The 1932 Grand Prix season marked the second year of the AIACR European Championship. It saw the debut of Alfa Romeo's sensational new Tipo B (also called the P3) and with it, Tazio Nuvolari won the Championship driving for the Alfa Corse works team. The 40-year old Nuvolari won two of the three rounds and was second in the other. Still running to a Formula Libre (open formula) rules for the cars, the regulations were revised to set the races to be between five and ten hours. However, all three national committees ran their races to the minimum time-limit.
The other title contenders, Bugatti and Maserati continued to develop their models from the year before but they were rarely a match for the Alfa Romeo with its combination of high speed and light weight giving excellent balance for cornering. Nuvolari was dominant through the year, also winning the non-Championship Monaco GP and Targa Florio. His German team-mate Rudolf Caracciola won the other championship race, the German Grand Prix, along with the Eifelrennen and Monza GP. Bugatti did have some successes, with Achille Varzi winning the first major race of the year, at Tunis and Louis Chiron the Masaryk Circuit in Czechoslovakia.
Maserati had an unsuccessful season, which coincided with the death of their team manager and lead desginer, Alfieri Maserati, in March. His final design, the Maserati V5 bimotore, won the Rome Grand Prix driven by Luigi Fagioli. Privateer Manfred von Brauchitsch won the Avusrennen in a Mercedes-Benz featuring an aerodynamic bare-metal bodyshell. At the end of the season, Le Mans winner Raymond Sommer won at the Miramas oval near Marseille.
European Championship Grands Prix Date Name Circuit RaceRegulations Weather RaceDistance Winner'sTime Winning driver Winningconstructor Fastestlap Report 1 5 Jun X Gran Premio d’Italia Monza Georgano 1971, p.119-20 AIACR sunny 838 km(winner) 5 hours Tazio Nuvolari Alfa Romeo P3 Luigi Fagioli Maserati Report 2 3 Jul XXVI Grand Prix de l’ACF Reims-Gueux Georgano 1971, p.134 AIACR hot 743 km(winner) 5 hours Tazio Nuvolari Alfa Romeo P3 Tazio Nuvolari Alfa Romeo Report 3 17 Jul VI Großer Preis von Deutschland Nürburgring Georgano 1971, p.123 AIACRVoiturette coldovercast 570 km 4h 47m Rudolf Caracciola Alfa Romeo P3 Tazio Nuvolari Alfa Romeo Report
Other Grand Épreuves Date Name Circuit RaceRegulations Weather RaceDistance Winner'sTime Winning driver Winningconstructor Fastestlap Report 30 May XX International 500 Mile Sweepstakes Indianapolis AAA fine 500 miles 4h 48m Fred Frame Stevens-Miller-Hartz not recorded Report 10 Jul Belgian Grand Prix Spa-Francorchamps Georgano 1971, p.143-4 cancelled 25 Sep Spanish Grand Prix Lasarte cancelled A grey background indicates the race was not held this year. Sources: Rendall 1993, p.363
Major Races Multiple classes are mentioned when they were divided and run to different race lengths. Date Name Circuit RaceRegulations Weather RaceDistance Winner'sTime Winning driver Winningconstructor Report 29 Feb II Sveriges Vinter Grand Prix Lake Rämen Formula Libre sunny 370 km 4h 28m Sven Olof “Olle” Bennström Ford Report 14 Mar V Australian Grand Prix Phillip Island Formula Librehandicap sunny 200 miles 2h 40m Bill Thompson Bugatti Type 37A Report 27 Mar Gran Premio de Pasqua Sitges-Terramar Formula Libre,heats hot 30 km 12mins Andrés de Vizcaya Bugatti Type 39A Report Circuito di Alessandria Alessandria cancelled A 3 Apr IV I Grand Prix de Tunisie Carthage Formula Libre hot 470 km 3h 14m Achille Varzi Bugatti Type 51 Report B 17 Apr IV Grand Prix de Monaco Monte Carlo Formula Libre overcast 320 km 3h 32m Tazio Nuvolari Alfa Romeo Monza Report C24 Apr VIII Premio Reale di Roma Littorio Formula Libre,heats dry 240 km 1h 31m Luigi Fagioli Maserati Tipo V5 Report II Grand Prix d’Oranie Arcole Formula Libre sunny 380 km(winner) 3 hours Jean-Pierre Wimille Bugatti Type 51 Report 30 Apr I British Empire Trophy Brooklands Formula Libre,heats ? 