The Stuck Saga – Part 2

In 1936, Stuck returned to Shelsley Walsh. It was a very wet meeting and Raymond Mays’ Zoller supercharged, 2-liter R4B (not C or D as it became in 1938) managed a time of 41.6. The German driver, Walter Baumer, in the little 750-cc Austin and A.F.P. Fane’s Frazer Nash single-seater managed a 42.6. Hans Stuck in the huge 6-liter, 600 bhp Auto Union managed a 45.6 as his first climb in the pouring rain and the spectators felt his second run might bring his time down. Those spectators, who I recalled listening to in 1946 at the beginning of last month’s column, had still not forgotten witnessing the almost broadside start of this huge car, on the still wet track, in 1936. It seemed the car was never straight, climbing the hill in lock-to-lock slides, in the hands of the man who became the “Hill Climb King.”

After considerable success on circuits, in the later 1930s, Stuck was still good on the hills. Now in his late thirties or older, there were more visits to South America managed by Paula, and after an argument in 1937 Stuck left Auto Union and then re-joined the team after Rosemeyer was killed in a record attempt in early 1938. When he did return to the team there were not enough cars at times. By then, with the new 3-liter formula, Mercedes had the edge on drivers and cars. The drivers, Caracciola, Lang, von Brauchitsch and Seaman were a handful. Sometimes, as in the past, Stuck could cope against them, but the task was even more difficult than in the magic days of the likes of Rosemeyer and Varzi. In 1938, Tazio Nuvolari joined Auto Union and the ex-motorcycle star, Herman Muller, gave Stuck problems too. There were some good days, but some unreliable cars and a few shunts.