Race report – 1935 Grand Prix de Pau

GLORY AND GRIEF BENEATH THE PYRENEES — THE 1935 GRAND PRIX DE PAU!

Pau, France, 4 July 1935 — The eighteenth round of the Golden Era Championship was settled today upon the winding and unforgiving street circuit of Pau, where the local masonry proved to be a far more formidable opponent than many of the world’s finest racing drivers had anticipated. Under an overcast sky and modest temperatures, fifteen magnificent machines took the start for an eighty-lap trial of fortitude that would ultimately reward the cautious and crush the reckless. The day was a testament to the championship’s philosophy that clean driving is the ultimate currency of success, a lesson learned through much-shattered timber and spilled oil.

The morning of the race was marked by a most peculiar scene in the TissiTuning Racing paddock, where Markus Peltonen was discovered in a state of high distress due to a complete failure of his Auto Union’s cockpit peripherals. Local rumors suggest the desperate Finn nearly attempted to start the race using a heavy-duty adjustable wrench as a steering wheel and a pair of discarded bricks as pedals, and while standard controls were eventually secured, he spent the afternoon wrestling a machine that seemed to possess a mind of its own. Despite these staggering difficulties, Peltonen displayed a flash of his true genius by setting the absolute fastest lap of the race at one minute and 36.291 seconds before his mechanical struggles relegated him to a seventh-place finish.

The fall of the flag brought immediate misfortune for Vesa Tolonen, whose Alfa Romeo P3 remained stubbornly motionless as he stalled the engine in the very shadow of the start line. While Tolonen eventually joined the fray, the race at the rear was already descending into chaos as Daniel Withoeft retired after a single, violent lap that included multiple collisions with the environment and a heavy tangle with the Bugatti of Rimzil Galimzyanov. Galimzyanov, showing remarkable grit, survived the encounter to pilot his 1932 Bugatti T51a through seventy-four laps to a commendable fifth-place finish.

As the race matured, Kari Uotila emerged as the dominant force, commanding his Bugatti T59/50s from the front for thirty laps and appearing nearly invincible. However, the fickle hand of fate intervened during a routine pit stop where a series of comical blunders by his crew cost him his lead and a vast amount of time. Uotila was observed to be in a state of absolute fury following the debacle, yet he heroically dragged his machine to the race again – only to be forced to DNF after the puddles of spilled oil ended his way into the barriers.

In the late race confusion, Anssi Hyytiainen attempted to battle with Tolonen but instead collided with his Alfa while he decided to give way unexpectedly, an incident that was followed by a significant off-road incursion for the both pilots. The resulting slippery puddles and oil spills triggered a sequence of mass crashes that snared Aitor Montero, Alex Campbell, and others as they attempted to navigate the treacherous section. The unfolding scene was sad to watch as DNF’d gentlemen threw their goggles around the casino’s yard and cursed like proper scotchmen would only dreamed of.

After the recovery of the earlier crash, the streets of Pau became a theatre of destruction when Vesa Tolonen, hounding the leaders in his recovery drive, suffered a minor punt against the wall in the first kink of the circuit. This seemingly trivial error proved catastrophic as it stripped the Alfa of its wheels and brakes, turning the machine into a high-speed projectile that hammered into a secondary wall.

Amidst this mechanical carnage, Ville Korkiakoski of mighty Bugatti team drove a race of supreme wisdom, essentially cruising at a safe pace and avoiding every trap the circuit set for him. His conservative strategy was rewarded with a magnificent victory, finishing three laps clear of Ruy Lázaro, who steered his Maserati 8CM to a superb second place through clean and consistent driving. Hyytiainen managed to salvage a podium spot in third despite his mid-race adventures, followed closely by Heru Lah, whose Auto Union Type A had suffered early wall damage but persisted to claim fourth.

The Pau turned out to be brutal for the drivers as half of the field did not finish the race. Only 9 lucky ones crossed the finish line at the end. The remaining survivors demonstrated the true spirit of the interwar era. Kai Syvertsen brought his Maserati home in sixth, while Aitor Montero DNF’d and Alex Campbell finished eleventh respectively after enduring a day of relentless environmental impacts. Evadne Cleo performed heroically in her diminutive Amilcar CGSS to reach the forty-five lap mark, outlasting Teofil Lubomirski, who retired after fifteen laps of struggle, and Max Kamiński, whose race ended after six. The record also notes that Kent LeFredge, Federico Juan Quintero Megías, and Guy Don were defeated by the circuit before completing a single lap. As the dust settled and the mechanics prepared their repair bills, it was Ville Korkiakoski who stood as the master of Pau, a victor of patience over pure velocity.

Final results