Motorsport year 1896
The climax of the motorsport year 1896 was the Paris – Marseille – Paris race , which was organized for the first time by the newly founded Automobile Club de France .
Racing calendar
| date | run | winner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 24-25 |
 Bordeaux - Agen -Bordeaux |
Gaston Bousquet ( Peugeot )
|
| 2 | 05/30 |
.svg){kind=small} Cosmopolitan Road Race |
James Frank Duryea ( Duryea )
|
| 3 | 07, 08, 11.09. |
Providence Horseless Carriage Race |
.svg){kind=small} Andrew L. Riker / CH Whiting ( Riker Electric )
|
| 4th | 24.09. – 03.10. |
Paris - Marseille -Paris |
Émile Mayade ( Panhard & Levassor )
|
| 5 | 11/14 |
 The Emanicipation Run
|
Léon Bollée ( Léon Bollée Tricycle)
|
Race results
Cosmopolitan Road Race
| space | driver | team | time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
James Frank Duryea
|
Duryea | 7: 13.00 h |
| 2 |
Charles E. Duryea
|
Duryea | |
| no further drivers classified | |||
This race took place in New York City on May 30th and went 100 km. The practice on public roads, which was still common in 1896, even led to critical comments in the journal Horseless Age .
Providence Horseless Carriage Race
| space | driver | team | time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Andrew L. Riker / CH Whiting |
Riker Electric | |
| 2 |
Henry G. Morris / Adams |
Electric carriage | |
| 3 |
James Frank Duryea
|
Duryea |
This race was originally designed for five runs. As a result of a violent storm, it was reduced to three passes, which took place on the 7th, 8th and 8th respectively. 11 September on the new harness racing track Narragansett Trotting Park in Pawtucket near Providence ( Rhode Iceland were carried out). Ten teams took part; the shortest time from all the runs counted. The first two places in what is probably the first circuit race in the USA were taken by electric vehicles .
Paris – Marseille – Paris
| space | driver | team | time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Émile Mayade
|
Panhard & Levassor | 67: 42.58 h |
| 2 |
M. Merkel |
Panhard & Levassor | + 28.07 min |
| 3 |
Paul Viet
|
De Dion-Bouton Tricycle | + 2: 18.07 h |
32 vehicles started the Paris – Marseille – Paris race from September 24th to October 3rd, 1896. There were only two steam-powered vehicles left, the petrol vehicles prevailed.
For the first time, the participating vehicles were divided into several classes for reasons of equal opportunities , for which there was now a separate rating at events:
- A Series 1 (heavy automobiles)
- A Series 2 ( light automobiles )
- B ( motorcycles )
- C ( motor tricycles )
The route led in ten daily stages from Paris via Dijon and Lyon to Marseille and back, a total of 1711 km had to be covered. Despite the relatively low speeds, there were already the first accidents. On the second day there was a severe thunderstorm, some vehicles retired and a driver was followed by a ferocious bull. But the worst hit was Émile Levassor . The winner of Paris – Bordeaux – Paris 1895 - and stages 2 ( Auxerre –Dijon; 151 km) and 3 (Dijon – Lyon; 198 km) of this race - was thrown out of the car near Orange and seriously injured when he hit a dog wanted to evade. He finished the stage, but never recovered from the accident and died in the spring of 1897. D'Hostingue drove the last stage for him and brought the car to fourth place.
16 vehicles reached Marseille, but 14 of these also arrived in Paris. The fastest overall was Émile Mayade , for the first time in a four-cylinder from Panhard & Levassor , the dominant brand in the early days of motor racing, with an average speed of around 25 km / h. The two victorious Panhard started in the big class A Series 1 . Third and fifth places went to De Dion-Bouton motor tricycles , with Viet needing a good 70 hours, just 2:20 hours more than Mayade with his racing car.
London – Brighton (Emancipation Run)
| space | driver | team | time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Léon Bollée
|
Léon Bollée Tricycle | |
| 2 |
Camille Bollée
|
Léon Bollée Tricycle | |
| 3 |
 Earl of Winchilsea
|
Panhard & Levassor wagonette |
The occasion of the race was the repeal of the so-called Red Flag Act of 1865, which stipulated in the United Kingdom that a vehicle without horses should not travel more than 2 mph (3.2 km / h) within built-up areas and no more than 4 mph ( 6.5 km / h) was allowed to be fast. In addition, a person with a red flag had to precede each vehicle. The law was originally intended to reduce the number of accidents between pedestrians and steam cars and street locomotives or as a result of horses being passed through. But it also increasingly proved to be an obstacle to the British automotive industry. The organizer of the Emancipation Run was the cyclist and promoter Henry John Lawson (1852-1925). The event has been repeated regularly since 1927.
literature
- Beverly Rae Kimes (eds.) And Henry Austin Clark, jr .: The Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805–1942 , 2nd edition, Krause Publications, Iola WI 54990, USA (1985), ISBN 0-87341-111-0 ( English)
- GN Georgano (Ed.): Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present ; Dutton Press, New York, 2nd edition (hardcover) 1973, ISBN 0-525-08351-0 (English)
- David A. Kirsch: The Electric Vehicle and the Burden of History ; Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick NJ and London, 2000. ISBN 0-8135-2809-7 (paperback) (English)
- Jonathan Wood: The British Motor Industry Shire Publications Ltd (2010); ISBN 0-7478-0768-X , ISBN 978-0-7478-0768-1 ; soft cover (english)
Web links
- Hans Etzrodt: GRAND PRIX WINNERS 1895–1949. Part 1 (1895-1916). www.kolumbus.fi, accessed on May 19, 2020 (English).
- 1896 Grand Prix and Paris Races. (No longer available online.) Www.teamdan.com, archived from the original on July 23, 2018 ; accessed on May 19, 2020 (English).
- driverdb.com: Cosmopolitan Road Race (accessed January 24, 2013)
- machine-history: Providence Horseless Carriage Race (1896 ) (accessed January 24, 2013)
- Early American Automobiles: Duryea, The First American Automobile, and the 1895 Chicago Herald-Times Automobile Race. (accessed on May 26, 2017)