For starters, only a seven-car field assembled on a grid after Sunbeam, Guyot, Mathis and Diatto had scratched. There were four light-blue12-cylinder supercharged Delage 2LCV grand prix cars from France against three bright red, hot racers; Italian 8-cylinder, supercharged P2 Alfa Romeos. Two of the Alfas went into the lead right away. It did not take long for the race to develop into a deplorable and monotonous affair since cars dropped out fairly early. Within the first seven laps, three Delages had retired, followed by Brilli-Peri on lap 27 when his Alfa broke a spring. At half distance only three cars remained in the race but shortly thereafter, on lap 34, Albert Divo retired the last Delage. That left just the two Alfas of Ascari and Campari to complete the last third of the 54-laps race.
On lap 40, both Alfas, the only cars then running, were again called into the pits for their regular stops, Ascari’s time was then 4h55m18s versus Campari with 5h12m54s. This particular pit stop has often been described and over the years became a popular anecdote, based on unreliable secondary source information.
- Here the very first version I could find in a booklet, published in 1967: "During the race the Alfa Romeo drivers stopped for a five-minute impromptu meal round a table whilst their cars were washed and polished–Jano’s [designer & team manager] method of getting his own back on the Belgian crowds, who were jeering at the Italians for their easy victory."
- From a book, published in 1980: "So large did the gap grow between the rival marques that Jano brought his drivers in for leisurely refreshments while the cars stood silent at the pits. After this insolent demonstration of their superiority, Ascari and Campari resumed the race, being the sole finishers..."
- From a 1982 book: "It was during this race that the legendary incident took place, when Ascari and Campari were so far ahead that Jano invited them into the pit at a refueling stop for an impromptu five-minute meal round a table, whilst their cars stood by being cleaned and polished. This was Jano’s reply to the Belgian crowd, who were rather foolishly demonstrating against the Italians because they were gaining such an easy victory."
- From a 1986 book: "A famous story is told about this race. The spectators were, understandably, not particularly thrilled by the spectacle of two red Alfas circulating alone on the long track, and starting booing the Alfa team. Apparently in response to this, the Alfa team manager set out some food on the pit-corner and the drivers stopped, enjoyed a relaxed meal, and then continued with the race."
- In a book, I just acquired last week, published in 2000, the story goes like this: "As a gesture of confidence in the team, during the race Jano had a table laid on the track in front of the Alfa Romeo pit and ate his lunch in full view of the jeering and unappreciative crowd, who understandably found the demonstration of Alfa Romeo supremacy somewhat boring. During their refueling stops Ascari and Campari were invited to join him for a hasty snack; presumably Nicola Romeo [owner & boss], who attended the race and had probably paid for the meal anyway, made up the party."
Tony Kaye had once given me a rather interesting and detailed one-page report, titled, "How I won the Grand Prix d'Europe", by Antonio Ascari and dated August 1925. But there is no mention of the pit stop on lap 40 or a 'picnic' like break. The same goes for contemporary reports out of the 1925 AUTOMOBIL-REVUE, Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung (Wien) and MOTOR und SPORT. No picnic story! At one time I had asked Alessandro Silva and he told me:
Truth is that Canestrini himself wrote in the Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday after the race: "After that, any trace of resistance by the adversaries had disappeared, our drivers would stop at the pits simultaneously on the 40th lap, to get a refreshment and tidy up the cars. Ascari also changes the four tires. This had taken five minutes. The public is extremely cold, unconcerned." 27 years later in Canestrini's memoirs, "Uomini e Motori", 1957, there appears the complete story with picnic table and carwash.
Peter Hull was the first to spread this yarn. Thereafter this misrepresentation appeared in almost every book or article, which mentioned this 1925 race. Sounds to me like some Neubauer yarn. Are there any pictures to prove that such a picnic had taken place?
...in case it really took place.
