Le Mans 24 hour race in 1938

Daniel Porthault at the wheel of a Darl'Mat in the early stages of the race

The unusual Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring driven by Raymond Sommer and Clemente Biondetti, leading with a lead of twelve laps

The 15th 24-hour race of Le Mans , the 15 ^e Grand Prix d'Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans , also Les 24 Heures du Mans, Circuit de la Sarthe , took place on the circuit from June 17 to 18, 1938 des 24 Heures instead.

The race

After the success of Bugatti at the 24-hour race in 1937 , the experts expected a strong works team in the race in 1938. But Bugatti wanted to send to the Sarthe only one vehicle. This Type 57 S / 45 with a 4.5 liter eight-cylinder engine and streamlined body was not used in the race after problems during training. Last year's winner Jean-Pierre Wimille was condemned to watch. The automobile nation France was nevertheless strongly represented. Eight Delahayes - used by private teams - were at the start. There were also six Talbots , a Delage , the Darl'Mat- Peugeots and ten Simcas , who competed in the small classes. No works team came from Great Britain this year, all vehicles were registered by private teams. However, it was the first time a Morgan raced and the Atalanta became the first independent suspension racing car to contest the race at Le Mans.

Again, however, Raymond Sommer was the big favorite for overall victory. The Frenchman - who has won the race twice so far, in 1932 and 1933 with Luigi Chinetti and Tazio Nuvolari , respectively - had so far led every Le Mans race he had contested. Sommer drove an Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring together with the Italian Grand Prix driver Clemente Biondetti . It wasn't surprising that Sommer took the lead right from the start. First pursuer was Luigi Chinetti in a Talbot T150 , followed by the rest of the large-displacement French racing cars. In the back of the field there was another British marriage competition between Tommy Wisdom , who drove a Singer 9 Le Mans , and his wife Elsie in a MG P-Type . Neither of them saw the checkered flag and so the duel ended in a draw.

Early on Sunday afternoon, the Sommer / Biondetti Alfa Romeo was in the lead with a lead of twelve laps and drove towards a sure victory. After a puncture on the Mulsanne, the rear suspension was so badly damaged that Sommer had to give up the race. Again, a technical defect had prevented the Frenchman from winning. Suddenly Eugène Chaboud and Jean Trémoulet were in the lead on their Delahaye 135CS , which had been without fifth gear since the first hour of the race. The race ended with a one-two for Delahaye ahead of Jean Prenant and André Morel's Talbot , who finished third.

