12 replies to this topic

[Boniver]

?? juni 1927

First Eifelrennen - Nurburgring
(also first race on Nurburgring)
for sport cars

1. Caracciola - Mercedes

who have more info of the race ?

[FEV]

18 & 19 June 1927

Sportscar race:

1100cc / 340,800 km Gockenbach (Pluto) 4h29'50''4 - 75,8 kph.
1500cc / 340,800 km Andreä (Bugatti) 4h22'37''2 - 78,5 kph.
2000cc / 340,800 km Simmons (OM) 4h11'18''1 - 81,2 kph.
5000cc / 340,800 km Comte von Kallnein (Bugatti) 3h58'11''4 - 85,6 kph
8000cc / 340,800 km Caracciola (Mercedes S s/c 6800cc) 3h33'21''0 - 96,5 kph

Racing cars race :

750cc / 397,600 km Butenuth (Hanomag) 5h36'19''4 - 70,6 kph
1100cc / 397,600 km Freidrich (Pluto) 5h14'25''3 - 75,5 kph
1500cc / 397,600 km Müller (NSU) 4h45'39''1 - 83,5 kph
3000cc / 397,600 km Werner (Mercedes) 4h17'07''1 - 93,8 kph
5000cc / 397,600 km Momberger (Bugatti) 4h39'00''1 - 84,5 kph

There also was two races for motorcycles (175/250/350cc and 500/ 750/+750cc) and a side-car race (600/+600cc). Can post results if you wish.

All the races were on the full course.

I might find other things about these races (fastest laps, race summaries...)

Cheers
FEV

[Vitesse2]

Result in Monkhouse/King-Farlow

Sports Cars: Distance 211 miles

1 R.Caracciola (Mercedes) 59.96mph
2 A.Rosenberger (Mercedes)
3 E.Kalnein (Bugatti)

There was also a Formule Libre Eifelrennen in 1927, but I'm not sure it was part of the same meeting:

Distance 246 miles

1 C.Werner (Mercedes) 57.49mph
2 A.Momberger (Bugatti)
3 J.Mueller (NSU)

[Roger Clark]

Racing cars race : 750cc / 397,600 km Butenuth (Hanomag) 5h36'19''4 - 70,6 kph
1100cc / 397,600 km Freidrich (Pluto) 5h14'25''3 - 75,5 kph
1500cc / 397,600 km Müller (NSU) 4h45'39''1 - 83,5 kph
3000cc / 397,600 km Werner (Mercedes) 4h17'07''1 - 93,8 kph
5000cc / 397,600 km Momberger (Bugatti) 4h39'00''1 - 84,5 kph

What kind of Bugatti won the oveeer 3 litre race in 1927?

[FEV]

Good point Roger !
The results I have are taken from Richard von Frankenberg's Nürburgring book. He has a detailed story about the sportscar race but only a few lines on the racing cars race which only drew 16 cars. About it he says : "Christian Werner won without opposition on his s/c 2 liter Mercedes S. The second, and at the same time winner of the big class was August Momberger on Bugatti". It is indeed very strange for AFAIK the only over 3 litre Bugatti engines built between 1918 and 1930 were the T34 aero engine of 1923 and the T41 of the Ryoale in 1929. I can't believe Momberger had one of the experimental T28 (2992cc) engines of 1919, so there must be an error here !

In the sportscar race Comte Eckard von Kalnein is said to be the winner of the 5000cc class. But this was in fact the 2000 to 5000cc class and he was driving a "2,3 litre Bugatti" (I guess a 35T or B).

[Hans Etzrodt]

June 18/19 1927 was not only the date of the 24-Hour Race at Le Mans but also that for the Nürburgring Eröffnungsrennen (Opening Race).

On Saturday, June 18 at 2:00 PM, 12 motorcycles of the 175 cc class were started, soon to be followed by the 18 of the 250 cc class, then 14 of the 350 cc class, 19 of the 500 cc class, 7 of the 750 cc class, 6 of the 1000 cc class, 6 sidecars of up to 600 cc and 7 sidecars over 600 cc. The three small classes of up to 350 cc had to complete 141.325 km whereas all other classes had to do 169.590 km. That was the equivalent of 5 and 6 laps respectively of the combined 28.265 km circuit. Toni Bauhofer was the fastest driver of the day. Saturday had been devoted to the motorcycles and ...

...Sunday was reserved for the cars. Late morning the racing cars were released first, followed shortly after by the 30 sports cars. Caracciola led the sports car class and Werner the racing car class. Caracciola continuously increased his advantage. Werner had fallen back but picked up first place on lap 10. Finally after 12 laps, 339.180 km and 3h33m21s, Caracciola past the finish line as winner of the sports car class and fastest car with the highest average speed.

But the battle was not yet over because all racing cars, except the three in the 750 cc class, had to complete two more laps. Christian Werner in the 2-liter 8-cylinder Mercedes, who had been ahead of Momberger’s 2.3-liter T35B Bugatti on lap 12, went victorious through the finish line after 395.710 km and 4h17m07.1s. Werner also won his class up to 2000 cc and August Momberger in second place won the class up to 5000 cc after Huldreich Heusser broke a bearing on his 6-cylinder supercharged 4890 cc Steyr.

[David McKinney]

Some more on the Nürburgring opening meeting:

As has already been mentioned, Werner won the 2-litre class of the racing event, and 21-year-old “Bubi” Momberger the class for cars with engines between two and five litres.
The 1500 class win by Josef Müller’s supercharged NSU was something of a surprise, as Bugattis were pre-race favourites. However Willy Cleer (39A) suffered ignition problems, Georg Kimpel broke an axle on the second lap, and C von Einem (T37) was unable to match the pace of the German car. In the 1100 class, Friederich’s Pluto (a German Amilcar) was followed by a Fiat driven by one Lüning, while Helmuth Buthenuth was Hanomag’s winning driver in the 750 class.

