1912 French Grand Prix

Race winner Georges Boillot in a Peugeot L76

Georges Boillot at the finish

Second-placed Louis Wagner at the pit stop

Third placed Victor Rigal in the Sunbeam

Spectators in front of the main stand

The fourth - according to today's counting method XII. The French Grand Prix ( XII Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France ) took place on June 25 and 26, 1912 at the Circuit de Dieppe . The race was held over 2 × 10 laps of 76.989 km, which corresponded to a total distance of 752.58 km.

The winner was Georges Boillot in a Peugeot L-76

run

After a three-year break and a failed attempt in 1911, the Automobile Club de France managed to hold a Grand Prix again for the first time in 1912 . As in 1907 and 1908 , Dieppe was chosen as the venue again, but compared to these two previous events, the new beginning was rather timid. In view of the reluctance of the established French manufacturers in particular, the ACF even completely waived the specification of a racing formula and only specified a minimum width of 175 cm for the cars. In order to guarantee a sufficient field of participants in any case, the race was also combined with this year's edition of the Coupe de l'Auto for the Voiturette class of cars with a maximum displacement of 3 liters and a minimum weight of 800 kg, which was very popular at the time .

This decision should prove to be entirely appropriate, because while in the Voiturette category, despite the absence of Delage and Hispano-Suiza , there were 33 participants on 12 brands, as expected, but only six manufacturers sent in the "open" Grand Prix class 14 cars at the start. Due to the loose tender conditions, a correspondingly heterogeneous field resulted. The colorful range ranged from the stripped touring car model from the Belgian brand Excelsior to the Mathis - "small car" from Strasbourg in Alsace - the only participant from the German Empire - with a displacement of just 1.8 liters, which is why it was in the "open" category had to compete because it was below the minimum weight for the Voiturette class, right up to the two last remaining representatives of the "old guard" of established manufacturers, Fiat and Lorraine-Dietrich , with their "displacement monsters" of well-tried design. In particular, the now eight-year-old construction of the Fiat S 74 with its four-cylinder engine of over 14 liters had almost gigantic vehicle dimensions , while Lorraine-Dietrich had even gone so far as to poach practically the entire team from the Benz racing team to join the Principle of putting an improved copy of their Grand Prix car from 1908 on the wheels.

On the other hand, Grand Prix newcomer Peugeot took a completely different approach . For the promotion from the Voiturette category to the Grand Prix class, instead of sheer size, the focus was on the further development of engine technology for more efficiency and higher speeds. It wasn't too bad to poach two key figures from competitor Hispano-Suiza, the victorious team in the Coupe de l'Auto from 1910, the successful driver and engineer Paolo Zuccarelli and designer Ernest Henry . Above all, Zuccarelli is said to have been the real central figure behind this project, who is also said to have persuaded company owner Robert Peugeot to provide a corresponding budget for a Grand Prix team, him, Henry, and the two previous Peugeot Otherwise, leaving drivers Jules Goux and Georges Boillot completely free to develop the racing cars. This made Peugeot the first automobile manufacturer with a completely independent racing department specializing in racing car construction. The quartet, which initially became a legend as Les Charlatans out of resentment within the company, but soon became generally recognized as the Les Charlatans , then created the first “modern” racing engine in Grand Prix history with a displacement of “only” 7.6 liters (compared to about twice the such large Fiat or Lorraine engines), but with four-valve technology with forced control, hemispherical combustion chambers and double overhead camshaft . Already during test drives with the Peugeot L-76 (which was also known as “EX1” for “étude experimentalale”) Boillot undercut Otto Salzer's old lap record from 1908 by a full 36 seconds. And Peugeot was also well equipped for the pit stops: after the ACF had decided to allow removable wheels, Rudge-Withworth spoke wheels were used , and while the competition was still operating with cans, Peugeot was already working with pressure refueling.

As in the first Grand Prix of 1906, the race again ran over two days, on each of which ten laps had to be completed on the almost 77 km long track for a total distance of 1540 km. The 47 participants took to the track at intervals of 30 seconds on the first day. As was generally not expected otherwise, the displacement and correspondingly powerful Grand Prix cars of the “conventional” design initially took the lead, but Peugeot driver Boillot stayed within striking distance, although he had to make two stops for repairs and tire changes. The fastest at the end of the first day was the American David Bruce-Brown on Fiat with a 2-minute lead over Boillot, while the third-placed Louis Wagner on Fiat was almost half an hour behind due to a weakening clutch. Of the Lorraine-Dietrichs, only one car was left in the race, while the other two broke down early with engine damage, like Zuccarelli's Peugeot. On top of that, both Fiat driver Ralph DePalma and Goux in a Peugeot were excluded from the race because they had refueled outside the pit area forbidden.

