Great Drive: 2010 Audi R8 5.2 V10 - Shooting Star Bernd Rosemeyer

Auto Union enjoyed better luck. During three days of runs, Rosemeyer set a total of sixteen records in two classes and ran 252 mph through the flying mile. Auto Union's ace described the strain of driving flat out for ten miles on a thirty-foot-wide piece of pavement as greater than running an entire grand prix. Loath to show up at Berlin empty-handed, Mercedes pulled strings all the way up to the Führer for a second shot at breaking the record. That was granted, so both teams returned to the autobahn at the end of January with reconfigured bodywork and engines cooled by ice rather than airflow. Caracciola ran the moment the frost had dissipated and by nine a.m. was celebrating his new 269-mph record over breakfast. Two hours later, when Rosemeyer's turn came, an evil wind was brewing. Ignoring suggestions to wait for more favorable weather, the Auto Union pilot warmed his engine with an unofficial 267-mph pass through the measured mile. During the outbound leg of Rosemeyer's record attempt, a rogue gust burst from a clearing as he hammered past at an estimated 270 mph. Four-hundred feet of skid marks indicated that his car was blown toward the median and, after its left wheels touched the grass, took flight and began somersaulting. Rosemeyer's safety gear consisted of a linen helmet and goggles but no restraints. Flung like a rag doll from his tumbling racing car, he came to rest against a tree some seventy-five feet off the road. The colleagues who rushed to his side reported a weak pulse, a pleasant facial expression, and no outward evidence of injury. A detailed investigation of the catastrophe focused on weather conditions, possible structural failure, and the role of the Auto Union streamliner's innovative ground-effects bodywork. The most credible theory is that the crash was caused by the brutal crosswind and the limited steering lock available with the car's tightly shrouded front wheels. One mile south of the Mörfelden-Langen exit, there's an autobahn rest area with a six-foot memorial marking the spot where Rosemeyer met his end. The shattered chassis' remains were found lying on the berm of a small bridge visible in the distance. Fittingly, Rosemeyer's grave is less than two miles from Berlin's AVUS course, where his automobile racing career began. The Waldfriedhof Dahlem where he's buried is more park than cemetery. His wife, Elly Beinhorn-Rosemeyer, who passed away just two years ago, shares the peaceful plot. Ernst von Delius, an Auto Union teammate who perished from injuries sustained at the 1937 German Grand Prix, is also buried nearby.