The 1931 Italian Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Monza on 24 May 1931. The race was the first of three Grands Prix that were part of the inaugural European Championship. The Alfa Romeo works team pairing of Giuseppe Campari and Tazio Nuvolari won the race, ahead of their teammates Ferdinando Minoia and Baconin Borzacchini in second, while third place went to the works Bugattis of Albert Divo and Guy Bouriat.
Entries No Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine 2 ? Officine A. Maserati Maserati Maserati 26M 2.5 L8 4 ? Officine A. Maserati Maserati Maserati 26M 2.5 L8 6 ? Officine A. Maserati Maserati Maserati 26M 2.5 L8 8 Umberto Klinger Pietro Ghersi U. Klinger Maserati Maserati 26M 2.5 L8 10 Carlo Pedrazzini C. Pedrazzini Maserati Maserati 26B 2.0 L8 12 Achille Varzi Louis Chiron Automobiles Ettore Bugatti Bugatti Bugatti T51 2.3 L8 14 Albert Divo Guy Bouriat Automobiles Ettore Bugatti Bugatti Bugatti T51 2.3 L8 16 Marcel Lehoux Philippe Étancelin M. Lehoux Bugatti Bugatti T51 2.3 L8 18 Jean-Pierre Wimille Jean Gaupillat J.-P. Wimille Bugatti Bugatti T51 2.3 L8 20 Robert Sénéchal Henri Frètet R. Sénéchal Delage Delage 15S8 1.5 L8 22 Boris Ivanowski Henri Stoffel B. Ivanowski Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz SSK 7.1 L6 24 Antonio Maino Gildo Strazza A. Maino Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz SSK 7.1 L6 26 Giuseppe Campari Attilio Marinoni SA Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 2.3 L8 28 Tazio Nuvolari Baconin Borzacchini SA Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Type A 2x 3.5 L6 30 Ferdinando Minoia Goffredo Zehender SA Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 2.3 L8 32 Francesco Pirola Giovanni Lurani F. Pirola Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 6C-1500 1.5 L6 34 Guglielmo Lettieri G. Lettieri Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 1.7 L6 36 Luigi Castelbarco Tino Bianchi L. Castelbarco Maserati Maserati 26M 2.5 L8 38 Amedeo Ruggeri Renato Balestrero A. Ruggeri Talbot Talbot 700 1.7 L8 40 Carlo di Vecchio Gerolamo Ferrari C. di Vecchio Talbot Talbot 700 1.5 L8 42 ? ? Talbot ? ? 44 Angelo Facchetti ? A. Fachetti Itala ? ? 46 ? ? Bugatti ? ? 48 Villa Gerardo Tornelli Villa Bugatti ? ? 50 Alfredo Caniato Mario Tadini A. Caniato Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 1.8 L8
— Luigi Arcangeli was originally designated as Campari's co-driver in car #26, but he was replaced by Marinoni after he was killed during practice.
Starting grid Grid positions were allocated by drawing lots.
First row 1 2 3 Sénéchal FrètetDelage Wimille GaupillatBugatti Campari MarinoniAlfa Romeo Second row 4 5 6 Minoia ZehenderAlfa Romeo Lehoux ÉtancelinBugatti Ivanowski StoffelMercedes-Benz Third row 7 8 9 Nuvolari BorzacchiniAlfa Romeo di Vecchio FerrariTalbot Divo BouriatBugatti Fourth row 10 11 Caniato TadiniAlfa Romeo Varzi ChironBugatti Fifth row 12 13 14 Ruggeri BalestreroTalbot Klinger GhersiMaserati Pirola LuraniAlfa Romeo
Classification
PosNoDriverCarLapsTime/RetiredDistance (km)GridPoints126 Giuseppe CampariAlfa Romeo 8C-230015510:00:0.71557.7543 1 Tazio Nuvolari n/a230 Ferdinando MinoiaAlfa Romeo 8C-2300153+2 laps1535.0874 2 Baconin Borzacchini n/a314 Albert DivoBugatti T51152+3 laps1525.3199 3 Guy Bouriat 3418 Jean-Pierre WimilleBugatti T51138+17 laps1386.0822 4 Jean Gaupillat 4522 Boris IvanowskiMercedes-Benz SSK134+21 laps1343.2556 4 Henri Stoffel 4632 Francesco PirolaAlfa Romeo 6C-1500129+26 laps1290.24314 4 Giovanni Lurani 4738 Amedeo RuggeriTalbot 700129+26 laps1290.00012 4 Renato Balestrero 488 Umberto KlingerMaserati 26M114+41 laps1140.00013 5 Pietro Ghersi 5Ret40 Carlo di VecchioTalbot 70087+68 laps870.0008 5 Gerolamo Ferrari 5 NC 20 Robert Sénéchal Delage 15S8 81 +74 Laps 809.977 1 5 Henri Frètet 5Ret16 Marcel LehouxBugatti T5149Con-rod490.0005 6 Philippe Étancelin 6Ret12 Achille VarziBugatti T5144Differential440.00011 6 Louis Chiron 6Ret28 Tazio NuvolariAlfa Romeo Type A31Mechanical310.0007 7 Baconin Borzacchini 7Ret50 Alfredo CaniatoAlfa Romeo 6C 175014140.00010 7 Mario Tadini 7DNS24 Antonio MainoMercedes-Benz SSKDid not start 8 Gildo Strazza 8DNS36 Luigi CastelbarcoMaserati 26MDid not start 8 Tino Bianchi 8 Sources:
— Nuvolari and Borzacchini did not receive the points for first and second place, respectively, because they were not driving in their designated cars. The seven points apiece that they received were for driving car #28, which completed less than a quarter of the race distance. Attilio Marinoni and Goffredo Zehender, who had been designated to drive cars #26 and #30, respectively, both received eight points, since they did not take part in the race. — Ruggeri and Balestrero were initially credited with 1290.534 km, putting them in sixth place. However, their final lap took more than five minutes to complete, so the fraction of the lap completed prior to the ten-hour mark was eliminated, demoting the pair to seventh, and promoting Pirola and Lurani to sixth. — Sénéchal and Frètet were not classified because they failed to complete at least three-fifths of the number of laps achieved by the race winner.
Notes: The race was limited to ten hours. Each driver was allowed to complete a lap begun before the ten-hour cutoff (and retain the fraction of the lap already completed), provided that the lap took no more than five minutes.
References