1932 Grand Prix season

The 1932 Grand Prix season marked the second year of the AIACR European Championship. It saw the debut of Alfa Romeo's sensational new Tipo B (also called the P3) and with it, Tazio Nuvolari won the Championship driving for the Alfa Corse works team. The 40-year old Nuvolari won two of the three rounds and was second in the other. Still running to a Formula Libre (open formula) rules for the cars, the regulations were revised to set the races to be between five and ten hours. However, all three national committees ran their races to the minimum time-limit.

The other title contenders, Bugatti and Maserati continued to develop their models from the year before but they were rarely a match for the Alfa Romeo with its combination of high speed and light weight giving excellent balance for cornering. Nuvolari was dominant through the year, also winning the non-Championship Monaco GP and Targa Florio. His German team-mate Rudolf Caracciola won the other championship race, the German Grand Prix, along with the Eifelrennen and Monza GP. Bugatti did have some successes, with Achille Varzi winning the first major race of the year, at Tunis and Louis Chiron the Masaryk Circuit in Czechoslovakia.

It was a barren year for Maserati, compounded by the untimely death in March of their team manager and lead designer, Alfieri Maserati. His last design, the big new Maserati V5 ''bimotore'' won the Rome GP with Luigi Fagioli. There was still room for the talented privateers to succeed, with Manfred von Brauchitsch causing a sensation winning the Avusrennen in a Mercedes-Benz with a bare metal, aerodynamic bodyshell that gave him the world’s fastest victory yet achieved, at an average pace of 194.5 km/h. At the end of the season French rising star, and this year's Le Mans winner, Raymond Sommer took a surprise win at the Miramas oval near Marseille.

European Championship Grands Prix

Other Grand Épreuves

A grey background indicates the race was not held this year. Sources: Rendall 1993, p.363

Major Races

Multiple classes are mentioned when they were divided and run to different race lengths.

Regulations and Technical

In September 1931, at the conclusion of the inaugural European Championship, the CSI regulatory body of the AIACR met and agreed to hold the event again in 1932. The German Grand Prix was added to the list of races in the schedule. But with the cancellation of the Belgian and Spanish rounds, there would be, once again, only the three races to contest. After the 10-hour marathons of the previous year, the CSI accepted to shorten the run-time to be between 5 – 10hours. All national organisations chose the minimum time, although the German organisers embarrassingly miscalculated, making the race technically ineligible to be included. However, no teams protested the error. There was also a re-introduction of the Manufacturer's Championship, last held in 1927. Curiously, the AIACR never published its list of regulations, and information has only been able to be compiled by inference and comment from contemporary racing magazines. There were, apparently, no changes to the cars or engines from the current regulations.

From those magazine reports, there appears to have been a change in the points system, with 7 points for a non-start or non-arrival, and 6 points awarded to all retirees when it had formerly been 8 for not arriving and 5, 6 or 7 for retiring depending on the distance covered.

Once again, the AIACR was becoming concerned with the high speeds of the big-engined racing cars. The current regulations were due to expire at the end of 1933. During the year, experts including Ferdinand Porsche, were commissioned by the AIACR to start working on the new regulations to come into effect for the 1934 season. The rules revolved around a maximum weight of 750kg and a minimum width, to incentivise the building of smaller, and hence lighter, engines. Reuss 2008, p.38 Ludvigsen 2009, p.57 It in fact resembled proposed AIACR rules dating back to 1928.

Technical Innovation

In Italy, the year saw the opening of the country's first ''autostrada'', between Milan and Turin. Ludvigsen 2008, p.112 Alfa Romeo's lead designer, Vittorio Jano, had seen the 1931 Tipo A as an interim model and in 1932 he produced what many consider his masterpiece – the Tipo B. It is also commonly known as the ‘P3’, as it was seen as a worthy successor to Alfa's dominant P2 model of the mid-20s. Rendall 1993, p.132 With limited funds available to him, the engine was based on the race-proven winner in the 8C 2300, with a longer stroke and bored out to 2654cc, churning out a total of 215 bhp. It was fitted with two superchargers, one for each bank of four cylinders. Aluminium blocks kept the engine very light, and the whole vehicle was designed with weight in mind. A new suspension format, with the differential mounted behind the gearbox driving the rear suspension through twin driveshafts. This improved the weight distribution, giving better handling, and allowed the driver to sit lower between the driveshafts. Although putting out less power than its competition, its big advantage was its weight – with an aluminium engine block it only weighed 700kg, over 25% less than the big Bugatti and Maserati. Like the Type A, it was a ''monoposto'' (single-seater) design, with a narrow frontage, echoing the American Millers of the 1920s. Six cars were built with three sets of spare parts. Unveiled for the championship at its home Grand Prix, six models were made and it won on debut. Over the next 2½ years, the car would take part in 26 races, winning 22, while achieving a 92% finish-ratio from the 62 race-starts. Ludvigsen 2008, p.76 Cimarosti 1997, p.92 Montagna 1989, p.44-5 Rendall 1993, p.130 Georgano 1971, p.338 The Alfa Corse works team was also managed by the talented Aldo Giovannini, who placated the strong egos of his drivers and kept his pit crews well-drilled and organised.

