1921 Avus-Rennen – The Complete Story

The Second Race

While the first Sunday race delivered a satisfactory show and consistent lap times, the second race with the 8-stroke-PS cars disappointed immensely. Only five entries were made – two by Dinos, for its director Dunlop and colleague Franz Leuschner, two by Adler for Brendel and Köllner and a single Opel for Heinz von Opel, cousin of the better-known Fritz.

At the end of the first lap, Leuschner was in the lead, with Köllner taking second and Dunlop and Brendel close together in third and fourth. Heinz von Opel, who had already made a name for himself as a quiet driver, had to give up with an engine issue after completing just three kilometres.

Race winner Robert Dunlop

On the second lap, Brendel overtook Dunlop, who was now six seconds behind the field, and set his sights on Köllner.

On the third lap, Köllner’s Adler went missing, followed on the fourth lap by the other Adler and the #4 Dinos of Leuschner. It was unfortunate luck, since he was riding his Dinos very nicely and had covered the first 60 kilometres in just 30m12s, with his nearest rival Brendel already 2 minutes 16 seconds behind.

Engine failures are said to have again caused the retirements. So, the remaining Dinos drove the race home without competition. His run was consistent; but the times were far behind the performance of the 8-tax PS with overhead valves from the previous day and some way off his fellow rivals from earlier in the race.

Nevertheless, he completed the 140 kilometres in the respectable time of 1: 17:04.


25th September – 12:45pm – Class VIIIB – 7 laps x 140km

 1  1  Robert Dunlop	        Dinos 8/35       1:17'04

    4  Franz Leuschner          Dinos 8/35       3 laps (Engine)
    2  Jacob Brendel            Adler 8/35       3 laps (Engine)
    5  Alfred Köllner           Adler 8/35       2 laps (Engine)
    3  Heinz von Opel           Opel 8/25        0 laps (Engine)

Sunday – Race 3 & Record Runs  [NEXT]