Bernd Rosemeyer, as if it were easy

Bernd, Rosemeyer, starts on two wheels

Bernd Rosemeyer's starts are common with some of the riders of his generation. Born on October 14, 1909 in the small town of Lingen, in Germany but close to the border with Holland, his father ran a workshop in which both he and his older brother began to love engines. and the speed. And, of course, in these cases of humble origin, motorcycles were the easiest access to the world of competition.

The brave young blonde driver who was winning local races among friends and amateurs ended up attracting the attention of a brand, Zündapp, in 1931, who recruited him to replace an injured driver in races on grass tracks, where he excelled. He went privately into circuit racing, and in 1934 a key move in the future of his career would take place. The DKW motorcycle brand signed him as the official pilot of his team. But it is that DKW was one of the brands that had merged to create Auto Union.

So the young Bernd, who was already looking askance at the speed and sporting brilliance of car racing, found himself in the middle of a brand that, in addition to delivering motorcycle triumphs, began to request a test for the newly created Grand Prix cars. These were the brave engineering feat of Dr. Ferdinand Porsche who had improved upon the idea of ​​the 1923 Mercedes-Benz Tropfenwagen by placing a V16 engine behind the driver, who was positioned far forward.

In 1934, Hans Stuck had proven the validity of the Type A concept, winning races such as the German GP at the Nürburgring -to the immense joy of the team- the Swiss GP at Bremgarten with a beautiful one-two thanks to the other driver, August Momberger , or the Masaryk Circuit in Brno. But the truth is that the Mercedes-Benz W25 was more balanced and docile. And Stuck, whose quality was contrasted, perhaps lacked the regularity that the team needed.

A test that changed the fate of Bernd Rosemeyer

At the end of the year, in October, as would be customary for both Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union, the brand with the four rings prepared a test for young pilots: eleven candidates were selected to take the controls of the Type A, and among them was a young man of just 25 years of age. Handsome and smiling, Rosemeyer appeared elegantly dressed and without racing gear for the test: "It's a special occasion for me, my debut in a racing car! So I thought I should dress for the occasion," the driver would say. .

But that daring spontaneity had to be translated into action. And Bernd is not only that he had never driven a Grand Prix car, but that he had never been behind the wheel of a racing car - and in his entire life, only once, in a private test, would he drive a model other than a Car Union: tested a Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix-. Everything was new to him. The team manager, Willy Walb, knew this, but he paid attention to the progression of the youngster, who began by spinning in some corners, so as not to make the same mistake again. The question was not the times, despite being interesting, but the impressions.

And that's where Bernd charmed Walb, who admitted him to the team thanks to his "reckless superiority", albeit as a reserve driver. And it is that Auto Union had signed for 1935 possibly the greatest driving aesthete of the moment: Achille Varzi, who would make his class clear by winning his debut with the team in Tripoli, in 1935. However, the Italian would succumb that same year to his addiction to morphine after an appendicitis, which caused his performances to become irregular, until he disappeared from racing a couple of years later.

Meanwhile, in 1935, Rosemeyer was instigating for his team manager debut. He was always at the factory and asked about his car, about the engines, about his opportunity. On the calendar in Willy Walb's office, he began to count the days remaining for the Avusrennen, the race in which he had been promised his debut, with entries such as "45 days to Avus, will Rosemeyer run?" And finally, it was confirmed.

Das wunderkind

On May 26, 1935, starting from second position in the first round, at the controls of a Type A Streamliner, a young Bernd Rosemeyer made his debut in a Grand Prix. And although he saw Hans Stuck take the lead, he was fighting in the early laps for second place with the Mercedes-Benz of Luigi Fagioli. However, Rosemeyer's enthusiasm made him neglect his tires on a circuit that was very hard on them due to the high speeds, and on the fourth lap of the first race he had a puncture near the north turn that caused him to retire. The day was over.

Barely a month later, on June 16, at the Eifelrennen held at the Nürburgring, the world of motorsports definitely set its sights on the young German. Bernd knew the Nürburgring from the October test, but now he was facing it on days marked by rain. Starting the race in thirteenth position -his favorite number-, the inexperienced driver, in his second car race, began to advance positions. In the sixth lap of the eleven scheduled he was already third, partly due to his progression and partly due to some dropouts. His pace, however, told the truth: he was faster than everyone on the track.

