Le Mans 24 hour race 1926

The Peugeot 174S with starting number 2, driven by André Boillot and Louis Rigal, before the race

Louis Wagner at the wheel of the second 174S

The fourth 24-hour race of Le Mans , the 4 ^e Grand Prix d'Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans , also 4emes Grand Prix d'Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans, Circuit Permanenthe de la Sarthe , took place from 12 to 13 June 1926 on the Circuit des 24 Heures .

History and race

After last year's dispute with a landowner who had made it necessary to relocate the pit area near the Mulsanne, he was able to come to an extensive agreement with the organizer in the spring of 1926. The Automobile Club de l'Ouest acquired the space and built the new pit systems and grandstands on it. There were also restaurants, a separate building for the press and parking spaces for 3000 vehicles. For the first time, spectators were able to read the status of the race from a large display board, which, however, still had to be laboriously operated by hand.

Chenard & Walcker had announced their withdrawal shortly before the race, so that France was primarily represented by Lorraine-Dietrich and Ariès . For the first time, however, Peugeot was at the start with a 2-car factory team. The big attraction in the team was the legendary French Grand Prix veteran Louis Wagner , who won the third Grand Prix in motorsport history, the American Grand Prix in Savannah, in 1908 and was part of the Mercedes works team in the 1910s . Bentley sent three cars into the race and another two Officine Meccaniche came from Italy . The big surprise, however, was the participation of three Willys from the USA. However, the Americans lost a car after a training accident.

In the race, the Peugeots were first in the lead, but neither of them finished. In the Wagner / d'Auvergne car, the starter failed after a pit stop, and the second works car, which had been in second place for a long time, was taken out of the race by the officials after a broken windshield. After this unpopular measure, there were considerable expressions of discontent among the public. Since all three Bentleys also retired due to technical defects, Lorraine-Dietrich achieved a triple victory at the end of the race. It was the team's second win in a row and driver André Rossignol became the first participant in the race to win it twice.

