1927 World Championship

The second year of the 1500cc Grand Prix formula saw the minimum weight raised to 700 kgs and Delage as pacesetters. Albert Lory redesigned the exhausts to make the 15S8 bearable to drive and the result was a dominant campaign. Robert Benoist won the French, Spanish, Italian and British GPs to clinch the constructors’ world championship for Delage. That was a last hurrah for the works team withdrew from the sport at the end of the year.

Bugatti was mere supporting cast during 1927 with Count Conelli’s second-place finish in Spain its only top-three finish. With similar engine rules governing both GPs and the Indianapolis 500, American constructor Harry Miller sent cars to the Italian GP at Monza for whom Earl Cooper and Peter Kreis shared the third-placed car. Also successful that day was the Italian OM marque who finished second and fourth.

The German GP was a sports car event once more. Otto Merz won for Mercedes on the new 17-mile Nürburgring – the race held on the combined north and south circuits. Fiat introduced the new 12-cylinder type 806 but it only raced once – Pietro Bordino winning the Milan GP at Monza. That was the famous marque’s last direct contact with GP racing although it would later own Ferrari and enjoy rallying success.

nb Round 1 of the 1927 World Championship was the Indianapolis 500 which is included in the AAA National Championship and Indycars.