Coppa Ciano in Livorno, August 7, 1938. Hermann Lang, who was to win the race, in a Mercedes-Benz W 154 during the starting preparations.
Hermann Lang was born on April 6, 1909 in Cannstatt near Stuttgart, and if he were alive, today would mark his 100th birthday.
Lang began his racing career on two wheels and rode an old Norton motorcycle to victory on the Solitude circuit in Stuttgart in 1927 when still an apprentice mechanic. Lang developed into a sidecar specialist as a works rider for motorcycle manufacturer Standard, notching up a series of notable victories during the course of 1931 on his way to the German Hill Climb Championship title for sidecars. In 1933 he was taken on by Daimler-Benz AG as a mechanic in the racing and testing department. Lang was occasionally asked to warm up the brakes for the 750-kilogram-formula cars, which gave him the opportunity to show off his driving talents and secured him a place in a junior drivers trial. In 1935 Lang made his first start as a Mercedes-Benz racing driver in the International Eifel Race, going on to finish fifth.
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