100 Facts About Rudolf Caracciola

Otto Wilhelm Rudolf Caracciola was a racing driver from Remagen, Germany.

Rudolf Caracciola won the European Drivers' Championship, the pre-1950 equivalent of the modern Formula One World Championship, an unsurpassed three times.

Rudolf Caracciola was affectionately dubbed Caratsch by the German public, and was known by the title of Regenmeister, or "Rainmaster", for his prowess in wet conditions.

Rudolf Caracciola began racing while he was working as apprentice at the Fafnir automobile factory in Aachen during the early 1920s, first on motorcycles and then in cars.

Rudolf Caracciola returned to the newly reformed Mercedes-Benz racing team in 1934, with whom he won three European Championships, in 1935,1937 and 1938.

Rudolf Caracciola returned to racing after the Second World War, but crashed in qualifying for the 1946 Indianapolis 500.

Rudolf Caracciola died in the German city of Kassel, after suffering liver failure.

Rudolf Caracciola was buried in Switzerland, where he had lived since the early 1930s.

Rudolf Caracciola is remembered as one of the greatest pre-1939 Grand Prix drivers, a perfectionist who excelled in all conditions.

Rudolf Caracciola was born in Remagen, Germany, just south of Bonn on 30 January 1901.

Rudolf Caracciola was the fourth child of Maximilian and Mathilde, who ran the Hotel Furstenberg.

Rudolf Caracciola's ancestors had migrated during the Thirty Years' War from Naples to the German Rhineland, where Prince Bartolomeo Caracciolo had commanded the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress near Koblenz.

Rudolf Caracciola was interested in cars from a young age, and from his fourteenth birthday wanted to become a racing driver.

Rudolf Caracciola drove an early Mercedes during the First World War, and gained his driver's license before the legal age of 18.

Rudolf Caracciola enjoyed his first success in motorsport while working for Fafnir, taking his NSU motorcycle to several victories in endurance events.

Rudolf Caracciola followed this with victory in a race at the Opelbahn in Russelsheim.

Rudolf Caracciola did not stay long in Aachen, however; in 1923, after punching a soldier from the occupying Belgian Army in a nightclub, he fled the city.

Rudolf Caracciola moved to Dresden, where he continued to work as a Fafnir representative.

Rudolf Caracciola attended the Italian Grand Prix at Monza as a reserve driver for Mercedes, but did not take part in the race.

Rudolf Caracciola's riding mechanic, Eugen Salzer, jumped out and pushed the car to get it started, but by the time they began moving they had lost more than a minute to the leaders.

Rudolf Caracciola married his girlfriend, Charlotte, whom he had met in 1923 while working at the Mercedes-Benz outlet in Dresden.

Rudolf Caracciola continued racing in domestic competitions, returning again to Freiburg to compete in the Flying Kilometre race where he set a new sports car record in the new Mercedes-Benz 2-litre Model K, and finished first.

Rudolf Caracciola entered the Klausenpass hillclimb and set a new touring car record; he won the touring car class at the Semmering hillclimb before driving a newly supercharged 1914 Mercedes Grand Prix car over the same route to set the fastest time of the day for any class.

Rudolf Caracciola won the first race on the track, and returned to the Nurburgring a month later for the 1927 German Grand Prix, but his car broke down and the race was won by Otto Merz.

Rudolf Caracciola regained his German Grand Prix title at the Nurburgring at the 1928 German Grand Prix, driving the new 7.1-litre Mercedes-Benz SS.

Rudolf Caracciola shared the driving with Christian Werner, who took over Caracciola's car when the latter collapsed with heat exhaustion at a pit stop.

Rudolf Caracciola, driving a 7.1-litre Mercedes-Benz SSK, started from the back row of the grid, and battled Bugatti driver William Grover-Williams for the lead early on.

Rudolf Caracciola won the RAC Tourist Trophy in slippery conditions, and confirmed his reputation as a specialist in wet track racing.

Rudolf Caracciola partnered Werner in the Mille Miglia and Le Mans endurance races in 1930; they finished sixth in the former but were forced to retire after leading for most of the race in the latter after their car's generator burnt out.

Rudolf Caracciola took victory in the 1930 Irish Grand Prix at Phoenix Park, and won four hillclimbs to take the title of European Hillclimb Champion for the first time.

In part because of the financial situation, Rudolf Caracciola was the only Mercedes driver to appear at the 1931 Monaco Grand Prix, driving an SSKL.

Rain began to fall before the race, and continued as Rudolf Caracciola chased Fagioli for the lead in the early laps.

Rudolf Caracciola was lucky to escape from a crash in the Masaryk Grand Prix.