Results

Pilots by nationality

61 French	14 British	4 Germans	3 Italians	1 Monegasse
1 Swiss

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires	Round
1	5.0	15th	Eugène Chaboud and Jean Trémoulet	Eugène Chaboud Jean Trémoulet	Delahaye 135CS	Delahaye 3.6L I6		235
2	5.0	14th	Gaston Serraud	Gaston Serraud Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Delahaye 135CS	Delahaye 3.6L I6		233
3	5.0	5	Jean Prenant	Jean Prenant André Morel	Talbot T150SS Coupe	Talbot 4.0L I6		219
4th	5.0	10	Louis Villeneuve	Louis Villeneuve René Biolay	Delahaye 135CS	Delahaye 3.6L I6		218
5	2.0	24	Emile Darl'Mat	Charles de Cortanze Marcel Contet	Darl'Mat DS	Peugeot 2.0L I4		214
6th	2.0	28	Eagle	Petar Count Orssich Rudolph Sauerwein	Adler Super Trumpf racing sedan	Adler 1.7L I4		211
7th	1.5	33	Eagle	Otto Löhr Paul von Guilleaume	Adler Trumpf racing sedan	Adler 1.5L I4		204
8th	1.1	46	Jacques Savoye	Jacques Savoye Pierre Savoye	Singer 9 Le Mans Replica	Singer 1.0L I4		174
9	1.1	42	Just-Émile Vernet	Albert Debille Guy Lapchin	Simca Huit	Fiat 1.1L I4		172
10	1.5	31	Ecurie Lapin Blanc	Peter Clark Marcus Chambers	HRG Le Mans	Singer 1.5L I4		170
11	1.1	48	Victor Camerano	Victor Camerano R. Robert	Simca Huit	Fiat 1.1L I4		166
12	1.1	49	Claude Bonneau	Claude Bonneau Anne-Cécile Rose-Itier	MG PA Midget Special	MG 1.0L I4		165
13	1.1	40	Miss PM Fawcett	Marjorie Fawcett Geoffrey White	Morgan 4/4	Coventry Climax 1.1L I4		163
14th	750	51	Amédée Gordini	Maurice Aimé Charles Plantivaux	Simca Cinq	Fiat 0.6L I4		151
15th	750	52	Amédée Gordini	Albert Leduc Athos Querzola	Simca Cinq	Fiat 0.6L I4		140
Failed
16	5.0	19th	Raymond Summers	Raymond Summers Clemente Biondetti	Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring	Alfa Romeo 2.9L Supercharged I8		219
17th	5.0	8th	Norbert Jean Mahé	TASO Mathieson Freddie de Clifford	Talbot T150C	Talbot 4.0L I6		159
18th	5.0	7th	Jean Trévoux	Jean Trévoux Pierre Levegh	Talbot T150C	Talbot 4.0L I6		159
19th	2.0	27	Robert Hitchens	Robert Hitchens Mortimer Morris-Goodall	Aston Martin Speed ​​Model	Aston Martin 2.0L I4		150
20th	1.1	37	Amédée Gordini	Amédée Gordini José Scaron	Simca Huit	Fiat 1.1L I4		140
21st	1.5	36	Pierre Ferry	Pierre Ferry Francis Noireaux	Riley Sprite TT	Riley 1.5L I4		127
22nd	1.1	43	Amédée Gordini	Robert Lévy Adrien Alin	Simca	Fiat 1.0L I4		124
23	1.1	38	Amédée Gordini	Jean Viale Jean Breillet	Simca Huit	Fiat 1.1L I4		111
24	3.0	23	Fernande Roux and Germaine Rouault	Fernande Roux Germaine Rouault	Amilcar G36 Pegase Special	Amilcar 2.5L I4		101
25th	5.0	4th	Luigi Chinetti	René Carrière René Le Bègue	Talbot T150C	Talbot 4.0L I6		101
26th	5.0	12	Georges Monneret	Georges Monneret Roger Loyer	Delahaye 135CS	Delahaye 3.6L I6		88
27	5.0	6th	Luigi Chinetti	Louis Rosier Robert Huguet	Talbot T150SS Coupe	Talbot 4.0L I6		81
28	1.1	47	Team Autosports	John Donald Barnes Tommy Wisdom	Singer 9 Le Mans Replica	Singer 1.0L I4		74
29	1.1	45	Just-Emile Vernet	Gaston Tramar Paul Samuel	Simca 1000	Fiat 1.0L I4		69
30th	5.0	3	Luigi Chinetti	Philippe Étancelin Luigi Chinetti	Talbot T26	Talbot 4.5L I6		66
31	3.0	22nd	Société RV	Louis Gérard Jacques de Velance	Delage D6-70	Delage 3.0L I6		58
32	1.1	41	Just-Émile Vernet	Just-Émile Vernet Suzanne Largeot	Simca Huit	Fiat 1.1L I4		55
33	5.0	21st	Marcel Horvilleur	Marcel Horvilleur Yves Matra	Alfa Romeo 2300 Monza	Alfa Romeo 2.9L Supercharged I6		53
34	5.0	11	Joseph Paul	Marcel Mongin Robert Mazaud	Delahaye 135CS	Delahaye 3.6L I6		50
35	1.1	50	Miss Dorothy Stanley-Turner	Elsie Wisdom Arthur Dobson	MG PB Midget	MG 0.9L I4		48
36	1.1	39	Just-Émile Vernet	Angelo Molinari Georges Sarret	Fiat 508S Balilla	Fiat 1.0L I4		40
37	1.5	29	Raoul Forestier	Raoul Forestier Roger Caron	Riley Sprite TT	Riley 1.5L I4		30th
38	5.0	1	Ecurie Bleue	René Dreyfus Louis Chiron	Delahaye 145	Delahaye 4.5L V12		21st
39	2.0	25th	Emile Darl'Mat	Jean Pujol Louis Rigal	Darl'Mat DS	Peugeot 2.0L I4		18th
40	5.0	2	Ecurie Bleue	Gianfranco Comotti Albert Divo	Delahaye 145	Delahaye 4.5L V12		7th
41	2.0	26th	Emile Darl'Mat	Maurice Serre Daniel Porthault	Darl'Mat DS	Peugeot 2.0L I4		6th
42	1.5	35	Charles Morrison	Charles Morrison Neil Watson	Atalanta	Atalanta 1.5L I4		4th
Not started
43	5.0		Bugatti	Jean-Pierre Wimille	Bugatti Type 57 S / 45	Bugatti 4.5L I8		1

¹ withdrawn

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
44			Pierre Richard		Salmson
45			TE Kinny		Lancia
46			AC Scott		HRG
47			Tommy Wisdom
48			Arthur W. Fox
49			John Horsfall
50			Roger Labric		Bugatti
51			TASO Mathieson	TASO Mathieson	Bugatti Type 57S
52		20th	Hans Ruesch		Alfa Romeo
53			Joseph Paul		Delahaye
54			John Snow		Delahaye
55			Austin		Austin
56			Austin		Austin
57			Austin		Austin
58			Norbert-Jean Mahé	Norbert-Jean Mahé Heonnet	Talbot T150C

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
Index of Performance - 1st Annual Cup of the ACO	Maurice Aimé	Charles Plantivaux	Simca Cinq	Rank 14
13th Biennial Cup	Peter Count Orssich	Rudolph Sauerwein	Adler Super Trumpf racing sedan	Rank 6
3001-5000 cc	Eugène Chaboud	Jean Trémoulet	Delahaye 135GS	Overall victory
1501-2000 cc	Charles de Cortanze	Marcel Contet	Darl'Mat DS	Rank 5
1101-1500 cc	Otto Lohr	Paul by Guillaume	Adler Trumpf racing sedan	Rank 7
751-1000 cc	Jacques Savoye	Pierre Savoye	Singer 9 Le Mans Replica	Rank 8
-750 cc	Maurice Aimé	Charles Plantivaux	Simca Cinq	Rank 14

Racing data

• Registered: 58
• Started: 42
• Valued: 15
• Race classes: 7
• Spectator: unknown
• Honorary starter of the race: unknown
• Weather on the race weekend: warm and dry
• Route length: 13.492 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 236
• Total distance of the winning team: 3180.940 km
• Winner average: 132,539 km / h
• Pole position: unknown
• Fastest race lap: Raymond Sommer - Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring (# 19) - 5: 13.800 = 154.783 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 .

Web links

Commons : Le Mans 24 Hours 1938  - Collection of images, videos and audio files