Donington, 1938

In 1938, Tazio Nuvolari left Alfa Romeo after narrowly avoiding serious injury when the uncompetitive car he was driving burst into flames. He declared that he would never race an Alfa Romeo again! The same year, Auto Union was in crisis after having lost their star driver Bernd Rosemeyer to a fatal crash during a world record speed attempt.

Joining the team in 1938, Nuvolari took only three races before claiming his first victory driving the D type, in front of his home crowd at the Italian Grand Prix. His second win in this car was at the postponed Donington GP on October 22. This race was postponed due the Munich crisis of September 28, which resulted in the appeasement of Hitler and Chamberlain’s announcement of “peace in our time.”