Race fever

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Before the start, undated photograph. Drivers considered road races dangerous in rainy conditions. Parts of the course were made up of cobblestones.

1949: Posing in front of the pits. RDB/Grisel

1951: Jean Studer in an Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 in a sports car race. RDB/Grisel/Lörtscher

1939 and 1934: Germans H.P. Müller (left) and Hans Stuck, both in the "Silver Arrows" of the Auto Union works team. Silver Arrow was the unofficial name of the Grand Prix racing cars of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union from 1934 to 1939. Collection Adriano Cimarosti

1939: Giuseppe Farina on a training lap in the new Alfa Romeo 158 with a 1.5 litre engine. Collection Adriano Cimarosti

1935: The English record driver Gwenda Stewart at the wheel of a Derby with a Maserati engine and front-wheel drive. Collection Adriano Cimarosti

The legendary German racing driver Rudolf Caracciola won the Grand Prix Suisse three times. The picture on the right shows his Mercedes being refueled during the 1935 race. Collection Adriano Cimarosti

1951: Swiss racing pioneer Emannuel "Toulo" de Graffenried in an Alfa. RDB/Grisel/Lörtscher

1951: Emmanuel "Toulo" de Graffenried during a pit stop. RDB/Grisel/Lörtscher

1951: Juan Manuel Fangio won in Bern in 1951 and 1954. The five-times world champion is one of the legendary figures in international motor racing. RDB/ATB

1951: Juan Manuel Fangio is cheered as the winner of this race, which was characterised by rain. Collection Adriano Cimarosti

1951: Henri Louveau went off the circuit at the first bend in his Talbot T26C. RDB/Grisel/Lörtscher

1950: The Alfas of Giuseppe Farina (16), Luigi Fagioli (12) and Juan Manual Fangio. The Grand Prix Suisse for the first time counted for the World Championship. RDB/Metzger/Lörtscher

1954: Hans Hermann in a Mercedes Silver Arrow.

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The Grand Prix Suisse was once a large international event.

Between 1934 and 1954, motor races took place in Bern that were then known as the “Grandes Epreuves”, comparable to today’s Formula One. Up to 100,000 spectators thronged around the 7.3km road course. After a serious accident in Le Mans, France, which cost the lives of 81 people, racing around a circuit was banned in Switzerland from 1955. (Pictures: Adriano Cimarosti Collection/RDB/ATP)