1936 Pau Grand Prix

The road racing season is with us once -more. Alfas, Bugattis, Maseratis, sleek, multi-coloured racing cars are playing those heart-stirring tunes of rising and falling exhaust notes. And it all started at Pau.

The A.C. Basco-Bearnais had planned a tricky little circuit for their race on March 1st. A shade under 3 kilometres in length, it was never straight for a moment, and was even more sinuous than Monaco. The organisers had spent a good deal of money in resurfacing the road, which was in a fair condition except on a certain downhill stretch that was not easy to negotiate when braking hard for the corner at the bottom.

The entry list was limited to twelve, of which the three Ferrari-owned Alfa Romeos were the most formidable. Nuvolari and Brivio were to have driven the 3.8-litre Tipo C cars which were seen at Monza last autumn, while Farina had been promised a 3.2-litre Monoposto. The complete team, cars, lorries, drivers and mechanics, left Modena by road, but were stopped at the Italian-French frontier.