1906 French Grand Prix
Encyclopedia
The 1906 Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France, commonly known as the 1906 French Grand Prix, was a motor race
held on 26 and 27 June 1906, on closed public roads outside the city of Le Mans
. The Grand Prix was organised by the Automobile Club de France (ACF) at the prompting of the French automobile industry
as an alternative to the Gordon Bennett races, which limited each competing country's number of entries regardless of the size of its industry. France had the largest automobile industry in Europe at the time, and in an attempt to better reflect this the Grand Prix had no limit to the number of entries by any particular country. The ACF chose a 103.18 kilometres (64.1 mi) circuit, composed primarily of dust roads sealed with tar
, which would be lapped six times on both days by each competitor, a combined race distance of 1238.16 kilometres (769.4 mi). Lasting for more than 12 hours overall, the race was won by Ferenc Szisz
driving for the Renault
team. FIAT
driver Felice Nazzaro
finished second, and Albert Clément
was third in a Clément-Bayard
.
Paul Baras
of Brasier
set the fastest lap
of the race on his first lap. He held on to the lead until the third lap, when Szisz took over first position, defending it to the finish. Hot conditions melted the road tar, which the cars kicked up into the faces of the drivers, blinding them and making the racing treacherous. Punctures were common; tyre manufacturer Michelin
introduced a detachable rim
with a tyre already affixed, which could be quickly swapped onto a car after a puncture, saving a significant amount of time over manually replacing the tyre. This helped Nazzaro pass Clément on the second day, as the FIAT—unlike the Clément-Bayard—made use of the rims.
Renault's victory contributed to an increase in sales for the French manufacturer in the years following the race. Despite being the second to carry the title, the race has become known as the first Grand Prix. The success of the 1906 French Grand Prix prompted the ACF to run the Grand Prix again the following year
, and the German automobile industry to organise the Kaiserpreis
, the forerunner to the German Grand Prix
, in 1907.
originated from the Gordon Bennett races
, established by American millionaire James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
in 1900. Intended to encourage automobile industries
through sport, by 1903 the Gordon Bennett races had become some of the most prestigious in Europe; their formula of closed-road racing among similar cars replaced the previous model of unregulated vehicles racing between distant towns, over open roads. Entries into the Gordon Bennett races were by country, and the winning country earned the right to organise the next race. Entries were limited to three per country, which meant that although the nascent motor industry in Europe was dominated by French manufacturers, they were denied the opportunity to fully demonstrate their superiority. Instead, the rule put them on a numerical level footing with countries such as Switzerland, with only one manufacturer, and allowed Mercedes
, which had factories in Germany and Austria, to field six entries: three from each country. The French governing body
, the Automobile Club de France (ACF), held trials between its manufacturers before each race; in 1904 twenty-nine entries competed for the three positions on offer.
When Léon Théry
won the 1904 race for the French manufacturer Richard-Brasier
, the French automobile industry proposed to the ACF that they modify the format of the 1905 Gordon Bennett race and run it simultaneously with an event which did not limit entries by nation. The ACF accepted the proposal, but decided that instead of removing limits to entries by nation, the limits would remain but would be determined by the size of each country's industry. Under the ACF's proposal, France was allowed fifteen entries, Germany and Britain six, and the remaining countries—Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria and the United States—three cars each.
The French proposal was met with strong opposition from governing bodies representing the other Gordon Bennett nations, and at the instigation of Germany a meeting of the bodies was organised to settle the dispute. Although the delegates rejected the French model for the 1905 race, to avoid deadlock they agreed to use the new system of limits for the 1906 race. But when Théry and Richard-Brasier won again in 1905, and the responsibility for organising the 1906 race fell once more to the ACF, the French ended the Gordon Bennett races and organised their own event as a replacement, the Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France.
and local hoteliers to contribute funding to the Grand Prix persuaded the ACF to hold the race on the outskirts of the city, where the Automobile Club de la Sarthe devised a 103.18 kilometres (64.1 mi) circuit. Running through farmlands and forests, the track, like most circuits of the time, formed a triangle. It started outside of the village of Montfort
, and headed south-west towards Le Mans. Competitors then took the Fourche hairpin
, which turned sharply left and slowed the cars to around 50 kilometres per hour (31.1 mph), and then an essentially straight road through Bouloire
south-east towards Saint-Calais
. The town was bypassed with a temporary wooden plank road
, as the track headed north on the next leg of the triangle. Another plank road through a forest to a minor road allowed the track to bypass most of the town of Vibraye
, before it again headed north to the outskirts of La Ferté-Bernard
. A series of left-hand turns took competitors back south-west towards Montfort on the last leg of the triangle, a straight broken by a more technical winding section, near the town of Connerré
. Competitors lapped the circuit twelve times over two days, six times on each day, a total distance of 1238.16 kilometres (769.4 mi).
To address concerns about previous races, during which spectators crowding too close to the track had been killed or injured by cars, the ACF erected 65 kilometres (40.4 mi) of palisade
fencing around the circuit, concentrated around towns and villages, and at the ends of lanes, footpaths and roads intersecting the track. The planking used to avoid the towns of Saint-Calais and Vibraye was installed as an alternative to the system used in the Gordon Bennett races, where cars passing through towns would slow down to a set speed and were forbidden to overtake. Several footbridge
s were erected over the track, and a 2,000-seat canopied grandstand
was built at the start and finish line at Montfort. This faced the pit lane
on the other side of the track, where the teams were based and could work on the cars. A tunnel under the track connected the grandstand and the pit lane. The road surface was little more than compacted dust and sharp stones which could be easily kicked up by the cars, and to limit the resulting problem of impaired visibility and punctures the ACF sealed the entire length of the track with tar. More was added to the bends of the track after cars running on them during practice broke up the surface.
, Hotchkiss
, Gobron-Brillié, Darracq
, Vulpes, Brasier
(the successor to Richard-Brasier), Panhard
, Grégoire
, Lorraine-Dietrich
and Renault
. Two teams came from Italy (FIAT
and Itala) and one (Mercedes) from Germany. With the exceptions of Gobron-Brillié and Vulpes, which each entered one car, and Grégoire, which entered two cars, each team entered three cars, to make a total field of thirty-four entries. No British or American manufacturers entered the Grand Prix. The British were suspicious that the event was designed as propaganda
for the French automobile industry; British magazine The Motor quoted French daily newspaper Le Petit Parisien
as evidence of this supposed lack of sportsmanship
.
The ACF imposed a maximum weight limit—excluding tools, upholstery
, wings
, lights and light fittings—of 1000 kilograms (2,205 lb), with an additional 7 kilograms (15 lb) allowed for a magneto
or dynamo
, to be used for ignition
. Regulations limited fuel consumption
to 30 l/100 km. Every team opted for a magneto system; all used a low-tension system except Clément-Bayard, Panhard, Hotchkiss, Gobron-Brillié, and Renault, which used high-tension. Mercedes, Brasier, Clément-Bayard, FIAT and Gobron-Brillié used a chain drive
system for transmission; the rest used drive shafts. All entries were fitted with four-cylinder engines; engine displacement
ranged from 7433 cc for the Grégoire to 18279 cc for the Panhard. Exhaust pipes
were directed upwards to limit the dust kicked up off the roads. Teams were allowed to change drivers and equipment, but only at the end of the first day's running, not while the race was in progress.
