Pietsch, Paul

[TimD]

Here's a thought. Has anyone ever sat down to look up much on Paul Pietsch and his career? Seems to be an awful cruelty of fate to be only remembered for his wife's affair with Varzi, when he was a top-flight driver in his own right.

[ensign14]

Pietsch had a meteoric start to his career, getting an early Silver Arrows drive in about 1936 before being dropped. Led the German GP in a Maserati in 1939 thus frightening the living bejezus out of the Nazis. In 1951, because of his local knowledge, he had the third Alfetta for the German GP.

Motor Sport vel sim commented that he knew the Nurburgring backwards, 'which was fitting as that is how he left it'.

Think he is still alive. Anyone free to interview him?

[Vitesse]

For me, Pietsch was one of the drivers who lost their best years to the war. He had bounced back from the personal problems brought on by Ilse's affair (he didn't race at all in 1936 or 1937) and rebuilt his reputation in Voiturette racing, to the extent that he was rewarded with a works Maserati drive in the 1939 Eifelrennen and German and Swiss GPs (for political reasons the Eifel and Swiss entries were in his own name, but in Bern at least his car was attended by works mechanics). Admittedly the German GP was a race of attrition, but Pietsch showed that the Maserati 8CTF could be competitive with the Mercedes and Auto Unions and he ran at the front throughout, even leading the race for a time. Wilbur Shaw later won Indy twice in a similar car.

After the war he had the problem which almost all German drivers faced: they were barred from racing abroad until late 1949. Stuck held dual nationality and raced as an Austrian and Caracciola was a naturalized Swiss citizen, but Pietsch was unable to race outside Germany and in fact almost completely retired until 1951, when he returned to racing in F2 with a Veritas entered by his publishing company, Motor-Presse-Verlag. He finally retired shortly after the 1953 Eifelrennen where he had a one-off drive in a Maserati A6GCM, having won the same race the year before: his first major race had been the 1932 German GP, 21 years previously! His decision was also influenced by an accident at AVUS ....

Success in hillclimbs had brought him to the attention of Auto Union in 1935, but he only drove for them on occasion, his best result being a shared third place. His wife's affair was the talk of the paddocks, but wasn't referred to by the press at the time: Varzi was just said to be "ill".

With the recent passing of Manfred von Brauchitsch, Pietsch is now the last of the Silver Arrows drivers: on June 6th 2003 he is due to celebrate his 92nd birthday.