1938 Donington Grand Prix

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1938 Donington Grand Prix
Donington Park 1937.svg
Race details
Date22 October 1938
Official name Fourth International Donington Grand Prix
Location Donington Park
Leicestershire, United Kingdom
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.029 km (3.125 miles)
Distance 80 laps, 402.3 km (250.0 miles)
Weather Sunny, dry. [1]
Attendance 61,000 [2]
Pole position
Driver Mercedes-Benz
Time 2:11.0
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Tazio Nuvolari Auto Union
Time 2:14.4
Podium
First Auto Union
Second Mercedes-Benz
Third Mercedes-Benz

The 1938 Donington Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held on 22 October 1938 over 80 laps of the Donington Park circuit. The race was won by Tazio Nuvolari driving an Auto Union. [3] [4]

Contents

The race was organised by the Derby & District Motor Club and not by the Royal Automobile Club, and so is not generally accorded the title "British Grand Prix", notwithstanding that the race was run to the then-current international formula [5] and attracted entries from the top teams, and that there were no other Grand Prix races organised that year in Great Britain.

The race was originally scheduled for the 1st of October, [6] with the German Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union teams arriving a few weeks early to prepare, but due to the German invasion of Czechoslovakia, war seemed imminent, so the Germans made to leave, and the French entries seemed unlikely, so the decision was made to cancel the race. With the diplomatic crisis resolved by the Munich Agreement, the race was hastily rescheduled for the 22nd of October. [3]

Report

Nuvolari led off the start line, gradually building up a lead over the other German cars, with Müller, Brauchitsch, Seaman, Lang, Bäumer, Hasse and Kautz trailing Nuvolari for the first 3 laps or so. Then, on lap 4, Kautz crashed his Auto Union at Melbourne corner after his throttle jammed open, putting him out of the race. Villoresi, who was fastest of the non-German cars in practice, had made a poor start, but was now charging, reaching fifth place by lap 18, but would retire shortly after. [3]

On lap 26, Nuvolari made a pitstop for new plugs, dropping him to fourth place, with Müller now leading Seaman and Lang. A few laps later, Robin Hanson's Alta had an engine failure, gushing oil all over the circuit near Hairpin Bend. Nuvolari nearly rolled his car, but recovered, while Brauchitsch spun twice, and Hasse suffered a race ending crash. Seaman also spun, losing a considerable amount of time being pushed away by marshals. The order then was Müller leading from Lang, Nuvolari, Brauchitsch and Bäumer. [3]

With the race approaching half distance, the leaders started to make their fuel stops, first with Lang, and last to pit was Nuvolari, who also changed all four wheels. Just one lap after his pitstop, Bäumer's Mercedes approached Melbourne corner very slowly, and as he turned towards the pits, it became clear his engine was on fire, so he jumped clear as his car was engulfed. The pitstops and other incidents had left the top three as Lang leading from Müller and Nuvolari, who was charging. On lap 60 Nuvolari was past Müller and chasing down Lang. The gap dropped from 12 seconds on lap 63 to 10 seconds on lap 64, 6 seconds on lap 65, and 3 seconds on lap 66. Then finally Nuvolari was into first place on lap 67, passing Lang, likely affected by a shattered aero-screen, on the Starkey Straight. Nuvolari's lead continued to increase until the end of the race, and Seaman was able to overtake Müller for third place. [3]

Classification

Practice/Starting Grid

PosNoDriverCarTimeGap
17 Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz W154 2m11.0s
24 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Tazio Nuvolari Auto Union D 2m11.2s+0.2s
36 Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg Manfred von Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz W154 2m11.4s+0.4s
48 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Richard Seaman Mercedes-Benz W154 2m12.2s+1.2s
51 Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg Hermann Müller Auto Union D 2m12.6s+1.6s
65 Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg Walter Bäumer Mercedes-Benz W154 2m13.8s+2.8s
714 Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg Rudolf Hasse Auto Union D 2m15.4+4.4s
83 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Christian Kautz Auto Union D 2m18.6s+7.6s
911 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Luigi Villoresi Maserati 8CTF 2m21.0+10.0s
1019 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Arthur Dobson ERA B 2m24.6s+13.6s
119 Flag of France.svg René Dreyfus Delahaye 155 2m25.4s+14.4s
1215 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg I.F. Connell ERA B 2m27.2s+16.2s
1318 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg W.E. Cotton ERA B 2m28.6s+17.6s
1417 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Humphrey Cuddon-Fletcher MG K3 Magnette 2m29.8s+18.6s
1512 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Percy Maclure Riley 2000/62m30.4s+19.4s
1614 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Robin Hanson Alta 2m32.2s+21.2s
1710 Flag of France.svg "Raph" Delahaye 145 2m36.4s+25.4s
Source: [3] [4]


Race

PosNoDriverCarLapsTime/RetiredGrid
14 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Tazio Nuvolari Auto Union D 803h06m22s2
27 Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz W154 80+1m38s1
38 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Richard Seaman Mercedes-Benz W154 79+1 Lap4
41 Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg Hermann Müller Auto Union D 79+1 Lap5
56 Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg Manfred von Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz W154 79+1 Lap3
619 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Arthur Dobson ERA B 74+6 Laps10
718 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg W.E. Cotton
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg W.E. Wilkinson
ERA B 74+6 Laps13
815 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg L.F. Connell
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg P.R. Monkhouse
ERA B 74+6 Laps12
DNF5 Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg Walter Bäumer Mercedes-Benz W154 43Engine Fire6
DNF14 Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg Rudolf Hasse Auto Union D 29Accident7
DNF14 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Robin Hanson Alta 25Engine16
DNF9 Flag of France.svg René Dreyfus Delahaye 155 23Oil Pressure11
DNF11 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Luigi Villoresi Maserati 8CTF 18Engine9
DNF17 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Humphrey Cuddon-Fletcher MG K3 Magnette 17Brakes14
DNF12 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Percy Maclure Riley 2000/612Drive shaft15
DNF10 Flag of France.svg "Raph" Delahaye 145 10Oil pressure17
DNF3 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Christian Kautz Auto Union D 2Accident8
Sources: [3] [4]

References

  1. "Motoring Commentary" . The Bystander. 2 November 1938. Retrieved 14 July 2020 via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. "A Bright Future for 1,500 c.c Racing?" . Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. 4 November 1938. Retrieved 14 July 2020 via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Nye, Doug (1977). The British Grand Prix. pp. 29–31. ISBN   0713432837.
  4. 1 2 3 Snellman, Leif. "IV DONINGTON GRAND PRIX". THE GOLDEN ERA OF GRAND PRIX RACING. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
  5. Official Programme, The Fourth International Donington Grand Prix, Donington Park Road Circuit, Saturday October 22nd, 1938, pp9-11 “All about the race”
  6. "Donington Grand Prix" . Coventry Evening Telegraph. 5 October 1938. Retrieved 14 July 2020 via British Newspaper Archive.
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