1921 French Grand Prix

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Race winner Jimmy Murphy
Jean Chassagne in his 3 liter ballot
Pit signals for the Sunbeam drivers

The XV. The French Grand Prix ( XV Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France ) took place on July 25, 1921 at the Circuit de la Sarthe near Le Mans . The race was held in accordance with the applicable Grand Prix racing formula (3 liter capacity, 800 kg minimum weight) over 30 laps of 17.26 km, which corresponded to a total distance of 517.8 km.

With Jimmy Murphy on Duesenberg , an American participant won the Grand Prix de l'ACF for the first time .

run

After a seven-year break caused by the First World War and a subsequent two-year reticence on the part of automobile manufacturers, the ACF hosted a Grand Prix for the first time after the war in 1921 . As with the very first Grand Prix of 1906, Le Mans was chosen as the venue, but this time with a significantly shorter, but still unpaved circuit of 17.26 km lap length directly in the south of the city, which is still largely part of the route of the 24 hours of Le Mans forms. The total distance of 517.8 km was also the shortest of all previous Grand Prix races.

Regarding the racing formula, it was decided to adopt the provisions of the Indianapolis races of 1920 and 1921 , which stipulated a maximum cylinder capacity of 3 liters with a minimum weight of 800 kg. This opened up opportunities for the cars competing there, which the Ballot company in particular made use of, which had taken over the technological leadership role among French racing car manufacturers by taking over star designer Ernest Henry from Peugeot . For Ballot, Henry had further developed the concept of the four-cylinder four-valve engine from Peugeot with hemispherical combustion chambers and two overhead camshafts into a short-stroke and correspondingly easy-revving in-line eight-cylinder, which, however, had not yet fully met expectations at his two Indianapolis appearances. Ballot has now started three of these cars in his home race, driven by Jean Chassagne , Louis Wagner and Ralph DePalma . Jules Goux , on the other hand, as the fourth driver of the team, had to make do with an older 2-liter four-cylinder model.

The French-British Sunbeam - Talbot - Darracq group, which had just emerged from a company merger, had registered a total of seven cars under its various brand names. Although the newly designed eight-cylinder had also previously been used in Indianapolis, they did not prove to be sufficiently mature during training, and only the massive resistance of the drivers meant that participation was not withdrawn completely. Ultimately, with the Grand Prix newcomer Henry Segrave at the side of the more experienced Kenelm Lee Guinness on "Talbot" for Great Britain, and René Thomas and André Boillot , the younger brother of the pre-war star Georges Boillot , on "Talbot-Darracq" for France four cars still to be sent to the start. Fiat, on the other hand, had to completely cancel the participation of its team because the cars could not be completed on time due to workers' unrest. Another participant, almost hopeless from the start, was the Alsatian Émile Mathis on his significantly underpowered Mathis four-cylinder with a displacement of just 1.5 liters.

So the way to victory would have been practically free for Ballot, but literally at the last minute, Duesenberg , a serious competitor, appeared on the scene. Born in France, Albert Champion , owner of the spark plug factory Champion Spark Plug , agreed as a sponsor of Duesenberg to pay the entry fee - doubled due to the delay - and all travel expenses for a team of four cars for the US drivers Jimmy Murphy and Joe Boyer and to take over the two Frenchmen Albert Guyot and Louis Inghilbert . For the first time in history - apart from Walter Christie's appearance as a single starter at the 1907 Grand Prix - an overseas team entered a European Grand Prix race. In addition to the almost perfect organization of the racing team, the all-white American cars were also quite a bit ahead of the European designs from a technical point of view: Their eight-cylinder in-line cylinders, which were equipped with removable cylinder heads for the first time, allowed speeds of up to 5000 revolutions per minute and unprecedented speeds as well For the first time in a Grand Prix car with hydraulic brakes from the Lockheed system were used - a technology that was only able to establish itself in European racing car designs about a decade later due to the high license fees. In addition, Duesenberg did not carry spare wheels on the car in order to achieve corresponding advantages in handling and weight. Experience in American races had shown that on circuits that were relatively short for the time, it was ultimately more effective to pits in the event of a tire damage on the rim than to switch to the track and then to the pits again stop and then charge new spare tires there.

A few days before the race, however, the American team suffered a serious setback when Murphy had an accident with Inghilbert as co-driver during a training drive on the track. Inghilbert then had to be replaced by the wealthy amateur rider André Dubonnet, who was originally registered for Talbot , while Murphy started despite his injuries - albeit in pain. The total of 13 cars were sent into the race in pairs at intervals of 30 seconds in the order of the starting numbers drawn - in view of the time intervals that were usual up to now, this was already a big step towards the mass start.

Despite his injury, Murphy took the lead from the second of the total of 30 laps, while the cars of the Talbot / Darracq team in particular had problems early on with the increasingly poor track conditions and were thrown back by numerous tire changes. When Murphy pits to have his tires checked, Chassagne took the lead to the cheers of the crowd. On lap 17, however, the Ballot driver had to give up due to a rockfall with a cracked tank, around the same time Duesenberg driver Boyer had to give up because of an engine failure. Guyot had also lost a lot of time in second place because his mechanic was hit by a stone and injured. After four hours of driving, Murphy was the undisputed first - and until Dan Gurney in an AAR Eagle won the Belgian Grand Prix in 1967  - the only US-American on an American make to finish as the winner for 46 years, although towards the end of the race A stone had also leaked the radiator on his car and he had to make another pit stop before the last lap because of a puncture. Despite the lead of almost 15 minutes over second-placed DePalma and more than 20 minutes over third-placed Goux, Édouard Ballot, who was annoyed by the unexpected defeat, declared the moral winner after the race, on the grounds that Murphys Duesenberg would not have another lap would have endured more. The best Talbot driver was substitute Dubonnet in fourth place, 23 minutes behind.