In 1927 Alfieri Maserati had a serious accident racing in Sicily that resulted in him losing a kidney. Issues with his remaining kidney necessitated an operation in March. However, complications occurred and he died during the procedure; he was just 44. The surviving brothers resolved to carry on. The eldest, Bindo, returned from Isotta Fraschini to become president; Ettore stayed on in operations, while the youngest, Ernesto retired from racing to take on the technical side. Ludvigsen 2008, p.82 Georgano 1971, p.254 Several projects were already well underway at Alfieri's death: the successor to the twin-engine V4 was the new Type V5. The engines were bored out to a total capacity now of 4905cc. Although very fast, it proved overly complex and unreliable to get regular race results. A hard year ended badly when works driver Amedeo Ruggieri crashed fatally while driving a V5 trying to make a one-hour speed record attempt at Montlhéry. Georgano 1971, p.515 The two works 8C-2800 grand prix cars were upgraded by being fitted with new 3-litre engines.

Bugatti’s Type 51 had been instantly competitive on debut the previous year. Although on the high-speed circuits, the Alfa Romeo Monzas had their measure, in twisty circuits the Bugatti's good handling shone through. So Ettore Bugatti chose to sit on his laurels and not do any significant development on his car. Venables 2009, p.65 In August, he was honoured by France being awarded the Légion d’Honneur. Venables 2009, p.66 The Type 54 was proving problematic in competition and a new version, the Type 53, was built. Using the 5-litre engine of the 54 it was built with four-wheel drive, possibly influenced by, and hoping to emulate, the success of the American Miller 91 FWD.
The other French manufacturers chose instead to focus on attaining speed and endurance records. In April, George Eyston drove an 8-litre sleeve-valve Panhard at Montlhéry, setting a new 1-hour speed record, averaging 212.45 kph. This followed a little 1452cc Citroën C6 setting a raft of endurance records at the same circuit, running non-stop for 54 days, covering 130,000km.

There were also several Italian drivers who developed their own special models. Wealthy gentleman-driver ''Conte'' Luigi Premoli worked with engineer Egidio Galimberti to put a 3-litre Maserati engine and grill onto the chassis, gearbox and suspension of the Type 35 Bugatti. The engine's power output of 220 horsepower compared favourably to the 180 bhp of the Bugatti, while keeping the size and nimbleness of the latter. Hence called the PBM (“Premoli Bugatti Maserati”) Speziale, Premoli unfortunately had a serious accident in it on its debut race at the Coppa Ciano and it was not raced again until the following year.
In a similar vein, Clemente Biondetti mounted the 2.5-litre Maserati engine from a Tipo 26M onto a Bugatti chassis. On paper, this version put out 185 bhp, and Biondetti ran it in a number of races over the new few seasons, in the Italian Drivers' Championship.

The economic crisis in Germany was still severe. After a couple of years of leniency from the board, Mercedes-Benz now fully withdrew from motor-racing, releasing top driver Rudolf Caracciola to be picked up by Alfa Romeo much to the dismay of German fans. Reuss 2008, p.30 Meanwhile, many small and medium size car-companies were going bankrupt, unable to compete against the American mass-production lines of Ford and Opel (sold to General Motors). It was only with the intervention of the Saxony state government that their local factories were rescued saving 8000 jobs. Thus it was that the four Saxon companies of Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer merged to become Auto Union AG. Former Austro-Daimler and Mercedes Technical Director ''Dr'' Ferdinand Porsche joined the new company as their lead engineer. Reuss 2008, p.39
In a year of political upheaval in Germany, the company directors of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union had no joy petitioning the government for funds. Reuss 2008, p.43-8 In the end, it was the lead drivers, Stuck and von Brauchitsch (nephew of the commander of the army) making personal appeals (on behalf of Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz respectively) to minority party leader Adolf Hitler that got success. A strong fan of the automobile, Hitler promised both companies subsidies when his party came into power. Reuss 2008, p.54-61 Ludvigsen 2009, p.56

Teams and drivers

These tables only intend to cover entries in the major races, using the key above. It includes all starters in the Championship races.
Sources:

Notable Privateer drivers

''Note: * indicates only raced in the event as a relief driver,

“♠“ Works driver raced as a privateer in that race,

“v” indicates the driver ran in the Voiturette class,

“†” driver killed during this racing season,

Those in brackets show that, although entered, the driver did not race

Season review

The opening races

As with the previous year, the season started with the first Swedish Winter Grand Prix. After a successful inaugural race, entries from Ford, Chrysler, Chevrolet and Fiat were fielded by their Swedish agents. Last year’s winner, Finn Karl Ebb bought a Mercedes SSK, as did Per-Victor Widengren. His brother Henken, studying in England, bought over an Aston Martin as well as convincing his American friend Whitney Straight to enter with his Maserati 26M. An earlier-than-usual thaw made the forest roads treacherous and very muddy.

