The Eifelrennen had only been 7 laps in length and the BMW 328 had proven to be incapable of handling that distance. The second round of the West German Championship, and sixth round of the World Championship, was to be 18 laps in length; much too much for the raged and fragile 328.
Thankfully for Merkel, Riess would choose to bring his Veritas RS and Krakau his AFM 50. This left one car left, besides the BMW 328. Krakau had built his own Eigenbau BMW-Special. Krakau had made improvements to the car each and every year he had raced it and it proved to be quite successful. However, that was a couple of years prior. By 1952, the Eigenbau was outclassed and outdated. But, it was still newer and seemed to be more capable than the older 328.
Merkel would be taking Krakau’s special up against the latest designs from Italy, France and England. In practice, it was shown that neither of the German eigenbaus nor the small factory efforts could hold a candle to the powerful machines from the foreign nations. f course, Alberto Ascari would prove practically nothing could stand up against the onslaught of his Ferrari 500, not even his fellow Ferrari teammates.
Coming into the race, Ascari had great motivation to go fast. He was practically one win away from his first World Championship. The previous season the World Championship title was within sight but was snatched away by Juan Manuel Fangio in the very last race of the championship. He wasn’t about to let that happen again, and he would prove it during practice.
Despite having scored three-straight victories prior to the German Grand Prix, Ascari would not merely cruise during practice. There were still two rounds after the race at the Nurburgring. Piero Taruffi and Giuseppe Farina still had a shot at the title. Incidentally, both Taruffi and Farina were Ferrari teammates of Ascari. So much for Formula 2 making the World Championship more competitive and even contest amongst the constructors.
With the motivation of ending the race with the title in hand squarely before him, Ascari would turn in the fastest lap with a time of ten minutes and four seconds. This was an incredible statement made by Ascari. Just one year prior, Ascari sat on the pole for the German Grand Prix in a Ferrari 375 Formula One car. His effort in practice would earn him a best lap time of nine minutes and fifty-five seconds. One year later, and with a less powerful car, Ascari would lap the Nurburgring within eight seconds of his pole team a season prior. His time, in 1952, would be so good that he would have started the 1951 race from the 5th position on the grid.
Not to be outdone, Giuseppe Farina, the 1950 World Champion, would turn in a lap time that was within three seconds of Ascari. His time would have been good enough to start the race the year prior from the 6th position on the grid. Instead, Farina would start the 1952 race from the front row in the 2nd place position.
Ascari and Farina had set the bar at a height that almost nobody else could clear. The rest of the front row would be occupied by Equipe Gordini drivers Maurice Trintignant and Robert Manzon. The two drivers had managed to beat out Piero Taruffi for the front row, but neither of their times were all that close to the efforts of Alberto and Giuseppe. Trintignant would start 3rd, but his best time was still fifteen seconds slower. Manzon’s best time would be twenty-one seconds behind.
The times did not look good for any of the Germans that put in an entry into the race. Back in late May, at the Eifelrennen, the best time turned at any point during the event was by Rudolf Fischer in another Ferrari 500. That time was ten minutes and fifty-one seconds. Ascari’s time was almost a full minute better than the best time from the Eifelrennen, and it too was set by a chassis produced from outside of Germany.
Paul Pietsch would go on to show just how bad things looked for the battle-weary German nations. Pietsch was a famous driver that never lacked for speed and ability. In spite of everything he brought to the table, the best he could do in practice would be a lap time of ten minutes and fifty-six seconds. He would end up being the highest starting German in the field as he would start the race from the second row in the 7th place position.
Merkel didn’t have Pietsch’s talent or experience. On top of it all, he was driving a car that had been successful a couple of years prior, but was past its prime by 1952 standards. Qualifying for the race would prove to be the race in which Merkel would have to compete. Unfortunately for the amateur racer, he wouldn’t win.
Despite Merkel’s best efforts, he just could not qualify for the 1952 German Grand Prix. He had an opportunity presented to him, but because of a lack of experience, and inferior equipment, he wasn’t able to take advantage. But even Willi Krakau would find the going tough. Krakau had managed to make it into the field in the second-to-last row. However, he too would not be able to take part in the race. Thirty cars would line up to take part in the World Championship race.
What the quarter of a million spectators saw was a twenty-eight member supporting cast following, like an entourage, behind the two red Ferraris of Ascari and Farina. In fact, even Farina’s role was something more akin a best supporting actor than a leading player.
Right from the start, Ascari would take the lead and would immediately begin to draw out an advantage over Farina, who was locked in a battle with Piero Taruffi early. The rest of the field began to die off like extras in an action movie. Eight would retire before completing a single lap. Most would retire due to mechanical problems, but one would retire from an accident and another would be disqualified after receiving outside help trying to get going after a spin. Amazingly, the usually fragile German cars continued to circulate the track, but it was truly an Alberto Ascari exhibition throughout the first 17 laps of the race.
As Ascari continued to stretch his lead, more and more cars fell out of the race. By the time there were 8 laps remaining in the race the field, which had started out with thirty entrants, was down to twelve. Despite the fewer number still running, Ascari continued to increase his pace. On the 10th lap of the race, he would turn what would be the fastest lap of the race. It wouldn’t be touched another as it was within one second of his pole time. His lead increased.
But 18 laps around the already tough Nordschleife were too much for even a Ferrari 500 to handle given Ascari’s pace. And within two laps of the finish, not all was well with Alberto’s car. The car threatened not to make it the rest of the way. Two laps equated to over 28 miles. That was too many miles with an ill car. Alberto had no choice, he had to stop.
