The Silver Arrows

Part IV– 1936, Auto Union Rebounds

By any standard, the 1935 season was very successful for Mercedes and their lead driver, Rudy Caracciola. And it looked like 1936 was going to be a continuation of their winning ways. The first race was the Monaco Grand Prix on April 13, 1936. Under rainy conditions, Mercedes started four cars on the grid but two of them crashed near the chicane after just one lap due to oil on the track. A third crashed at the same spot on lap eight. Caracciola, considered a master at driving in the rain, was Mercedes’ remaining driver. Nuvolari led for a few laps but Caracciola did not pit for fuel at the midway point like the other cars. The nonstop strategy put him out in front and he stayed there until the checkered flag was waved.

The second race was in Tripoli. It would prove to be a debacle for Mercedes and for Grand Prix racing in general. Mercedes' problem was their new car which employed a heavy 5.6 liter, 600 hp V12 engine. To fit within the 750 kg weight restriction, the wheelbase had been shortened by 25 cm. A new transverse gearbox was used along with a de Dion rear axle. The sum of the changes negatively impacted the Mercedes handling on the track. Three of the four Mercs managed to finish the race but the Auto Union cars were clearly superior. The great disappointment however was that the race was rigged by politics. Orders came down that an Italian driver was to be the winner. Near the end Stuck was out in front with Varzi following him. The pits ordered Stuck to slow down and he complied thinking he out ahead enough that they wanted him to preserve the car. Varzi on the other hand was told to speed up which he did, passing Stuck and ending in first place. When the drivers, and the crowd, found out the situation there was a lot of bitterness. In rebellion, the Governor of Lbya, Marshal Balbo, toasted Stuck as the real race winner at the victory party. Varzi, who had not been involved in the fix, was humiliated. It is said that following this event was the first time Varzi used the narcotic Morphia at the suggestion of his wife.

A week later at Tunis, Mercedes entered two cars driven by Caracciola and Chiron. All of the German cars – Mercedes and Auto Union – had technical problems. But Caracciola hung in and finished in first. Of the eleven starting cars, only four finished the race. Tunis was the last time that a Mercedes driver would be on the podium during the 1936 season. In fact there were so many problems with the cars that at three events Mercedes failed to even show up.

Possibly due to their poor record the previous year, Auto Union decided they needed a new team manager. The new man in charge at the track was Dr. Karl Feuereissen of the German Auto Club. Paul Pietsch left the team because he didn’t like driving the mid-engine car and had personal issues with former race manager Walb. Hermann zu Leningen was also dismissed probably because of his mediocre driving record. The lead drivers were Stuck, Varzi and Rosemeyer; cadet drivers were Heydel, von Delius and Hasse. The name that would be on the tip of Grand Prix followers’ tongue that year would be Bernd Rosemeyer.

Rosemeyer started the season miserably with three DNFs. The fourth race wasn’t much better. Bernd crashed during practice and during the race had a long pit stop to fix a leak. This relegated him to a fifth place finish, five laps behind winner Tazio Nuvaolari’s Alfa. The next big race was on June 14^th, the X ADAC Eifelrennen at the Nürburgring – it was the threshold of a series of Rosemeyer wins. Caracciola got off to a fast start in the rain followed by Nuvolari and Rosemeyer. Caracciola then went out with engine problems. Fog moved in and the drivers slowed – except for Rosemeyer. By race end Rosemeyer was over two minutes ahead of the rest of the pack. Few probably realized it at the time but a legend was born at that race.

On June 21^st in Budapest Rosemeyer finished second which was very good also but what captured the attention of journalist and the public was his July 13^th wedding to the famous German aviatrix Elly Beinhorn. From this point forward Bernd and Elly would be front page news. If there were paparazzi then, the Rosemeyers would have been ground zero. Bernd raced five more times in 1936 and finished first in four of those events. The only disappointment was the August 2^nd Coppa Ciano. Hs new wife Elly was attempting an aviation record (three continents in one day) that same day and Bernd could not get his mind focused on the race. Bernd Rosemeyer was not successful on August 2^nd - Elly Rosemeyer was!

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