Results

Pilots by nationality

69 French

6 British

5 Italians

2 Belgians

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires	Round
1	5.0	6th	Lorraine De Dietrich et Cie	Robert Bloch André Rossignol	Lorraine-Dietrich B3-6 Le Mans	Lorraine-Dietrich 3.4L I6	D.	147
2	5.0	5	Lorraine De Dietrich et Cie	Gérard de Courcelles Marcel Mongin	Lorraine-Dietrich B3-6 Le Mans	Lorraine-Dietrich 3.4L I6	D.	146
3	5.0	4th	Lorraine De Dietrich et Cie	Henry Stalter Édouard Brisson	Lorraine-Dietrich B3-6 Le Mans	Lorraine-Dietrich 3.4L I6	D.	139
4th	2.0	17th	Officine Meccaniche	Ferdinando Minoia Giulio Foresti	OM Tipo 665S Superba	OM 2.0L I6	P	134
5	2.0	18th	Officine Meccaniche	Mario Danieli Tino Danieli	OM Tipo 665S Superba	OM 2.0L I6	P	131
6th	2.0	27	Automobiles Théo Schneider	Pierre Tabourin Auguste Lefranc	Théo Schneider 25SP	Théo Schneider 2.0L I4	M.	118
7th	2.0	21st	SA des Établissements Rolland-Pilain	Aimé Nezeloff Jean Lassalle	Rolland-Pilain C23 Super Sport	Rolland-Pilain 2.0L I4	M.	117
8th	1.5	37	Establishments Henri Precioux	Henri de Costier Pierre Bussienne	EHP Type DS	CIME 1.2L I4	D.	111
9	1.1	46	Société des Moteurs Salmson	Georges Casse André Rousseau	Salmson GS	Salmson 1.1L I4	E.	110
10	1.5	33	Société Française des Automobiles Corre	Jean Errecaldé André Galoisy	Corre-La Licorne V16 10CV Sport	SCAP 1.4L I4	D.	109
11	1.1	42	SARA	André Marandet Gonzaque Lécureul	SARA BDE	SARA 1.1L I4	E.	108
12	1.1	43	SARA	Gaston Duval Henri Armand	SARA BDE	SARA 1.1L I4	E.	104
13	1.1	49	Société des Automobile Ariès	Fernand Gabriel Louis Paris	Ariès 5-9 Super CV	Ariès 1.0L I4	D.	101
Not classified
14th	3.0	15th	Henri Falconnet Paris	Maurice Deprez Maurice Dumont	Overland 93 Six	Overland 2.8L I6	E.	117
15th	2.0	20th	SA des Établissements Rolland-Pilain	Gaston Delalande Louis Sire	Rolland-Pilain C23 Super Sport	Rolland-Pilain 2.0L I4	M.	109
16	1.5	35	Automobiles Louis Ravel SA	Paul Van Cuyck Roger Camuzet	Ravel 9CV	Ravel Type C	D.	102
17th	1.5	30th	Automobiles Jousset SA	Léon Molon Lucien Molon	Jousset M1 Berline	CIME 1.5L I4	E.	101
Disqualified
18th	2.0	19th	Officine Meccaniche	Renato Balestrero Frédéric Théllusson	OM Tipo 665S Superba	OM 2.0L I6	P	94
19th	5.0	2	Société des Automobiles Peugeot	André Boillot Louis Rigal	Peugeot 174S	Peugeot 3.8L I6	D.	82
20th	1.5	36	Automobiles Louis Ravel SA	Georges Kling Pierre Rey	Ravel 9CV	Ravel 1.5L I4	D.	46
21st	1.5	34	Automobiles Louis Ravel SA	Louis Abit Charles Duverger	Ravel 9CV	Ravel 1.5L I4	D.	45
Failed
22nd	3.0	7th	Bentley Motors Ltd.	Dudley Benjafield Sammy Davis	Bentley 3 Liter Speed ​​Model	Bentley 3.0L I4	D.	138
23	2.0	25th	Établissements Industriels Jacques Bignan	Robert Gautier Pierre Clause	Bignan 2 Liter Sport	Bignan 2.0L I4	E.	113
24	3.0	9	Tommy Thistlewayte	Tommy Thistlewayte Capt. R. Clive Gallop	Bentley 3 Liter Super Sport	Bentley 3.0L I4	D.	105
25th	5.0	3	Société des Automobiles Peugeot	Louis Wagner Christian Dauvergne	Peugeot 174S	Peugeot 3.8L I6	D.	76
26th	3.0	8th	Bentley Motors Ltd.	George Duller Frank Clement	Bentley 3 Liter Speed ​​Model	Bentley 3.0L I4	D.	72
27	3.0	10	Société des Automobile Ariès	Robert Laly Jean Chassagne	Ariès Type S GP2 Surbaissée	Ariès 3.0L I4	D.	65
28	1.5	29	Automobiles Jousset SA	René Bonneau Raymond Saladin	Jousset M1 Tourisme	CIME 1.5L I4	E.	64
29	1.5	38	Establishments Henri Precioux	Philippe Morac Marcel Ballot	EHP DS	CIMA 1.2L I4	D.	62
30th	2.0	26th	Automobiles Théo Schneider	Robert Poirier Antonin Fontaine	Théo Schneider 25SP	Théo Schneider 2.0L I4	M.	61
31	1.5	39	Société des Moteurs Salmson	Lionel de Marmier Jean Sachot	Salmson D2	Salmson 1.2L I4	E.	54
32	2.0	22nd	SA des Établissements Rolland-Pilain	Paul Stremler Paul Chalamel	Rolland-Pilain C23 Super Sport	Rolland-Pilain 2.0L I4	M.	53
33	1.1	47	Société des Moteurs Salmson	André de Victor Joseph Hasley	Salmson GS	Salmson 1.1L I4	E.	35
34	1.5	28	Establishments Henri Precioux	Guy Bouriat Guy Dollfuss	EHP Type DT Speciale Tank	CIMA 1.5L I4	D.	34
35	1.1	48	Société des Automobile Ariès	Roger Delano Edmond Closset	Ariès CC2 Super	Ariès 1.0L I4	D.	31
36	1.5	31	Societe Française des Automobiles Corre	Waldemar Lestienne Louis Balart	Corre-La Licorne G6 Sport	Corre 1.5L I4	D.	31
37	3.0	11	Société des Automobile Ariès	Charles Flohot Arthur Duray	Ariès Type S GP3	Ariès 3.0L I4	D.	31
38	1.5	32	Societe Française des Automobiles Corre	Albert Colomb Fernand Vallon	Corre-La Licorne V16 / G6	Corre 1.5L I4	D.	11
39	5.0	1	Henri Falconnet Paris	Paul Gros Théodore Le Du	Willys-Knight 66 Great Six	Knight 3.9L I6	E.	8th
40	2.0	24	Automobiles Georges Irat	Léon Derny Amedée Rossi	Georges-Irat Type 4A Sport	Georges Irat 2.0L I4	D.	7th
41	2.0	23	Automobiles Georges Irat	Maurice Rost Emil Burie	Georges-Irat Type 4A Sport	Georges Irat 2.0L I4	D.	6th
Not started
42	3.0	16	Henri Falconnet Paris	Henneguet Gabriel Aladame	Overland Six 93	Overland 2.8L I6		1