Michelin
, Dunlop
and Continental
supplied tyres for the race. In the Grand Prix's one major technical innovation, Michelin introduced the jante amovible: a detachable rim
with a tyre already affixed, which could be quickly swapped onto the car in the event of a puncture. Unlike in the Gordon Bennett races, only the driver and his riding mechanic
were allowed to work on the car during the race, hence carrying the detachable rims could save time and confer a large advantage. The conventional method of changing a tyre, which involved slicing off the old tyre with a knife, and forcing the new tyre onto the rim, generally took around fifteen minutes; replacing Michelin's rims took less than four. The FIATs each used a full set, while the Renaults and two of the Clément-Bayards used them on the rear wheels of their cars. As carrying each rim added 9 kilograms (20 lb) to the weight of the car over conventional wheels and tyres, some teams—such as Itala and Panhard—could not carry them without exceeding the weight limit.
on the line and could not re-start his car before the FIAT of Vincenzo Lancia
, who was next in line, drove away. Renault's lead driver, the Hungarian Ferenc Szisz
, started next, and behind him Victor Hémery
of Darracq, Paul Baras
of Brasier, Camille Jenatzy
of Mercedes, Louis Rigolly
of Gobron-Brillié and Alessandro Cagno of Itala. Philippe Tavenaux of Grégoire, scheduled next, was unable to start; the only other non-starter was the sole Vulpes of Marius Barriaux, which was withdrawn before the race when it was found to be over the weight limit. The last of the thirty-two starters—the Clément-Bayard of "de la Touloubre", numbered "13C"—left the start line at 6:49:30 am.
Itala driver Maurice Fabry started the fastest of the competitors; he covered the first kilometre in 43.4 seconds. Over the full distance of the lap Brasier's Baras was the quickest; his lap time of 52 minutes and 25.4 seconds (52:25.4) moved him up to third position on the road and into the lead overall. A mechanical problem caused Gabriel to lose control of his car at Saint-Calais; he regained control in time to avoid a serious accident but was forced to retire. Baras maintained his lead after the second lap, but fell back to second the next lap as Szisz took over the lead. As the day grew hotter—it reached a high of 49 °C (120.2 °F)—the tar began to melt, which proved to be a greater problem than the dust; it was kicked up by the cars into the faces of the drivers and their mechanics, seeping past their goggles and inflaming their eyes. The Renault driver, J. Edmond, was particularly affected: his broken goggles allowed more tar to seep past and rendered him nearly blind. His attempts to change the goggles at a pit stop were rejected by officials on the grounds that equipment could not be replaced mid-race. Nor could another driver be substituted; he continued for two more laps before retiring.
FIAT driver Aldo Weilschott climbed from fourteenth on lap three to third on lap five, before his car rolled off the planks outside of Vibraye. Szisz maintained the lead he had gained on lap three to finish the first day just before noon in a time of 5 hours, 45 minutes and 30.4 seconds (5:45:30.4), 26 minutes ahead of Albert Clément
of Clément-Bayard. Despite a slow start, FIAT driver Felice Nazzaro
moved up to third position, 15 minutes behind Clément. Seventeen cars completed the first day; Henri Rougier's
Lorraine-Dietrich finished last with a time of 8:15:55.0, two-and-a-half-hours behind Szisz. All the cars that were competing the next day were moved into parc fermé
, a floodlit
area guarded overnight by members of the ACF, to prevent teams and drivers from working on them until the following morning.
The time each car set on the first day determined the time they set off on the second day, hence Szisz's first-day time of 5 hours and 45 minutes meant he started at 5:45 am. Following the same principle, Clément began at 6:11 am and Nazzaro at 6:26 am. This method ensured that positions on the road directly reflected the race standings. A horse, which had been trained before the race to be accustomed to the loud noise of an engine starting, towed each competitor out of parc fermé to the start line. As neither driver nor mechanic could work on their car until they had been given the signal to start the day's running, Szisz and Clément began by heading directly to the pit lane to change tyres and service their cars. Clément completed his stop more quickly than Szisz, and Nazzaro did not stop at all, and so Clément closed his time gap to Szisz and Nazzaro closed on Clément. Jenatzy and Lancia, who were both suffering eye problems from the first day, had intended to retire from the race and be relieved by their reserve drivers. As planned, "Burton" took over Jenatzy's car, but Lancia was forced to resume in his street clothes when his replacement driver could not be found when the car was due to start.
Hotchkiss driver Elliott Shepard, who finished the first day in fourth, less than four minutes behind Nazzaro, spent half-an-hour working on his car at the start of the second day, fitting new tyres and changing liquids. On the eighth lap, he ran off the wooden planking at Saint-Calais but was able to resume; a wheel failure later in the lap caused him to run into a bank of earth and forced him to retire. Panhard driver Georges Teste crashed early in the day and retired, as did Claude Richez of Renault; the sole Gobron-Brillié of Rigolly suffered radiator
damage on lap seven and was forced out of the race. After two laps' running on the second day, second-placed Clément had established a 23-minute lead over Nazzaro, but this was reduced to three minutes on the following lap. Despite Nazzaro passing Clément on lap ten, a refuelling stop for the FIAT soon after put Clément back in front. Nazzaro passed again, and led Clément into the last lap of the race by less than a minute.
Szisz's Renault suffered a broken rear suspension
on the tenth lap, but his lead was so great (more than 30 minutes) that he could afford to drive cautiously with the damage. He took the black flag of the winner at the finish line after a combined total from the two days of 12:12:07.0; he had also been quicker on the straight than any other driver, reaching a top speed of 154 kilometres per hour (95.7 mph). He finished 32 minutes ahead of second-placed Nazzaro, who was in turn 3 minutes ahead of Clément. Jules Barillier's Brasier was fourth, ahead of Lancia and Panhard driver George Heath
. Baras—whose first lap was the fastest of any car during the race—was seventh, ahead of Arthur Duray
of Lorraine-Dietrich, "Pierry" of Brasier, and "Burton". The last finisher, the Mercedes driver "Mariaux", was eleventh, more than four hours behind Szisz. Rougier, who had set the fastest lap of the day with a time of 53:16.4, had retired on lap ten after a long series of punctures. Of the other retirements, Hémery, René Hanriot and Louis Wagner
of Darracq suffered engine problems; the radiators on the cars of Rigolly of Gobron-Brillié, Xavier Civelli de Bosch of Grégoire and Cagno of Itala failed; Pierre de Caters
of Itala, Shepard and Hubert le Blon of Hotchkiss, A. Villemain of Clément-Bayard and Vincenzo Florio
of Mercedes withdrew after wheel failures; Gabriel of Lorraine-Dietrich, "de la Touloubre" of Clément-Bayard and Henri Tart of Panhard retired because of other mechanical problems; and Fabry of Itala, Weilschott of FIAT, Teste of Panhard, Richez of Renault and Jacques Salleron of Hotchkiss suffered crash damage. Edmond of Renault was the only competitor whose retirement was the result of driver injury.
Reflections on the race by the organisers and the media generally concluded that the Grand Prix had been a poor replacement for the Gordon Bennett races. In part, this had been because the race was too long, and the system of starting the race—with each car leaving at 90-second intervals—had meant that there had been very little interaction between the competitors, simply cars driving their own races to time. The ACF decided that too much pressure had been put on drivers and riding mechanics by forbidding others to work on the cars during the race. It was also felt that the outcome of the race had been too dependent on the use of Michelin's detachable rims. Clément had driven the only Clément-Bayard to not have the rims, and it was thought that this contributed to Nazzaro passing him on the second day as he stopped to change tyres. Despite this, the ACF decided to run the Grand Prix again the following year
. The publicity generated by the race prompted the German governing body to organise a similar event that favoured their own industry. The forerunner to the German Grand Prix
, the Kaiserpreis
(Kaiser's
Prize) was raced in 1907.
