Motor racing year 1904
With the Gordon Bennett Race in Germany and the Vanderbilt Cup in the USA, 1904 brought a further upswing in motorsport, especially outside of France, with European drivers and racing teams traveling overseas for the first time for the race in New York . At the same time, it was the first year without city-to-city races, which had been banned after the 1903 Paris-Madrid “death race” .
Race results
Gordon Bennett Cup - Homburg
| space | driver | team | time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Léon Théry
|
Richard Brasier | 5: 50.01.4 h |
| 2 |
 Camille Jenatzy
|
Mercedes | + 11.28.0 min |
| 3 |
Pierre de Caters
|
Mercedes | + 57.08.8 min |
With Camille Jenatzy's victory in a Mercedes at the Gordon Bennett Cup in 1903, Germany was specified as the venue for this race. In contrast to France and Great Britain, where the policy towards the races has hitherto been rather restrictive, the German imperial family - which had also been very cautious about the automotive industry for a long time - was after the Mercedes success at the Gordon Bennett race in 1903 national enthusiasm for automobile races has been recorded and Kaiser Wilhelm II is said to have been personally involved in the selection of the racetrack near Homburg . The start and finish of the 128 km long circuit in the Taunus , which had to be driven four times, was near the Saalburg castle , another prestigious object of Wilhelm, where the imperial grandstand was also built. The presence of the emperor gave the event an additional boost, which was reflected in an increased number of participants. In France, after fierce protests from the manufacturers that had not been considered so far, a separate elimination race for the three places to be awarded in the national team had to be held for the first time, in which ten makes with a total of 29 cars - thus more than in the actual main race - fought a tough battle. In Germany, on the other hand, with a clever interpretation of the regulations, Mercedes developed a dual strategy and sent a second three-car team into the race with three models assembled at the Austro-Daimler plant in Austria . As a concession, however, a place in the German team was awarded to Opel , which was a licensed product from the French manufacturer Darracq . Italy was also represented in the Gordon Bennett Cup for the first time with three Fiat racing cars, plus a full team from Belgium, while the USA decided not to participate this time. A total of 18 cars from seven nations competed against each other on June 17, 1904. As in the previous year, the race again developed into a Franco-German duel, Camille Jenatzy in a Mercedes against the until then largely unknown Léon Théry in Richard-Brasier . Despite the most precise route preparation and the superior engine performance of his 95 hp Mercedes, Jenatzy lost a few seconds on the very precise Théry lap after lap, so that the Frenchman finally crossed the finish line with about 11 minutes ahead and an average speed of over 87 km / h. With that, a construction that was clearly weaker on paper, but also far less over-bred, had prevailed in the end.
Ardennes Race - Bastogne
| space | driver | team | time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
.svg){kind=small} George Heath
|
Panhard & Levassor | 5: 30.49.0 h |
| 2 |
Georges Teste
|
Panhard & Levassor | + 55.0 s |
| 3 |
Albert Clement
|
Clement-Bayard | + 3.54.2 min |
On July 25, 1904, the Ardennes race took place near Bastogne in Belgium for the third time. After a tough fight with his teammate Teste, the American George Heath won .
Vanderbilt Cup - Long Island
| space | driver | team | time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
George Heath
|
Panhard & Levassor | 5: 26.45.0 h |
| 2 |
Albert Clement
|
Clement-Bayard | + 1.28.0 min |
| no other drivers at the finish | |||
At the invitation of the American industrialist William Kissam Vanderbilt II (1878–1944), the European motorsport elite gathered on October 8, 1904 for one of the first races in the USA , the Vanderbilt Cup .
The 46-kilometer route was on Long Island . The crowd, enthusiastic about the victory of local hero George Heath , stormed the track, so that the race had to be stopped after the arrival of the second.
Details
Gordon Bennett Cup - Homburg
Several municipalities had applied to host the race in Germany. The deciding factor for the decision to run the race in the Taunus was probably the recommendation of Kaiser Wilhelm II , who liked to use the Landgrave Castle in Bad Homburg as a summer residence. A short time before, Kaiser Wilhelm had opened the rebuilt Roman fort in Saalburg , which was now the start and finish point of the race. In addition to the imperial couple, 3113 international visitors were counted in Bad Homburg alone. A million visitors lined the streets around the racing circuit.
The German Automobile Club as the organizer had taken extensive security measures. Six of 18 cars were eliminated in the race. However, accidents during the race were avoided even though the track was considered demanding: altitudes of 105 to 550 meters, gradients of 12 to 15% on roads that were not at all compatible with today's racetracks.
Economically, the race was not a success. The income of 140,000 marks only covered half of the costs. A large part of the deficit was due to the construction of the imperial grandstand at the Saalburg. For 95,000 marks, the Bad Homburg architect Louis Jacobi built a large grandstand with an imperial box for 2,500 people.
Memorial plaque to the race not far from Kastell Saalburg
Advertising poster for the 1904 Gordon Bennett Cup
Wilhelm II stands for the Saalburg, James Gordon Bennett presents the trophy of the race
More races
- Concours de cote du mont Ventoux
literature
- Demand / Simsa: Kuehne men great cars, The Gordon Bennet races 1900–1905 , Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-613-01099-2
- Alfred Biallas: The Gordon Bennet Race 1904 . In: Ingrid Berg: Heimat Hochtaunus . Frankfurt 1988, ISBN 3-7829-0375-7 , pages 470-473
- Rudolf Krönke: The Gordon Bennett Race in the Taunus 1904 , Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2003, ISBN 3-89702-645-7
Web links
- 1904 Grand Prix. (No longer available online.) Www.teamdan.com, archived from the original on January 10, 2019 ; accessed on May 26, 2020 (English).