It’s the late summer of 1939: In three months the world would be at war, and German dominance of grand prix racing would come to an end. Here they are the last Mercedes drivers — Neubauer, Seaman (a week away from his fatal smash at Spa), von Brauchitsch, and Rudi Caracciola…
Lang in Tripoli 1939. The track at Mellaha was the fastest, richest race on earth. It was also the scene of Varzi’s downfall.
Nuvolari, the man everyone was convinced would die in a fiery wreck. But he was too good for that: here he is with the surgical mask that featured in most of his post-war races…
Taruffi drove the mythical sixteen cylinder Maserati in Tripoli in 1933. He went through an advertising billboard for which they charged him
Bernd Rosemeyer. Probably the fastest of his generation, and his blond hair and blue eyes and good looks made him the darling of the Nazis, something that did not sit well with the young lad from Lingen.
Piero Taruffi: Was successful before the war, and was an F1 grand prix winner after it. An inventor, record speed holder, and wrote one of the most important motor racing books in history, “The Technique of Motor Racing” in which he dissected Varzi vs. Nuvolari’s slip angles.
Hans Stuck was a hillclimbing legend, but his career suffered when it became known he was married to a Jew. He remained married to his Paula despite the pressure and negative consequences to his career.
Hermann Lang: European Champion in 1939 who did his apprenticeship as baron von Brauchitsch’s mechanic. Was the butt of the baron’s jokes including the one now legendary put down when Lang, at the Roxy in Berlin celebrating his maiden win his team mates, had to laugh when von Brauchitsch ordered champagne all round, and a beer for Lang.
Rudolf Hasse. He would take Varzi’s drive at Auto Union when the Italian succumbed to his addiction. Hasse died at Stalingrad with the German 6th Army in the winter of 1942
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