Zborowsky and the cigarette
07/20/2011
Monza, October 24, 1924: After Louis Zborowsky had refueled on lap 43 and, lighting a cigarette, resumed the race, he suddenly received the disconcerting news of his fatal crash.
He had just passed the small, dangerous bend at Lesmo when, according to the tracks and eyewitnesses, his Mercedes suddenly shot off to the right from the middle of the track towards the inside of the road, first hitting a post with the right front wheel and, tearing through the wire mesh, smashing into a tree about 25 meters further on. Zborowsky suffered such a severe skull fracture that he died a few minutes later on the way to hospital. His mechanic Martin was thrown from the car but escaped with minor injuries.
The cause of the accident was initially officially announced in bulletins that the car had suddenly veered off course to the right due to the front brake suddenly operating unintentionally, a version that immediately raised doubts. It was also denied in a second report, which expressly pointed out that the accident was not due to a failure of the machine. Despite his best efforts, Zborowsky had merely been unable to master the car that had started to slide in the bend.
After the race, the race organizers announced that, according to various statements by stewards who were present at the scene, the accident was due to the fact that Zborowsky, throwing away the cigarette he had finished smoking with his right arm, involuntarily gave the steering wheel, which was now only controlled with his left hand, a violent jerk, which caused the car to veer off course to the right and slide!
P.S. Count Zborowsky was one of the few great amateur drivers to take part in almost all the major automobile races in Europe after the First World War. A Brooklands meeting without Zborowsky was hardly conceivable. As a gentleman driver, he had a large fleet of racing cars, the most famous of which was the "Chitty-Bang-Bang", a monster built for speed records.