From the start, Knut-Gustav Sundstedt took a commanding lead, as he had fitted studded tyres to his Bugatti T35B. Next was Henrik Widengren, Keinänen in a works Chrysler, Lindberg (Bugatti T43), Ebb and Straight. But Sundstedt, in his haste, soon slid off the road and wrecked his back wheel. On the second lap, Straight tried passing Ebb on the short track across the frozen lake. But the Mercedes would not give ground and Straight was sent skating across the ice with damaged steering. Halfway round the next lap, Ebb tried overtaking Keinänen but himself ended up off the course and in a field. Cracking the fuel tank, he soon ended up out of fuel. Windscreens and drivers were getting peppered by gravel thrown up off the rough track. Keinänen stopped to change tyres and by halfway, on the fourth lap, locals Erik Bake (Buick) and Olle Bennström (Ford) were in front. Unlike the race-cars, the big American tourers did not need to stop to refuel. Despite the smaller cars rapidly moving back up the field, the amateur Bennström held on to win the race with Keinänen getting second from Bake and P-V Widengren's Mercedes in fourth. Later, in recognition, Ford awarded Bennström a dealership in his home town of Västerås.

Six weeks later, the international season got underway at the Tunis Grand Prix. The organisers had rebuilt the grandstand and pits after a hurricane had destroyed them in December. Growing in stature, the race attracted a very strong field. Bugatti team drivers Achille Varzi and Louis Chiron ran their own Type 51s, as did Polish émigré ''Count'' Stanisław Czaykowski. This year, Algerian Marcel Lehoux, German Heinrich-Joachim von Morgen and Jean-Pierre Wimille ran the big 5-litre Type 54. The Maserati works team had two of their 8C-2800 cars for regular drivers Luigi Fagioli and René Dreyfus. Alfa Romeo was represented by Scuderia Ferrari with a Monza for their new driver Eugenio Siena and Philippe Étancelin also bought his Monza. Alongside the main class, a field of nine "voiturettes" was lined up. Against a squadron of Bugattis were José Scaron, in his 1.1-litre supercharged Amilcar, and Bugatti test-driver Pierre Veyron surprisingly in a Maserati.
At the start, Varzi surged from the third row into the lead. On the long straights Lehoux could wind up the big Bugatti and overtake Varzi, yet the nimbler Type 51 could outbreak and out-turn Lehoux. This continued for several laps until Chiron moved up to second, but when he lost time pitting with ignition problems, Fagioli inherited second. His Maserati closed on Varzi until half-distance when Fagioli's supercharger gave up. Thereafter, Varzi had a clear run to the flag with Lehoux and Étancelin over three minutes behind. All three Type 54s had shown serious brake problems with the bigger, heavy car only fitted with the same brakes as were on the Type 51.

Monaco and the April races

A fortnight later, the teams met for the first major race in Europe – the Monaco Grand Prix. There was great anticipation for this race because the Alfa Romeo works team was entered, taking on the Bugatti and Maserati teams, along with an elite invitation list of the top privateer drivers, and there was no clear favourite. Bugatti returned with Varzi and Chiron supported by Guy Bouriat and Albert Divo. The team also brought one of their new Type 53 four-wheel drive cars. Maserati, still affected by the recent sudden death of their leader, had the 8C-2800 for Fagioli and Dreyfus, while Amedeo Ruggeri ran a 2.5 litre Tipo 26M.
The Alfa Romeo team comprised team regulars Tazio Nuvolari, Baconin Borzacchini and the evergreen Giuseppe Campari along with support from privateers Étancelin, Zehender and Rudolf Caracciola now released from the defunct Mercedes team. Caracciola had narrowly missed out winning the Mille Miglia for Alfa Romeo the weekend before when his engine expired just 50km from the finish while leading. Victory had gone to Borzacchini in a similar car.
Bugatti also had a strong back-up of Type 51s entered by inaugural race-winner ”Williams”, Czaykowski, Lehoux and ''Earl'' Howe. Another Englishman, Clifton Penn-Hughes had an older Type 35B while Chilean Juan Zanelli had a 3-litre Spanish Nacional Pescara with which he had won the 1931 Mountain Championship.