The Mercedes-Benz entries of Caracciola and Rosenberger, which took the first two places overall in the sportscar race, were new S-Types, making their racing début. Graf Eckart von Kalnein was third in a T43 Bugatti (he also campaigned a 35B in sports trim in this period), ahead of Hans Stuck (Austro-Daimler) and Gräfin Margaret Einsiedel (Steyr).
An older K-Type Mercedes driven by von Mosch was third in the unlimited class, while von Kalnein and Stuck were first and second in the 5-litre category and OMs were the first two 2-litre cars to finish, Hans Simon winning from police captain Santner (OM), with Beck (Bugatti) third. Carl Walter Andreae (Bugatti T37) was first in the next class down, with another Bugatti second (sources vary as to who was driving it), and the Pluto of Robert Gockenback was first 1100. His success came however only after H J von Morgen’s Amilcar encountered an engine problem. Dörper in his Opel special finished second, while Hans Schinzinger in a Hanomag was first 750.

Winners of the motorcycle events, incidentally, included Toni Ulmen (Velocette) and Walter Glöckler (NSU), both of whom would be big names in car events in Germany in the future, though not for another 20 years or more.

[Boniver]

;) Thanks

Result


19 juni 1927

First Eifelrennen - Nurburgring
Nürburgring Eröffnungsrennen (Opening Race).

Same race 30 starters (16 sport 14 race)

Sport Car 12 x 339,180 km
classe
1 Rudolf Caracciola Mercedes 3.33.21 6800 1
2 A.Rosenberger Mercedes 6800 2
3 Comte Eckard von Kalnein Bugatti 3.58.11 5000 1

O Von Mosch Mercedes 6000 3
Hans Stuck Austro-Daimler 5000 2
Gräfin Margaret Einsiedel (v) Steyr 5000 3
Hans Simons OM 4.11.18 2000 1
H Santner OM 2000 2
Beck Bugatti 2000 3
Carl Walter Andreae Bugatti 4.22.37 1500 1
x Bugatti 1500 2
Robert Gockenbach Pluto 4.28.50 1100 1
E Dorpel Opel 1100 2
H J von Morgen Amilcar 1100 out
Hans Schinzinger Hanomag 750 1


Racing cars race : 14 x 395,710 km

1 Christian Werner Mercedes 4.17.07 2000 1
2 August Momberger Bugatti 4.39.00 2300 1
3 Josef Muller NSU 4.45.39 1500 1


Huldreich Heusser Steyr 4900 out
Willy Cleer Bugatti 1500 out
C Von Einem Bugatti 1500 out
Georg Kimpel Bugatti 1500 out
H Freidrich Pluto 5.14.30 1100 1
Luning Fiat 1100 2
Helmuth Butenuth Hanomag 5.36.19 750 1

[David McKinney]

Not quite...
von Einem finished second in the 1500 class of the racing event

[FEV]

A few more things:

Mercedes only entered two drivers (Caracciola in the sports car class and Werner in the racing cars class) because the German Grand Prix was only four weeks away and also because the prize money was considered ridiculous by most observers. There was initially 500, 300 and 200 mark for the first three drivers in the car race and 300, 200 and 100 mark for the first three riders in the moto race – total purse for the event was 1,600 marks. “Can we call this a reward ?” asked the Düsseldorf newspaper “Der Mittag” ??!! The Nürburgring officials and the ADAC then did their best to rise the prize money which ultimately reached 30,000 marks for the entire event and its 18 classes. But it still wasn’t much compared to the 1927 German Grand Prix prize money : 6,000, 3,000 and 1,000 mark were awarded to the first three drivers of EACH class. And 10,000 mark went to the driver who made the best lap of the race. That makes 40,000 mark for only three classes.

Back to the sport ! :

Buthenuth on his 500cc Hanomag had a best lap of 25’25’’ at 60,6 kph. His top speed was believed to be 68 kph. He was the last driver to complete the race, finishing two hours after Caracciola. Frankenberg says two other Hanomags started but they retired at the 3rd and 5th laps. So what about Schinzinger ???

Rudi Caracciola had the fastest lap of the race in 17’11’’. Manfred Werner made a 17’29’’ (fastest sport car) but Rosenberger did better in his private Mercedes S with 17’26’’. Rosenberger finished 17 minutes behind Caracciola in the race, but he lost 7 minutes in a pit stop.

In the 2000 to 5000cc class the best laps of three of the four starters were :
Bea von Einseidel (Steyr) 18’23’’, Kalnein 19’00’’, Stück 19’38’’.
Countess von Einseidel could have clearly won the race but she had to pit stop three times during the race for fuel (against only once for her rivals). She lost about three minutes in the process – the gap there was between her and second place Stück at the end. Stück himself was 6 minutes behind class winner Eckard von Kalnein. The fourth starter in this class drove a Stoewer but his name is unknown.

In the 1100cc class, Hans-Joachim von Morgen did the class’ best lap and finished in third place (and was not a DNF) : he had a lot of engine problems and had to make several pit stops, but finished half an hour behind Gockenbach and was awarded third place.

[Hans Etzrodt]

Originally posted by FEV
Manfred Werner made a 17’29’’ (fastest sport car) ...

The Werner family must have expanded without my knowledge. Since I only know of Christian, Hans and Wilhelm Werner, please tell me the source, which mentions Manfred Werner and the car he was driving.

[FEV]

Did I write Mandred . Sorry about that. It was of course Christian.

[Boniver]

Thanks