Rolls-Royce
& Audi in the Austrian Alpine
Trials
The 1912
Alpenfahrt.
Although Rolls-Royce by 1912 had a policy
of not being involved in competitive events,
it seems likely that they were very pleased
that one of their latest cars(1930E) was
being entered in the Austrian Alpine Trials
by James Radley, a private motorist with a
lot of experience at Continental driving.
Special unspecified work, costing £2.6.1
was carried out, as suggested (presumably by
Radley) in connection with the Austrian
Alpine Contest.
Rolls-Royce were planning to open a new
depot in Vienna and the resulting publicity
in such a high profile competition could
hardly come at a better time. There is little
doubt that this was the most important
motoring event, both because of its demanding
alpine route over 19 mountain passes and the
fact that many members of the Austrian royal
family were taking part from an incredible
total of 85 starters representing 28
different marques.
Radley's splendid car was, according to
press reports of the day, the talk of Vienna.
It created a sensation with its layout and
silence and the elegant brass work under the
bonnet. In extolling its virtues and the
impression it had made upon everyone, the
Viennese motoring correspondent of the time
wrote about the wag who likened the engine
layout to a buffet then asked for a ham
roll!
But alas, the car was brand new and
Radley, although a highly experienced
motorist had not familiarised himself with
the route as many other entrants had and was
unprepared for the rigours of a pass like the
Katschberg. On the first day out from Vienna,
Radley, in car number 2, stopped on the
Katschberg, a six kilometre mountain climb of
around 25% gradient, but with a maximum
gradient, for the last 20 metres only, of
27.9% about 1 in 3.58), the last hill before
the overnight stop at Spittal.
The car did not stall, but it was
necessary to allow two passengers to dismount
before continuing up the stiff gradient under
its own power. This normally would not been
too great a problem. The car had not broken
down, but because this was an unscheduled
stop on a special stage the car would be
disqualified. The reason, simply, was that
the car had been given a high speed (18:52)
rear axle - ideally suited to the flat
uncrowded roads around Huntingdon, but in
combination with the 3-speed gerabox, just
too high for these exceptionally steep
mountain roads at high altitudes. Although he
could have continued as a non combatant,
Radley decided to withdraw from the contest
as he would now be unable to win a prize and
he set off with his passengers to tour in
eastern Austria. This withdrawal did not
bother Radley, but caused consternation to
Rolls-Royce who were about to open the Vienna
depot.
The results sheets now showed the
Rolls-Royce being disqualified and withdrawn
on the very first day while 72 of the other
entrants finished the course, 25 without loss
of marks.
Audi however, entered three cars which all
finished, two without loss of points. Fiat
and Opel each had a team of three finish
without loss of points and shared the team
prize.
The 1913
Alpenfahrt
Rolls-Royce were almost the first to enter
the 1913 contest when it was announced in
March of that year. A team of three cars was
supplemented by an individual entry by
Radley, keen to prove that his failure of the
previous year was an aberration.
The new depot in Vienna was now open and
Rolls-Royce advertisements still referred to
'The Best Car in the World' - success this
year was an imperative.
This time there was much more careful
preparation. The three new cars in the
Rolls-Royce team including Hancock, Hives,
Parsons, Sinclair and Warwick set off from
Conduit Street in early May, travelling via
Boulogne, Amiens, Paris, Nancy, Ulm and
Munich before heading south to test the cars
on the actual route, particularly the
Katschberg Pass, scene of Radley's debacle
the previous year, and the Loibl Pass, the
other pass most respected by the competitors
for its steepness and its
demanding hairpins. James Radley was also
competing, with a car to identical
specifications to the team cars, save that he
had fitted a new Lucas lighting system
instead of the archaic acetylene lights. He
built the car body himself at his Portholme
works.
The 1913 contest was longer and more
arduous than the previous year - the most
severe that had ever been held, with a total
distance of 2650 km and no less than 19 major
Alpine Passes plus many minor passes. There
were fewer entries as many of the works teams
threatened to boycott the event as they
wished it to be held every two years, not
annually. Dr
Porsche's Austro-Daimler team was one of
the notable omissions. After some last minute
team entries from Hansa, Fiat and Fischer
there was a total of 47 cars participating;
still well down on the previous year.
Four Rolls-Royce cars were entered, and
led throughout the contest and finished first
at the end of each day. The man who finished
first on every one of the days was, in fact,
James Radley, back again after his
misadventure the previous year, to prove that
both he and the Rolls-Royce were a formidable
combination. The Rolls-Royce works team cars
performed well enough that this was the last
time ever that Rolls-Royce took part in such
a contest (although Radley, with substantial
support from Rolls-Royce, competed as a
private entrant in 1914). Finishing first was
not really surprising, nor was it important,
as this was not a race and the Rolls-Royce
teams started first, anyway.
More important was not to lose any points,
but two of the team cars lost points on the
second day: Hives lost three points in
the intermediate category - either for
stalling or for taking more than five minutes
to start the car; Sinclair lost two points in
the major category, for reasons unspecified.
The final results confirm that Sinclair was
not penalised in any way for the collision
with the Minerva, so although there is
evidence to show that this may have been a
deliberate attempt by Minerva to penalise the
Rolls-Royce team, it had no bearing on the
final result.
A total of nine cars finished point free.
Amongst these was just one Rolls-Royce, that
of Friese. Even Radley (not part of the
Rolls-Royce three car team) lost four minor
category points. Audi had entered four cars
which all finished, three without loss of
points and one with only minor category
points, enabling them to win the team
prize.
The 1914
Alpenfahrt
The 1914 contest was even more severe than
the previous year. James Radley was back
again in a further improved Rolls-Royce
Silver Ghost, supported in the background by
Rolls-Royce, even though they were not
entering a works team. The total distance
this year had been increased to 2932 km and
more additional mountain passes had also been
included. Radley was once again the leader on
all days except one, when he had travelled so
fast that the marshals were not on hand to
direct him to make a turning and he travelled
about 60 km before discovering that he was on
the wrong road.
Radley's performance was flawless and for
the first time in the three years in which he
took part, he lost no points. In all, there
were 16 cars which finished point free,
including all five of the Audi cars. The team
prize was shared between Audi and Hansa.
Performance
Summary
When looking at the results over the three
years 1912 to 1914, a comparison of the
Rolls-Royce & Audi results is as
follows:-
|
Marque
|
Entered
|
Finished
|
Point Free
|
|
Rolls-Royce
|
6
|
5
|
2
|
|
Audi
|
12
|
12
|
10
|
The Audi record was remarkable and
although 70 cars in all finished point free
in the three years of 1912 to 1914, none were
as good as Audi, and the Rolls-Royce record
looks somewhat pedestrian by comparison!
It is also worth noting that in each of
the four years 1911 to 1914, Dr Horch, the
founder of Audi, competed and finished in all
of those years, two without loss of any
points and one with only minor category
points lost - an achievement which only the
well known Dr Porsche who competed Austro
Daimler cars on three of those years could
come close to!
Perhaps, in the light of what happened 85
years later, when Audi (VW/Audi) bought the
Rolls-Royce company, the subsequent history
of Rolls-Royce was inevitable!
John L Kennedy
