Rudolf Caracciola
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| Rudolf Caracciola | |
 Caracciola in 1938.
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| Born | January 30, 1901 Remagen, Germany |
|---|---|
| Died | September 28, 1959 Kassel, Germany |
| Occupation | Racing driver |
Rudolf Caracciola (January 30, 1901 – September 28, 1959), was a racecar driver, nicknamed „Karratsch“ in Germany.
Caracciola, born at Remagen, Germany, to a hotelier family in the Rhine valley, was a champion racer in Europe in the Grand Prix motor racing era of the 1920s and 1930s, and even into the early 1950s.
Also nicknamed Regenmeister (Rainmaster) for his prowess in rainy conditions, Caracciola began racing as an employee for Mercedes (not yet unified with Benz) in 1922. In 1926, he entered the first-ever German Grand Prix at the AVUS track in Berlin and promptly won the race, much to the amazement of the 500,000 spectators.
In Sportscar racing, he won the 1930 European Hillclimb Championship and made history in 1931, becoming the first non-Italian driver to win the Mille Miglia, a feat not repeated on the full circuit until Stirling Moss' victory in 1955.
In 1932 Caracciola, won the Monza and German GPs in the new Alfa Romeo P3
In 1933, Caracciola, while driving a privately-entered Alfa Romeo P3, suffered a serious accident at the Monaco Grand Prix, seriously disabling him for the rest of his life. He would forever after walk with a limp, as his shattered hip had left one leg shorter than the other. During his convalescence in Switzerland, his wife Charly died after being buried by an avalanche.
Nevertheless, Caracciola eventually recovered enough to take up racing once more, this time with the newly re-formed Mercedes-Benz racing team. He went on to win the new European driving championship three times between 1935 and 1938. As the two drivers who all but defined success for the two German car makers, Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union, Carracciola and fellow countryman Bernd Rosemeyer battled for supremacy year after year during the "no limits" era of motor racing (1934-1937). For 1938, the engine sizes were limited to 3 liter, while Rosemeyer was already killed in January during a world land speed record attempt.
After spending World War II in exile in Lugano, Switzerland, Caracciola returned to auto racing in the late 1940s for the Indy 500 but crashed in practice. Age and injuries took their toll, the love for driving was there but he did not have the success he had before the War. When the new Formula One staged its first world championship season in 1950, he was not part of it. Caracciola finished 4th at the 1952 Mille Miglia in a Mercedes-Benz 300SL, but a broken leg at the Swiss Bremgarten ended his career finally.
His legacy is that of one of the greatest European race car drivers of the first half of the 20th century and a person who overcame serious injury and misfortune to excel and succeed in the sport he loved. In that regard, but also in his almost unbelievable prowess in races held in inclement weather, Carracciola foreshadowed the great German racing champion of the current era, Michael Schumacher.
He also drove a record of 432.7 km/h (268.9 mph) over the flying kilometre on 28 January 1938 in a Mercedes-Benz W125, which still remains the fastest ever officially timed speed on a public road (at time of writing, 2006). It also was the fastest speed ever recorded in Germany until Rico Anthes bettered it with a Top Fuel Dragster on the Hockenheimring drag strip.
Caracciola died of a bone disease in 1959. He donated his trophies to the Indy 500 museum. In 1998, Rudolf Caracciola was elected to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Major career wins:
- European Hillclimbing Champion 1930
- European Champion 1935, 1937, 1938
- Irish Grand Prix 1930
- AVUSrennen 1931
- Coppa Acerbo 1938
- Coppa Ciano 1937
- Belgian Grand Prix 1935
- Czechoslovakian Grand Prix 1937
- Eifelrennen 1927, 1931, 1932, 1935
- French Grand Prix 1935
- German Grand Prix 1926, 1928, 1931, 1932, 1937, 1939
- Italian Grand Prix 1934, 1937
- Lemberg Grand Prix 1932
- Mille Miglia 1931
- Monaco Grand Prix 1936
- Spanish Grand Prix 1935
- Swiss Grand Prix 1935, 1937, 1938
- Tripoli Grand Prix 1935
[edit] Complete European Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Entrant | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | EDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Private entry | Mercedes-Benz | ITA |
FRA Ret |
BEL |
46= | 22 | ||
| 1932 | Alfa Corse | Alfa Romeo | ITA NC |
FRA 3 |
GER 1 |
3 | 9 | ||
| 1935 | Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes-Benz | BEL 1 |
GER 3 |
SUI 1 |
ITA Ret |
ESP 1 |
1 | 11 |
| 1936 | Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes-Benz | MON 1 |
GER Ret |
SUI Ret |
ITA |
6 | 22 | |
| 1937 | Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes-Benz | BEL |
GER 1 |
MON 2 |
SUI 1 |
ITA 1 |
1 | 13 |
| 1938 | Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes-Benz | FRA 2 |
GER 2 |
SUI 1 |
ITA 3 |
1 | 8 | |
| 1939 | Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes-Benz | BEL Ret |
FRA Ret |
GER 1 |
SUI 2 |
3 | 17 |
[edit] Further reading
- Rudolf Caracciola, Caracciola: Mercedes Grand Prix Ace - An Autobiography (G. T. Foulis, London, 1955)
- Rudolf Caracciola, A Racing Car Driver's World (Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, New York, 1961) This is a later edition of the above work, with much additional material
[edit] External links
- Grand Prix History - Hall of Fame, Rudolf Caracciola
- Biographical article on The Speed Blog
- Rudolf Caracciola at research-racing.de
| Sporting achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tazio Nuvolari (1932) |
European Drivers' Champion 1935 |
Succeeded by Bernd Rosemeyer |
| Preceded by Bernd Rosemeyer |
European Drivers' Champion 1937-1938 |
Succeeded by Hermann Paul Müller or Hermann Lang (disputed) |
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