1930 French Grand Prix
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 | 2 | Jean Poniatowski | Alphi | CIME 1.1L I6 | |
Louis Casali | 4th | Louis Casali | La Pearl Six | Bignan 1.5L I6 | |
Stanislaw Czaykowski | 6th | Stanislaw Czaykowski | Bugatti T35C | Bugatti 2.0L I8 compressor | |
Babe Stapp | 8th | 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Philippe Étancelin | Bugatti | 25th | 2: 43: 18,400 | 16 | |||
2 | Tim Birkin | Bentley | 25th | + 3: 26.200 | 6th | |||
3 | Juan Zanelli | Bugatti | 25th | + 3: 36,400 | 11 | |||
4th | Stanislaw Czaykowski | Aries | 25th | + 8: 08,600 | 2 | |||
5 | Jean de l'Espée | Bugatti | 25th | + 11: 10,400 | 13 | |||
6th | Robert Sénéchal | Bugatti | 25th | + 13: 10.200 | 7th | |||
7th | Jean de Maleplane | Bugatti | 25th | + 17: 39,600 | 9 | |||
8th | Henri Stoffel | Peugeot | 25th | + 17: 47.800 | 17th | |||
9 | 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
- 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
- ↑ 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.