Motorsport year 1901

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Further sporting events

The highlight of the motorsport year 1901 was, as usual, the big race organized annually by the Automobile Club de France , the route of which led from Paris to Berlin that year. With Henri Fournier , a Mors driver was once again able to prevail against the previously dominant Panhard & Levassor .

However, automobile racing again reached its limits. The more powerful vehicles now almost systematically overwhelmed their pneumatic tires and there was a huge number of tire defects. In addition, there was another death, whereupon the French government imposed a first general racing ban on public roads.

Race results

Paris – Bordeaux

space driver team time
1 Third French RepublicThird French Republic Henri Fournier Mors 6: 10.44 h
2 Third French RepublicThird French Republic Maurice Farman Panhard & Levassor + 30.31 min
3 Third French RepublicThird French Republic Carl Voigt Panhard & Levassor +1: 04.27 h

On May 29, 1901, Henri Fournier proved to be the fastest on the 527 km long route from Paris to Bordeaux . It reached an average of 85 km / h. At the same race three years earlier (see motorsport year 1898 ) it was still 38 km / h.

Gordon Bennett Cup

space driver team time
1 Third French RepublicThird French Republic Léonce Girardot Panhard & Levassor 8: 50.59 h
no further drivers classified

The second edition of the Coupe Internationale was even more disappointing than in the previous year, and it was only wisely held in the form of a special classification as part of the Paris-Bordeaux race on May 29, 1901. The French team even competed here without any opponents because the only other registered participant, the Briton Selwyn Edge , had already used up his Dunlop tires on an allegedly three-ton Napier on the journey and therefore had to fall back on tires from French production. Although this allowed him to take part in the main race, he was no longer eligible for the Gordon Bennett classification due to the regulations - all components of a car had to have been manufactured in the respective participating country. At least the composition of the French team, made up of representatives from the brands Panhard & Levassor (with drivers Fernand Charron and Léonce Girardot ) and Mors (" Levegh "), caused some tension at the beginning, but in the end Girardot was the only one of the three Gordon-Bennett teams to reach -Participant at all the goal, due to a clutch defect in the overall standings, far behind in tenth place.

Paris – Berlin

space driver team time
1 Third French RepublicThird French Republic Henri Fournier Mors 15: 33.06 h
2 Third French RepublicThird French Republic Léonce Girardot Panhard & Levassor +1: 05.32 h
3 Third French RepublicThird French Republic René de Knyff Panhard & Levassor +1: 06.56 h

With the Paris – Berlin race from June 27 to 29, 1901, the major race organized annually by the ACF led back abroad for the first time since 1898. 110 cars and 10 motorcycles took part in the race on the 1200 km long route, which was divided into three daily stages (Paris– Aachen , 459 kilometers; Aachen– Hanover , 445.2 kilometers; Hanover – Berlin, 293.93 kilometers) .

The stages led in detail over the following routes:

1. Paris-Aachen: Paris (Fort de Champigny), Coulommiers, Montmirail, Épernay, Reims, Rethel, Poix, Sedan, Florenville, Bastogne, Sankt Vith, Aachen
2. Aachen-Hanover: Aachen, Aldenhoven, Julier, Bergheim, Cologne , Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Dinslaken, Wesel, Haltern, Dülmen, Münster, Warendorf, Rheda, Bielefeld, Herford, Minden, Stadthagen, Hanover
3. Hanover-Berlin: Hanover, Peine, Braunschweig, Königslutter, Erxleben, Magdeburg, Genthin, Plaue, Potsdam, Berlin (Westend, harness racing track)

There were three classes: heavy vehicles over 650 kg, light cars weighing 400 to 650 kg, and voiturettes under 400 kg. Some cars in the heavy class were significantly heavier than 650 kg, so the Mors weighed 1300 kg.

With Henri Fournier , another Mors driver was successful in the overall standings, with an average speed of over 77 km / h. Louis Renault also did a remarkable job, taking eighth place among the mighty racing cars of the competition with his voiturette (weight limit of 400 kg). The winner in the light vehicle class was Etienne Giraud on a Panhard and in the motorcycles category Georges Osmont on a three-wheeled De Dion-Bouton . On the other hand, the performance of the Mercedes racing cars, which had competed in a major race for the first time , was somewhat disappointing .

The local police took over security duties in many places, but a tragic incident occurred when a boy who ran onto the track was hit by one of the cars and killed.

literature

Web links

Commons : Automobilsport 1901  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jean-Robert Dulier: La Triomphale Course Paris – Berlin 1901.
  2. ↑ Dietmar Fack: Automobile, traffic and education - motorization and socialization between acceleration and adaptation 1885 - 1945, Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden, 2000, p. 101 [1]