100 miles 47mins John Cobb Delage V12 LSR Report 1 May Hungarian Grand Prix cancelled D 8 May XXIII Targa Florio Piccolo Madonie Targa Florio very hot 580 km 7h 16m Tazio Nuvolari Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Report 8 May /6 May I Suomen Suurajo(Finnish Grand Prix) Eläintarharata Formula Libre overcast 100 km 1h 09m Per-Viktor Widengren Mercedes-Benz SSK Report 15 May VII Grand Prix des Frontières Chimay Formula LibreVoiturette sunny 160 km 1h 23m Arthur Legat Bugatti Type 37A Report 16 May I Trophée de Provence Nîmes Formula Libre sunny 100 km 47mins Count Stanisław Czaykowski Bugatti Type 35C Report I Grand Prix de Nîmes Nîmes Formula Libre sunny 200 km 1hr 33m Benoît Falchetto Bugatti Type 51 Report E22 May II Internationales Avusrennen AVUS Georgano 1971, p.65 Formula LibreVoiturette cool 300 km 1h 31m Manfred von Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz SSKLstreamliner Report F II Casablanca Grand PrixVI Moroccan Grand Prix Anfa Circuit Formula Libre sunny 420 km 3h 19m Marcel Lehoux Type 54 Report G29 May VI Eifelrennen Nürburgring Formula Libre sunny, thenbrief shower 320 km 2h 48m Rudolf Caracciola Alfa Romeo Monza Report Circuit de Torvilliers Torvilliers,Troyes Formula Libre ? 268 km(winner) 2 hours ? Robert Gauthier Bugatti Type 35B Report Circuito di Mugello cancelled 5 Jun VIII Grand Prix de Picardie Péronne Formula LibreVoiturette cloudy 240 km 1h 56m Philippe Étancelin Alfa Romeo Monza Report 19 Jun III Grand Prix Miasta Lwowa(Großer Preis von Lemberg) Lviv Georgano 1971, p.109-110 Formula Libre sunny 200 km 2h 20m Rudolf Caracciola Alfa Romeo Monza Report 26 Jun I Grand Prix de Lorraine Seichamps,Nancy Formula LibreVoiturette damp 165 km 1h 29m Jean-Pierre Wimille Alfa Romeo Monza Report 24 Jul IV Grand Prix de Dieppe Dieppe Formula LibreVoiturette rain 502 km(winner) 4 hours Louis Chiron Bugatti Type 51 Report H31 Jul VI Coppa Ciano Montenero Formula LibreVoiturette hot 200 km 2h 18m Tazio Nuvolari Alfa Romeo P3 Report Circuit de Vitesse de Nice Nice Formula Libre,heats ? 50 km 30mins Louis Chiron Bugatti Type 51 Report J14 Aug VIII Coppa Acerbo Pescara Georgano 1971, p.129-30 Formula LibreVoiturette hot 300 km 2h 11m Tazio Nuvolari Alfa Romeo P3 Report VIII Grand Prix du Comminges Saint-Gaudens Formula LibreVoiturette fine, thenrain at end 420 km 3h 02m Goffredo Zehender Alfa Romeo Monza Report 17 Aug VIII Grand Prix de la Baule La Baule beach Formula Libre sunny 150 km 1h 02m William Grover-Williams Bugatti Type 51 Report K 4 Sep III Masaryk Circuit Masaryk-Ring, Cimarosti 1997, p.88Brno Formula LibreVoiturette rain 500 km 4h 37m Louis Chiron Bugatti Type 51 Report L11 Sep V Gran Premio di Monza Monza Formula Libre,heats sunny 200 km 1h 07m Rudolf Caracciola Alfa Romeo P3 Report III Circuit du Cap d’Antibes La Garoupe Formula LibreVoiturette ? 100 km 1h 13m Benoît Falchetto Bugatti Type 51(Bugatti Type 35B ) Report M25 Sep I Grand Prix de Marseille Miramas Formula Libre hot 400 km 2h 18m Raymond Sommer Alfa Romeo Monza Report I Munksnäsloppet /Munkkiniemenajo Munkkiniemenrata,Helsinki Formula Libre sunny 150 km 1h 42m Per-Viktor Widengren Alfa Romeo Monza Report 9 Oct Grand Prix de l’UMF Montlhéry Voiturette 100 km 41m Dr Pierre Félix Alfa Romeo Report
