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After the race, Dr. Porsche went to the scene of Rosemeyer's drive through the woods and being the engineer measured the gap between the pole and the bridge. He found it to be only 2 1/2 cm. or 1 inch wider than the Auto Union at its widest point. Silently the mercurial Porsche shook hands with the young driver and patted his shoulder. Rosemeyer won his first race in the Masaryk G.P. in Czechoslovakia finishing six minutes ahead of Nuvolari and Chiron. The Grand Prix order had been broken and Rosemeyer in the words of Cyril Pothumas "...shot meteor-like across the motor racing firmament, driving three short but shattering seasons before his light went out..."
On January 27, 1938 Alfred Neubauer checked with the weather bureau at the Frankfurt
Airport and learned that the conditions would be ideal the next morning but that the wind
would pick-up after 9:00 a.m. At eight Caracciola was off and the record at 268 mph
belonged to the three pointed star. "I was unnerved," Caracciola would say. "The
road seemed like a narrow white band, the bridges like tiny black holes ahead. It was a
matter of threading the car through them..." Bernd Rosemeyer was buried with full military honors. Hitler said to the German nation "May the thought that he fell fighting for Germany's reputation lessen your grief."
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On the morning of the test Rosemeyer
showed up wearing a suit! Asked by Walb why he was not wearing overalls Rosemeyer answered
that "Well this is a
special occasion for me - my premiere in a racing car - so I thought I'd dress for
it." Walb did not know what to make of this impetuous driver but soon had an answer.
The trial was at the daunting 
The 1935 season began but Rosemeyer had
still not driven the car in battle. Walb considered him too inexperienced to drive at the
Avus GP near Berlin. Rosemeyer began to leave notes for Walb where he couldn't miss them asking
"Why is Rosemeyer not driving" and "Where is the car for Rosemeyer."
Finally Walb relented, if Rosemeyer wanted to risk his life on the fast and dangerous Avus
circuit, then at least he had warned him. He qualified third fastest but was done in by a
broken motor. The next race was the Eifelrennen, raced on the Nurburgring. Rosemeyer was
only the fourth man on the team but with the other drivers hobbled by various ailments it
was left to Rosemeyer to attack the leading Mercedes. He was given the orders to go on the
attack which he was more then glad to do having only until then been given the supporting
role. Driving the Auto Union around the Nurburgring in great power slides, not seen since,
he powered past Chiron and Fagioli. In front of him was Caracciola. To the amazement of
all, not the least Caracciola, Rosemeyer had surged into first place. 
His next major race saw him involved in
a duel with the greatest of them all, 
He would go on to win the German, Pescara, Swiss and Italian G.P.s, and was crowned
the European Champion. A the Monaco Grand Prix
that year he spun on a patch of oil and crashed into a bridge. An ornamental stone vase,
loosened by the crash, fell to the ground. Five minutes later he appeared at the pits with
the stone vase under his arm. "If I can't win the real cup," he said with a
grin, "at least I'll take this home with me." The next year brought more
victories including the Vanderbilt Cup where the friendly German made a lasting impression
on his American hosts. At the German Grand Prix he stunned Mercedes, by taking pole
position by six seconds. His races was marred by numerous off track excursions, but still
he charged on in the ill-handling Auto-Union. After four hours he finished in third place
behind the winner, Caracciola. 
Though he had
scored several victories against the Mercedes juggernaut he looked forward to the prospect
of his friend, Nuvolari joining the team for 1938. At the end of the season Mercedes
feeling that their reputation was taking a beating by the upstart Auto Union team and its
brash driver decided to undertake an attempt to regain the land speed record from Auto
Union. The attempt would take place on the Frankfurt-Darmstadt-Heidelberg autobahn. 
Rosemeyer was one of the first to
congratulate Caracciola and said, "My turn now." Caracciola, aware of
the prediction for strong winds sought to warn his young rival but was assured by
Rosemeyer that he was one of the "lucky ones." Just before noon
Rosemeyer entered the closed cockpit special and rocketed down the Autobahn. Traveling at
over 270 mph a crosswind caught his car and caused the Auto Union to somersault flinging
Rosemeyer to his death. Neubauer, Caracciola and von Brauchitsch, his Mercedes rivals, sat
silently for a long time, "unmoving like statues," in Caracciola's
words. Record breaking was over for now. "Bernd literally did not know
fear", Rudolf Caracciola said of his great rival, "and sometimes that
is not good. We actually feared for him in every race. Somehow I never thought a long life
was on the cards for him. He was bound to get it sooner or later..."