The conference held in 1904 to consider the French proposal for a change in formula to the Gordon Bennett races led to the formation of the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR; the predecessor of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
), the body responsible for regulating international motorsport. Although a smaller race held in 1901 had awarded the "Grand Prix de Pau", the 1906 race outside Le Mans was the first genuinely international race to carry the label "Grand Prix". Until the First World War it was the only annual race to be called a Grand Prix (often, the Grand Prix), and is commonly known as "the first Grand Prix".
Motorsport
Motorsport or motorsports is the group of sports which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles, whether for racing or non-racing competition...
held on 26 and 27 June 1906, on closed public roads outside the city of Le Mans
Le Mans
Le Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...
. The Grand Prix was organised by the Automobile Club de France (ACF) at the prompting of the French automobile industry
Automotive industry
The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....
as an alternative to the Gordon Bennett races, which limited each competing country's number of entries regardless of the size of its industry. France had the largest automobile industry in Europe at the time, and in an attempt to better reflect this the Grand Prix had no limit to the number of entries by any particular country. The ACF chose a 103.18 kilometres (64.1 mi) circuit, composed primarily of dust roads sealed with tar
Tar
Tar is modified pitch produced primarily from the wood and roots of pine by destructive distillation under pyrolysis. Production and trade in tar was a major contributor in the economies of Northern Europe and Colonial America. Its main use was in preserving wooden vessels against rot. The largest...
, which would be lapped six times on both days by each competitor, a combined race distance of 1238.16 kilometres (769.4 mi). Lasting for more than 12 hours overall, the race was won by Ferenc Szisz
Ferenc Szisz
Ferenc Szisz , was a Hungarian race car driver and the winner of the first Grand Prix motor racing event on a Renault Grand Prix 90CV on 26 June, 1906....
driving for the Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
team. FIAT
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
driver Felice Nazzaro
Felice Nazzaro
Felice Nazzaro was an Italian racecar driver, a native of Turin. He won the Kaiserpreis in 1907 as well as the French Grand Prix in 1907 and 1922 and Targa Florio in 1907 and 1913. His European wins in 1907 resulted in an invitation to compete in the 1908 American Grand Prize in Savannah, Georgia,...
finished second, and Albert Clément
Albert Clément
Albert Clément was a French motor racing driver. In 1904 he won the II Ardennes Cup race and finished third in the III Ardennes Cup race at Bastogne. He also finished second in the Vanderbilt Cup on Long Island. In 1906 he finished third in the inaugural French Grand Prix and 4th in the...
was third in a Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard was a French manufacturer of automobiles, aeroplanes and airships founded in 1903 by the entrepreneur Adolphe Clément-Bayard . The name celebrated the Chevalier Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard who saved the town of Mézières in 1521...
.
Paul Baras
Paul Baras
Paul Baras was a road racing cyclist and racing driver from France. He competed in several early Grand Prix motor races, and held the world land speed record between November 1904 and January 1905....
of Brasier
Brasier
Brasier was the successor of the early French Richard-Brasier automobile maker that had been in business since 1902. The name of the make was simplified to Brasier when Georges Richard left in 1905 to found Unic. Before World War I, several twin, four and six-cylinder models were offered...
set the fastest lap
Fastest lap
In motorsport, the fastest lap is the quickest lap run during a race. Some series, like A1 Grand Prix and the GP2 series, award bonus points to the driver/team with the fastest lap...
of the race on his first lap. He held on to the lead until the third lap, when Szisz took over first position, defending it to the finish. Hot conditions melted the road tar, which the cars kicked up into the faces of the drivers, blinding them and making the racing treacherous. Punctures were common; tyre manufacturer Michelin
Michelin
Michelin is a tyre manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the two largest tyre manufacturers in the world along with Bridgestone. In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Kleber, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal tyre brands...
introduced a detachable rim
Rim (wheel)
The rim of a wheel is the outer circular design of the metal on which the inside edge of the tire is mounted on vehicles such as automobiles. For example, on a bicycle wheel the rim is a large hoop attached to the outer ends of the spokes of the wheel that holds the tire and tube.In the 1st...
with a tyre already affixed, which could be quickly swapped onto a car after a puncture, saving a significant amount of time over manually replacing the tyre. This helped Nazzaro pass Clément on the second day, as the FIAT—unlike the Clément-Bayard—made use of the rims.
Renault's victory contributed to an increase in sales for the French manufacturer in the years following the race. Despite being the second to carry the title, the race has become known as the first Grand Prix. The success of the 1906 French Grand Prix prompted the ACF to run the Grand Prix again the following year
1907 French Grand Prix
The 1907 French Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Dieppe on 2 July 1907.-The Race:38 cars set off at one minute intervals to complete 10 laps of a circuit on a triangular circuit near the city of Dieppe. The field was led away by Vincenzo Lancia's Fiat.The race was run under a 9.4 mpg...
, and the German automobile industry to organise the Kaiserpreis
Kaiserpreis
The Kaiserpreis auto race, named after Emperor Wilhelm II, was held in 1907. Like his brother's Prinz-Heinrich-Fahrt held from 1908 to 1911, it was a precursor to the German Grand Prix....
, the forerunner to the German Grand Prix
German Grand Prix
The German Grand Prix is an annual automobile race.Because Germany was banned from taking part in international events after World War II, the German GP only became part of the Formula One World Championship in 1951...
, in 1907.
Background
The first French Grand PrixFrench Grand Prix
The French Grand Prix was a race held as part of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One automobile racing championships....
originated from the Gordon Bennett races
Gordon Bennett Cup in auto racing
As one of three Gordon Bennett Cups established by James Gordon Bennett, Jr., millionaire owner of the New York Herald, the automobile racing award was first given in 1900 in France....
, established by American millionaire James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
James Gordon Bennett, Jr. was publisher of the New York Herald, founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett, Sr., who emigrated from Scotland. He was generally known as Gordon Bennett to distinguish him from his father....
in 1900. Intended to encourage automobile industries
Automotive industry
The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....
through sport, by 1903 the Gordon Bennett races had become some of the most prestigious in Europe; their formula of closed-road racing among similar cars replaced the previous model of unregulated vehicles racing between distant towns, over open roads. Entries into the Gordon Bennett races were by country, and the winning country earned the right to organise the next race. Entries were limited to three per country, which meant that although the nascent motor industry in Europe was dominated by French manufacturers, they were denied the opportunity to fully demonstrate their superiority. Instead, the rule put them on a numerical level footing with countries such as Switzerland, with only one manufacturer, and allowed Mercedes
Mercedes (car)
Mercedes was a brand of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft . DMG which began to develop in 1900, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler...
, which had factories in Germany and Austria, to field six entries: three from each country. The French governing body
Sport governing body
A sport governing body is a sports organization that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sport governing bodies come in various forms, and have a variety of regulatory functions. Examples of this can include disciplinary action for rule infractions and deciding on rule changes in the sport...
, the Automobile Club de France (ACF), held trials between its manufacturers before each race; in 1904 twenty-nine entries competed for the three positions on offer.
