Hi Neil & List.
Rosemeyer was killed on the 28 January 1938 when he tried to regain his record
from Caracciola, which was set in the early morning of the same day.
The standard, published, explanation for the fatal incident, was, that a
crosswind behind a bridge caused the crah.
This explanation sounds alright, due to this, that there was really a strong
wind - this was the reason why Caracciola tried not a second attempt, after he
set the record - Caracciola's record (268mph) was 15mph under the possible
speed
of the W125R.
The Mercedes team patron, Alfred Neubauer also agreed, because he means, that
he
found out (from a weather station), that exactly to this second when Rosemeyer
past the bridge a high speed cross wind blew from the side through some
tree's......okay!!!!
To understood this explanation, it's necessary to look deeper.
In 1938, the Third Reich needs heros for the people.
And when a hero was killed, he has to past away by a reason, where the hero got
no chance to survive. Best for was a natural problem. It was not allowed to
blame a technical issue, or mechanical failure or more horror, a human error -
especially from the hero....
Let us make a look deeper.
There are only some picture left over from the car, before and after the
accident.
The most one was destroyed after WWII.
I found the most in very rare and old books. Also I read some witness reports.
More I was interest in the design of the car.
After all this investigations I discussed my results with Audi (Audi was called
in the earlier days Auto-Union, Rosemeyer runs the car from Auto-Union).
Audi's comment was very positive so I think I can write my results.
Here my results.
The Auto-Union car from Rosemeyer was the first race car ever, who was designed
as a ground effect car - so as the formula 1 in the 80's or today Cart racer.
The car was build as all the race cars to this day - a solid frame with a very
thin aluminium (skin) body. This body was a ten piece body.
Underfloor, top main body, drivers hood, engine hood, and a side cover on both
sides between the front and rear wheel houses and four wheel arch covers.
It was in very simple way assembled, screws and rivets.
What this guy never mentioned, was the force under the car, which this body
shape create by high speed.
With a help from some friends, I reworked the body on the computer (CAD).
My friends used this data to simulate the run on a computer. The result
surprised me and explained some strange things from the picture of the crashed
car.
On the 28. January, Rosemeyer done three runs - some reports says two, but this
is not important - but during the previous run before his accident, he reached
a
peak of around 265mph.
When the crash happens he runs 280+mph - this on a small two lane concrete
road, this guy got the guts.
The computer result showed a still stabile body by 265-270mph, but over 275mph
the body collapsed in one second, simple boom, and the shape was gone.
What's happens - the underpressure under the car was so high, that the
underfloor tried to close the gap between road and car, the body bend the side
panels, the ground effect was gone and the body collapsed and blew away.
Back to the picture material and the notes from the witness.
The frame and the body went in two parts, in two different directions.
the complete body seperate from the frame without any contact to a wall, tree
or
something other. The tire's was still alright, also the damage of the wheels
was
only from the crash, when the frame was smashed back to the ground (twice).
There was a tire mark on the concrete road surface - but due to this, that
there
was no blown tire, it had to come from a extremely high pressure on the wheel.
The shape of the tire mark was so, that it can't be from a cross wind, a long
straight line with a sharpe, very short, right turn curve.
When the complete body went loose without any contact, it has to be done by a
extreme force.
It couldn't be a not proper fixed panel - if this would be the reason, the
parts
wouldn't seperate in one complete piece.
Also, so as the destroyed parts was bend, it could be not from a contact - it
is
also possible to see the area's where the panels smashed on the ground.
But the picture and the computer result match together. What surprised, the
bend
in the body panels which was simulate from the computer was very similar to the
real parts.
May be I'm wrong, but there is the possibilty, that my result is close to this
what real happened.
For me it looks so, that simple the body work was not strong enough against the
underpressure under the car and the body bend, lost the ground effect, lift
off (and destroyed himself).
Similar crashes we got in the 80's in the formula 1, when the skirts ripped off
- Partrick Depailler in Hockenheim 1980 - and the cars was thrown sideways when
they lost the ground effect.
But as the manager from Audi Historie said, may be we got a solution, but we
will never have a chance to prove it - or we are interest to prove it?
Bernd Rosemeyer was a very brave man, so as all the other who runs for speed
records - they was brave when they set records with 100mph so as today, when we
do 300 or 400mph.
With fastest wishes
Thomas "Pork Pie" Graf
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