Auto Union To Race At Donington

A V12 D-Type Auto Union, a sister to the car in which Tazio Nuvolari won the 1938 Donington Grand Prix, could race at the circuit in the VSCC’s Richard Seaman Trophy event on May 21. The meeting will celebrate the life of Bernd Rosemeyer, who won the 1937 race there in a C-type V16.

Mercedes-Benz’s tribute to Seaman, which drew a record VSCC attendance to the circuit last year, saw John Surtees demonstrate a W154. John will be back, celebrating daredevil Rosemeyer’s two-wheeled career at the event.

The Auto Union is one of two disinterred from the old USSR by Paul and Barbara Karassik, and was recently acquired by a new owner, who wishes it to race. No Auto Union has competed on track since the war, although Neil Corner hillclimbed his D-type at Shelsley Walsh in the ’80s.

“It’s a wonderful prospect, and it would be incredible if it happened, but we don’t want to raise too many hopes at this stage,” said the VSCC’s Neil Murray. A memorial to Rosemeyer will be unveiled during the meeting. MP