesi (Salmson) 1h23m26s, Del Re (Fiat) 1h29m40s and Ruggeri retired his Maserati. After six laps Nuvolari's advantage stayed at nine seconds, while the gap between Varzi and Campari lessened. Finally, after more than 100 kilometers of racing Brivio fell back a little, but was still only nine seconds behind Ghersi. Fontana retired due to mechanical troubles. 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 1h22m46s 2. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 1h22m55s 3. Varzi (Bugatti) 1h24m05s 4. Campari (Alfa Romeo) 1h24m33s 5. Taruffi (Alfa Romeo) 1h25m07s 6. Ghersi (Bugatti) 1h27m10s 7. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 1h27m19s 8. D'Ippolito (Alfa Romeo) 1h28m36s 9. Biondetti (MB-Speciale) 1h33m08s 10. Balestrero (Alfa Romeo) 1h34m25s 11. Castelbarco (Maserati) 1h35m48s 12. Corsi (Maserati) 1h40m52s 13. Rondina (OM) 1h42m07s The order in the 1100 cc car class was Cerami (Maserati) 1h35m58s, Matrullo (Maserati) 1h37m26s, Pratesi (Salmson) 1h40m04s and in fourth place Del Re (Fiat) in 1h48m07s. On lap seven Borzacchini slowed down a bit and so did Nuvolari. The gap which had been a scant nine seconds increased marginally to 13, so Borzacchini was hardly out of contention. Biondetti, who was expected to have a good race, was once more unlucky, as he broke a wheel-hub of his Bugatti and retired. 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 1h36m40s 2. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 1h36m53s 3. Varzi (Bugatti) 1h38m11s 4. Campari (Alfa Romeo) 1h38m36s 5. Taruffi (Alfa Romeo) 1h39m18s 6. Ghersi (Bugatti) 1h41m37s 7. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 1h41m47s 8. D'Ippolito (Alfa Romeo) 1h43m25s 9. Balestrero (Alfa Romeo) 1h49m58s 10. Castelbarco (Maserati) 1h52m17s 11. Corsi (Maserati) 1h57m40s 12. Rondina (OM) 2h03m51s Cerami (Maserati) led the 1100 cc class in 1h52m08s, pursued by Matrullo (Maserati) 1h53m48s, Pratesi (Salmson) 1h56m04s and Del Re (Fiat) in 2h06m08s. On lap eight Varzi drove a lap in 13m57s, maintaining his advantage over Campari. Borzacchini drove a slightly faster lap than Nuvolari. At the same time Brivio cut into Ghersi's lead by three seconds and was now only seven seconds behind. The order remained the same. 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 1h50m42s 2. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 1h50m54s 3. Varzi (Bugatti) 1h52m08s 4. Campari (Alfa Romeo) 1h52m36s 5. Taruffi (Alfa Romeo) 1h53m42s 6. Ghersi (Bugatti) 1h56m14s 7. Brivio (Alfa Romeo) 1h56m21s 8. D'Ippolito (Alfa Romeo) 1h58m14s 9. Balestrero (Alfa Romeo) 2h05m22s 10. Castelbarco (Maserati) 2h08m15s 11. Corsi (Maserati) 2h17m07s 12. Rondina (OM) 2h20m21s The eighth lap concluded the dull race of the 1100 cc class without any changes in a boring procession. Cerami was victorious, ahead of Matrullo, Pratesi and Del Re. On lap nine the order was still Nuvolari, Borzacchini, Varzi, Campari, Taruffi, Ghersi, Brivio and D'Ippolito. Nuvolari increased his advantage to 26 seconds from Borzacchini, who was 1m43s ahead of the steadily driving Varzi in third place. The opinion of the press was that Campari was attacking Varzi. But on lap nine Varzi had actually started to slow down, losing precious seconds from the advantage he had kept over Campari. This enabled the regularly driving Campari, who kept his lap times just around the 14 minutes mark, to come closer to Varzi. Ghersi was now only three seconds ahead of Brivio. These minor changes brought a little excitement near the end of an otherwise lackluster race. 1. Nuvolari (Alfa Romeo) 2h04m16s 2. Borzacchini (Alfa Romeo) 2h04m42s 3. Varzi (Bugatti) 2h06m25s 4. Campari (Alfa Romeo) 2h06m37s At the end of the tenth lap Nuvolari became the celebrated victor with Borzacchini in second place, followed by Campari. The opinion had persisted that Campari was attacking Varzi, while in fact Varzi had slowed down even more on lap ten, which enabled Campari to advance to third place on the very last lap. Varzi in fact crossed the line first, not having been passed on the road throughout the entire race, but since he had started three minutes before Nuvolari, victory went to the latter as he roared over the finishing line about one minute later. Taruffi, fastest of the Scuderia Ferrari drivers, was happy with his performance in fifth place ahead of teammates Ghersi, Brivio and D'Ippolito.