1938 Donington Grand Prix

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]

1938 Donington Grand Prix
Race details
Date	22 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 mi)
Distance	80 laps, 402.3 km (250.0 mi)
Weather	Sunny, dry.[1]
Attendance	61,000[2]
Pole position
Driver	Hermann Lang	Mercedes-Benz
Time	2:11.0
Fastest lap
Driver	Tazio Nuvolari	Auto Union
Time	2:14.4
Podium
First	Tazio Nuvolari	Auto Union
Second	Hermann Lang	Mercedes-Benz
Third	Richard Seaman	Mercedes-Benz

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

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	7	Hermann Lang	Mercedes-Benz	2m11.0s
2	4	Tazio Nuvolari	Auto Union	2m11.2s	+0.2s
3	6	Manfred von Brauchitsch	Mercedes-Benz	2m11.4s	+0.4s
4	8	Richard Seaman	Mercedes-Benz	2m12.2s	+1.2s
5	1	Hermann Müller	Auto Union	2m12.6s	+1.6s
6	5	Walter Bäumer	Mercedes-Benz	2m13.8s	+2.8s
7	14	Rudolf Hasse	Auto Union	2m15.4	+4.4s
8	3	Christian Kautz	Auto Union	2m18.6s	+7.6s
9	11	Luigi Villoresi	Maserati	2m21.0	+10.0s
10	19	Arthur Dobson	ERA	2m24.6s	+13.6s
11	9	René Dreyfus	Delahaye	2m25.4s	+14.4s
12	15	L.F. Connell	ERA	2m27.2s	+16.2s
13	18	W.E. Cotton	ERA	2m28.6s	+17.6s
14	17	Humphrey Cuddon-Fletcher	MG	2m29.8s	+18.6s
15	12	Percy Maclure	Riley	2m30.4s	+19.4s
16	14	Robin Hanson	Alta	2m32.2s	+21.2s
17	10	"Raph"	Delahaye	2m36.4s	+25.4s
Source:[3][4]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid
1	4	Tazio Nuvolari	Auto Union	80	3h06m22s	2
2	7	Hermann Lang	Mercedes-Benz	80	+1m38s	1
3	8	Richard Seaman	Mercedes-Benz	79	+1 Lap	4
4	1	Hermann Müller	Auto Union	79	+1 Lap	5
5	6	Manfred von Brauchitsch	Mercedes-Benz	79	+1 Lap	3
6	19	Arthur Dobson	ERA	74	+6 Laps	10
7	18	W.E. Cotton W.E. Wilkinson	ERA	74	+6 Laps	13
8	15	L.F. Connell P.R. Monkhouse	ERA	74	+6 Laps	12
DNF	5	Walter Bäumer	Mercedes-Benz	43	Engine Fire	6
DNF	14	Rudolf Hasse	Auto Union	29	Accident	7
DNF	14	Robin Hanson	Alta	25	Engine	16
DNF	9	René Dreyfus	Delahaye	23	Oil Pressure	11
DNF	11	Luigi Villoresi	Maserati	18	Engine	9
DNF	17	Humphrey Cuddon-Fletcher	MG	17	Brakes	14
DNF	12	Percy Maclure	Riley	12	Drive shaft	15
DNF	10	"Raph"	Delahaye	10	Oil pressure	17
DNF	3	Christian Kautz	Auto Union	2	Accident	8
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. Nye, Doug (1977). The British Grand Prix. pp. 29–31. ISBN 0713432837.
4. Snellman, Leif. "IV DONINGTON GRAND PRIX". THE GOLDEN ERA OF GRAND PRIX RACING. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
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.