Swaters had started the race from the pole and would lead the field right from the very start. Alan Brown was right there, as was Hans Klenk who had made a great start in his Veritas Meteor. Seidel had made a decent start to the race and was settling in in the midst of the pack.
Swaters continued to run consistently fast laps and was using the consistency to pull away from the rest of the field. This escape would be made easier when Brown would suffer his accident and would retire from the race. Unfortunately for Seidel, the entire race would escape him as he would also retire from the race. This would be a rare retirement for the young driver. Most unfortunate was the fact it was less than a month away from the German Grand Prix.
Theo Helfrich was putting together some impressive lap times in his pursuit of Hans Klenk in 2nd place. Klenk, by the later-half of the race, was not in contention with Swaters, but was becoming a target for Helfrich would manage to set the fastest lap time of two minutes and thirty-one seconds.
For all of the foreign dominance of the field in practice, there would only be four foreign entries still running at the end of the race; four out of nine. Of course the most important position was being controlled by a foreign entry.
Swater never once really came under pressure during the race. The superior performance of the Ferrari practically carried Swaters along. All that he needed to do was be careful not to make a mistake. This he would not do and he would go on to cruise to victory. He would cross the line with well more than a minute advantage over Klenk in 2nd place. Klenk would end up holding off the challenge mounted by Helfrich. When it was all said and done; despite Helfrich’s pace, Klenk would still cross the line in 2nd place, and with nearly fifteen seconds in hand.
The retirement was most unfortunate for Seidel. Had Avus gone well he would have really had confidence going into his first World Championship race. As it was, he needed to head home, work on the car to repair it and make sure that it was ready for its next race. The one blessing Seidel seemed to have in his favor would be that he was heading back to the Nurburgring. For most drivers, heading to the Nurburgring was like being cursed, but it actually seemed to be a place suited to Seidel.
In between the Avusrennen and the German Grand Prix, Seidel would take part in the 24 hours of Spa. He would show his prowess once again as he would overcome the long, arduous event to finish 17th overall. This was a great confidence-builder heading into another arduous test.
Seidel wouldn’t just take part in his first-ever World Championship on the 2nd of August. In fact, he would be a busy man as he would drive in the Rheinland Nurburgring race on behalf of Karl-Gunther Bechem. His good fortune at the Nurburgring kept rolling as he would take 6th place in an AFM 50 Sport, a car he wasn’t familiar with.
While Seidel had experienced some great success, even at the Nurburgring, he was about to take part in perhaps one of the most difficult tests of his career. He had faced some of the best in endurance races he contested, but now he was going to face some truly elite drivers and in their element.
Coming into what was the 16th German Grand Prix, and the third time as part of the World Championship, nobody was bigger than Alberto Ascari. While Giuseppe Farina was the first World Champion and Juan Manuel Fangio the second, Alberto Ascari had been absolutely dominant in 1952 and was within a race of taking the title in 1951. And as the teams unloaded and prepared for the 18 lap, 255 mile event, Ascari was on the verge on becoming the first repeat and two-time World Champion. One year ago, the best German finisher in the race would be Fritz Riess. While he would finish the race 7th he would be a little more than two laps behind Ascari. Therefore, it was very clear the German racers were battling amongst themselves and for personal pride for there was very little chance of even a points-paying position.
A points-paying position would be even more remote in 1953. Not only was Scuderia Ferrari back with four dominant cars, but also, Maserati was back with an incredibly strong car of its own. And of course, there were still other foreign factory and privateer entries that would make life extremely difficult for any German racer.
While Seidel and other German racers were clearly going to be fighting to be champion of the background, Ascari was amidst a battle for the World Championship yet again. If everything went right he would leave World Champion, just as he had the year before. With this in mind Ascari would go out in practice and would be absolutely on fire. He would go out and would set the fastest lap time in practice with a time of nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds. He would be the only one to break the ten minute mark and would take the pole by about four seconds over Fangio in his Maserati. Giuseppe Farina and Mike Hawthorn would make it three Ferraris on the front row as they would start 3rd and 4th respectively.
The fastest qualifier amongst the German entries would be Hans Herrmann. His best time would be exactly a minute slower than Ascari and would cause Herrmann to start the race 14th overall and from the outside of the fourth row. Amongst all of the Germans in the field, Seidel would qualify right about in the middle of the pack. He certainly wouldn’t be the fastest German in the field, but he also wouldn’t be the slowest. In fact, Seidel’s best time would be nearly a minute behind Herrmann’s time. His eleven minute and fifty-nine second lap meant he would start from the ninth row of the grid in the 29th position. In all, thirty-four cars would start the 18 lap race.
Unlike the Eifelrennen, the weather would be sunny and dry for the German Grand Prix on the 2nd of August. As with practically every other motor racing event in Germany, an incredible crowd of spectators would line the 14 mile circuit to watch their favorite German racers and to glimpse the best grand prix drivers and cars in the world.
