Fernand Charron

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Fernand Charron at the 1914 French Grand Prix

Fernand Charron (born May 30, 1866 in Angers , † August 13, 1928 in Maisons-Laffitte ) was a French cyclist and automobile racer .

Career

Fernand Charron was one of the first well-known names in motorsport. He began his career as a racing cyclist for the manufacturer Clément , but soon switched to automobile racing, where he was able to achieve successes mainly with Panhard & Levassor .

After a spectacular accident at Marseille-La Turbie in 1897 , which he luckily survived unharmed, the following year he won the Marseille-Nice race on a light Panhard 6 CV and the 6th Grand Prix class with a Panhard 8 CV Day race Paris – Amsterdam – Paris in front of his team colleague Léonce Girardot . An overwhelming success for both Panhard & Levassor and Fernand Charron was the Paris – Bordeaux race in 1899, which Charron competed on a 12 CV Panhard and won in front of no fewer than five teammates.

Charron was also the unrewarded hero of the Tour de France for automobiles in 1899 , when he drove 40 km in reverse after a gearbox failure before he had to retire. He celebrated his last major successes in the Paris – Lyon race in 1900 with the Coupe Gordon Bennett in 1901. He had a collision with a Saint Bernard dog at around 100 km / h , which it probably did not survive. He himself achieved the first victory for France on the occasion with a damaged rear axle .

In 1901, Charron joined forces with his Panhard & Levassor teammates, Léonce Girardot and Émile Voigt , to found the racing car company CGV . However, the new car turned out to be a flop. Girardot left the company in 1906. This was sold to British investors and renamed Automobiles Charron Limited . Charron stayed until 1907, then went to Clément-Bayard and founded Alda in 1912 .

Fernand Charron died in 1928.

Web links

Commons : Fernand Charron  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ in some sources also Carl Voigt called
personal data
SURNAME Charron, Fernand
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French cyclist and automobile racer
DATE OF BIRTH May 30, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH Angers
DATE OF DEATH August 13, 1928
Place of death Maisons-Laffitte