When Léon Théry
Léon Théry
Léon Théry, , was a French racing driver who won the premier European race, the Gordon Bennett Cup, twice in 1904 and 1905.-Career:...
won the 1904 race for the French manufacturer Richard-Brasier
Richard-Brasier
Richard-Brasier was the successor of the early French automobile maker Georges Richard from 1902. The firm made large chain-driven cars.Léon Théry drove the cars to victory in the Gordon Bennett Cup races in 1904 and 1905...
, the French automobile industry proposed to the ACF that they modify the format of the 1905 Gordon Bennett race and run it simultaneously with an event which did not limit entries by nation. The ACF accepted the proposal, but decided that instead of removing limits to entries by nation, the limits would remain but would be determined by the size of each country's industry. Under the ACF's proposal, France was allowed fifteen entries, Germany and Britain six, and the remaining countries—Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria and the United States—three cars each.
The French proposal was met with strong opposition from governing bodies representing the other Gordon Bennett nations, and at the instigation of Germany a meeting of the bodies was organised to settle the dispute. Although the delegates rejected the French model for the 1905 race, to avoid deadlock they agreed to use the new system of limits for the 1906 race. But when Théry and Richard-Brasier won again in 1905, and the responsibility for organising the 1906 race fell once more to the ACF, the French ended the Gordon Bennett races and organised their own event as a replacement, the Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France.
Track
A combined offer from the city council of Le MansLe Mans
Le Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...
and local hoteliers to contribute funding to the Grand Prix persuaded the ACF to hold the race on the outskirts of the city, where the Automobile Club de la Sarthe devised a 103.18 kilometres (64.1 mi) circuit. Running through farmlands and forests, the track, like most circuits of the time, formed a triangle. It started outside of the village of Montfort
Montfort-le-Gesnois
Montfort-le-Gesnois is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays-de-la-Loire in north-western France.-References:*...
, and headed south-west towards Le Mans. Competitors then took the Fourche hairpin
Hairpin turn
A hairpin turn , named for its resemblance to a hairpin/bobby pin, is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn almost 180° to continue on the road. Such turns in ramps and trails may be called switchbacks in American English, by analogy...
, which turned sharply left and slowed the cars to around 50 kilometres per hour (31.1 mph), and then an essentially straight road through Bouloire
Bouloire
Bouloire is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays-de-la-Loire in north-western France....
south-east towards Saint-Calais
Saint-Calais
Saint-Calais is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays-de-la-Loire in north-western France.Prior to the French Revolution it was known for its Benedictine abbey named after the Anisola stream . Saint-Calais is a later name coming from one of the local saints of the Perche area....
. The town was bypassed with a temporary wooden plank road
Plank road
A plank road or puncheon is a dirt path or road covered with a series of planks, similar to the wooden sidewalks one would see in a Western movie. Plank roads were very popular in Ontario, the U.S. Northeast and U.S. Midwest in the first half of the 19th century...
, as the track headed north on the next leg of the triangle. Another plank road through a forest to a minor road allowed the track to bypass most of the town of Vibraye
Vibraye
Vibraye is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays-de-la-Loire in north-western France....
, before it again headed north to the outskirts of La Ferté-Bernard
La Ferté-Bernard
La Ferté-Bernard is a commune in the Sarthe department in the Pays de la Loire region in north-western France.-Twin towns:It is twinned with Louth in Lincolnshire and also Laufen, Germany.-Local folklore:...
. A series of left-hand turns took competitors back south-west towards Montfort on the last leg of the triangle, a straight broken by a more technical winding section, near the town of Connerré
Connerré
Connerré is a commune in the Sarthe department in the Pays de la Loire region in north-western France.-References:*...
. Competitors lapped the circuit twelve times over two days, six times on each day, a total distance of 1238.16 kilometres (769.4 mi).
To address concerns about previous races, during which spectators crowding too close to the track had been killed or injured by cars, the ACF erected 65 kilometres (40.4 mi) of palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
fencing around the circuit, concentrated around towns and villages, and at the ends of lanes, footpaths and roads intersecting the track. The planking used to avoid the towns of Saint-Calais and Vibraye was installed as an alternative to the system used in the Gordon Bennett races, where cars passing through towns would slow down to a set speed and were forbidden to overtake. Several footbridge
Footbridge
A footbridge or pedestrian bridge is a bridge designed for pedestrians and in some cases cyclists, animal traffic and horse riders, rather than vehicular traffic. Footbridges complement the landscape and can be used decoratively to visually link two distinct areas or to signal a transaction...
s were erected over the track, and a 2,000-seat canopied grandstand
Grandstand
A grandstand is a large and normally permanent structure for seating spectators, most often at a racetrack. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap all or most of the way...
was built at the start and finish line at Montfort. This faced the pit lane
Pit stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is where a racing vehicle stops in the pits during a race for refuelling, new tires, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, or any combination of the above...
on the other side of the track, where the teams were based and could work on the cars. A tunnel under the track connected the grandstand and the pit lane. The road surface was little more than compacted dust and sharp stones which could be easily kicked up by the cars, and to limit the resulting problem of impaired visibility and punctures the ACF sealed the entire length of the track with tar. More was added to the bends of the track after cars running on them during practice broke up the surface.
Entries and cars
Ten French manufacturers entered cars in the Grand Prix: Clément-BayardClément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard was a French manufacturer of automobiles, aeroplanes and airships founded in 1903 by the entrepreneur Adolphe Clément-Bayard . The name celebrated the Chevalier Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard who saved the town of Mézières in 1521...
, Hotchkiss
Hotchkiss et Cie
Société Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Hotchkiss et Cie was a French arms and car company established by United States engineer Benjamin B. Hotchkiss, who was born in Watertown, Connecticut. He moved to France and set up a factory, first at Viviez near Rodez in 1867, then at Saint-Denis near...
, Gobron-Brillié, Darracq
Darracq
Automobiles Darracq S.A. was a French motor vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq.Using part of the substantial profit he had made from selling his Gladiator bicycle factory, Alexandre Darracq began operating from a plant in the Parisian suburb of Suresnes...
, Vulpes, Brasier
Brasier
Brasier was the successor of the early French Richard-Brasier automobile maker that had been in business since 1902. The name of the make was simplified to Brasier when Georges Richard left in 1905 to found Unic. Before World War I, several twin, four and six-cylinder models were offered...
(the successor to Richard-Brasier), Panhard
Panhard
Panhard is currently a French manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its current incarnation was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005. Panhard had been under Citroën ownership, then PSA , for 40 years...
, Grégoire
Automobiles Gregoire
Automobiles Grégoire was a French car manufacturer, established in 1902, that operated for about twenty years in the early 20th century. The company was the creation of Pierre Joseph Grégoire ....
, Lorraine-Dietrich
Lorraine-Dietrich
Lorraine-Dietrich was a French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissments de Dietrich and Cie branched into the manufacture of automobiles...
and Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
. Two teams came from Italy (FIAT
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
and Itala) and one (Mercedes) from Germany. With the exceptions of Gobron-Brillié and Vulpes, which each entered one car, and Grégoire, which entered two cars, each team entered three cars, to make a total field of thirty-four entries. No British or American manufacturers entered the Grand Prix. The British were suspicious that the event was designed as propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
for the French automobile industry; British magazine The Motor quoted French daily newspaper Le Petit Parisien
Le Petit Parisien
Le Petit Parisien was a prominent French newspaper during the French Third Republic. It was published between 1876 and 1944, and its circulation was over 2 million after the First World War.-Publishing:...
as evidence of this supposed lack of sportsmanship
Sportsmanship
Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors...
