# 1931 Italian Grand Prix

The 1931 Italian Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Monza on 24 May 1931. The race was the first of three Grands Prix that were part of the inaugural European Championship. The Alfa Romeo works team pairing of Giuseppe Campari and Tazio Nuvolari won the race, ahead of their teammates Ferdinando Minoia and Baconin Borzacchini in second, while third place went to the works Bugattis of Albert Divo and Guy Bouriat.

## Entries

| No | Driver | Entrant | Constructor | Chassis | Engine |
| 2 | ? | Officine A. Maserati | Maserati | Maserati 26M | 2.5 L8 |
| 4 | ? | Officine A. Maserati | Maserati | Maserati 26M | 2.5 L8 |
| 6 | ? | Officine A. Maserati | Maserati | Maserati 26M | 2.5 L8 |
| 8 | Umberto Klinger Pietro Ghersi | U. Klinger | Maserati | Maserati 26M | 2.5 L8 |
| 10 | Carlo Pedrazzini | C. Pedrazzini | Maserati | Maserati 26B | 2.0 L8 |
| 12 | Achille Varzi Louis Chiron | Automobiles Ettore Bugatti | Bugatti | Bugatti T51 | 2.3 L8 |
| 14 | Albert Divo Guy Bouriat | Automobiles Ettore Bugatti | Bugatti | Bugatti T51 | 2.3 L8 |
| 16 | Marcel Lehoux Philippe Étancelin | M. Lehoux | Bugatti | Bugatti T51 | 2.3 L8 |
| 18 | Jean-Pierre Wimille Jean Gaupillat | J.-P. Wimille | Bugatti | Bugatti T51 | 2.3 L8 |
| 20 | Robert Sénéchal Henri Frètet | R. Sénéchal | Delage | Delage 15S8 | 1.5 L8 |
| 22 | Boris Ivanowski Henri Stoffel | B. Ivanowski | Mercedes-Benz | Mercedes-Benz SSK | 7.1 L6 |
| 24 | Antonio Maino Gildo Strazza | A. Maino | Mercedes-Benz | Mercedes-Benz SSK | 7.1 L6 |
| 26 | Giuseppe Campari Attilio Marinoni | SA Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 | 2.3 L8 |
| 28 | Tazio Nuvolari Baconin Borzacchini | SA Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo Type A | 2x 3.5 L6 |
| 30 | Ferdinando Minoia Goffredo Zehender | SA Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 | 2.3 L8 |
| 32 | Francesco Pirola Giovanni Lurani | F. Pirola | Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo 6C-1500 | 1.5 L6 |
| 34 | Guglielmo Lettieri | G. Lettieri | Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 | 1.7 L6 |
| 36 | Luigi Castelbarco Tino Bianchi | L. Castelbarco | Maserati | Maserati 26M | 2.5 L8 |
| 38 | Amedeo Ruggeri Renato Balestrero | A. Ruggeri | Talbot | Talbot 700 | 1.7 L8 |
| 40 | Carlo di Vecchio Gerolamo Ferrari | C. di Vecchio | Talbot | Talbot 700 | 1.5 L8 |
| 42 | ? | ? | Talbot | ? | ? |
| 44 | Angelo Facchetti ? | A. Fachetti | Itala | ? | ? |
| 46 | ? | ? | Bugatti | ? | ? |
| 48 | Villa Gerardo Tornelli | Villa | Bugatti | ? | ? |
| 50 | Alfredo Caniato Mario Tadini | A. Caniato | Alfa Romeo | Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 | 1.8 L8 |
    ^1 — Luigi Arcangeli was originally designated as Campari's co-driver in car #26, but he was replaced by Marinoni after he was killed during practice.

## Starting grid

Grid positions were allocated by drawing lots.
First row :
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Sénéchal Frètet Delage | Wimille Gaupillat Bugatti | Campari Marinoni Alfa Romeo |
| Second row |||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Minoia Zehender Alfa Romeo | Lehoux Étancelin Bugatti | Ivanowski Stoffel Mercedes-Benz |
| Third row |||||
| 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Nuvolari Borzacchini Alfa Romeo | di Vecchio Ferrari Talbot | Divo Bouriat Bugatti |
| Fourth row |||||
| 10 | 11 | |
| Caniato Tadini Alfa Romeo | Varzi Chiron Bugatti | |
| Fifth row |||||
| 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Ruggeri Balestrero Talbot | Klinger Ghersi Maserati | Pirola Lurani Alfa Romeo |

