1930 French Grand Prix

Race winner Philippe Étancelin

Philippe Étancelin during the race

Sixth placed Robert Sénéchal in his Delage

The XXIV Grand Prix of France ( XXIV Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France ) took place on September 21, 1930 on a triangular circuit over public roads near Pau in France . Although classified as a Grande Épreuve and initially intended as a race for the automobile world championship , the invitation to tender was later changed and the race was held according to the so-called free formula , in which there were in principle no restrictions on participation for cars except for a required minimum engine size of 1.1 liters and driver gave. The race was held over 25 laps of 15.835 km, which corresponded to a total distance of 395.88 km.

The winner of the race was Frenchman Philippe Étancelin with a privately registered Bugatti Type 35C . Also remarkable was the second place of the Briton Sir Henry Birkin in a 4.5 liter Bentley with a supercharger, which was a touring car in racing trim and basically roadworthy.

run

The city ​​of Pau in south-west France, which could already look back on a long motor sport tradition, was chosen as the venue for the Grand Prix de l'ACF for 1930 . Among other things, the first automobile race at all was held here in 1901 , in which the winner was awarded a prize called the Grand Prix .

The 1930 race was not carried out on the inner city circuit, which later became known, but on a specially set up triangular circuit on public roads outside the city, which despite its designation as Grand Circuit Permanent de Pau was only used for this one event.

Like all Grandes Épreuves , the race was originally intended to be held according to the mandatory international racing formula , which essentially had a consumption limit of 14 kg of operating materials (petrol and oil) per 100 kilometers of racing with otherwise specified minimum dimensions of 1.1 liters displacement, 900 kg car weight and 100 cm carriage width included. It was also originally intended as a run for the brand world championship for automobiles, which was announced again this season despite two attempts that had failed recently.

However, after not a single participant had submitted a report up to three months before the race, the Automobile Club de France had little choice but to switch to a so - called formula - free race, with all kinds of racing cars of at least 1.1 liters were. At the same time, the entry fee was significantly reduced and after a public appeal to patriotism it was finally possible to get a field of 25 cars, which, however, consisted almost exclusively of local participants. The only splash of color in the field of otherwise blue cars was the green Bentley “Blower” by Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin with a 4.5-liter supercharged engine, which was essentially a modified four-seater touring car, which also, due to its dimensions when "trucks" was ridiculed.

The favorites of the race were, of course, the two 2-liter Grand Prix racing cars of the 35C type used by the Bugatti plant , one of which was shared by Guy Bouriat and Louis Chiron and the other by the one racing under the pseudonym "Williams" in France-based British William Grover-Williams was driven. Actually, the launch of the successor to the Bugatti Type 51 was intended, but its development had not progressed far enough. With a further 15 privately used cars, Bugatti also provided the majority of the participants. The field was completed by two self-built vehicles by Charles and Ferdinand Montier (father and son) on a Ford basis, an Ariès sports car, the Grand Prix Delage by Robert Sénéchal from 1927 and finally two older Peugeot 174 S , which were actually designed for endurance competitions Racing sports car with side-controlled 4-liter four-cylinder engines, driven by René Ferrant and Henri Stoffel , the near-heroes of the previous Belgian Grand Prix . On the other hand, the top teams and drivers from Italy were missing for a really first-class race, who could no longer reschedule accordingly due to the short-term change in the tender.

After the start, a leading group quickly formed with “Williams”, Bouriat and the private drivers Juan Zanelli and Philippe Étancelin , all in Bugatti, in which the two works cars  - especially after Chiron had taken Bouriat behind the wheel as intended - initially set the pace. However, their tires, which were a little too heavily profiled, could not keep up the speed, so that both had to come to the pits for unscheduled stops. The actually completely unnecessary driver change had already cost time before, so that the pilots now put even more stress on the car and equipment to make up for the lost ground. However, this only led to further tire problems and ultimately to the failure of both cars, while Étancelin with his privately registered car was in line with his previously established racing strategy - to protect the tires and engine, he had given his racing car a particularly long final drive and avoided it It was also possible to exceed a certain engine speed - the race distance could literally be covered with the last drop of petrol in the tank without serious problems and above all without a pit stop and was finally lifted out of the car as the winner by a cheering crowd. Using a very similar strategy, Birkin finished second, and thanks to the outstanding engine power of the clumsy Bentley, he was able to make up for the time lost in the corners on the straight sections of the track. He even used the horn on his car to indicate overtaking maneuvers, which may have been a unique event in the history of Grand Prix races.