.
The ACF imposed a maximum weight limit—excluding tools, upholstery
Upholstery
Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word upholstery comes from the Middle English word upholder, which referred to a tradesman who held up his goods. The term is equally applicable to domestic,...
, wings
Wing (automotive)
(for the panels around the wheels of a car see Fender (vehicle)A wing in this context is an aerodynamic device intended to generate downforce on an automobile. The first production car to feature a rear wing was the 1969 mercury cyclone spoiler, soon followed by the drastically larger Superbird and...
, lights and light fittings—of 1000 kilograms (2,205 lb), with an additional 7 kilograms (15 lb) allowed for a magneto
Magneto
A magneto is a type of electrical generator.Magneto may also refer to:* Magneto , permanent magnetic alternating current rotary generator* ignition magneto, magnetos on internal combustion engines...
or dynamo
Dynamo
- Engineering :* Dynamo, a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator* Dynamo theory, a theory relating to magnetic fields of celestial bodies* Solar dynamo, the physical process that generates the Sun's magnetic field- Software :...
, to be used for ignition
Ignition system
An ignition system is a system for igniting a fuel-air mixture. Ignition systems are well known in the field of internal combustion engines such as those used in petrol engines used to power the majority of motor vehicles, but they are also used in many other applications such as in oil-fired and...
. Regulations limited fuel consumption
Fuel economy in automobiles
Fuel usage in automobiles refers to the fuel efficiency relationship between distance traveled by an automobile and the amount of fuel consumed....
to 30 l/100 km. Every team opted for a magneto system; all used a low-tension system except Clément-Bayard, Panhard, Hotchkiss, Gobron-Brillié, and Renault, which used high-tension. Mercedes, Brasier, Clément-Bayard, FIAT and Gobron-Brillié used a chain drive
Chain drive
Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles...
system for transmission; the rest used drive shafts. All entries were fitted with four-cylinder engines; engine displacement
Engine displacement
Engine displacement is the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine in a single movement from top dead centre to bottom dead centre . It is commonly specified in cubic centimeters , litres , or cubic inches...
ranged from 7433 cc for the Grégoire to 18279 cc for the Panhard. Exhaust pipes
Exhaust system
An exhaust system is usually tubing used to guide reaction exhaust gases away from a controlled combustion inside an engine or stove. The entire system conveys burnt gases from the engine and includes one or more exhaust pipes...
were directed upwards to limit the dust kicked up off the roads. Teams were allowed to change drivers and equipment, but only at the end of the first day's running, not while the race was in progress.
Michelin
Michelin
Michelin is a tyre manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the two largest tyre manufacturers in the world along with Bridgestone. In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Kleber, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal tyre brands...
, Dunlop
Dunlop Rubber
Dunlop Rubber was a company based in the United Kingdom which manufactured tyres and other rubber products for most of the 20th century. It was acquired by BTR plc in 1985. Since then, ownership of the Dunlop trade-names has been fragmented.-Early history:...
and Continental
Continental AG
Continental AG, internally often called Conti for short, is a worldwide leading German manufacturer of tires, brake systems, vehicle stability control systems, engine injection systems, tachographs and other parts for the automotive and transport industries. The company is based in Hanover, Germany...
supplied tyres for the race. In the Grand Prix's one major technical innovation, Michelin introduced the jante amovible: a detachable rim
Rim (wheel)
The rim of a wheel is the outer circular design of the metal on which the inside edge of the tire is mounted on vehicles such as automobiles. For example, on a bicycle wheel the rim is a large hoop attached to the outer ends of the spokes of the wheel that holds the tire and tube.In the 1st...
with a tyre already affixed, which could be quickly swapped onto the car in the event of a puncture. Unlike in the Gordon Bennett races, only the driver and his riding mechanic
Riding mechanic
A riding mechanic was a mechanic that rode along with a race car during the race who was tasked with maintaining, monitoring, and repairing the car during the race. They communicated with the pits and spotted from inside the car. Riding mechanics were used by most cars in the Indianapolis 500 from...
were allowed to work on the car during the race, hence carrying the detachable rims could save time and confer a large advantage. The conventional method of changing a tyre, which involved slicing off the old tyre with a knife, and forcing the new tyre onto the rim, generally took around fifteen minutes; replacing Michelin's rims took less than four. The FIATs each used a full set, while the Renaults and two of the Clément-Bayards used them on the rear wheels of their cars. As carrying each rim added 9 kilograms (20 lb) to the weight of the car over conventional wheels and tyres, some teams—such as Itala and Panhard—could not carry them without exceeding the weight limit.
Race
Roads around the track were closed to the public at 5 am on the morning of the race. A draw took place among the thirteen teams to determine the starting order, and assign each team a number. Each of a team's three entries was assigned a letter, one of "A", "B", or "C". Two lines of cars formed behind the start line at Montfort: cars marked "A" in one line and cars marked "B" in the other. Cars assigned the letter "C" were the last away; they formed a single line at the side of the track so that any cars which had completed their first circuit of the track would be able to pass. Cars were dispatched at 90-second intervals, beginning at 6 am. Lorraine-Dietrich driver Fernand Gabriel (numbered "1A") was scheduled to be the first competitor to start, but he stalledStall (engine)
A stall is the slowing or stopping of a process, and in the case of an engine, refers to a sudden stopping of the engine turning, usually brought about accidentally....
on the line and could not re-start his car before the FIAT of Vincenzo Lancia
Vincenzo Lancia
Vincenzo Lancia was an Italian pilot, engineer and founder of Lancia.Vincenzo Lancia was born in the small village of Fobello on 24 August 1881, close to Turin...
, who was next in line, drove away. Renault's lead driver, the Hungarian Ferenc Szisz
Ferenc Szisz
Ferenc Szisz , was a Hungarian race car driver and the winner of the first Grand Prix motor racing event on a Renault Grand Prix 90CV on 26 June, 1906....
, started next, and behind him Victor Hémery
Victor Hémery
Victor Hémery was a champion driver of early Grand Prix motor racing who was born in Sillé-le-Guillaume, France, Sarthe, France. In 1904 he joined Automobiles Darracq S.A. as their chief tester and helped prepare cars to compete in that year's Gordon Bennett Cup...
of Darracq, Paul Baras
Paul Baras
Paul Baras was a road racing cyclist and racing driver from France. He competed in several early Grand Prix motor races, and held the world land speed record between November 1904 and January 1905....
of Brasier, Camille Jenatzy
Camille Jenatzy
Camille Jenatzy was a Belgian race car driver. He is known for breaking the land speed record three times and being the first man to break the 100 km/h barrier....
of Mercedes, Louis Rigolly
Louis Rigolly
Louis Rigolly, a Frenchman, was the first man to drive a car at over .He set a record of on a beach at Ostend in Belgium on 21 July 1904, driving a 13.5 litre Gobron-Brillie racing car. He covered a 1 kilometre course in 21.6 seconds, beating Belgian Pierre de Caters mark of , set the previous...
of Gobron-Brillié and Alessandro Cagno of Itala. Philippe Tavenaux of Grégoire, scheduled next, was unable to start; the only other non-starter was the sole Vulpes of Marius Barriaux, which was withdrawn before the race when it was found to be over the weight limit. The last of the thirty-two starters—the Clément-Bayard of "de la Touloubre", numbered "13C"—left the start line at 6:49:30 am.
