Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website The legendary Mille Miglia 90 years ago: Caracciola won in 1931 in a Mercedes-Benz SSKL
giugno 15, 2021 - Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

The legendary Mille Miglia 90 years ago: Caracciola won in 1931 in a Mercedes-Benz SSKL

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

  • The first non-Italian to win this gruelling road race in Italy
  • An important motorsport success for Mercedes-Benz in economically difficult times
  • Scheduled restart: 1000 Miglia to take place from 16 to 19 June 2021

Stuttgart. What a surprising victory: The large and, despite numerous weight-saving measures, still heavy Mercedes-Benz SSKL (W 06 RS) with #rudolfcaracciola at the wheel was not considered to be a favourite in view of the Italian competition in the fifth Mille Miglia on 12 and 13 April 1931. And yet, the team from Stuttgart mastered the 1,635-kilometre route from Brescia to Rome and back faster than all the local heroes: Caracciola and his co-driver, Wilhelm Sebastian, crossed the finishing line after 16 hours, 10 minutes and 10 seconds. Their average speed was 101.6 km/h, which alone was a sensation. No driver before them had ever achieved an average of more than 100 km/h. And, to top it all, Caracciola was the first non-Italian driver to win the Mille Miglia.

The original Mille Miglia race was held from 1927 to 1957. Since 1977, it has been a regularity drive for historic vehicles and today, as the 1000 Miglia, it is one of the world’s most popular events for classic cars. This year, the 1000 Miglia is scheduled to take place from 16 to 19 June 2021.

Mille Miglia 1931: No less than 151 teams registered for the road race. The route was from Brescia via Parma to Bologna, from there over the Apennines to Florence and then from Siena to Rome. The return route was via Perugia and Macerata to the Adriatic Sea and via Rimini, Bologna and Verona back to Brescia. The Italian teams had a home advantage in terms of route knowledge and also in terms of supply. “The route was virtually paved with spare parts stores,” said #rudolfcaracciola in retrospect, “we, on the other hand, had to economise.” Race director Alfred Neubauer was only able to set up four stores along the route to support the Caracciola/Sebastian team, which was entered as a private team.

The car: Officially, the #racing sports car was still called “SSK Model 1931” at that time. The car was not designated SSKL (“Super-Sport-Kurz-Leicht” – super, sports, short, light) until 1932, when it became the fourth and last model in the legendary S model series, of which only four were built – exclusively for #racing. With tremendous effort, the team headed by development director Dr Hans Nibel succeeded in keeping the #racing car, which was by no means state-of-the-art any more, competitive. By using a thinner-walled frame construction and adding numerous drilled holes, the unladen weight was reduced by 125 kilograms to 1,352 kilograms. The six-cylinder 7,069 cc engine was also thoroughly reworked. With the Roots supercharger activated, it produced 221 kW (300 hp) and its top speed was 235 km/h.

The race itself: Caracciola/Sebastian hit the track at 3:12 p.m. on 12 April 1931. The roads were narrow and crossed mountain passes so it was only towards the end of the race that Caracciola was able to drive at full throttle for many kilometres. It was a great achievement for the slightly built #racing driver to manoeuvre the heavy Mercedes-Benz quickly and seemingly effortlessly. He himself said: “For sixteen hours I sat at the wheel, for sixteen hours we thundered along the length and breadth of Italy, feeling our way through the night by the beam of the headlights, driving into the blinding light of the spring morning, ... for sixteen hours I had no idea what our position was in the enormous field of several hundred cars.” Caracciola commented on the moment of return to Brescia: “At the finishing line, Alfred Neubauer was completely out of his mind and was performing a completely crazy dance. What on earth was going on? At first, I didn’t realise what had happened, not yet, but slowly it dawned on me: I had won the Mille Miglia.” Behind him, 31 Italian-built cars reached the finish before a Graham-Paige car came in in 32nd place.

Further information in the press release to download