The leader in the Voiturette category was the Briton Dario Resta on Sunbeam , while the mechanic of Grégoire driver Léon Collinet had previously died in a tragic accident on lap 3 . The team did not start again the following day and the last Lorraine-Dietrich from René Hanriot who remained in the race was also missing because the car caught fire on the way to the garage. Boillot also had problems getting his Peugeot going because the spark plugs got damp. It was only after losing nine minutes that he was able to set off at full throttle to catch up with Bruce-Brown, whose Fiat, which was still equipped with wooden wheels, was increasingly having tire problems. On lap 15, the American finally had to stop after colliding with a dog with a broken fuel line. Although he was able to repair the leak, he had to refill the fuel in order to continue driving and therefore immediately accept the exclusion from the classification, although symbolically he continued to contest the race out of competition until the end. So Boillot was now clearly in the lead, but towards the end of the race he got into serious trouble again because he had bent the shift linkage. In a 20-minute repair stay, however, he and his mechanic managed to repair the damage at least poorly, so that he could survive the remaining two laps without shifting and practically only driving in top gear - circumstances that made his popularity the first French Grand Prix winners only increased. At the end of the race, with a total time of 13:58:03 hours and an average of 110.256 km / h, he still had a 13: 05.8 minute lead over second-placed Louis Wagner. Third in the overall standings and thus winner of the Coupe de l'Auto in the Voiturette class, after a remarkable performance and just 40 minutes behind, was Sunbeam driver Victor Rigal ahead of his two stable mates Dario Resta and Emile Medinger .

Results

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Hispano-Suiza, Fabrica de automoviles SA	01		Hispano-Suiza
	05
	35
	58
S. Gerster et Cie	02		Koechlin
Sunbeam Motor Co	03	Victor Rigal	Sunbeam
	16	Gustave Caillois
	17th	Dario Resta
	52	Emile Medinger
Edmund Gentil	04th	Marius Barriaux	Alcyon
	27	Claude Page
	40	Arthur Duray
Automobiles Darracq SA	06th		Darracq
	48
	53
Ets Sizaire et Naudin	07th	Georges Sizaire	Sizaire-Naudin
	16	Louis Naudin
	38	Thomas Schweitzer
Vinot & Deguingand	08th	Léon Molon	Vinot & Deguingand
	32	Paul Vonlatum
	56	Lucien Molon
Automobiles Theo Schneider	09	René Champoiseau	Theo Schneider
	20th	René Croquet
Gregoire et Cie	10	Léon Collinet	Grégoire
	18th	Philippe de Marne
	21st	Eugène Renaux
	24	Mario Romano
De Dietrich et Cie	11	Victor Hémery	Lorraine-Dietrich
	31	Paul Bablot
	34	René Hanriot
	57	Stefan Heim
Émile Mathis	12	Dragutin eater	Mathis
Automobiles et Cycles Peugeot	13	Jules Goux	Peugeot L-76	Peugeot 7.6L I4
	22nd	Georges Boillot
	45	Paolo Zuccarelli
Calthorpe Motor Co	14th	Pierre Garcet	Calthorpe
	26th	Lydston Hornsted
	43	Fred Burgess
Société des Automobiles Sigma	15th		Sigma
Fiat	23	Louis Wagner	Fiat S 74	Fiat 14.2L I4
	37	David Bruce-Brown
	42	Ralph DePalma
Singer Motor Co	25th	Frank Rollason	Singer
	39	Bramwell Haywood
The New Arrol-Johnston Car Co Limited	28	James Reid	Arrol-Johnston
	36	Richard Wyse
	55	Albert Crossman
Automobiles et Moteurs Côte	29	Cyril de Vère	Cote
	41	Fernand Gabriel
Rolland Pilain	30th	Jacques Fauquet Émile Pilain	Rolland Pilain
	49	Albert Guyot
Vauxhall Motors	33	Percy Lambert	Vauxhall
	51	John Hancock
	42	William Watson
Ford Motor Company	45		ford
Automobiles et Cycles Peugeot	47	René Thomas	Lion-Peugeot L3
Automobiles Excelsior	50	Josef Christiaens	Excelsior

