1931 Italian Grand Prix

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.^[1]

1931 Italian Grand Prix
Race 1 of 3 in the 1931 European Championship
Race details
Date	24 May 1931
Official name	IX Gran Premio d'Italia
Location	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza Monza, Italy
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	10.00 km (6.21 miles)
Distance	155 laps, 1550.03 km (963.14 miles)
Pole position
Drivers	Robert Sénéchal Henri Frètet	Delage
Grid positions set by ballot
Fastest lap
Driver	Giuseppe Campari	Alfa Romeo
Time	3:32.8
Podium
First	Giuseppe Campari Tazio Nuvolari	Alfa Romeo
Second	Ferdinando Minoia Baconin Borzacchini	Alfa Romeo
Third	Albert Divo Guy Bouriat	Bugatti

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 Marinoni1	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

^1 — 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.^[1]

Starting grid

Grid positions were allocated by drawing lots.^[1]

First row
1		2		3
Sénéchal Frètet Delage		Wimille Gaupillat Bugatti		Campari Marinoni Alfa Romeo
Second row
4		5		6
Minoia Zehender Alfa Romeo		Lehoux Étancelin Bugatti		Ivanowski Stoffel Mercedes-Benz
Third row
7		8		9
Nuvolari Borzacchini Alfa Romeo		di Vecchio Ferrari Talbot		Divo Bouriat Bugatti
Fourth row
10		11
Caniato Tadini Alfa Romeo		Varzi Chiron Bugatti
Fifth row
12		13		14
Ruggeri Balestrero Talbot		Klinger Ghersi Maserati		Pirola Lurani Alfa Romeo

Classification

Start of the race

Giuseppe Campari

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/Retired	Distance (km)	Grid	Points
1	26	Giuseppe Campari	Alfa Romeo 8C-2300	155	10:00:0.7	1557.754	3	1
		Tazio Nuvolari						n/a2
2	30	Ferdinando Minoia	Alfa Romeo 8C-2300	153	+2 laps	1535.087	4	2
		Baconin Borzacchini						n/a2
3	14	Albert Divo	Bugatti T51	152	+3 laps	1525.319	9	3
		Guy Bouriat						3
4	18	Jean-Pierre Wimille	Bugatti T51	138	+17 laps	1386.082	2	4
		Jean Gaupillat						4
5	22	Boris Ivanowski	Mercedes-Benz SSK	134	+21 laps	1343.255	6	4
		Henri Stoffel						4
6	32	Francesco Pirola	Alfa Romeo 6C-1500	129	+26 laps	1290.243	14	4
		Giovanni Lurani						4
7	38	Amedeo Ruggeri	Talbot 700	129	+26 laps	1290.0003	12	4
		Renato Balestrero						4
8	8	Umberto Klinger	Maserati 26M	114	+41 laps	1140.000	13	5
		Pietro Ghersi						5
Ret	40	Carlo di Vecchio	Talbot 700	87	+68 laps	870.000	8	5
		Gerolamo Ferrari						5
NC4	20	Robert Sénéchal	Delage 15S8	81	+74 Laps	809.977	1	5
		Henri Frètet						5
Ret	16	Marcel Lehoux	Bugatti T51	49	Con-rod	490.000	5	6
		Philippe Étancelin						6
Ret	12	Achille Varzi	Bugatti T51	44	Differential	440.000	11	6
		Louis Chiron						6
Ret	28	Tazio Nuvolari	Alfa Romeo Type A	31	Mechanical	310.000	7	7
		Baconin Borzacchini						7
Ret	50	Alfredo Caniato	Alfa Romeo 6C 1750	14		140.000	10	7
		Mario Tadini						7
DNS	24	Antonio Maino	Mercedes-Benz SSK		Did not start			8
		Gildo Strazza						8
DNS	36	Luigi Castelbarco	Maserati 26M		Did not start			8
		Tino Bianchi						8
Sources:[1]

^2 — 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.^[1]

^3 — 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.^[1]

^4 — 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.^[1]

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.^[1]