MEMOIRS IN AUTORACING
On July
22nd, 1894 twenty one assorted vehicles rumbled out of
Paris on their way to Rouen. A year later a race was held from
Paris to Bordeaux and back to Paris. The winner was
Emile
Levassor with his Panhard et Levasor who covered the 1,200
kilometers in 48 hours. The first motor competition had begun.
________________________________________________________________________________
DRIVERS TRACKS CARS
Tazio Nuvolari Ain
Diab, Morocco
A.C.
Achille Varzi
Albi, France.
Adler.
Alberto Ascari
Avus, Germany
Alfa Romeo
Alfonso de Portago Bari,
Italy
Arnolt-Bristol
Bernd Rosemeyer
Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Aston Martin
Briggs Cunningham
Berne, Swiss
Auto Union
Carel Godin de Beaufort
Brno-Masaryk, Czch
Bentley
Dan Gurney
Budapest, Hungary
B.R.M.
Eliska Junkova
Caen, France
Bugatti
Enzo Ferrari
Clermont-Ferrand, (F) Cisitalia
Eugenio Castellotti
Goodwood, U.K.
Connaught
Felice Bonetto
Indianapolis, USA
Corvette SS
Hans von Stuck
Le Mans, France
Chaparral
Jean Behra
Mille Miglia, Italy
Eagle-Weslake
Joakim Bonnier
Modena, Italy
E.R.A.
Juan M. Fangio
Monte Carlo, Monaco Ferrari
Luigi Musso
Monthlery, France
Fiat
Luiggi Villoresi
Monza, Italy
Jaguar
Manfred von
Brauchitsch
Nurburgring, Germany Kurtis
Maurice Trintignant
Oporto, Portugal Lago-Talbot
Mike Hawthorn
Panamericana, Mexico Lancia
Olivier Gendebien
Pescara, Italy
Lancia-Ferrari
Peter Collins
Reims, France
Le Monstre
Phil Hill
Rouen, France
Lister
Piero
Taruffi Sebring, USA.
Maserati
Prince Bira
Silverstone, U.K.
Mercedes Benz
Richard Seaman
Spa-Francorcham, (B) O.S.C.A.
Rodger Ward
Targa Florio, Italy Panhard
Rudolf Caracciola
Tripoli, Lybia
Porsche
Stirling Moss
Vanderbilt Cup, USA Simca
Wolfgang von Trips
Zaandvort, Holland
Vanwall
MEMOIRS
By Emilio J. Lezcano
Rudolf Caracciola. B January
30, 1901 at Remagen, Germany. D September 28, 1959.
Caracciola, born in Ragemagen, Germany to a hotelier italian family, was a
champion racer in Europe in the Grand Prix motor racing era.
Nicknamed "The Ringmeister"
for his success in rainy conditions especially at Nurburgring. Caracciola's
legend grew from his very first race, the 1926 German Grand Prix (Grosser
Preis Von Deutschland) at the Avus circuit, in Berlin. Caracciola, at the
time a 25 year-old weekend racer and salesman for Daimler-Benz, won the
event in a factory sports car he borrowed for the weekend. He made history
in 1931 after becoming the first non-italian driver to win the famous Mille
Miglia.
He went on to win the driving
championship three times between 1934 y 1938 even in the light of
devastating injuries and the death of his wife in an avalanche.
Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) and
fellow countryman Bernd Rosemeyer (Auto Union) battled for supremacy year
after year during the "Silver Arrow" era of motor racing (1934-1938).
After spending World War II in
exile in Lugano, Switzerland, Caracciola returned to the track in 1946. Tony
Hulman invited Caracciola to compete in the 1946 Indy 500, for which
Caracciola was schedule to drive a pre-war Mercedes Benz W165, but the car
did not clear customs in Switzerland. Car owner Joel Thorne then invited
Caracciola to compete in a Thorne Engineering car.
Caracciola crashed violently
in the Speedway's Turn 2 during practice after -it is believed- he was
struck in the face by a bird. He suffered a concussion and skul fracture.
Hulman and his wife, the late
Mary Fendrich Hulman, invited Caracciola and his wife, Alice, to be their
guest in Terre Haute, Indiana, while Caracciola recuperated. Their
friendships remained strong until Caracciola's death of a bone disease in
1959
In 1968, Alice presented the
Hulman's with the trophy collection. More than 100 pieces of Caracciola
collection remain on display at the Indianapolis Speedway Museum.
In 1998, Rudolf Caracciola was elected to the International Motorsports Hall
of Fame. |