Mercedes-Benz withdrew entirely from motor racing at the start of 1932 in the face of the economic crisis, so Rudolf Caracciola moved to Alfa Romeo with a promise to return to Mercedes if they resumed racing.

Rudolf Caracciola's contract stipulated he would begin racing for the Italian team as a semi-independent.

Rudolf Caracciola later wrote that the Alfa Romeo manager was defensive when he questioned him about this clause; Rudolf Caracciola believed it was because the firm's Italian drivers did not believe he could adjust smoothly from the big Mercedes cars to the smaller Alfa Romeos.

The next race was the Monaco Grand Prix, where Rudolf Caracciola was again entered as a semi-independent.

Rudolf Caracciola ran fourth early in the race, but moved to second as Alfa Romeo driver Baconin Borzacchini pitted for a wheel change and the axle on Achille Varzi's Bugatti broke.

Tazio Nuvolari, in the other Alfa Romeo, found his lead reduced rapidly as Rudolf Caracciola closed in; with ten laps remaining in the race Rudolf Caracciola was so close he could see Nuvolari changing gears.

The crowd jeered Rudolf Caracciola: they believed he had deliberately lost for the team, denying them a fight for the win.

However, on the strength of his performance, Rudolf Caracciola was offered a full spot on the Alfa Romeo team, which he accepted.

Nuvolari and Campari drove the light and newly introduced Alfa Romeo P3 at the Italian Grand Prix, while Borzacchini and Rudolf Caracciola drove much heavier 8Cs.

Rudolf Caracciola was forced to retired when his car broke down, but he took over Borzacchini's car when the Italian was hit by a stone, and came third, behind Nuvolari and Fagioli.

The order was different at the 1932 German Grand Prix, where Rudolf Caracciola won from Nuvolari and Borzacchini.

Rudolf Caracciola performed strongly in other races; he won the Polish and Monza Grands Prix and the Eifelrennen at the Nurburgring, and took five more hillclimbs to win that Championship for the third and final time.

Rudolf Caracciola was beaten by the Mercedes-Benz of Manfred von Brauchitsch at the Avusrennen.

Rudolf Caracciola was seen by the German crowd as having defected to the Italian team and was booed, while von Brauchitsch's all German victory drew mass support.

Rudolf Caracciola was carried on a chair to the local tobacco shop, and from there he went to the hospital.

Rudolf Caracciola had sustained multiple fractures of his right thigh, and his doctors doubted he would race again.

Rudolf Caracciola transferred to a private clinic in Bologna, where his injured leg remained in a plaster cast for six months.

Rudolf Caracciola defied the predictions of his doctors and healed faster than expected, and in the winter Charlotte took her husband back to Arosa, where the altitude and fresh air would aid his recovery.

Neubauer challenged Rudolf Caracciola to walk, and although the driver laughed and smiled while he did so Neubauer was not fooled: Rudolf Caracciola was not yet fit.

Rudolf Caracciola agreed and went to Stuttgart to sign the contract.

Rudolf Caracciola withdrew almost entirely from public life while he mourned, almost deciding to retire completely from motor racing.

Rudolf Caracciola was judged not fit to race for the Eifelrennen at the Nurburgring, but made the start for the German Grand Prix at the same track six weeks later.

Rudolf Caracciola took the lead from Auto Union driver Hans Stuck on the outside of the Karussel on the 13th lap, but retired a lap later when his engine failed.

Rudolf Caracciola had better luck at the 1934 Italian Grand Prix in September.

In very hot weather, Rudolf Caracciola started from fourth and moved to second, where he trailed Stuck.

Rudolf Caracciola took the first of his three European Drivers' Championships in 1935.

Rudolf Caracciola opened the Championship season with a pole in Monaco but he retired just after the half of the race, then he won in France and took the lead of the standings with another win in Belgium, ahead of Fagioli and von Brauchitsch, who shared the other Mercedes-Benz W25.

The Swiss Grand Prix was held at the Bremgarten Circuit in Bern, and Rudolf Caracciola won from Fagioli and the new Auto Union star Bernd Rosemeyer.

Rudolf Caracciola won the Spanish Grand Prix from Fagioli and von Brauchitsch; although his transmission failed at the Italian Grand Prix and he was forced to retire, his four wins allowed him to take the Championship.

Rudolf Caracciola won the Tripoli Grand Prix, organised by the Libyan Governor-General Italo Balbo.

Rudolf Caracciola inherited the lead from Nuvolari and Varzi when the two Italians pitted, and held it to the finish, despite a late charge from Varzi.

Rudolf Caracciola later wrote that this was the race where he began to feel he had recovered from his crash in Monaco two years before, and he was now back among the contenders.

