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1939 Grand Prix season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1939 Grand Prix season was the seventh AIACR European Championship season. The championship winner was never officially announced by the AIACR due to the outbreak of World War II less than two weeks after the final event in Switzerland. The Italian GP initially had been a fifth event, but it became clear well before the war that it would be cancelled due to construction work. At that time, it was also undecided which scoring system would be used, the old minimum points system that basically counted positions, or the French maximum points system similar to the modern one. Although Hermann Paul Müller would have won the championship on points according to the old system, the president of Nazi Germany's highest motorsports organisation declared Hermann Lang the champion.[1] Lang was clearly the dominating driver in that season, which was acknowledged by the international press. In the first two of the four championship events, both Lang and Müller won once while the other failed to complete 75% of the distance. The German round saw Lang retiring early, and Müller finishing 2nd behind Caracciola. This left Müller in the lead in both scoring systems, as published in magazines, with the Swiss round deciding the outcome. Müller finished 4th behind three Mercedes, which gave him the lead in the old point system, while in front, Lang had beaten Caracciola for the lead in the maximum points system.

Teams and drivers

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The following teams and drivers competed in the 1939 AIACR European Championship.

Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre Driver Rounds
Auto Union AG Auto Union Auto Union Type D Auto Union 3.0 V12 s Nazi Germany Hermann Paul Müller All
Kingdom of Italy Tazio Nuvolari All
Nazi Germany Rudolf Hasse All
Nazi Germany Georg Meier 1-3
Nazi Germany Hans Stuck 2-4
Daimler-Benz AG Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz W154 Mercedes-Benz M163 3.0 V12 s Germany Rudolf Caracciola All
Germany Manfred von Brauchitsch All
Germany Hermann Lang All
United Kingdom Richard Seaman 1
Germany Heinz Brendel 3
Germany Hans Hartmann 4

Season review

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Mercedes-Benz competed with the W154.
The Auto Union D Type.

European Championship Grands Prix

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Rd Date Name Circuit Winning drivers Winning constructor Report
1 25 June Belgium Belgian Grand Prix Spa-Francorchamps Germany Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz Report
2 9 July France French Grand Prix Reims-Gueux Germany Hermann Paul Müller Auto Union Report
3 23 July Germany German Grand Prix Nürburgring Germany Rudolf Caracciola Mercedes-Benz Report
4 20 August Switzerland Swiss Grand Prix Bremgarten Germany Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz Report

Non-championship Grands Prix

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Grandes Épreuves are denoted by a yellow background.

Date Name Circuit Winning driver Winning constructor Report
2 April France Pau Grand Prix Pau Germany Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz Report
10 April United Kingdom Road Championship Brooklands United Kingdom Arthur Dobson ERA Report
7 May France Paris Cup Montlhéry France Jean-Pierre Wimille Bugatti Report
7 May Finland Finnish Grand Prix Eläintarharata Sweden Adolf Westerblom Alfa Romeo Report
21 May Germany Eifelrennen Nürburgring Germany Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz Report
28 May Belgium Grand Prix des Frontières Chimay France Maurice Trintignant Bugatti Report
25 June Romania Bucharest Grand Prix Bucharest Germany Hans Stuck Auto Union Report
2 July France Remparts Grand Prix Angoulême France Raymond Sommer Alfa Romeo Report
7 August United Kingdom Campbell Trophy Brooklands United Kingdom Raymond Mays ERA Report
3 September Kingdom of Yugoslavia Belgrade Grand Prix Belgrade Italy Tazio Nuvolari Auto Union Report
29 October Brazil Gávea Nacional Circuit Gávea Brazil Manuel de Teffé Maserati Report

Unofficial championship standings

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Pos Driver BEL
Belgium
FRA
France
GER
Germany
SUI
Switzerland
Pts[2]
1 Germany Hermann Paul Müller Ret 1 2 4 12
2 Germany Hermann Lang 1 Ret Ret 1 14
3 Germany Rudolf Caracciola Ret Ret 1 2 17
4 Germany Manfred von Brauchitsch 3 Ret Ret 3 19
= Italy Tazio Nuvolari Ret Ret Ret 5 19
6 Germany Rudolf Hasse 2 Ret Ret 20
= France René Dreyfus 7 4 8 20
8 Germany Georg Meier Ret 2 Ret 22
9 France Raymond Sommer 4 5 Ret 23
= Germany Hans Stuck 6 Ret 10 23
11 France Robert Mazaud 5 6 24
= France "Raph" 9 5 24
13 Italy Giuseppe Farina Ret 7 25
14 Germany Paul Pietsch 3 Ret 26
15 France René Le Bègue 3 27
16 France Louis Gérard 6 28
= France Philippe Étancelin 4 28
= Italy Luigi Chinetti 8 28
= Germany Leonhard Joa 7 28
= Germany Hans Hartmann 6 28
= Italy Clemente Biondetti 9 28
= United Kingdom Kenneth Evans 11 28
= United Kingdom John Wakefield 12 28
= United Kingdom Robert Ansell 13 28
25 United Kingdom Richard Seaman Ret 29
= Switzerland Adolfo Mandirola Ret DSQ 29
= Switzerland Toulo de Graffenried Ret 29
28 France Yves Matra Ret 30
= Italy Luigi Villoresi Ret 30
30 United Kingdom Raymond Mays Ret 31
= Germany Heinz Brendel Ret 31
= Italy Giovanni Rocco Ret 31
Pos Driver BEL
Belgium
FRA
France
GER
Germany
SUI
Switzerland
Pts
Colour Result Points
Gold Winner 1
Silver 2nd place 2
Bronze 3rd place 3
Green Completed more than 75% 4
Blue Completed between 50% and 75% 5
Purple Completed between 25% and 50% 6
Red Completed less than 25% 7
Black Disqualified 8
Blank Did not participate 8

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Armstrong, Richard. "Unfinished Symphony: Why the 1939 European Championship was never won". 8W. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  2. ^ according to the old minimum points system

References

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