Motor racing - Going for the record | DW Documentary

Motor racing celebrates many a hero, but it also mourns its many victims. The 1930s saw their share of both records and danger, drivers and their mechanics risking anything to make their cars faster. High Velocity - a film about speed. Thrills and spills have been part of racing since the car was invented. But in German racing history one day stands out above all - 28 January 1938. Carmakers Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union met early that day to break the world speed record on a stretch of the Frankfurt-Darmstadt Autobahn. The drivers were Rudolf Caracciola for Mercedes-Benz and Bernd Rosemeyer for Auto Union, intense rivals and both at the peak of their sport. First out in his aerodynamic Mercedes-Benz W125, Caracciola clocked 432 km/h setting a new world record for public roads. Just hours later Bernd Rosemeyer took to his Auto Union Streamliner in an attempt to top that. But just around the 9 kilometer mark disaster struck. Rosemeyer lost control of his vehicle which careered off the road. Thrown clear when