Regulations and Technical In September 1931, at the conclusion of the inaugural European Championship, the CSI regulatory body of the AIACR met and agreed to hold the event again in 1932. The German Grand Prix was added to the list of races in the schedule. But with the cancellation of the Belgian and Spanish rounds, there would be, once again, only the three races to contest. After the 10-hour marathons of the previous year, the CSI accepted to shorten the run-time to be between 5 – 10hours. All national organisations chose the minimum time, although the German organisers embarrassingly miscalculated, making the race technically ineligible to be included. However, no teams protested the error. There was also a re-introduction of the Manufacturer's Championship, last held in 1927. Curiously, the AIACR never published its list of regulations, and information has only been able to be compiled by inference and comment from contemporary racing magazines. There were, apparently, no changes to the cars or engines from the current regulations.
From those magazine reports, there appears to have been a change in the points system, with 7 points for a non-start or non-arrival, and 6 points awarded to all retirees when it had formerly been 8 for not arriving and 5, 6 or 7 for retiring depending on the distance covered.
Once again, the AIACR was becoming concerned with the high speeds of the big-engined racing cars. The current regulations were due to expire at the end of 1933. During the year, experts including Ferdinand Porsche, were commissioned by the AIACR to start working on the new regulations to come into effect for the 1934 season. The rules revolved around a maximum weight of 750kg and a minimum width, to incentivise the building of smaller, and hence lighter, engines. Reuss 2008, p.38 Ludvigsen 2009, p.57 It in fact resembled proposed AIACR rules dating back to 1928.
Technical Innovation In Italy, the year saw the opening of the country's first autostrada, between Milan and Turin. Ludvigsen 2008, p.112 Alfa Romeo's lead designer, Vittorio Jano, had seen the 1931 Tipo A as an interim model and in 1932 he produced what many consider his masterpiece – the Tipo B. It is also commonly known as the ‘P3’, as it was seen as a worthy successor to Alfa's dominant P2 model of the mid-20s. Rendall 1993, p.132 With limited funds available to him, the engine was based on the race-proven winner in the 8C 2300, with a longer stroke and bored out to 2654cc, churning out a total of 215 bhp. It was fitted with two superchargers, one for each bank of four cylinders. Aluminium blocks kept the engine very light, and the whole vehicle was designed with weight in mind. A new suspension format, with the differential mounted behind the gearbox driving the rear suspension through twin driveshafts. This improved the weight distribution, giving better handling, and allowed the driver to sit lower between the driveshafts. Although putting out less power than its competition, its big advantage was its weight – with an aluminium engine block it only weighed 700kg, over 25% less than the big Bugatti and Maserati. Like the Type A, it was a monoposto (single-seater) design, with a narrow frontage, echoing the American Millers of the 1920s. Six cars were built with three sets of spare parts. Unveiled for the championship at its home Grand Prix, six models were made and it won on debut. Over the next 2½ years, the car would take part in 26 races, winning 22, while achieving a 92% finish-ratio from the 62 race-starts. Ludvigsen 2008, p.76 Cimarosti 1997, p.92 Montagna 1989, p.44-5 Rendall 1993, p.130 Georgano 1971, p.338 The Alfa Corse works team was also managed by the talented Aldo Giovannini, who placated the strong egos of his drivers and kept his pit crews well-drilled and organised.