u/Otto_C_Lindri

The Alfa Corse team had a very messy weekend at the Nurburgring...

They arrived, pretty certainly shaken by the defeat at Silverstone, and wanted to beat the Ferraris at the Nurburgring. And for that, they initially entered cars for Juan Manuel Fangio, Giuseppe Farina, and Felice Bonetto.

Drama started in the practice sessions. They had difficulty in getting the right carburetor settings and gear ratios. Then, it was discovered that the chassis suffered from flexing, causing various problems and handling issues. The factory quickly assembled another Alfetta with reinforced chassis and sent to the Nurburgring for Fangio to use...

So, with Fangio receiving a new car to use, there's an extra car available, which the team entered, but hadn't nominated a driver, yet. They mulled over their choices, Grand Prix veteran Louis Chiron and sportscar driver Willy Daetwyler being two of them. They eventually settled on Paul Pietsch (apparently, Daetwyler was also too tall to fit properly inside the cockpit). Because of the indecision, Pietsch only had two practice laps in the car. His fastest lap was good for 7th on the grid, behind Piero Taruffi's works Ferrari.

In the race, Pietsch managed to get up to fifth at the end of first lap, only to have a spin, dropping him down the order. He drove hard to recover lost places, and managed to claw his way back up. At the end of lap 11 he was back into fighting Villoresi when he had another spin, the one in the second picture, and while he only received really light injuries (he bit his lip when he went off the road, and bruised his legs against the dash) but the car was too damaged to continue.

By the time of Pietsch's retirement, Farina had already retired on lap 8 from gearbox problems, and a lap later Bonetto would retire from engine trouble, leaving Fangio as the sole Alfa Romeo driver left. And the drama didn't stop there...

Fangio's car had clutch problems and he's using only 3rd and 4th gears around the track, but after lap 14 his clutch packed up, forcing him to race using only top gear. He ultimately finished in 2nd place, half a minute behind Ascari...

Lancia-Ferrari D50 (recreation) being tested. Video courtesy of Jim Stokes Workshops...

Maserati 250F V12, chassis 2531, at the 1994 Silverstone Historic Festival. At the time, it was owned by Dr. Thomas Bscher. Photos by Dave Williams

What would you pick? Left is an Alfa Romeo RLTF raced in period by Enzo Ferrari, the one on the right is a 158/159 "Alfetta" Grand Prix car. Photo by Jim Stokes Workshops

A nasty surprise. While racing at Donington in June 1995, a build-up of fuel vapor between the fuel and oil tanks ignited, blowing the tail off of this ex-works 1957 Maserati 250F. Photo courtesy of Alan Cox.

Would you take a ride as a passenger in this? 1937 Mercedes Benz W125, the most powerful Grand Prix car until the turbocharged F1 cars came out, modified with a passenger seat for a film...

The old warriors held their ground... Car photos courtesy of Pastorelli Classic cars

It's very hard to choose a favourite in this photograph. Photo courtesy of Blakeney Motorsport Ltd...

Paul Pietsch racing an Alfa Romeo 159 "Alfetta" at the 1951 German GP at the Nurburgring. More info on the description.

Richard Bradley posted a clip of him on a lap of the Monaco circuit in his 1939 Maserati 4CL during the Monaco Historic GP last April.

80 years apart. Top footage is of Hans Stuck flogging an Auto Union Type C up the wet Shelsley Walsh hillclimb in 1936. Below, in 2016, his son, Hans-Joachim Stuck, drove a similar car up the same venue...

Oh, what else is new?

The Maserati not built by Maserati. This Maserati 4CLT, now identified as the "4CLT Parnell", was built in 1950 by Reg Parnell in the UK using parts obtained from the Maserati factory, done to avoid paying the high import duties. The car still exists today.

Former Force India F1 team owner Vijay Mallya throwing his BMW 328 sideways at a VSCC event at Prescott hillclimb last August. Photo by Alan Cox.

1997 Monaco Historic GP, Serie A race. A very eventful race, with an Alfa Romeo vs. Bugatti duel, just like it was in the early 1930s...

The first, and, to date, the only time the fearsome Alfa Romeo Bimotore raced in its original twin-engine configuration since before WWII. Tom Wheatcroft, the owner, entrusted the car to Alfisti Rodney Felton to race it. Photos courtesy by Alan Cox

"To finish first, first you have to finish." And that's exactly what happened to Richard Bradley at the Historic GP of Monaco back in April (more info below)

Tazio Nuvolari in a Jaguar XK120, 1950 BRDC International Trophy, Silverstone. He's due to race the car, but he's in a terrible shape and elected to not start at the race, the car was raced by Peter Whitehead instead.

LMP2 driver Richard Bradley testing his 1939 Maserati 4CL at Brands Hatch last year at Brands Hatch. Clip courtesy of Richard Bradley.

Marino Franchitti, brother of Dario Franchitti and 2014 12 Hours of Sebring winner, driving a Maserati 250F owned by his father-in-law, Nick Mason

Alfa Romeo 8C Monza on the rolling road. It went on to finish 3rd at Goodwood last April. Video courtesy of Woolmer Classic Engineering