Itala driver Maurice Fabry started the fastest of the competitors; he covered the first kilometre in 43.4 seconds. Over the full distance of the lap Brasier's Baras was the quickest; his lap time of 52 minutes and 25.4 seconds (52:25.4) moved him up to third position on the road and into the lead overall. A mechanical problem caused Gabriel to lose control of his car at Saint-Calais; he regained control in time to avoid a serious accident but was forced to retire. Baras maintained his lead after the second lap, but fell back to second the next lap as Szisz took over the lead. As the day grew hotter—it reached a high of 49 °C (120.2 °F)—the tar began to melt, which proved to be a greater problem than the dust; it was kicked up by the cars into the faces of the drivers and their mechanics, seeping past their goggles and inflaming their eyes. The Renault driver, J. Edmond, was particularly affected: his broken goggles allowed more tar to seep past and rendered him nearly blind. His attempts to change the goggles at a pit stop were rejected by officials on the grounds that equipment could not be replaced mid-race. Nor could another driver be substituted; he continued for two more laps before retiring.
FIAT driver Aldo Weilschott climbed from fourteenth on lap three to third on lap five, before his car rolled off the planks outside of Vibraye. Szisz maintained the lead he had gained on lap three to finish the first day just before noon in a time of 5 hours, 45 minutes and 30.4 seconds (5:45:30.4), 26 minutes ahead of Albert Clément
Albert Clément
Albert Clément was a French motor racing driver. In 1904 he won the II Ardennes Cup race and finished third in the III Ardennes Cup race at Bastogne. He also finished second in the Vanderbilt Cup on Long Island. In 1906 he finished third in the inaugural French Grand Prix and 4th in the...
of Clément-Bayard. Despite a slow start, FIAT driver Felice Nazzaro
Felice Nazzaro
Felice Nazzaro was an Italian racecar driver, a native of Turin. He won the Kaiserpreis in 1907 as well as the French Grand Prix in 1907 and 1922 and Targa Florio in 1907 and 1913. His European wins in 1907 resulted in an invitation to compete in the 1908 American Grand Prize in Savannah, Georgia,...
moved up to third position, 15 minutes behind Clément. Seventeen cars completed the first day; Henri Rougier's
Henri Rougier
Henri Louis Rougier, was a French sportsman, racing cyclist, pioneer aeroplane pilot and sporting motorist. He is best remembered for his victory in the inaugural Monte Carlo Rally when he drove his Turcat-Méry from Paris to Monte Carlo, but he was also a regular competitor in both 'City to City'...
Lorraine-Dietrich finished last with a time of 8:15:55.0, two-and-a-half-hours behind Szisz. All the cars that were competing the next day were moved into parc fermé
Parc fermé
Parc fermé, literally meaning "closed park" in French, is a term used to describe a secure area at a Grand Prix circuit wherein the cars are driven back to the pits post-race. According to the FIA Formula One regulations, the area must be sufficiently large and secure so as to prevent unauthorised...
, a floodlit
Floodlights (sport)
Floodlights are broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial lights often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions....
area guarded overnight by members of the ACF, to prevent teams and drivers from working on them until the following morning.
The time each car set on the first day determined the time they set off on the second day, hence Szisz's first-day time of 5 hours and 45 minutes meant he started at 5:45 am. Following the same principle, Clément began at 6:11 am and Nazzaro at 6:26 am. This method ensured that positions on the road directly reflected the race standings. A horse, which had been trained before the race to be accustomed to the loud noise of an engine starting, towed each competitor out of parc fermé to the start line. As neither driver nor mechanic could work on their car until they had been given the signal to start the day's running, Szisz and Clément began by heading directly to the pit lane to change tyres and service their cars. Clément completed his stop more quickly than Szisz, and Nazzaro did not stop at all, and so Clément closed his time gap to Szisz and Nazzaro closed on Clément. Jenatzy and Lancia, who were both suffering eye problems from the first day, had intended to retire from the race and be relieved by their reserve drivers. As planned, "Burton" took over Jenatzy's car, but Lancia was forced to resume in his street clothes when his replacement driver could not be found when the car was due to start.
Hotchkiss driver Elliott Shepard, who finished the first day in fourth, less than four minutes behind Nazzaro, spent half-an-hour working on his car at the start of the second day, fitting new tyres and changing liquids. On the eighth lap, he ran off the wooden planking at Saint-Calais but was able to resume; a wheel failure later in the lap caused him to run into a bank of earth and forced him to retire. Panhard driver Georges Teste crashed early in the day and retired, as did Claude Richez of Renault; the sole Gobron-Brillié of Rigolly suffered radiator
Radiator (engine cooling)
Radiators are used for cooling internal combustion engines, mainly in automobiles but also in piston-engined aircraft, railway locomotives, motorcycles, stationary generating plant or any similar use of such an engine....
damage on lap seven and was forced out of the race. After two laps' running on the second day, second-placed Clément had established a 23-minute lead over Nazzaro, but this was reduced to three minutes on the following lap. Despite Nazzaro passing Clément on lap ten, a refuelling stop for the FIAT soon after put Clément back in front. Nazzaro passed again, and led Clément into the last lap of the race by less than a minute.
Szisz's Renault suffered a broken rear suspension
Suspension (vehicle)
Suspension is the term given to the system of springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels. Suspension systems serve a dual purpose — contributing to the car's roadholding/handling and braking for good active safety and driving pleasure, and keeping vehicle occupants...
on the tenth lap, but his lead was so great (more than 30 minutes) that he could afford to drive cautiously with the damage. He took the black flag of the winner at the finish line after a combined total from the two days of 12:12:07.0; he had also been quicker on the straight than any other driver, reaching a top speed of 154 kilometres per hour (95.7 mph). He finished 32 minutes ahead of second-placed Nazzaro, who was in turn 3 minutes ahead of Clément. Jules Barillier's Brasier was fourth, ahead of Lancia and Panhard driver George Heath
George Heath
George Heath was an early American racing driver. A native Long Islander who spent much of his time in France, he won the first Vanderbilt Cup race in 1904 driving a Panhard and was retroactively awarded the 1904 National Championship in 1951. Heath returned to the Vanderbilt Cup in 1905 and...
