The 1938 Pau Grand Prix was a motor race held on 10 April 1938 at the Pau circuit, in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.
For 1938, new rules were in effect, limiting engine size, and also the size of the field, as few cars were ready to race. The non-championship Grand Prix was won by René Dreyfus, driving the Delahaye 145 Million Franc Race winning car owned by Lucy O'Reilly Schell. The Delahaye V12 did not consume as much fuel as other engines and could finish the race without having to pit.
Rudolf Caracciola and Hermann Lang each entered a new Mercedes-Benz W154, but Lang crashed in practise. When Caracciola had to make a pit stop for refuelling, Lang took over, thus they combined to finish second, narrowly beaten by a heroic drive of Dreyfus. Gianfranco Comotti in another Delahaye finished third, 6 laps down.
The new Alfa Romeo Tipo 308 had problems and did not start. A split fuel tank even made Tazio Nuvolari retire from racing.
Classification
Race
Pos No Driver Vehicle Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 2 René Dreyfus Delahaye 145 100 3hr 08min 59.0sec 1 2 6 Rudolf Caracciola Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz W154 100 + 1:51.0 s 2 3 4 Gianfranco Comotti Delahaye 145 94 + 6 laps 3 4 20 "Raph" Maserati 6CM 85 + 15 laps 8 5 28 Maurice Trintignant Bugatti T35C 83 + 17 laps 6 6 24 Dioscoride Lanza Maserati 6CM 81 + 19 laps 5 Ret 30 Yves Matra Bugatti T51 40 Retired 7 Ret 22 Antonio Negro Maserati 6CM 9 Steering 9 DNS 8 Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz W154 Did Not Start DNS 12 Tazio Nuvolari Alfa Romeo Tipo 308 Did Not Start DNS 14 Emilio Villoresi Alfa Romeo Tipo 308 Did Not Start Sources:
References