1933 Belgian Grand Prix

Last updated
1933 Belgian Grand Prix
Spa-Francorchamps original layout (1922).jpg
Race details
Date9 July 1933
Official name IV Grand Prix de Belgique
Location Spa-Francorchamps
Spa, Belgium
Course Road course
Course length 14.86 km (9.236 [1] mi)
Distance 40 laps, 596.6 km (370.7 mi)
Weather Dry, overcast
Pole position
Driver Alfa Romeo
Grid positions set by ballot
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Tazio Nuvolari Maserati
Time 6:01 on lap 13
Podium
First Maserati
Second Bugatti
Third Bugatti

The 1933 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the IV Grand Prix de Belgique) was a Grand Prix motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 9 July 1933. The 40-lap race was won by Tazio Nuvolari, of Scuderia Ferrari, driving a Maserati. Second and third were taken by the works Bugatti drivers Achille Varzi and René Dreyfus. [2] [3]

Contents

Background

The works Bugatti team, who had been absent from the previous Grande Épreuve, the French Grand Prix, returned to action, bringing their new 2.8 L Bugatti T59 to the Belgian Grand Prix. The car, which was originally intended to make its debut at Montlhéry, was driven by the team's most experienced driver, Achille Varzi. However, Varzi experienced issues with the T59 during practice, and therefore decided to revert to the older 2.3 L T51 model, which his teammates were still using. [2]

Tazio Nuvolari, part of Scuderia Ferrari, the works Alfa Romeo team, was unhappy at how his team had been preparing his car, and so decided to try out a Maserati 8CM as well as his usual Alfa Romeo Monza during practice. The Maserati had been driven a week earlier at the Marne Grand Prix by Giuseppe Campari, whose injuries incurred at that race rendered him unfit to race at Spa. It was therefore available to be raced and was lent to Nuvolari, who was still under contract for the Scuderia, as part of a deal reached between Enzo Ferrari and Ernesto Maserati. Nuvolari ultimately decided to use the 8CM, once certain modifications had been made. Despite technically being entered by Scuderia Ferrari, Nuvolari's Maserati did not feature the team's prancing horse logo. [2]

Report

Despite starting from the back row of the grid, Nuvolari had taken the lead of the race by the end of the first lap, with his nearest rivals being his teammate Borzacchini, polesitter Chiron in a privateer Alfa Romeo, and the works Bugattis of Varzi and Dreyfus. By the 100 km mark, Nuvolari had opened up a 17-second lead over Borzacchini and Chiron, with Varzi, in fourth position, a further 45 seconds back. Lehoux was 8 seconds behind Varzi, and around 25 seconds ahead of Zehender and Dreyfus. Zehender, the only works Maserati competing in the Grand Prix, was the first casualty of the race, retiring due to transmission problems after ten laps. The Swiss driver "Marko" (Edgard Markiewicz), who had been at the back of the field throughout, was the second to retire when he crashed his car. [2]

By the 200 km mark, Nuvolari's lead had increased to 36 seconds over Borzacchini, while Chiron was a further 14 seconds back. Nuvolari's lead over Varzi and Lehoux was in excess of two minutes, and the remainder of the field were more than three minutes behind the race leader. When Nuvolari took to the pits for fuel and tyres, Chiron, who had already overtaken Borzacchini, took the lead of the race, while Borzacchini and Varzi were promoted to second and third, respectively, with Nuvolari down to fourth place. Chiron's lead at the 300 km mark was over two minutes to Borzacchini, while Nuvolari, up to third, was a further minute back, having himself opened up a minute-and-a-half lead to Varzi in fourth. Chiron's lead was relatively short-lived, however, as he was forced to retire when his differential broke. The Frenchman Moll retired on the same lap as Chiron, after suffering problems with either his gearbox or his clutch. Two laps later, Nuvolari was back in the lead when a connecting rod broke in the engine of the erstwhile race-leader, Nuvolari's teammate, Borzacchini's Alfa Romeo Monza. [2]

Nuvolari's lead at the 400 km mark was up to 1:45 over Varzi, with Varzi's teammate Dreyfus a further minute and a half behind. Lehoux was fourth, comfortably ahead of fifth-placed Siena, Nuvolari's only remaining teammate left in the race. After 500 km, Nuvolari had extended his lead over Varzi to 2:14. As Varzi had a considerable time advantage over Dreyfus, he was able to make a tyre change towards the end of the race, and rejoin proceedings still in second place, albeit only just. Nuvolari took the victory with a gap of nearly four minutes to Varzi, while Dreyfus finished three seconds behind his teammate in third place. Lehoux, who had lost third gear, took fourth, ahead of Siena, the first Alfa to finish, in fifth place. Grover-Williams in the final Bugatti, who had experienced considerable problems with spark plugs, was a lap down in sixth, while Sommer was the last to finish in seventh, five laps behind the leaders, having had fuel feed issues throughout the race. [2]

