TEAM QUAIL AT LE MANS

Le Mans has a long connection with the motor car and motor racing. Surprisingly it also has early associations with aviation.  After the Wright Brothers had made their historic first powered flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903, Wilbur went to France in 1907 and used the Hunaudières race course, home of the le Mans Horse Racing Club, for his first flights in Europe. There is still a stone to mark this in the centre of the circuit alongside the Restaurant des Hunaudières, part way down the Mulsanne Straight.

Wilbur Wright over Le Mans in 1909

The connection between Le Mans and the motorcar goes back ever further. The Bollées family were making steam powered vehicles in Les Mans as far back as 1873.

Early motor races were between cities, but had been outlawed after the disastrous Paris – Madrid race of 1903, and racing moved to long closed circuits. The Automobile Club de la Sarthe (forerunner of the present Automobile Club de l’Ouest) was founded in October 1905, and in 1906 Le Mans had the honour of hosting the first ever race to bear the title of ‘Grand Prix’. The race was called the Grand Prix de l’Auotmobile Club de France and was held north-east of today’s circuit, on a 65 mile triangular circuit the corners being La Ferté-Bernard in the north, St Calais in the South and virage de la fourche d’Aouvours to the west.

Between 1911 and 1913 a new circuit to the South of Le Mans was the venue for further Grands Prix. This incorporated roads that would later form part of the Circuit Permanent. The 1911 circuit was again triangular and ran between Pontlieu, along what is now the Mulsanne straight, to Ecommoy where it turned to St Mars d’Outile and via Parigne-l’Eveque back to Pontlieu, a lap of 54 km. These were not successful ventures, but did see the first successes for Bugatti and the appearance of Mercedes.

After the Great War the Automobile Club de la Sarthe proposed a new, shorter, permanent circuit to the south of Le Mans; the forerunner of today’s circuit.  It ran from Pontlieu, down the Mulsanne Straight, turned right into Indianapolis and Arnage and returned by the White House corners and the start-finish section to Pontlieu. The lap distance was 17.3km (10.8 miles), and it saw some of the first post war races. Although the post war Grands Prix were successful, in 1922 Le Mans lost the Grand Prix to Strasbourg.

In November 1922 press stories began appearing about an event being planned for the next summer. It was to be run over 24 consecutive hours. Three ‘triennial’ trophies were to be contested consecutively, covering the first five years. The results of the first race would count together with the results for 1924 and 1925 towards the major prize, the Rudge-Whitworth Cup.

The idea behind the event was an endurance race with the aim of demonstrating the improving reliability of modern touring cars. It would also go some way to promote improvements in public roads. The original idea was to have a race of eight hours, half of which was to be run at night. The night section of the race was for the sole purpose of making manufacturers perfect their electrical equipment. This was soon changed to a 24-hour race run straight through. There were three men behind the idea: Charles Faroux, Emile Coquille and George Durand. Faroux was a respected journalist, Durand the general secretary of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, Coquille donated the Rudge-Whitworth Cup.

However, Le Mans was not the first 24-hour race. These were first held in America early in the century on dirt and board tracks. In 1922 the Bol d’Or, a race for light cars, cyclecars and motorcycle/sidecar combinations, was held over 24 hours at St Germain, near Paris, on public roads. In this event only one driver was allowed and they had to take a four-hour rest period. This race lasted with changing formats until 1955.

The Original Rules

Competing cars were to be strictly touring cars, and had to be manufactured in series, not built as one-off competition cars. Manufacturers had to declare that they had built 30 identical models, and the competing cars had to be standard versions of the catalogued models. The cars would be classified according to engine capacity and would have to complete a minimum distance to qualify as a finisher. This was from 920km for cars up to 1100cc to 1600km for cars over 6500cc. The smallest cars were allowed two seats only; anything larger had to have four seats. Any car that was more than 20% behind its target distance after 6 hours would be eliminated, as would any car 15% behind after 12 hours or 10% after 18 hours. Any car which achieved its target distance would, however be eligible for the second part of the cup, next year. And each year saw a new rotation to start for the Rudge-Whitworth Cup.

The technical checking of all cars would be done the day before the race. The start would be a simultaneous one for all competitors, lined up in decreasing order of cylinder capacity. The colour of the cars were to be as dictated in international racing rules: blue for France, red for Italy, yellow for Belgium, green for England and white and blue for America.

Two drivers had to be nominated for each car, but only one could be in the cars at any one time. Driver changes, and the length of driver spells were at the discretion of the teams. Bags of lead ballast, weighing 60kg had to be carried for each passenger the car was notionally capable of carrying. Repairs could only be carried by the driver, except in the refuelling pits, and the engine had to be turned off for all refuelling and repairs. Refuelling could only be carried out in the pits and observed by an official who would record the amount taken on. Time taken, to refuel would not be added to the running time.

Each car had to carry accident insurance for a minimum of 200,000 francs, each driver had to be insured, and each team had to have fire insurance for their refuelling pits. Anyone not complying would not be allowed to start.

Entry fees were on a sliding scale depending on capacity: 1000 francs for each car up to 1500cc, 1500 francs up to two litres, 2000 francs for anything over two litres. Entries closed at 6pm on 28^th February, but entrants could still join up to the end of March by paying twice the entrance fee.

The Organisation of the First Race

The Authorities readily agreed to the closure of the public roads for two days, and the Automobile Club de France had rapidly approved the draft regulations. By the time the race started Durand had organised overhead lights on the start finish straight, and the Amy provide searchlights for some of the corners. Pits were provided under canvas tents (virtually where they are today). Barriers were added to keep spectators away from the track and a two-tiered wooden grandstand was built opposite the pits. There was also a large scoreboard near the pits. Where the track ran through the village of Ponlieu, right between houses on the narrow village streets, the pavements were lined with wooden barricades.

LE Fèvre rounding the Pontlieu hairpin (soon to be part of the original 24-hour circuit) during the 1921 Grand Prix des Voiturettes.

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