Results

Registration list

team No. driver chassis engine tires
Third French RepublicThird French Republic Automobiles ballot 01 United States 48United States Ralph DePalma Ballot 3 liter Ballot 3.0L I8 P
08th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Jean Chassagne
14th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Louis Wagner
18th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Jules Goux Ballot 2-liter S. Ballot 2.0L I4 P
Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Fiat 02 Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Ugo Sivocci Fiat 802 Fiat 3.0L I8 P
09 Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Pietro Bordino
Third French RepublicThird French Republic Mathis 03 Third French RepublicThird French Republic Émile Mathis Mathis M.
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq Motors 04th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Kenelm Lee Guinness Talbot
07th Third French RepublicThird French Republic André Dubonnet
10 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Henry Segrave
05 Third French RepublicThird French Republic René Thomas Talbot-Darracq
15th Third French RepublicThird French Republic André Boillot
11 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Louis Zborowski Sunbeam
13 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Dario Resta
United States 48United States Duesenberg Bros 06th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Albert Guyot Duesenberg GP Duesenberg 3.0L I8 F.
07th Third French RepublicThird French Republic André Dubonnet
12 United States 48United States Jimmy Murphy
16 United States 48United States Joe Boyer
17th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Louis Inghilbert

Race result

Item driver constructor Round Stops time begin Fastest lap Failure reason
01 United States 48United States Jimmy Murphy United States 48United States Duesenberg 30th 5 4:07:11.4 h 8th 7: 43.0 min
02 United States 48United States Ralph DePalma Third French RepublicThird French Republic Ballot 30th + 14: 59.2 min 1
03 Third French RepublicThird French Republic Jules Goux Third French RepublicThird French Republic Ballot 30th + 20: 22.2 min 12
04th Third French RepublicThird French Republic André Dubonnet United States 48United States Duesenberg 30th + 23: 07.8 min 13
05 Third French RepublicThird French Republic André Boillot United KingdomUnited Kingdom Talbot-Darracq 30th + 27: 58.8 min 10
06th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Albert Guyot United States 48United States Duesenberg 30th + 34: 02.7 min 5
07th Third French RepublicThird French Republic Louis Wagner Third French RepublicThird French Republic Ballot 30th + 40: 49.7 min 9
08th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Kenelm Lee Guinness United KingdomUnited Kingdom Talbot 30th + 59: 28.0 min 3
09 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Henry Segrave United KingdomUnited Kingdom Talbot 30th +1: 01: 54.6 h 7th
- Third French RepublicThird French Republic René Thomas United KingdomUnited Kingdom Talbot-Darracq 27 DNF 4th Leak in the oil tank
- United States 48United States Joe Boyer United States 48United States Dusenberg 17th DNF 11 Engine failure
- Third French RepublicThird French Republic Jean Chassagne Third French RepublicThird French Republic Ballot 17th DNF 6th Leak in the fuel tank
- Third French RepublicThird French Republic Émile Mathis Third French RepublicThird French Republic Mathis 5 DNF 2 Engine failure
- United KingdomUnited Kingdom Louis Zborowski United KingdomUnited Kingdom Sunbeam DNS Vehicle not ready for use
- Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Ugo Sivocci Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Fiat DNS Vehicle not ready for use
- Third French RepublicThird French Republic André Dubonnet United KingdomUnited Kingdom Talbot DNS started for Duesenberg
- Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Pietro Bordino Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Fiat DNS Vehicle not ready for use
- United KingdomUnited Kingdom Dario Resta United KingdomUnited Kingdom Sunbeam DNS Vehicle not ready for use
- Third French RepublicThird French Republic Louis Inghilbert United States 48United States Duesenberg DNS Vehicle assigned to Dubonnet

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
  • Tim Considine: American Grand Prix Racing - A Century of Drivers & Cars , MBI Publishing, Osceola, 1997, ISBN 0-7603-0210-3 (English)
  • Jon M Bill: Duesenberg Racecars & Passenger Cars Photo Archive ; Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum (Ed.), Iconografix, Hudson WI, Photo Archive Series, ISBN 1-58388-145-X (English)
  • Griffith Borgeson: The Golden Age of the American Racing Car , 2nd edition (1998), published by SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers), Warrendale PA, ISBN 0-7680-0023-8 (English)
  • JA Martin and Thomas F. Saal: American Auto Racing - The Milestones and Personalities of a Century of Speed , McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson NC, ISBN 0-7864-1235-6 (English)

Web links

Commons : French Grand Prix 1921  - collection of images, videos and audio files
  • 1921 Grand Prix. (No longer available online.) Www.teamdan.com, archived from the original on January 29, 2019 ; accessed on June 24, 2020 (English).

Remarks

  1. The first race organized as the Grand Prix de l'ACF took place in 1906. In the 1920s, however, the "big" city-to-city races of the early years 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. This numbering was after the 1968 renaming of the Grand Prix de l'ACF for Grand Prix de France continued further throughout.
  2. According to Sheldon, the reports of the brand "Sunbeam" had been withdrawn completely
  3. As in the last pre-war races, Mathis had no serious ambitions for serious competition with the competition, but wanted to use the Grand Prix merely as a stage to demonstrate the reliability and endurance of his design