. Baras—whose first lap was the fastest of any car during the race—was seventh, ahead of Arthur Duray
Arthur Duray
Arthur Duray was born in New York City of Belgian parents and later became a French citizen. An early aviator, he held Belgian license #3. He is probably best known today for breaking the land speed record on three separate occasions between July, 1903 and March, 1904...
of Lorraine-Dietrich, "Pierry" of Brasier, and "Burton". The last finisher, the Mercedes driver "Mariaux", was eleventh, more than four hours behind Szisz. Rougier, who had set the fastest lap of the day with a time of 53:16.4, had retired on lap ten after a long series of punctures. Of the other retirements, Hémery, René Hanriot and Louis Wagner
Louis Wagner
Louis Wagner was a French race car driver who won the first ever United States and British Grands Prix. Wagner was also a pioneer aviator.Wagner was born in Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, Seine-Saint-Denis...
of Darracq suffered engine problems; the radiators on the cars of Rigolly of Gobron-Brillié, Xavier Civelli de Bosch of Grégoire and Cagno of Itala failed; Pierre de Caters
Pierre de Caters
Baron Pierre de Caters was a Belgian adventurer, aviator and car and motorboat racer. He was the first Belgian to fly an aircraft in 1908....
of Itala, Shepard and Hubert le Blon of Hotchkiss, A. Villemain of Clément-Bayard and Vincenzo Florio
Vincenzo Florio
Vincenzo Florio, Jr. was an Italian industrialist in the wine industry of Sicily, famous for establishing the Targa Florio race....
of Mercedes withdrew after wheel failures; Gabriel of Lorraine-Dietrich, "de la Touloubre" of Clément-Bayard and Henri Tart of Panhard retired because of other mechanical problems; and Fabry of Itala, Weilschott of FIAT, Teste of Panhard, Richez of Renault and Jacques Salleron of Hotchkiss suffered crash damage. Edmond of Renault was the only competitor whose retirement was the result of driver injury.
Post-race and legacy
The top three finishers were escorted to the grandstand to collect their trophies. In an interview after the race, Szisz reflected on the "anxiety" he had felt as he drove the final laps: "I feared something small which would take away victory at the moment when it had seemed to be won." The prestige Renault gained from Szisz's victory led to an increase in sales for the company, from around 1,600 cars in 1906 to more than 3,000 a year later, and increasing to more than 4,600 in 1908. But the race had not proven the superiority of the French motorcar; an Italian car had finished second and only seven of the twenty-three French cars that had started the race finished it.Reflections on the race by the organisers and the media generally concluded that the Grand Prix had been a poor replacement for the Gordon Bennett races. In part, this had been because the race was too long, and the system of starting the race—with each car leaving at 90-second intervals—had meant that there had been very little interaction between the competitors, simply cars driving their own races to time. The ACF decided that too much pressure had been put on drivers and riding mechanics by forbidding others to work on the cars during the race. It was also felt that the outcome of the race had been too dependent on the use of Michelin's detachable rims. Clément had driven the only Clément-Bayard to not have the rims, and it was thought that this contributed to Nazzaro passing him on the second day as he stopped to change tyres. Despite this, the ACF decided to run the Grand Prix again the following year
1907 French Grand Prix
The 1907 French Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Dieppe on 2 July 1907.-The Race:38 cars set off at one minute intervals to complete 10 laps of a circuit on a triangular circuit near the city of Dieppe. The field was led away by Vincenzo Lancia's Fiat.The race was run under a 9.4 mpg...
. The publicity generated by the race prompted the German governing body to organise a similar event that favoured their own industry. The forerunner to the German Grand Prix
German Grand Prix
The German Grand Prix is an annual automobile race.Because Germany was banned from taking part in international events after World War II, the German GP only became part of the Formula One World Championship in 1951...
, the Kaiserpreis
Kaiserpreis
The Kaiserpreis auto race, named after Emperor Wilhelm II, was held in 1907. Like his brother's Prinz-Heinrich-Fahrt held from 1908 to 1911, it was a precursor to the German Grand Prix....
(Kaiser's
Kaiser
Kaiser is the German title meaning "Emperor", with Kaiserin being the female equivalent, "Empress". Like the Russian Czar it is directly derived from the Latin Emperors' title of Caesar, which in turn is derived from the personal name of a branch of the gens Julia, to which Gaius Julius Caesar,...
Prize) was raced in 1907.
The conference held in 1904 to consider the French proposal for a change in formula to the Gordon Bennett races led to the formation of the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR; the predecessor of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
), the body responsible for regulating international motorsport. Although a smaller race held in 1901 had awarded the "Grand Prix de Pau", the 1906 race outside Le Mans was the first genuinely international race to carry the label "Grand Prix". Until the First World War it was the only annual race to be called a Grand Prix (often, the Grand Prix), and is commonly known as "the first Grand Prix".
Classification
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3A |  Ferenc SziszFerenc Szisz Ferenc Szisz , was a Hungarian race car driver and the winner of the first Grand Prix motor racing event on a Renault Grand Prix 90CV on 26 June, 1906.... |
Renault Renault Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker... |
12 | 12:14:07.4 | ||
| 2 | 2B |  Felice NazzaroFelice Nazzaro Felice Nazzaro was an Italian racecar driver, a native of Turin. He won the Kaiserpreis in 1907 as well as the French Grand Prix in 1907 and 1922 and Targa Florio in 1907 and 1913. His European wins in 1907 resulted in an invitation to compete in the 1908 American Grand Prize in Savannah, Georgia,... |
FIAT Fiat FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli... |
12 | +32:19.4 | ||
| 3 | 13A |  Albert ClémentAlbert Clément Albert Clément was a French motor racing driver. In 1904 he won the II Ardennes Cup race and finished third in the III Ardennes Cup race at Bastogne. He also finished second in the Vanderbilt Cup on Long Island. In 1906 he finished third in the inaugural French Grand Prix and 4th in the... |
Clément-Bayard Clément-Bayard Clément-Bayard was a French manufacturer of automobiles, aeroplanes and airships founded in 1903 by the entrepreneur Adolphe Clément-Bayard . The name celebrated the Chevalier Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard who saved the town of Mézières in 1521... |
12 | +35:39.2 | ||
| 4 | 5B | Jules Barillier |
Brasier Brasier Brasier was the successor of the early French Richard-Brasier automobile maker that had been in business since 1902. The name of the make was simplified to Brasier when Georges Richard left in 1905 to found Unic. Before World War I, several twin, four and six-cylinder models were offered... |
12 | +1:38:53.0 | ||
| 5 | 2A | Vincenzo Lancia Vincenzo Lancia Vincenzo Lancia was an Italian pilot, engineer and founder of Lancia.Vincenzo Lancia was born in the small village of Fobello on 24 August 1881, close to Turin... |
FIAT Fiat FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli... |
12 | +2:08:04.0 | ||
| 6 | 10A | George Heath George Heath George Heath was an early American racing driver. A native Long Islander who spent much of his time in France, he won the first Vanderbilt Cup race in 1904 driving a Panhard and was retroactively awarded the 1904 National Championship in 1951. Heath returned to the Vanderbilt Cup in 1905 and... |
Panhard Panhard Panhard is currently a French manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its current incarnation was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005. Panhard had been under Citroën ownership, then PSA , for 40 years... |
12 | +2:33:38.4 | ||
| 7 | 5A | Paul Baras Paul Baras Paul Baras was a road racing cyclist and racing driver from France. He competed in several early Grand Prix motor races, and held the world land speed record between November 1904 and January 1905.... |
Brasier Brasier Brasier was the successor of the early French Richard-Brasier automobile maker that had been in business since 1902. The name of the make was simplified to Brasier when Georges Richard left in 1905 to found Unic. Before World War I, several twin, four and six-cylinder models were offered... |