¹ accident in training

Only in the entry list

Here you can find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race, but did not take part for various reasons.

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires
43	1.5	40	Automobiles Gendron & Cie	Marcel Michelot Lucien Bossoutrot	GM GC3 Sport	CIME 1.0L I4
44	1.5	41	Automobiles Gendron & Cie	Marcel Gendron Adrien Drancé	GM GC3 Sport	CIME 1.0L I4
45	3.0	12	Sunbeam Motor Co.		Sunbeam 3 Liter Super Sports	Sunbeam 2.9L I6
46	3.0	14th	Sunbeam Motor Co.		Sunbeam 3 Liter Super Sports	Sunbeam 2.9L I6
47	1.1	44	Chenard-Walcker SA	André Lagache René Léonard	Chenard-Walcker Z1 Spéciale	Chenard & Walcker 1.1L I4
48	1.1	45	Chenard-Walcker SA	Raymond Glaszmann Raphaël Manso de Zuñiga	Chenard-Walcker Z1 Spéciale	Chenard & Walcker 1.1L I4

Rudge Whitworth Biennale Cup

Item	No.	driver	chassis	coefficient	Placement in the overall ranking
1	34	Ferdinando Minoia Giulio Foresti	OM Tipo 665S Superba	1,201	Rank 4
2	5	Gérard de Courcelles Marcel Mongin	Lorraine-Dietrich B3-6 Le Mans	1,200	Rank 2
3	18th	Mario Danieli Tino Danieli	OM Tipo 665S Superba	1,158	Rank 5
4th	4th	Henry Stalter Édouard Brisson	Lorraine-Dietrich B3-6 Le Mans	1,130	Rank 3
5	42	André Marandet Gonzaque Lécureul	SARA BDE	1,096	Rank 11

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
2. Biennial Cup - Index of Performance	Ferdinando Minoia	Giulio Foresti	OM Tipo 665S Superba	Rank 4
3001-5000 cc	Robert Bloch	André Rossignol	Lorraine-Dietrich B3-6 Le Mans	Overall victory
1501-2000 cc	Ferdinando Minoia	Giulio Foresti	OM Tipo 665S Superba	Rank 4
1101-1500 cc	Henri de Costier	Pierre Bussienne	EHP Type DS	Rank 8
750-1100 cc	Georges Casse	André Rousseau	Salmson GS	Rank 9

Racing data

• Registered: 48
• Started: 41
• Rated: 13
• Race classes: 5
• Spectator: unknown
• Honorary starter of the race: Emile Coquille , French representative of the tire manufacturer Rudge-Whitworth
• Race weekend weather: warm and sunny
• Route length: 17.262 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 148
• Total distance of the winning team: 2552.414 km
• Winner's average: 106.350 km / h
• Pole position: unknown
• Fastest race lap: Marcel Mongin - Lorraine-Dietrich B3-6 (# 5) - 9: 03,000 = 114.444 km / h
• Racing series: did not belong to any racing series

literature

• Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre, Alain Bienvenu: 24 heures du Mans, 1923–1992. Éditions d'Art, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909-413-06-3 .
• RM Clarke: Le Mans. The Bentley & Alfa Years 1923-1939. Brooklands Books, Cobham 1998, ISBN 1-85520-465-7 .
• Quentin Spurring: Le Mans The Official History 1923-29 Evro Publishing, Hardcover, 2015, ISBN 1-91050-508-0 .

Web links

Commons : Le Mans 24 Hours 1926  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Results with 24-hour en-piste