And so, after abandoning the Mercedes-Benz of leader Manfred von Brauchitsch due to a broken engine, on lap 7 he was glued to the other Mercedes-Benz, but this one of the tremendous Rudolf Caracciola. The Titan, the god of Teutonic automotive Walhalla. Without holding back, the blond and brave Rosemeyer was the leader in the next lap and held firm there to the surprise of Caracciola, but also of the public. The V16 was a V14 because two cylinders were misfiring, the windshield had been broken several laps ago, but the challenger wasn't misfiring or giving out. Until in a gear change, the gear did not enter and Rudolf took the opportunity to pass. Bernd's subsequent attempts were useless: he finished second, 1.9 seconds behind the winner.

Rosemeyer was hitting the car with one hand as he returned to the pits, unable to hide his frustration. He would later discover that the public acclaimed him more than the winner, who gave him some advice, observing the young upstart with respect and disbelief. What the press and the public dubbed "Das Wunderkind" had been born. Auto Union decided to immediately promote him to starting driver and he began racing in Grand Prix and other races. However, his relatively improvised driving gave him some dropouts, even though sharing the car with colleagues he ended up in honorable positions. And at the Coppa Acerbo, in Pescara, he managed to avoid a serious accident by driving his Auto Union between a bridge and a post that left a gap only 5 centimeters wider than the width of his car, to the astonishment of Dr. Porsche, who was personally to check it out.

But Bernd Rosemeyer was not just a tightrope walker on the edge of the precipice, but a driver who focused deeply on his driving and had a natural feel for every move with an admittedly difficult car to drive. What happened is that Bernd did not know what other cars were like, and in fact he thought - as he admitted - that they all drove the same. However, despite the quality of his teammates, his instinct made him get something more out of the car. The moment of success had to come. What I could not imagine is that it would be double.

A double victory

Because in his last race of the year, the Masaryk Circuit on the tremendous 29.1-kilometre Brno circuit, Rosemeyer was going to find many reasons for happiness. In the absence of Mercedes-Benz, the Auto Union and the Alfa Romeo were the great favourites, although the former were more so. And so, from pole position, Achille Varzi got away from everyone with a masterful and flawless drive, while Rosemeyer and Nuvolari took second and third place. It would not be until lap 12 of the 15 scheduled, that an engine failure made Varzi move away.

That left the leading Rosemeyer with a huge advantage over Tazio Nuvolari, who was unable to counteract the young German, in whom he surely saw himself reflected: like him, he came from motorcycles, and like him, he was a spectacle of speed untamed at the wheel. Not surprisingly, both became very close friends despite the age difference, to the point that the Italian would be the godfather of Bernd's son. At the lowering of the checkered flag, Rosemeyer achieved the first victory of his motorsport career, defeating the then legendary Tazio Nuvolari.

Happiness was complete. But as she reached the podium, she knew that no victory could fill him with as much joy as the beauty he was beholding. It was Elly Beinhorn, the famous aviator who took to the skies achieving epic distance feats. Bernd forgot everything and managed to get to see Elly again, this time in Berlin, with the excuse of signing a photo of her. The aviator rejected the young pilot - two and a half years separated them - but with her innocent smile, her almost childish insistence and her education, Elly ended up succumbing to love for Bernd. Germany had the fashionable couple, and the Nazi regime did not waste - never did - the opportunity for propaganda, despite the opposition of both. Even so, Rosemeyer would become an SS captain, like other pilots and athletes who reached relevant positions in the Nazi military-political organization chart.

At the Peak of Motorsport

Thus opened 1936, which was to be the first full year of racing for Rosemeyer. In Monaco, on a rainy day, he spun on an oil slick and went off on the Massenet climb. He threw away an ornamental vessel that, determined, he took with him as a prize for that race, which Rudolf Caracciola won with the Mercedes-Benz, the current European champion. The year began with worrying results for the new Type C and for the Auto Union star, as they would continue to drop out in Tripoli and Tunis, and a fifth place in the Penya Rhin in Montjuic, after Tazio Nuvolari. But everything went right again in the Eifelrennen, where on a day of dense fog that earned him the nickname "nebelmeister", he did not let himself be fazed and despite the poor visibility, he won with authority. Then came second place, again behind Nuvolari, in Hungary. But the balance had already turned in his favor.

