Le Mans 24 hour race, 1939

The overall winners Jean-Pierre Wimille and Pierre Veyron with race director Charles Faroux

Bugatti 57C Tank , the winning car

Lagonda V12 by Charles Brackenbury and Arthur Dobson at the Saxony Classic 2010

The 16th 24-hour race of Le Mans , the 16 ^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, 1939 des 24 Heures instead.

The race

The 1939 race was the last 24-hour race at Le Mans before the outbreak of World War II on September 1, 1939. Bugatti had announced its return to Le Mans after the French automobile company had decided not to participate in 1938 due to technical problems. The 3.3-liter 57C tank was officially reported by the Le Mans winner of 1937 Jean-Pierre Wimille , but behind it was the Molsheim plant with all its logistics. A total of 25 vehicles came from France, including works cars from Delahaye , Delage and Talbot . Anthony Lago had 4.5-liter Grand Prix racing cars converted so that they now complied with the Le Mans regulations.

The Adlerwerke brought one of their Trumpf racing limousines to the Sarthe. The car received a new 2.5-liter engine, but was so destroyed in an accident during training that it was not possible to take part in the race. The German automotive industry was represented by BMW ; the Munich company brought three works BMW 328s to Le Mans.

In addition to many private teams, two Lagonda V12s came from Great Britain . This 4.5 liter sports car came to Le Mans for the first time in this form. At Lagonda  - led by Alan Good - Walter Owen Bentley had found a new field of activity after the sale of Bentley to Rolls-Royce . After half a dozen victories at Le Mans, the British automobile pioneer was able to draw on a wealth of experience. Unfortunately for Bentley, the two V12 racing cars were finished so late that they could only be tested for the first time during training. In the summer of 1939, Lagonda still believed that this year's Le Mans race was just a test run for later use. One of the cars was rolled out as a works car, driven by Arthur Dobson and Charles Brackenbury . The second vehicle was given to Peter Mitchell-Thomson, 2nd Baron Selsdon , who contested the race together with Lord William Waleran .

But again Raymond Sommer was the favorite for the overall win . Sommer brought a new Alfa Romeo Coupé to the start, which he drove with the Thai Prince Bira .

Until Saturday night, Luigi Chinetti in the Talbot, Louis Gérard in the Delage , Robert Mazaud  - who drove the fastest race lap -, Raymond Sommer and Jean-Pierre Wimille fought a fierce battle for the top. Gérard / Monneret-Delage was in the lead until early Sunday morning when the French team had problems with the engine. One last long pit stop finally cost her victory, Pierre Veyron in the Bugatti was able to overtake. The Delage finished second ahead of the two Lagondas, who, to everyone's astonishment, finished the race in third and fourth place without any technical problems.