Rudolf Caracciola led the Hungarian Grand Prix early but retired with mechanical problems.

Rudolf Caracciola led the Swiss Grand Prix for several laps, Rosemeyer trailing him closely, but the Clerk of the Course ordered Rudolf Caracciola to cede the lead to Rosemeyer on the ninth lap after he was found to be blocking the Auto Union.

Rudolf Caracciola started from the second row of the grid at the German Grand Prix, but was into the lead soon after the start.

Rudolf Caracciola took pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix three weeks later, and was engaged in a hard fight with von Brauchitsch.

Rudolf Caracciola won his second race of the season at the Swiss Grand Prix.

In doing so Rudolf Caracciola clinched the European Championship for the second time.

Rudolf Caracciola backed up the win with another at the Masaryk Grand Prix two weeks later.

Rudolf Caracciola trailed Rosemeyer for much of the race until the Auto Union skidded against a kerb and allowed the Mercedes into the lead.

Rudolf Caracciola married for the second time in 1937, to Alice Hoffman-Trobeck, who worked as a timekeeper for Mercedes-Benz.

Rudolf Caracciola had met her in 1932, when she was having an affair with Chiron.

Rudolf Caracciola was, at that time, married to Alfred Hoffman-Trobeck, a Swiss businessman and heir to a pharmaceutical empire.

Rudolf Caracciola had taken care of Caracciola after Charlotte died, and shortly after began an affair with him, unbeknownst to Chiron.

Rudolf Caracciola won two races in the 1938 season: the Swiss Grand Prix and the Coppa Acerbo; finished second in three: the French, German and Pau Grands Prix; and third in two: the Tripoli and Italian Grands Prix, to take the European Championship for the third and final time.

The highlight of Rudolf Caracciola's season was his win in the pouring rain at the Swiss Grand Prix.

In heavy rain, Rudolf Caracciola spun at La Source, got out and pushed his car off into the safety of the trees.

Rudolf Caracciola died that night in hospital, after briefly regaining consciousness.

Rudolf Caracciola finished second behind Lang at the Swiss and Tripoli Grands Prix.

Rudolf Caracciola believed that the Mercedes-Benz team were favouring Lang during the 1939 season; in a letter sent to Mercedes' brand owner Daimler-Benz CEO Dr Wilhelm Kissel, he wrote:.

Surgery was recommended, but Rudolf Caracciola decided against that option, deterred by the minimum three months it would take to recover from the operation.

Rudolf Caracciola was invited to participate in the 1946 Indianapolis 500, and originally intended to drive one of the W165s, but was unable to have them released in time by Swiss customs.

Joe Thorne, a local team owner, offered him one of his Thorne Engineering Specials to drive, but during a practice session before the race Rudolf Caracciola suffered his second major accident when was hit on the head by an object, believed to be a bird, and crashed into the south wall.

Rudolf Caracciola's life was saved by a tank driver's helmet the organisers insisted he wear.

Rudolf Caracciola suffered a severe concussion and was in a coma for several days.

Rudolf Caracciola returned to racing in 1952, when he was recalled to the Mercedes-Benz factory team to drive the new Mercedes-Benz W194 in sports car races.

Rudolf Caracciola's career ended with his third major crash; during a support race for the 1952 Swiss Grand Prix, the brakes on his 300SL locked and he skidded into a tree at the fast, tree-lined Bremgarten circuit, fracturing his left leg.

Rudolf Caracciola organised shows and demonstrations which toured military bases, leading in part to an increase in Mercedes-Benz sales during that period.

Rudolf Caracciola was buried in his home town of Lugano.

Rudolf Caracciola first met Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party, in 1931.

Rudolf Caracciola drove Hitler and his niece Geli Raubal around Munich to demonstrate the car.

In reports on races by German media Rudolf Caracciola was referred to as NSKK-Staffelfuhrer Rudolf Caracciola, the equivalent of a Squadron Leader.

Rudolf Caracciola lived in Switzerland from the early 1930s, and despite strict currency controls, his salary was paid in Swiss francs.

Rudolf Caracciola has a reputation of a perfectionist, who very rarely had accidents or caused mechanical failures in his cars, who could deliver when needed regardless of the conditions.

Rudolf Caracciola combined, to an extraordinary extent, determination with concentration, physical strength with intelligence.

Rudolf Caracciola was second to none in his ability to triumph over shortcomings.

In 2001, on the 100th anniversary of his birth, a monument to Rudolf Caracciola was erected in his birth town of Remagen, and on the 50th anniversary of his death in 2009 Rudolf Caracciola Square was dedicated off of the town's Rheinpromenade.