Bugatti victory in Monaco 1929

Put yourself back to April 14, 1929. You can’t? Okay, then just follow us into this little piece of history. According to the Gregorian calender, as we usually use it in Western Europe, it is the 104th day of the year. But we aren’t interested in any trifles that happened around the world on that date mentioned above, we instead have a look at the very first Grand Prix de Monaco, which was held in 1929 for racing cars in the heart of Monte Carlo.

Today, the Grand Prix de Monaco is one of the season highlights of the Formula 1 season and is probably the most famous race in the world besides the 500 Miles of Indianapolis and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The idea for this city race came from Anthony Noghès, who was General Commissioner of the Monaco Motor Club in the 1920s. It took him several years to convince all important personalities in his home country, including the reigning Prince Louis II, of this plan. From 20 drivers originally listed, 16 started into the race. In contrast to the present time, the starting positions weren’t given to the fastest drivers in time training, but distributed by lottery.

Half of the starter field consisted of Bugatti vehicles, mainly the Type 35B and Type 35C. With his Type 35B, William ‘Williams’ Charles Frederick Grover, son of a British father and a French mother, started from fifth place, but immediately worked his way to third place due to his quick reactions. In contrast to today’s Grand Prix distances of either 300 kilometers or two hours of racing, the pre-war races went on longer distances. Thus, it is not surprising that the demanding and narrow route of this city circuit caused one or the other failure during the laps. After 80 laps, only nine vehicles were still running. Three of them were fighting for the victory: Alongside Grover and Georges Bouriano in their Bugattis, Rudolf Caracciola in his Mercedes-Benz also hoped to be successful.

However, the Bugatti Type 35 was better capable for the tight corners and provided better grip with its tires in the warm temperatures. In addition, the patented broadband spoke wheels effectively cooled the brake drums. Combined with the 140 hp inline eight-cylinder engine with Rootes supercharger, ‘Williams’ Grover finally not only achieved the fastest lap in the race, but also achieved the debut victory in Monaco after more than 100 laps, a total distance of 318 kilometers and nearly four hours of driving. For Bugatti, another three victories in Monaco followed in 1930, 1931 and 1933.

Images: Bugatti