Results

Pilots by nationality

53 French	18 British	10 Germans	1 Italian	1 Swiss
1 Thai

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires	Round
1	8.0	1	Jean-Pierre Wimille	Jean-Pierre Wimille Pierre Veyron	Bugatti 57C tank	Bugatti 3.3L Supercharged I8		248
2	3.0	21st	Ecurie Walter Watney	Louis Gérard Georges Monneret	Delage Type D 6-3 liters	Delage 3.0L I6		245
3	5.0	5	Lagonda Ltd.	Arthur Dobson Charles Brackenbury	Lagonda V12	Lagonda 4.5L V12		239
4th	5.0	6th	Lord Selsdon	Lord Selsdon Lord William Waleran	Lagonda V12	Lagonda 4.5L V12		238
5	2.0	26th	BMW	Max zu Schaumburg-Lippe Hans Wencher	BMW 328 Touring Coupe	BMW 2.0L I6		236
6th	5.0	12	Louis Villeneuve	Louis Villeneuve René Biolay	Delahaye 135CS	Delahaye 3.6L I6		235
7th	2.0	27	BMW	Ralph Roese Paul Heinemann	BMW 328	BMW 2.0L I6		230
8th	5.0	20th	Count Heyden	RRC Rob Walker Ian Connell	Delahaye 135CS	Delahaye 3.6L I6		224
9	2.0	28	BMW	Willi Briem Rudolf Scholtz	BMW 328	BMW 2.0L I6		220
10	1.1	39	Gordini	Amédée Gordini José Scaron	Simca 8	Fiat 1.1L I4		213
11	5.0	14th	Joseph Chotard	Joseph Chotard Jacques Seylair	Delahaye 135CS	Delahaye 3.6L I6		202
12	2.0	29	Robert Peverell Hitchens	Robert Hitchens Mortimer Morris-Goodall	Aston Martin Speed ​​Model	Aston Martin 2.0L I4		199
13	1.1	41	Gordini	Guy Lapchin Charles Plantivaux	Simca Huit	Fiat 1.1L I4		195
14th	1.5	32	Ecurie Lapin Blanc	Peter Clark Marcus Chambers	HRG 1500	Singer 1.5L I4		192
15th	1.1	37	Mrs. Majorie Fawcett	Geoffrey White CM Anthony	Morgan 4/4	Coventry Climax 1.1L I4		184
16	1.5	34	Just-Émile Vernet	Just-Émile Vernet Carl de Bodard	Riley Sprite TT pourtout	Riley 1.5L I4		180
17th	1.1	38	Victor Camerano	Victor Camerano Henri Louveau	Simca Huit	Fiat 1.1L I4		163
18th	1.1	45	Arthur W. Jones	Arthur W. Jones Gordon Wilkins	Singer Le Mans Replica	Singer 1.0L I4		154
19th	750	48	Gordini	Adrien Alin Albert Alin	Simca Cinq	Fiat 0.6L I4		148
20th	750	49	Gordini	Maurice Aimé Albert Leduc	Simca Cinq	Fiat 0.6L I4		147
Failed
21st	3.0	25th	Raymond Summers	Raymond Summer Prince Bira	Alfa Romeo 6C 2500SS	Alfa Romeo 2.4L I6		173
22nd	5.0	18th	Ecuria Francia	Marcel Contet Robert Brunet	Delahaye 135CS	Delahaye 3.6L I6		171
23	1.5	31	Victor Polledry	Victor Polledry R. Robert	Aston Martin 1½ Ulster	Aston Martin 1.5L I4		155
24	5.0	3	Luigi Chinetti	Luigi Chinetti T. ASO Mathieson	Talbot T26	Talbot 4.5L I6		154
25th	3.0	22nd	Ecurie Walter Watney	Armand Hug Roger Loyer	Delage Type D 6-3 liters	Delage 3.0L I6		152
26th	5.0	15th	Robert Mazaud	Robert Mazaud Marcel Mongin	Delahaye 135CS	Delahaye 3.6L I6		115
27	1.1	44	Archie Scott	Archie Scott Tommy Wisdom	Singer Nine Le Mans Replica	Singer 1.0L I4		105
28	5.0	9	Luigi Chinetti	René Le Bègue Pierre Levegh	Talbot-Lago SS	Talbot 4.0L I6		102
29	5.0	19th	Ecurie Francia	Eugène Chaboud Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Delahaye 135CS	Delahaye 3.6L I6		99
30th	5.0	8th	TASO Mathieson	Philippe de Massa Norbert-Jean Mahé	Talbot 150SS Figoni	Talbot 4.0L I6		88
31	5.0	7th	Luigi Chinetti	André Morel Jim Bradley	Talbot T26	Talbot 4.5L I6		88
32	5.0	10	Jean Trémoulet	Jean Trémoulet Raoul Forestier	Talbot-Lago SS	Talbot 4.0L I6		68
33	1.1	36	Michael Collier	Mike Collier Lewis Welch	MG PA Midget	MG 0.8L I4		63
34	5.0	16	Ecurie Francia	Joseph Paul Jean Trévoux	Delahaye 135CS	Delahaye 3.6L I6		62
35	5.0	11	André Bellecroix	André Bellecroix Gaston Serraud	Delahaye 135CS	Delahaye 3.6L I6		50
36	1.1	43	Just-Émile Vernet	Robert Cayeux Gaston Tramar	Simca Huit	Fiat 1.1L I4		50
37	5.0	4th	Luigi Chinetti	Pierre Louis-Dreyfus Antoine Schumann	Talbot T26	Talbot 4.5L I6		45
38	1.1	47	Claude Bonneau	Claude Bonneau Max Mathieu	MG PB Midget	MG 1.0L I4		40
39	1.1	40	Gordini	Jean Breillet Albert Debille	Simca Huit	Fiat 1.1L I4		29
40	1.1	42	Mme Anne-Cécile Rose-Itier	Anne-Cécile Rose-Itier Suzanne Largeot	Simca Huit	Fiat 1.1L I4		26th
41	1.5	30th	Eagle	Otto Löhr Paul von Guilleaume	Eagle trump	Adler 1.5L I4		6th
42	1.1	46	Jacques Savoye	Jacques Savoye Pierre Savoye	Singer Nine Le Mans Replica "Savoye Special"	Singer 1.0L I4		4th
Not started
43			Eagle	Baron Huschke von Hanstein Karkmann	Eagle trump			1
44	8.0	1T	Jean-Pierre Wimille	Jean-Pierre Wimille Pierre Veyron	Bugatti T37			2

¹ not started ¹ training car

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
45			Eagle		Eagle trump
46			Lucy Schell		Delahaye 145
47					Atalanta
48					Bentley
49			Robert Arbuthnot	Robert Arbuthnot	Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A
50				Charles Dodson Sammy Davis

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
Index of Performance - 2nd Annual Cup of the ACO	Amédée Gordini	José Sarcon	Simca Huit	Rank 10
14th Biennial Cup	Amédée Gordini	José Sarcon	Simca Huit	Rank 10
3001-5000 cc	Jean-Pierre Wimille	Pierre Veyron	Bugatti 57C tank	Overall victory
2001-3000 cc	Louis Gérard	Georges Monneret	Delage Type D 6-3 liters	Rank 2
1501-2000 cc	Max von Schaumburg-Lippe	Hans Wencher	BMW 328 Touring Coupe	Rank 5
1101-1500 cc	Peter Clark	Markus Chambers	HRG 1500	Rank 14
751-1000 cc	Amédée Gordini	José Sarcon	Simca Huit	Rank 10
-750 cc	Adrien Alin	Albert Alin	Simca Cinq	Rank 19

Racing data

• Registered: 50
• Started: 42
• Rated: 20
• Race classes: 8
• Spectator: unknown
• Honorary starter of the race: unknown
• Race weekend weather: sunny
• Route length: 13.492 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24: 00: 00,000 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 249
• Total distance of the winning team: 3354.760 km
• Winner's average: 139,781 km / h
• Pole position: unknown
• Fastest race lap: Robert Mazaud - Delahaye 135CS (# 15) - 5: 12.100 = 155.627 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 1939  - Collection of images, videos and audio files