62nd, Mercedes Reigns: Caracciola Claims Victory Amid Nürburgring Downpour
Grand Prix motor racing could not afford to be picky in financially straitened times, hence its ‘adoption’ of Formule Libre. As a consequence, the monstrous 7.1-litre Mercedes-Benz SSKL dwarfed Bugatti’s 2.3-litre Type 51.
All the machines entered were two-seaters – but some were more ‘sports car’ than others. Studiously stripping its extraneous equipment and copiously drilling its girder chassis could not hide the fact that the Merc was a bit of a bus. Its number one driver Rudi Caracciola practised assiduously – on the track and in the pits swapping tyres – and hoped for rain.
He got his wish and, despite the presence of a legion of top drivers – among them Louis Chiron and Achille Varzi at Bugatti, Alfa Romeo’s Tazio Nuvolari and Maserati’s Luigi Fagioli – the German ‘Rain Master’ romped into an early lead. The minute’s advantage he required to change his Continentals was achieved after just five of the 22 laps.