Mercedes-Benz 300 SL racing car: 60-year anniversary of the fourfold victory at the “Great Jubilee Prize” at Nürburgring

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The 1952 racing season was in full swing and the 300 SL racing car had already shown its qualities on many an occasion. In Bern and Le Mans, the Mercedes-Benz drivers celebrated important successes with their threefold and double victories. The “Nürburgring Great Jubilee Prize for racing cars” held at the beginning of August as part of the general programme of the German Grand Prix offered two innovations. On the one hand, the specifically developed sports car class for up to 8000 cc displacement allowed for two 169 kW (230 hp) Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (W 194) racing cars with compressor engines to start the race. On the other hand, only open-topped vehicles were allowed to compete in the Eifel race, which thus led Mercedes-Benz to bring a Roadster version of the 300 SL racing car to the Nürburgring. The car was a true people magnet and it was to be the only racing appearance of the model in Germany. Three of the four Roadsters were created on the basis of already existing Coupés (chassis numbers 0006, 0007, and 0009). The part of the gullwing doors which reached into the side flanks thus became an entry hatch. The Roadsters were 100 kilograms lighter than the Coupés.

The vehicle with the chassis number 0010 was built completely from scratch and differs from the other three Roadsters in its slightly altered dimensions. The wheelbase was shortened from 2400 to 2200 millimetres and the track widths were also smaller than on the other vehicles. The thinner radiator grille, intended to improve the air flow around the vehicle, also allows for easy recognition of the freshly developed Roadster.

After the start, the spectators witnessed an enthralling battle, which nobody had really anticipated. During the first lap, the French racing driver Robert Manzon driving a 2.3-litre Gordini had already flown past Theo Helfrich and Fritz Rieß in their 300 SL racing cars. After passing Hermann Lang during the second lap, Manzon set his sights on Karl Kling in pole position. He managed to reduce his time difference from 20 to 7 seconds, but then succumbed to a striking transmission. Instead of a boring “Sunday procession”, the four remaining 300 SL models offered pure excitement: Hermann Lang recalled his old skills and closed the gap between him and his team mate Kling who was leading the pack. In his race to catch up, Lang achieved an average speed of 131.5 km/h, making it the fastest lap of any sports car on the day and even managed to overtake Kling. With his pole position at Nürburgring, Lang had driven his last victory in his racing career. Kling, despite a few technical problems, came in second, while Rieß and Helfrich rounded off the winning quartet with positions three and four respectively.

Credits: Daimler AG

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Mercedes-Benz 300 SL: 60 years ago, a double victory at the “24 Hours of Le Mans”

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Mercedes-Benz achieved a magnificent success in 1952: a double victory at the “24 Hours of Le Mans”. This placed the 300 SL racing car (W 194 series) firmly in the limelight. Because the then novel vehicle was specifically developed for the 1952 racing season, and over the months it showed its supremacy in all the most renowned racing events around the world, impressively signalling Mercedes-Benz’s return to international motor racing.

By then, Mercedes-Benz had won almost all the world-famed races; only the 24-hour race in Le Mans, France, remained – and this competition was predestined for the 300 SL. A considerable stir having been caused at their presentation on March 12, 1952, a total of ten of these racing cars were built for the 1952 racing season.

Preparations for participation in the long-distance classic got under way already a year beforehand. At Le Mans the car’s brakes are subjected to particularly high stresses, especially in the 4-km long straight stretch between the Tertre-Rouge and the Mulsanne curves, where drivers have to slow down from top speed to just about 50 km/h, lap after lap. The remarkably original idea of using a retractable aluminium aileron to act as an airbrake was dismissed, though.

Another tricky point was the question of access to the vehicle, even though the rules and regulations said nothing against the small doors or access hatches the 300 SL originally had. The sports marshal of the Automobilclub de l’Ouest, Monsieur Acat, presented a little sketch suggesting that the entry hatch be extended downwards – and so, the gullwing was born as a goodwill gesture towards the organiser and in order to take the wind out of the sails of any potential protests right from the outset.

The cars of the different teams bore different coloured bands around the radiator to help distinguish them in the race. The car with chassis number 0009 and starting number 20 (Theo Helfrich/HelmutNiedermayr) sported a red strip, car number 0007 with starting number 21 (Hermann Lang/Fritz Rieß) a blue one, while number 0008 with starting number 22 (Karl Kling/Hans Klenk team) was distinguished by a green band.

After the start Ferrari and Jaguar took the lead, André Simon and Alberto Ascari setting lap records in turn. Too much of a good thing, however: two hours into the race, the clutch of Ascari’s Ferrari 250 S gave up. Simon with the Ferrari 340 “America”, now led in front of the Robert Manzon/Jean Behra team with their 2.3-litre Gordini. Towards evening the two Frenchmen moved up into the leading position. Meanwhile, an alternator malfunction made itself felt on board the Kling/Klenk team’s 300 SL, forcing Kling to make a 10-minute pit stop; an hour later another 17-minute delay in the pits was called for. Finally, at half-past midnight Hans Klenk took off his helmet, his expression showing resignation and utter disappointment. And the little lightweight 2.3-litre Gordini was still leading. After a pit stop Pierre Levegh, with his 4.5-litre Talbot took over the first place, followed at a distance of 65 kilometres by the 300 SLs of the Helfrich/Niedermayr and Lang/Riess teams. By noon of the following day the number of contestants had shrunk to 19 vehicles. Levegh was still at the forefront, but stubbornly refused to allow his co-pilot Marchand to relieve him. Behind him the two 300 SLs thundered on reliably, lap after lap. Then, just 70 minutes before the end of the race, a damaged connecting rod forced Levegh to abandon between Arnage and Maison Blanche.

The two 300 SLs were now unreachably far ahead. In the early hours of the morning the new front runner Theo Helfrich lost his leading position to Hermann Lang due to a driving error. Mercedes-Benz won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. For Hermann Lang and Fritz Riess, to whom this success was largely due, it was the most important triumph of their careers. They were followed by the Helfrich/Niedermayr team who came in second in one of the other 300 SLs.

The double victory at Le Mans was preceded by a triple win in Bern on 18 May 1952. Further successes followed in that racing season: a fourfold victory at the Great Jubilee Prize at Nürburgring on 3 August 1952 and another double win in the 3rd Carrera Panamericana in Mexico (19 to 23 November 1952), the last great event of the extremely successful 1952 racing season.

Credits: Daimler AG

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