Race result

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Georges Boillot	Peugeot	20th	3	13: 58: 02.6 h
02	Louis Wagner	Fiat	20th		+ 13: 05.8 min
03	Victor Rigal	Sunbeam	20th		+ 40: 33.4 min	1
04th	Dario Resta	Sunbeam	20th		+ 41: 49.2 min
05	Emile Medinger	Sunbeam	20th		+ 2: 01: 38.8 h
06th	Josef Christiaens	Excelsior	20th		+ 2: 25: 36.2 h
07th	René Croquet	Theo Schneider	20th		+ 3: 33: 36.6 h
08th	Jacques Fauquet Émile Pilain	Rolland Pilain	20th		+ 3: 51: 29.4 h
09	Richard Wyse	Arrol-Johnston	20th		+ 4: 09: 16.6 h
10	Arthur Duray	Alcyon	20th		+ 4: 30: 53.0 h
11	Paul Vonlatum	Vinot & Deguingand	20th		+ 5: 07: 57.4 h
12	Dragutin eater	Mathis	20th		+ 5: 20: 02.4 h
13	Cyril de Vère	Cote	20th		+ 6:59:03.4 h
14th	James Reid	Arrol-Johnston	19th		+ 1 lap
-	Percy Lambert	Vauxhall	18th		DNF			Radiator damage
-	Albert Crossman	Arrol-Johnston	17th		DNF			Radiator damage
-	Georges Sizaire	Sizaire-Naudin	17th		DNF			lost wheel
-	Pierre Garcet	Calthorpe	16		DNF			Engine failure
-	Claude Page	Alcyon	16		DNF			accident
-	John Hancock	Vauxhall	15th		DNF			Engine failure
-	Thomas Schweitzer	Sizaire-Naudin	10		DNF			Engine failure
-	Eugène Renaux	Grégoire	10		DNF			withdrawn
-	Mario Romano	Grégoire	10		DNF			withdrawn
-	René Hanriot	Lorraine-Dietrich	10		DNF			Wagon fire
-	Philippe de Marne	Grégoire	8th		DNF			Steering defect
-	Marius Barriaux	Alcyon	8th		DNF			Engine failure
-	Lucien Molon	Vinot & Deguingand	7th		DNF			severe oil loss
-	René Thomas	Lion-Peugeot	7th		DNF			Engine failure
-	Louis Naudin	Sizaire-Naudin	7th		DNF			Engine failure
-	Gustave Caillois	Sunbeam	7th		DNF			Engine failure
-	Paolo Zuccarelli	Peugeot	7th		DNF			Ignition damage
-	Paul Bablot	Lorraine-Dietrich	7th		DNF			Engine failure
-	Frank Rollason	Singer	6th		DNF			Engine failure
-	Bramwell Heywood	Singer	5		DNF			accident
-	Lydston Hornsted	Calthorpe	5		DNF			Gearbox damage
-	René Champoiseau	Theo Schneider	4th		DNF			failure
-	Léon Molon	Vinot & Deguingand	3		DNF			severe oil loss
-	William Watson	Vauxhall	2		DNF			Engine failure
-	Léon Collinet	Grégoire	2		DNF			accident
-	Fernand Gabriel	Cote	1		DNF			universal joint
-	Stefan Heim	Lorraine-Dietrich	1		DNF			Engine failure
-	Victor Hémery	Lorraine-Dietrich	1		DNF			Engine failure
-	Albert Guyot	Rolland Pilain	1		DNF			Engine failure
-	David Bruce-Brown	Fiat	15th		DSQ		36: 32.0 min
-	Ralph DePalma	Fiat	7th		DSQ
-	Jules Goux	Peugeot	3		DSQ
-	Fred Burgess	Calthorpe	1		DSQ

literature

• Robert Dick: Mercedes and Auto Racing in the Belle Epoque 1895–1915 , MacFarland & Co, Jefferson, 2005, ISBN 0-7864-1889-3 (English)
• Adriano Cimarosti: Car races - The great prices of the world, cars, tracks and pilots from 1894 to today , Hallwag AG, Bern, 1986, ISBN 3-444-10326-3
• Paul Sheldon with Yves de la Gorce & Duncan Rabagliati: A Record of Grand Prix and Voiturette Racing, Volume 1 1900–1925 , St. Leonard's Press, Bradford, 1987, ISBN 0-9512433-0-6 (English)
• Karl Ludvigsen: Classic Grand Prix Cars - The front-engined Formula 1 Era 1906–1960 , Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2000, ISBN 0-7509-2189-7
• Hodges, David: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars , The Crowood Press, Ramsbury, 2001, ISBN 1-86126-339-2

Web links

Commons : 1912 French Grand Prix  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual references / comments

1. ↑ The first race organized as the Grand Prix de l'ACF took place in 1906. In the 1920s, however, the “great” city-to-city races of the early days between 1895 and 1903 were also awarded these titles, although the ACF was founded after the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris race in 1895. This counting method made the event from 1906 the official ninth Grand Prix de l'ACF.