The 1934 Avusrennen was a non-championship

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

held on 27 May 1934 at

AVUS The Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße ('Automobile traffic and training road'), known as AVUS, is a public road in Berlin, Germany. Opened in 1921, it was also used as a motor racing circuit until 1998. Today, the AVUS forms the northern par ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It was the 10th race of the 1934 Grand Prix season. The race, which was 15 laps, was won by

Guy Moll Guillaume Laurent "Guy" Moll (28 May 1910 – 15 August 1934) was a French racing driver. Moll was the son of a French father and Spanish mother who had emigrated to Algeria, then a French colony. He had only started racing in 1930, running a ...

driving an Alfa Romeo Tipo B/P3 after starting from 9th place.

Background

The race was highly anticipated due to the new

Auto Union Auto Union AG, was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony. It is the immediate predecessor of Audi as it is known today. As well as acting as an umbrella firm f ...

and

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

cars making their first public appearances. Although the Mercedes cars had to withdraw after Practice due to an issue that meant that the fuel pump did not deliver fuel sufficiently at high speed, the top Auto Union car finished 3rd, just 1 minute and 45 seconds behind 1st place. The race saw record crowds of an estimated 200,000 spectators including top German ministers such as

Adolf Hühnlein Adolf Hühnlein (12 September 1881 – 18 June 1942) was a German soldier and Nazi Party (NSDAP) official. He was the ''Korpsführer'' (Corps Leader) of the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) from 1933 until his death in 1942. Early years Hü ...

, the German Motorsport leader, who started the race. It also marked the sudden return of

Rudolf Caracciola Otto Wilhelm Rudolf CaracciolaBolsinger and Becker (2002), p. 63 (30 January 1901 – 28 September 1959) was a racing driver from Remagen, Germany. He won the European Drivers' Championship, the pre-1950 equivalent of the modern Formula One Wor ...

who fractured his thigh in Practice for the 1933 Manx Grand Prix and announced his retirement from racing shortly after.

Tazio Nuvolari Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari (; 16 November 1892 – 11 August 1953) was an Italian racing driver. He first raced motorcycles and then concentrated on sports cars and single-seaters. A resident of Mantua, he was known as 'Il Mantovano Volante' (Th ...

also announced his intention to race despite his left leg still being in plaster after breaking it at the 1934 Alessandria Circuit on the 21st of April. Earl Howe AVUS 1934

Entries

Starting grid

The starting grid was determined by ballot and was reduced to 11 cars following the withdrawal of Daimler-Benz due to a fuel pump problem and Bugatti as the cars were not ready.

Race

The race was started in wet conditions by

at 4:00PM.

Hans Stuck Hans Stuck (pronounced ''"shtook"''; sometimes called Hans Stuck von Villiez; 27 December 1900 – 9 February 1978) was a German motor racing driver. Both his son Hans-Joachim Stuck (born 1951) and his grandsons Johannes and Ferdinand Stuck b ...

had a strong start, having a lead of over 48 seconds by the end of the first lap, which increased to 73 seconds by the end of the second lap.

Eugenio Siena Eugenio Siena (1 April 1905 - 15 May 1938) was an Italian racecar driver from Milan. A cousin of Giuseppe Campari, he was a mechanic and testdriver for Alfa Romeo (assistant to Enzo Ferrari). Next, he joined Scuderia Ferrari 1930–34. Siena wo ...

retired on the third lap due to a mechanical issue. By lap 4 the rain had stopped and the track began drying out. Stuck's lead had dropped to 60 seconds. By the 7th lap the track was almost dry and Stuck was still in the lead, and would continue to do so until lap 11 when he stopped for a change of tyres and to refuel, the stop lasted 1 minute and 22 seconds. Moll passed Stuck during his pit stop and Stuck rejoined 2nd. On lap 12 Stuck retired due to a clutch issue. On the last lap,

Achille Varzi Achille Varzi (8 August 1904 – 1 July 1948) was an Italian Grand Prix driver. Career Born in Galliate, province of Novara (Piedmont), Achille Varzi was the son of a textile manufacturer. As a young man, he was a successful motorcycle ra ...

had suffered a puncture before the finish line, he was able to finish slowly and retained 2nd position.

won the race with an average speed of 205 km/h.

, who won the 1933 race came in second with an average speed of 201 km/h.

References

{{Grand Prix race report , Name_of_race =

Avusrennen The Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße ('Automobile traffic and training road'), known as AVUS, is a public road in Berlin, Germany. Opened in 1921, it was also used as a motor racing circuit until 1998. Today, the AVUS forms the northern par ...

, Year_of_race = 1934 , Previous_year's_race = 1933 Avusrennen , Next_year's_race = 1935 Avusrennen 1934 in German motorsport 1934 in Grand Prix racing