1939 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1939 Belgian Grand Prix was held on June 25 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Run in often heavy rain, the race was won by Hermann Lang in a . Rudolf Hasse finished second in an , and Manfred von Brauchitsch was third in another Mercedes. These were the only cars to complete the entire distance.
The race was marred by the fatal accident of top British driver Richard Seaman. Driving for Mercedes, he lost control between Clubhouse and La Source, where the modern pits are located. The car hit a tree, and the fuel tank ruptured, causing a fire. Seaman was eventually extricated by a Belgian soldier, but died of his burns later that evening.
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==Background==
In the two years since the previous Grand Prix, a new bridge had been completed across the Eau Rouge creek, allowing the track to bypass the hairpin up by the old tollhouse. This had the effect of greatly increasing speeds through that section, and creating one of the truly demanding corners in racing. The lap distance was reduced to 14.50 km/9.01 miles.
===Entry List===
The full entry list for the is outlined below:
No.	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor	Chassis 	Engine	Model 	Tire
2 	Tazio Nuvolari 	Auto Union AG 	 	D 	 	D V12S 3.0 	
4 	Rudolf Hasse 	Auto Union AG 	 	D 	 	D V12S 3.0 	
6 	Hermann Paul Müller 	Auto Union AG 	 	D 	 	D V12S 3.0 	
8 	Georg Meier 	Auto Union AG 	 	D 	 	D V12S 3.0 	
10 	Giuseppe Farina 	Privateer 	 	Tipo 316	 	Tipo 316 V16S 3.0	
12 	Raymond Sommer 	Privateer 	 	Tipo 308	 	Tipo 308 L8S 3.0 	
14 	Raymond Sommer 	Privateer 	 	T135CS 	 	L6 3.2 	
16 	Emmanuel de Graffenried	Privateer 	 	Tipo 308	 	Tipo 308 L8S 3.0 	
18 	ouis Gérard 	Privateer 	 	T135CS 	 	L6 3.2 	
20 	Rudolf Caracciola 	Daimler-Benz AG	 	W154 	 	M163 V12S 3.0 	
22 	Hermann Lang 	Daimler-Benz AG	 	W154 	 	M163 V12S 3.0 	
24 	Manfred von Brauchitsch	Daimler-Benz AG	 	W154 	 	M163 V12S 3.0 	
26 	Richard Seaman 	Daimler-Benz AG	 	W154 	 	M163 V12S 3.0 	
28 	Adolfo Mandirola 	Privateer 	 	6CM 	 	L6S 1.5 	
==Qualifying==
===Qualifying Results===
==Race==
===Results===
Pos	No	Driver 	Car	Laps	Time/Retired 	Grid	Points
1 	22	Hermann Lang 	 	35 	3:20:21.0 	2 	1
2 	8 	Rudolf Hasse 	 	35 	+ 16.9 	4 	2
3 	24	Manfred von Brauchitsch	 	35 	+ 1:53.0 	9 	3
4 	12	Raymond Sommer 	 	33 	+ 2 Laps 	10 	4
5 	14	Robert Mazaud 	 	31 	+ 4 Laps 	11 	4
6 	18	Louis Gérard 	 	30 	+ 5 Laps 	12 	4
Ret	2 	Tazio Nuvolari 	 	28 	Accident damage	4 	4
Ret	6 	Hermann Paul Müller 	 	26 	Engine 	1 	5
Ret	26	Richard Seaman 	 	21 	Fatal accident 	5 	5
Ret	10	Giuseppe Farina 	 	20 	Supercharger 	3 	5
Ret	28	Adolfo Mandirola 	 	19 	Suspension 	13 	5
Ret	8 	Georg Meier 	 	13 	Accident 	6 	6
Ret	20	Rudolf Caracciola 	 	7 	Accident 	7 	7
DNS	16	Emmanuel de Graffenried	 	0 	 	 	8
==Milestones==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:Belgian Grand Prix
Category:1939 Grands Prix