AFMs were back in action in Germany the following year. Stuck entered once again, privately this time. He was using yet another different engine, the Bristol straight six. He was joined by Günther Bechem in his privately entered machine, and Theo Fitzau, driving a car for Niedermayr, who had performed so well in it himself the previous year. Niedermayr himself had retired from racing after killing at least 13 spectators during a crash at the Grenzlandring in 1952. Both Bechem and Fitzau were using BMW engines. Fitzau was the highest qualifier, in 21st place, over 80 seconds behind Alberto Ascari on pole for Ferrari. Stuck was 23rd, while Bechem, down in 30th, was well over 2 minutes shy of Ascari's time, made possible by the extreme length of the Nürburgring circuit. Stuck was out on lap 1, as his new engine failed. By the end of lap 4, Bechem and Fitzau were also out with similar engine problems.