Results

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Jean Poniatowski	02	Jean Poniatowski	Alphi	CIME 1.1L I6
Louis Casali	04th	Louis Casali	La Pearl Six	Bignan 1.5L I6
Stanislaw Czaykowski	06th	Stanislaw Czaykowski	Bugatti T35C	Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor
Babe Stapp	08th	Babe Stapp	Duesenberg Model A	Duesenberg 4.0L I8	F.
Marcel Lehoux	10	Marcel Lehoux	Bugatti T35B	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
Georges Bouriano	12	Georges Bouriano	Bugatti T35B	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
Automobiles Ettore Bugatti	14th	Guy Bouriat	Bugatti T35C	Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor	M.
	34	Albert Divo
	58	William Grover-Williams
		Louis Chiron
Jean-Pierre Wimille	16	Jean-Pierre Wimille	Bugatti T35A	Bugatti 1.5L I4
Captain Henry Stanley Birkin	18th	Tim Birkin	Bentley Blower UU 5871	Bentley 4.5L I4 compressor	D.
Robert Sénéchal	20th	Robert Sénéchal	Delage Type 15 S 8	Delage 1.5L I8
Enzo Grimaldi	22nd	Enzo Grimaldi	Bugatti T35C	Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor
Claude Arthez	24	Claude Arthez	Bugatti T35	Bugatti 2.0L I8
Attila Lenart	26th	Attila Lenart	Bugatti T35	Bugatti 2.0L I8
Jean de Maleplane	28	Jean de Maleplane	Bugatti T35C	Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor
Charles Montier et Cie	30th	Ferdinand Montier	Montier 1 Speciale	Ford 3.3L I4	M.
	66	Charles Montier
Juan Zanelli	32	Juan Zanelli	Bugatti T35C	Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor	K
Albert de Bondeli	36	Albert de Bondeli	Bugatti T35A	Bugatti 1.5L I4
Baron Jean de l'Espée	38	Jean de l'Espée	Bugatti T35C	Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor	K
Louis Charavel	40	Louis Charavel	Bugatti T35C	Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor
Guy Daniel	42	Guy Daniel	Bugatti T35B	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
Philippe Étancelin	44	Philippe Étancelin	Bugatti T35C	Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor	K
René Dreyfus	46	René Dreyfus	Bugatti T35B	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
Maurice Henry	48	Henri Stoffel	Peugeot 174S	Peugeot 4.0L I4	M.
	74	René Ferrant
Etiénne Lepicard	50	Etiénne Lepicard	Donnet	Donnet 1.1L I4
Georges Delaroche	52	Georges Delaroche	Bugatti T35C	Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor
Jean Gaupillat	54	Jean Gaupillat	Bugatti T35A	Bugatti 1.5L I4
José Scaron	56	José Scaron	Amilcar C 6	Amilcar 1.1L I6
Arthur Duray	60	Arthur Duray	Amilcar C 6	Amilcar 1.1L I6
Armand Rodansky	62	Armand Rodansky	Bugatti T35	Bugatti 2.0L I8
Aristide Lumachi	64	Aristide Lumachi	Bugatti T35B	Bugatti 2.3L I8 compressor
Max Fourny	68	Max Fourny	Bugatti T35C	Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor
Guy Bouriat	70	Guy Bouriat	Bugatti T35C	Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor
Robert Laly	72	Robert Laly	Aries	Ariès 3.3L I4

Race result

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Philippe Étancelin	Bugatti	25th		2: 43: 18,400	16
02	Tim Birkin	Bentley	25th		+ 3: 26.200	6th
03	Juan Zanelli	Bugatti	25th		+ 3: 36,400	11
04th	Stanislaw Czaykowski	Aries	25th		+ 8: 08,600	2
05	Jean de l'Espée	Bugatti	25th		+ 11: 10,400	13
06th	Robert Sénéchal	Bugatti	25th		+ 13: 10.200	7th
07th	Jean de Maleplane	Bugatti	25th		+ 17: 39,600	9
08th	Henri Stoffel	Peugeot	25th		+ 17: 47.800	17th
09	René Ferrant	Peugeot	25th		+ 25: 50,000	25th
10	Robert Laly	Aries	25th		+ 38: 00.800	24
-	Charles Montier	Montier	21st		NC	22nd		angled
-	Enzo Grimaldi	Bugatti	21st		NC	8th		angled
-	Louis Casali	La pearl	19th		NC	1		angled
-	Guy Bouriat Louis Chiron	Bugatti	24		DNF	4th		Engine failure
-	Guy Daniel	Bugatti	16		DNF	15th		failure
-	Albert de Bondeli	Bugatti	15th		DNF	12		failure
-	William Grover-Williams	Bugatti	12		DNF	20th	6: 10,000	Engine failure
-	Louis Charavel	Bugatti	10		DNF	14th		accident
-	Jean Gaupillat	Bugatti	7th		DNF	19th		failure
-	Ferdinand Montier	Montier	4th		DNF	10		failure
-	Aristide Lumachi	Bugatti	3		DNF	21st		Engine failure
-	Jean-Pierre Wimille	Bugatti	2		DNF	5		Compressor damage
-	Max Fourny	Bugatti	2		DNF	23		Engine failure
-	Georges Delaroche	Bugatti	2		DNF	18th		Engine failure
-	Marcel Lehoux	Bugatti	1		DNF	3		Gearbox damage

Class winner

• Group I (over 3000 cm³): Tim Birkin ( Bentley ), 142.449 km / h 
• Group II (2000-3000 cm³): Juan Zanelli ( Bugatti ), 142.304 km / h 
• Group III (1500-2000 cm³): Philippe Étancelin ( Bugatti ), 145.447 km / h 
• Group IV (up to 1500 cm³): Robert Sénéchal ( Delage ), 134.592 km / h 

Web links

Commons : 1930 French Grand Prix  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: XVI GRAND PRIX DE L'AUTOMOBILE CLUB DE FRANCE. www.kolumbus.fi, January 5, 2017, accessed February 9, 2020 . 
• XXIV Grand Prix de l'ACF (No longer available online.) Www.teamdan.com, archived from the original on February 7, 2019 ; accessed on February 9, 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 1895 race. 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.