12 | +3:01:43.0 | ||
| 8 | 1C |  Arthur DurayArthur Duray Arthur Duray was born in New York City of Belgian parents and later became a French citizen. An early aviator, he held Belgian license #3. He is probably best known today for breaking the land speed record on three separate occasions between July, 1903 and March, 1904... |
Lorraine-Dietrich Lorraine-Dietrich Lorraine-Dietrich was a French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissments de Dietrich and Cie branched into the manufacture of automobiles... |
12 | +3:11:54.6 | ||
| 9 | 5C | "Pierry" |
Brasier Brasier Brasier was the successor of the early French Richard-Brasier automobile maker that had been in business since 1902. The name of the make was simplified to Brasier when Georges Richard left in 1905 to found Unic. Before World War I, several twin, four and six-cylinder models were offered... |
12 | +4:01:00.6 | ||
| 10 | 6A | Camille Jenatzy Camille Jenatzy Camille Jenatzy was a Belgian race car driver. He is known for breaking the land speed record three times and being the first man to break the 100 km/h barrier.... "Burton" |
Mercedes Mercedes (car) Mercedes was a brand of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft . DMG which began to develop in 1900, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler... |
12 | +4:04:35.8 | ||
| 11 | 6B | "Mariaux" |
Mercedes Mercedes (car) Mercedes was a brand of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft . DMG which began to develop in 1900, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler... |
12 | +4:34:44.4 | ||
| Ret | 1B | Henri Rougier Henri Rougier Henri Louis Rougier, was a French sportsman, racing cyclist, pioneer aeroplane pilot and sporting motorist. He is best remembered for his victory in the inaugural Monte Carlo Rally when he drove his Turcat-Méry from Paris to Monte Carlo, but he was also a regular competitor in both 'City to City'... |
Lorraine-Dietrich Lorraine-Dietrich Lorraine-Dietrich was a French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissments de Dietrich and Cie branched into the manufacture of automobiles... |
10 | Punctures | ||
| Ret | 3C | Claude Richez |
Renault Renault Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker... |
8 | Accident | ||
| Ret | 12C | Elliott Shepard | Hotchkiss Hotchkiss et Cie Société Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Hotchkiss et Cie was a French arms and car company established by United States engineer Benjamin B. Hotchkiss, who was born in Watertown, Connecticut. He moved to France and set up a factory, first at Viviez near Rodez in 1867, then at Saint-Denis near... |
7 | Wheel | ||
| Ret | 4A | Victor Hémery Victor Hémery Victor Hémery was a champion driver of early Grand Prix motor racing who was born in Sillé-le-Guillaume, France, Sarthe, France. In 1904 he joined Automobiles Darracq S.A. as their chief tester and helped prepare cars to compete in that year's Gordon Bennett Cup... |
Darracq Darracq Automobiles Darracq S.A. was a French motor vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq.Using part of the substantial profit he had made from selling his Gladiator bicycle factory, Alexandre Darracq began operating from a plant in the Parisian suburb of Suresnes... |
7 | Engine | ||
| Ret | 7A | Louis Rigolly Louis Rigolly Louis Rigolly, a Frenchman, was the first man to drive a car at over .He set a record of on a beach at Ostend in Belgium on 21 July 1904, driving a 13.5 litre Gobron-Brillie racing car. He covered a 1 kilometre course in 21.6 seconds, beating Belgian Pierre de Caters mark of , set the previous... |
Gobron-Brillié | 7 | Radiator | ||
| Ret | 10C | Georges Teste |
Panhard Panhard Panhard is currently a French manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its current incarnation was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005. Panhard had been under Citroën ownership, then PSA , for 40 years... |
6 | Accident | ||
| Ret | 3B | J. Edmond |
Renault Renault Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker... |
5 | Driver injury | ||
| Ret | 2C |  Aldo Weilschott |
FIAT Fiat FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli... |
5 | Accident | ||
| Ret | 6C | Vincenzo Florio Vincenzo Florio Vincenzo Florio, Jr. was an Italian industrialist in the wine industry of Sicily, famous for establishing the Targa Florio race.... |
Mercedes Mercedes (car) Mercedes was a brand of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft . DMG which began to develop in 1900, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler... |
5 | Wheels | ||
| Ret | 13B | A. Villemain |
Clément-Bayard Clément-Bayard Clément-Bayard was a French manufacturer of automobiles, aeroplanes and airships founded in 1903 by the entrepreneur Adolphe Clément-Bayard . The name celebrated the Chevalier Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard who saved the town of Mézières in 1521... |
4 | Wheels | ||
| Ret | 12A | Hubert le Blon |
Hotchkiss Hotchkiss et Cie Société Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Hotchkiss et Cie was a French arms and car company established by United States engineer Benjamin B. Hotchkiss, who was born in Watertown, Connecticut. He moved to France and set up a factory, first at Viviez near Rodez in 1867, then at Saint-Denis near... |
4 | Wheel | ||
| Ret | 10B | Henri Tart |
Panhard Panhard Panhard is currently a French manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its current incarnation was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005. Panhard had been under Citroën ownership, then PSA , for 40 years... |
4 | Suspension | ||
| Ret | 13C | "De la Touloubre" |
Clément-Bayard Clément-Bayard Clément-Bayard was a French manufacturer of automobiles, aeroplanes and airships founded in 1903 by the entrepreneur Adolphe Clément-Bayard . The name celebrated the Chevalier Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard who saved the town of Mézières in 1521... |
3 | Gearbox | ||
| Ret | 12B | Jacques Salleron |
Hotchkiss Hotchkiss et Cie Société Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Hotchkiss et Cie was a French arms and car company established by United States engineer Benjamin B. Hotchkiss, who was born in Watertown, Connecticut. He moved to France and set up a factory, first at Viviez near Rodez in 1867, then at Saint-Denis near... |
2 | Accident | ||
| Ret | 4B | Louis Wagner Louis Wagner Louis Wagner was a French race car driver who won the first ever United States and British Grands Prix. Wagner was also a pioneer aviator.Wagner was born in Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, Seine-Saint-Denis... |
Darracq Darracq Automobiles Darracq S.A. was a French motor vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq.Using part of the substantial profit he had made from selling his Gladiator bicycle factory, Alexandre Darracq began operating from a plant in the Parisian suburb of Suresnes... |
2 | Engine | ||
| Ret | 8A | Alessandro Cagno |
Itala | 2 | Radiator | ||
| Ret | 8C | Pierre de Caters Pierre de Caters Baron Pierre de Caters was a Belgian adventurer, aviator and car and motorboat racer. He was the first Belgian to fly an aircraft in 1908.... |
Itala | 1 | Wheel | ||
| Ret | 1A | Fernand Gabriel |
Lorraine-Dietrich Lorraine-Dietrich Lorraine-Dietrich was a French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissments de Dietrich and Cie branched into the manufacture of automobiles... |
0 | Radius rod | ||
| Ret | 8B | Maurice Fabry |
Itala | 0 | Accident | ||
| Ret | 9B | Xavier Civelli de Bosch |
Grégoire Automobiles Gregoire Automobiles Grégoire was a French car manufacturer, established in 1902, that operated for about twenty years in the early 20th century. The company was the creation of Pierre Joseph Grégoire .... |
0 | Radiator | ||
| Ret | 4C | René Hanriot |
Darracq Darracq Automobiles Darracq S.A. was a French motor vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq.Using part of the substantial profit he had made from selling his Gladiator bicycle factory, Alexandre Darracq began operating from a plant in the Parisian suburb of Suresnes... |
0 | Engine | ||
| DNS | 9A | Philippe Tavenaux |
Grégoire Automobiles Gregoire Automobiles Grégoire was a French car manufacturer, established in 1902, that operated for about twenty years in the early 20th century. The company was the creation of Pierre Joseph Grégoire .... |
Non-starter | |||
| DNS | 11A | Marius Barriaux |
Vulpes | Car overweight | |||