This year, the practice times were recorded and published for each driver, although the grid would still be decided by ballot. In the busy city, Thursday and Friday practices were for an hour starting at 6am. On the first day, Penn-Hughes crashed and broke both his ankle and his car’s suspension. For two days, the burly Divo tried to get the Type 53 Bugatti around the course, but with sluggish times fully fourteen seconds behind the leaders, he chose to qualify the Type 51 for the Saturday practice. Half the field had matched or bettered Dreyfus' lap record from the previous year. At the end of the Saturday practice, Zanelli parked the Nacional Pescara, also being well of the pace.
Race-day was overcast but dry. Chiron had been fastest in practice and vaulted from the second row into the lead up the hill, chased by “Williams” and Lehoux. Despite starting from the fourth and fifth rows, in ten laps Nuvolari and Varzi had worked their way up to second and third. With Chiron holding a 20-second gap, the leading trio pulled away from the rest of the field. Chiron was being delayed lapping the tail-enders allowing Nuvolari to close up. On lap 30, coming out of the tunnel, an impatient Chiron tried to squeeze past Czaykowski’s Bugatti at the chicane. Clipping a sandbag the car spun and rolled, throwing the driver onto the track. Nuvolari picked his way past the mayhem while Chiron, only dazed, was able to get to safety. As the refuelling stops started around 40 laps, the Alfa Romeo had eased out a 30-second lead over Varzi with 10-second gaps each back to Borzacchini, Caracciola and Fagioli. Divo, Lehoux and Étancelin lost laps with engine issues then Czaykowski retired with a broken gearbox. When Varzi pitted with terminal suspension problems on lap 57 the race looked sewn up for Alfa Romeo. Nuvolari eased off, with his own fuel difficulties, but took the victory. Although Borzacchini fell back and retired with failing brakes, Caracciola held station, finishing three seconds behind making it an Alfa 1-2. Fagioli was third, over two minutes back, with Earl Howe leading the rest of the field home three laps further back. Neither Alfa Romeo had had to stop to refuel, and team manager Aldo Giovannini congratulated Caracciola on his sportsmanship and signed him up to the works team.

A week later, two Grands Prix were held. Many of the French drivers were at Oran in French Algeria. In a three-hour timed race in a field dominated by Bugattis, it provided the first victory for the 24-year old Jean-Pierre Wimille. The race was also the race-debut for the young local, Guy Moll. Mentored by fellow-Algerian Marcel Lehoux, he had initially led the notable field in his older T35C and was well placed until running out of fuel.
Meanwhile, the Italian drivers were at the Roman airfield circuit at Littorio. Scuderia Ferrari (Piero Taruffi and Franco Comotti) and Maserati (Fagioli, Dreyfus and Ruggeri) led the entry list. Fagioli was given the new 5-litre V5 for the open, fast circuit. Varzi has his own Bugatti, but Chiron was still recovering from his accident at Monaco. After heavy rain overnight and in the morning, the heats were run on a drying track. With the King of Italy in attendance, the final started with Fagioli in the big V5 leading the first lap. Behind him Varzi, Taruffi, von Morgen and Dreyfus scrabbled for the minor placings. While the others had assorted engine and tyre issues, the new Maserati ran flawlessly for the ninety-minute race and Fagioli led from start to finish, almost 30 seconds ahead of Taruffi with von Morgen two minutes back in third.

Racing in Great Britain centred on Brooklands and because of the limited number of drivers in each class, were invariably run as handicap ‘scratch’ races. British interest was less in grand-prix racing than for land speed records and sports car racing – given the fame that the Bentley Boys had achieved at Le Mans. This year, one of two formal races held at Brooklands was the inaugural British Empire Trophy run as a pair of heats with a 100-mile final. This saw the land-speed-record monsters of John Cobb (10.6-litre V12 Delage) and George Eyston (8-litre Panhard) matched against each other. Other entries included Woolf Barnato's Bentley Speed Six, driven by Jack Dunfee, and Tim Birkin in his 4.5-litre Blower Bentley. ''Earl'' Howe in his 1.5-litre supercharged Delage won the first heat from Henken Widengren, while Eyston won the second. The six finalists lined up side-by-side on the wide track. Cobb took the lead using the Delage's phenomenal acceleration, pursued by Eyston, the two Bentleys, Howe and Widengren. Then he eased off to conserve his tyres, allowing Birkin to overtake and take the lead. However, twenty minutes in at the halfway point, the Bentley’s cylinder head cracked fatally soon after the radiator had run dry. Eyston took the lead until he too eased off to conserve his tyres. Cobb pushed again to overtake and for the final ten laps the two duelled for the lead with Cobb just winning by a car-length from Eyston. Howe was third after Dunfee was mistakenly stopped a lap early by an over-zealous track official. A protest was lodged by Eyston's crew saying Cobb had been deliberately blocking. The result was overturned until a fortnight later when an appeal by Cobb saw the result reversed back again.

May and the Targa Florio

After the disruption and problems from the heavy rains in Sicily of the previous year, Vincenzo Florio

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