Entries

NoDriverEntrantConstructorChassisEngine
2 Flag of Monaco.svg Louis Chiron Scuderia C C Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3 L8
4 Flag of France.svg Marcel Lehoux Private entry Bugatti Bugatti T51 3.0 L8
6 Flag of France.svg Guy Moll Private entry Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3 L8
8 Flag of France.svg Raymond Sommer Private entry Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Monza 2.6 L8
10 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Baconin Borzacchini Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Monza 2.6 L8
12 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Eugenio Siena Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Monza 2.6 L8
14 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Achille Varzi Automobiles E. Bugatti Bugatti Bugatti T59
Bugatti T51
2.8 L8
2.3 L8
16 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg William Grover-Williams Automobiles E. Bugatti Bugatti Bugatti T51 2.3 L8
18 Flag of France.svg René Dreyfus Automobiles E. Bugatti Bugatti Bugatti T51 2.3 L8
20 Flag of Switzerland.svg "Marko"Edgard Markiewicz Bugatti Bugatti T35B 2.3 L8
22 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Tazio Nuvolari Scuderia Ferrari Maserati Maserati 8CM 3.0 L8
24 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Goffredo Zehender Officine A. Maserati Maserati Maserati 8CM 3.0 L8
 ? Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Giuseppe Campari Officine A. Maserati Maserati Maserati 8CM 3.0 L8
 ? Flag of Switzerland.svg Horst von WaldthausenEquipe Villars Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3 L8
 ? Flag of Switzerland.svg Julio VillarsEquipe Villars Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3 L8
 ? Flag of Switzerland.svg Walter GroschEquipe Villars Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3 L8
 ? Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Wimille Private entry Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Monza 2.3 L8
 ? Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Willy LonguevillePrivate entry Bugatti Bugatti T35B 2.3 L8

Starting grid

Grid positions were drawn by ballot and the cars' numbers were allocated in grid order (#2 for pole position, #4 for second place, etc.) [2]

First row
321
Flag of France.svg Moll
Alfa Romeo
Flag of France.svg Lehoux
Bugatti
Flag of Monaco.svg Chiron
Alfa Romeo
Second row
54
Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Borzacchini
Alfa Romeo
Flag of France.svg Sommer
Alfa Romeo
Third row
876
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Grover-Williams
Bugatti
Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Varzi
Bugatti
Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Siena
Alfa Romeo
Fourth row
109
Flag of Switzerland.svg "Marko"
Bugatti
Flag of France.svg Dreyfus
Bugatti
Fifth row
1211
Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Zehender
Maserati
Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Nuvolari
Maserati

Classification

Race

PosNoDriverCarLapsTime/RetiredGrid
122 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Tazio Nuvolari Maserati 8CM 404:09:1111
214 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Achille Varzi Bugatti T51 40+3:457
318 Flag of France.svg René Dreyfus Bugatti T51 40+3:489
44 Flag of France.svg Marcel Lehoux Bugatti T51 40+4:172
512 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Eugenio Siena Alfa Romeo Monza 40+7:596
616 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg William Grover-Williams Bugatti T51 39+1 lap8
78 Flag of France.svg Raymond Sommer Alfa Romeo Monza 35+5 laps4
Ret10 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Baconin Borzacchini Alfa Romeo Monza 22Connecting rod5
Ret6 Flag of France.svg Guy Moll Alfa Romeo Monza 20Gearbox/clutch3
Ret2 Flag of Monaco.svg Louis Chiron Alfa Romeo Monza 20Differential1
Ret20 Flag of Switzerland.svg "Marko" Bugatti T51 15Accident10
Ret24 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Goffredo Zehender Maserati 8CM 10Transmission12
DNA Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Giuseppe Campari Maserati 8CM Injured at Marne Grand Prix
DNA Flag of Switzerland.svg Horst von Waldthausen Alfa Romeo Monza Withdrawn, raced at La Baraque
DNA Flag of Switzerland.svg Julio Villars Alfa Romeo Monza Withdrawn, raced at La Baraque
DNA Flag of Switzerland.svg Walter Grosch Alfa Romeo Monza Did not show up
DNA Flag of France.svg Jean-Pierre Wimille Alfa Romeo Monza Did not show up
DNA Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Willy Longueville Bugatti T35B Car not ready
Sources: [2] [3]

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References

  1. "1933 Belgian Grand Prix | Motorsport Database".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Etzrodt, Hans. "Nuvolari triumphs in a Maserati at the Grand Prix of Belgium". kolumbus.fi. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  3. 1 2 "IV Grand Prix de Belgique". teamdan.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
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