## Classification

| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/Retired | Distance (km) | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 26 | Giuseppe Campari | Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 | 155 | 10:00:0.7 | 1557.754 | 3 | 1 |
| 1 | 26 | Tazio Nuvolari | Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 | 155 | 10:00:0.7 | 1557.754 | 3 | n/a |
| 2 | 30 | Ferdinando Minoia | Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 | 153 | +2 laps | 1535.087 | 4 | 2 |
| 2 | 30 | Baconin Borzacchini | Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 | 153 | +2 laps | 1535.087 | 4 | n/a |
| 3 | 14 | Albert Divo | Bugatti T51 | 152 | +3 laps | 1525.319 | 9 | 3 |
| 3 | 14 | Guy Bouriat | Bugatti T51 | 152 | +3 laps | 1525.319 | 9 | 3 |
| 4 | 18 | Jean-Pierre Wimille | Bugatti T51 | 138 | +17 laps | 1386.082 | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | 18 | Jean Gaupillat | Bugatti T51 | 138 | +17 laps | 1386.082 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | 22 | Boris Ivanowski | Mercedes-Benz SSK | 134 | +21 laps | 1343.255 | 6 | 4 |
| 5 | 22 | Henri Stoffel | Mercedes-Benz SSK | 134 | +21 laps | 1343.255 | 6 | 4 |
| 6 | 32 | Francesco Pirola | Alfa Romeo 6C-1500 | 129 | +26 laps | 1290.243 | 14 | 4 |
| 6 | 32 | Giovanni Lurani | Alfa Romeo 6C-1500 | 129 | +26 laps | 1290.243 | 14 | 4 |
| 7 | 38 | Amedeo Ruggeri | Talbot 700 | 129 | +26 laps | 1290.000 | 12 | 4 |
| 7 | 38 | Renato Balestrero | Talbot 700 | 129 | +26 laps | 1290.000 | 12 | 4 |
| 8 | 8 | Umberto Klinger | Maserati 26M | 114 | +41 laps | 1140.000 | 13 | 5 |
| 8 | 8 | Pietro Ghersi | Maserati 26M | 114 | +41 laps | 1140.000 | 13 | 5 |
| Ret | 40 | Carlo di Vecchio | Talbot 700 | 87 | +68 laps | 870.000 | 8 | 5 |
| Ret | 40 | Gerolamo Ferrari | Talbot 700 | 87 | +68 laps | 870.000 | 8 | 5 |
| NC | 20 | Robert Sénéchal | Delage 15S8 | 81 | +74 Laps | 809.977 | 1 | 5 |
| NC | 20 | Henri Frètet | Delage 15S8 | 81 | +74 Laps | 809.977 | 1 | 5 |
| Ret | 16 | Marcel Lehoux | Bugatti T51 | 49 | Con-rod | 490.000 | 5 | 6 |
| Ret | 16 | Philippe Étancelin | Bugatti T51 | 49 | Con-rod | 490.000 | 5 | 6 |
| Ret | 12 | Achille Varzi | Bugatti T51 | 44 | Differential | 440.000 | 11 | 6 |
| Ret | 12 | Louis Chiron | Bugatti T51 | 44 | Differential | 440.000 | 11 | 6 |
| Ret | 28 | Tazio Nuvolari | Alfa Romeo Type A | 31 | Mechanical | 310.000 | 7 | 7 |
| Ret | 28 | Baconin Borzacchini | Alfa Romeo Type A | 31 | Mechanical | 310.000 | 7 | 7 |
| Ret | 50 | Alfredo Caniato | Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 | 14 | | 140.000 | 10 | 7 |
| Ret | 50 | Mario Tadini | Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 | 14 | | 140.000 | 10 | 7 |
| DNS | 24 | Antonio Maino | Mercedes-Benz SSK | | Did not start | | | 8 |
| DNS | 24 | Gildo Strazza | Mercedes-Benz SSK | | Did not start | | | 8 |
| DNS | 36 | Luigi Castelbarco | Maserati 26M | | Did not start | | | 8 |
| DNS | 36 | Tino Bianchi | Maserati 26M | | Did not start | | | 8 |
| Sources: |||||||||
    ^2 — Nuvolari and Borzacchini did not receive the points for first and second place, respectively, because they were not driving in their designated cars. The seven points apiece that they received were for driving car #28, which completed less than a quarter of the race distance. Attilio Marinoni and Goffredo Zehender, who had been designated to drive cars #26 and #30, respectively, both received eight points, since they did not take part in the race.
    ^3 — Ruggeri and Balestrero were initially credited with 1290.534 km, putting them in sixth place. However, their final lap took more than five minutes to complete, so the fraction of the lap completed prior to the ten-hour mark was eliminated, demoting the pair to seventh, and promoting Pirola and Lurani to sixth.
    ^4 — Sénéchal and Frètet were not classified because they failed to complete at least three-fifths of the number of laps achieved by the race winner.
Notes:
* The race was limited to ten hours. Each driver was allowed to complete a lap begun before the ten-hour cutoff (and retain the fraction of the lap already completed), provided that the lap took no more than five minutes.