History - Belgrade Grand Prix Official Website

Silver Arrows raced through Belgrade

The only ever Grand Prix race on the territory of the former Yugoslavia was held in Belgrade, at a time when not only this sport, but also the world was at a major turning point. Precisely because of this, the memory of this race deserves to live forever.

Back in 1939, in a historic race that marked an era of the development of auto-moto sports, world legends of the sport we know today as Formula 1 raced through Belgrade. Although 1939 is remembered as the end of the Silver Arrows era, it also marked the beginning of a speciific historical story of Belgrade, which still lives today.

The Grand Prix is the predecessor of today’s Formula 1, and Belgrade in 1939 was a challenge that marked many beginnings, and some endings, in the history of this magnificent and fastest sport on the planet. The competition was founded in France in 1906 and was the first to carry such a label, but at the same time, similar competitions were held in other countries, among which were those of the show type, which do not bring points, but bring glory. One of them was the race in Belgrade, organized in honor of the birthday celebration of the young king Peter II Karađorđević.

The political situation in the world was very tense in 1939. Just before the race in Belgrade, the Grand Prix of Switzerland was held. It seemed that it would be cancelled, but in the end it was held despite the fact that the main topic in the media was the beginning of a new war. Such a situation caused a record low number of drivers to appear on the start line in Belgrade, at the race around Kalemegdan, but among them was a domestic representative Boško Milenković in a Bugatti model that did not meet all the parameters of the race. Nevertheless, he took the legendary fourth place.

03.09.1939

A great spectacle was expected in Belgrade, which was supposed to gather more than 100,000 spectators on the track around Kalemegdan. The race started on September 3 at 16:45 local time with only five drivers, two each from Mercedes and Auto Union and one Bugatti in which Boško Milenković competed. Tazio Nuvolari was the first conqueror of the challenging cobblestones around Kalemegdan, which was ridden for as many as 50 laps in order to meet the length requirement of the track. The race was over in just 64 minutes. Nuvolari achieved the last victory in his impressive career, and our Milenkovic, although 19 laps behind, made history by arriving fourth. At the Belgrade Grand Prix, Nuvolari recorded the last, 150th victory in his career, and this was also the last victory for Auto Union. The Grand Prix of Belgrade was the only one ever held in our country and generally the only such race during the war years, since the Second World War officially started two days earlier.

Final ranking:

1. Tacio Nuvolari (Auto Uniton) 1:04:03,8

2. Manfred von Bruhitš (Mercedes) +7,6 seconds

3. Herman Muler (Auto Union) +31,6 seconds

4. Boško Milenkovic (Bugatti) +19 laps

5. Herman Lang / Wolter Baumer (Mercedes) +33 laps

Grand Prix and two-wheelers

In addition to the Silver Arrows, legendary two-wheelers rumbled through the streets of Kalemegdan as part of the Belgrade International Motorcycle Races on September 3, 1939. They were driven by the Croatian pilot Anton Uroić, the Serbian racer Mihajlo Borisavljević, as well as the famous Slovenian pilot Dušan Breznik, who took the victory.

Final ranking:

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