In the valid tests for the European championship, all were triumphs, without exception and without giving any option: Germany at the Nürburgring, Switzerland at Bremgarten -with a fight on the track and off it with Rudolf Caracciola- and Italy at Monza. Not even his partner Hans Stuck could keep up with his pace and his perseverance. At the age of 27, he became the youngest rider to win the championship, confirming his immense talent, to which he also added the German mountain championship. But perhaps his greatest success was convincing Elly to get married on July 13.

The honeymoon was postponed until they flew together to South Africa for some races, before returning to Europe, where he received the news of the death of his mother and brother. In sports, Mercedes-Benz had decided to make up for the previous year, creating an extremely refined, precise and powerful model. Still, Bernd won the Eifelrennen again, and scored a big win in terms of impact in the United States, in the Vanderbilt Cup, despite horrifying the twisty course. But the European championship did not go well, and with only two third places in Germany and Italy, he finished seventh. In Switzerland, yes, he had the pleasure of sharing a team with Nuvolari for a single race, including the car, but the Italian complained about the difficult maneuverability of the German car, which actually said a lot about Bernd's ability. Interestingly, the only driver who would be able to extract the best from the Auto Union concept in the future was Tazio himself.

He also won the Coppa Acerbo like the previous year, and in his last race of the year, at Donington Park, he closed the year with victory. Then, in October, he achieved three world land speed records and sixteen class records, confirming him as the fastest driver and car in the world. And of course, on November 12, 1937, their little boy was born, who was also called Bernd, the result of his marriage to Elly. Just turned 28, Rosemeyer was in the prime of his life: he was a global idol, he was arguably the fastest driver of all, and he was happy in his personal life.

An inevitable fate

But the rivalry instigated by the sports authorities themselves between its two major brands, Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union, would lead to an unforeseeable outcome. Because the brand of the star wanted to recover, with Caracciola, dominance in speed on land. So they went to the highway between Frankfurt and Darmstadt for January 27, but the weather was inauspicious and they delayed it until the early hours of the next morning. Rudolf Caracciola set a record of 432.7 kilometers per hour that was in force until well into the 21st century. Mercedes-Benz stepped aside and let Auto Union take over.

For Rosemeyer, these record attempts were not pleasant. He once described them like this: “At about 240 miles per hour, the joints in the road surface feel like bumps, setting up a corresponding resonance through the car, but this disappears at higher speeds. Going under the bridges, the driver receives a tremendous blow to the chest, because the car pushes air to the side, which is trapped on the bridge. When you go under a bridge, for a fraction of a second the engine noise disappears completely and then it comes back like thunder as you pass."

The wind had picked up, but that didn't stop the Auto Union men, despite earnest warnings from Caracciola and other Mercedes-Benz members. And it is that the brand with the four rings had an aerodynamic model devised by Professor Eberan-Eberhorst, who had studied its efficiency in the wind tunnel. But aerodynamics and studies at that time were still precarious. The Auto Union had side skirts that sealed the lower part of the floor: that is, they had "found" the famous ground effect that 40 years later would be so revolutionary in Formula 1, giving the title to Mario Andretti with the Lotus 79.

Rosemeyer made a first attempt, calm. The engine was having trouble warming up. It was cold and there was a strong crosswind which he did not like. But at 10:40 he was ready to attack the record. However, upon reaching the Mörfelden clearing, the car, going at full throttle, veered to the left hit by the wind, touched the grass of the median and began to cross. Rosemeyer braked, but there was no way to regain control of a car that had lost all its aerodynamic efficiency. It crashed, flipped over and shattered.

And Bernd Rosemeyer was thrown out of the cockpit. News reached the exit point, and the doctor and several members of the team sped off in a car. They found the pilot lying down, uninjured, and with a weak pulse that went out shortly after his arrival. At only 28 years old, serene, torn from life in an instant of extreme speed, almost as if fate could not have been any other. Eternally young, beautiful as a god, smiling and quick as the world may never have seen again.

Although Elly wanted a private burial, the political authorities did not miss the opportunity to ostentatiously mourn their hero, despite having indirectly caused the sacrifice of one of their most notable athletes with a futile rivalry. In fact, attempts at new records were stopped. And although time passes and everything becomes relative, the figure of Bernd Rosemeyer, with only three years active in motorsport, cannot stop growing. He is probably the greatest raw talent ever seen, taming those tough but extremely fast cars without any previous experience. Submitting the most difficult of all to be European champion in his second year. As if it had been easy.