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TEAM QUAIL AT LE MANSThe History - The Twenties |
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TEAM QUAIL AT LE MANSThe History - The Twenties |
The circuit 1923-28
Length: 17.262 km
The first track layout for the 24 Hour race was different to that used for the
very first French Grand Prix in 1906. The track ventured into the town’s suburbs
as far as the Pontlieue hairpin.
Distance record set by the 1928 winners: 2,669.27 km, average speed: 111.219
km/h.
Fastest lap was set during the 1928 race by Henry Birkin in his 4.4 litre
Bentley with a time of 8:07, an average speed of 127.604 km/h.
The 1923 Race
The format of the race proved to be popular with the public and by the closing
date 18 manufacturers had entered 35 cars, although the majority of the field
were French. The only foreign marques were Bentley entered from Britain and
Excelsior from Belgium.
The start of it all. The 1923 start with Excelsiors 1 and 2 and Lorraine-Dietrich number 5 leading the way.
The Bentley entry was a private one from Captain John Duff, Bentley’s London
Agent. The marque’s founder W.O. Bentley was unimpressed at the idea of such a
race, but even so he could be seen in the Bentley pits. Duff and his co-driver
Frank Clement had both raced at Brooklands, including some endurance events.
The weather for the 1923 race was awful. As the cars lined up in two rows in
front of the grandstand the heavens opened, and as the starter’s flag fell at
4pm on Saturday 26th May there was a hailstorm, which turned to heavy rain and
lasted for four hours.
Contrary to the earlier intentions the cars lined up in order of the entries
received, and this provided for plenty of early overtaking.
Duff and Clement's Bentley in the pits in 1923
Despite efforts to seal the roads, they quickly became a mudbath. All the cars
except two were open topped and few of the remainder ran with hoods or even
windscreens up. Mudguards had been paired down to minimise weight and no car had
mechanical windscreen wipers. Most drivers could not user their goggles because
of the mud.
The developed into a battle between the 3 litre Chenard et Walkers, the 2 litre
Bignan and the lone 3 litre Bentley. After 24 hours André Legache and René
Leonard had travelled the furthest in a Chenard et Walker, then Bachmann and Dauvergne in another then two of the Bignans. The second one of which finished
with the fourth placed Bentley fourth, 174 miles behind the winner. Legache and
Leonard had covered 1372.5 miles at an average of 57.2mph, and had won by 45
miles.
The Chenard et Walker Team of 1923. winners Legache and Leonard are in number 9. Number 10 was second.
Apart from the weather, the Bentley had a torrid time. It ran most of the night
with only one headlight after a stone broke one. Another stone punctured the
petrol tank and cost two hours to repair (including the time it took for Clement
to jog back from Arnage to the pits, and to return on a bicycle he ‘borrowed’
from a French soldier. The Bentley had two-wheel brakes that proved inadequate,
but Frank Clement did record the 24-hour race’s first fastest lap, at 66.69mph.
The run the Bentley put in meant that they qualified for the second leg for the
first Rudge-Whitworth Cup, and they would be back the following year.
In 1923 the field had been predominately French, and had that continued the race
would not have become the event it is today. However the relative success of the
lone Bentley started a British love affair with the event.
Results in full
1924
In 1924 the field had grown to forty cars, but only the Bentley was non-French.
Although still privately entered the Bentley had more support from the
manufacturer, including four-wheel brakes. The Bentley led the field home in a
hard race. In 1923, despite the weather, 30 of the 33 starters finished the
race; in 1924 only 18 of the 41 starters made it to the end, possibly due to the
fierce heat suffered during daylight hours.
The race had been put back to 14 and 15th June, with the weather, and longer
daylight hours in mind, and it has stayed at this time (with a very few
exceptions) ever since.
The rules had changed too. Every car had to stop every five laps to erect its
hood, and leave it up for at least two laps. Times taken to erect hood were
reported as pit stop times are now. Cars could only be started by their electric
starter. Each was allowed a maximum of six wheels (four on the car and two spares),
although more tyres, tubes or rims could be carried in the car. Cars had to
cover 20 laps before they were allowed to refuel, or take on oil or water.
More than once the Bentley came close to not making the finish. Towards the end
it was docked many miles because the organisers said time lost while the rear
wheels were replaced in the pits had reduced the average for one five-lap stint
below the statutory minimum.
In the end Bentley won by 10 miles, while the 1923 winner Lagache, after leading
for quite a time in the Chenard et Walker broke the lap record, raising it to
69.5mph. The French pair's race ended as night fell when they caught fire on the Mulsanne straight.
1925
As leading contenders for the first Trienniel Cup, Duff and Clement were back
and they were supported by an official works entry, driven by Dr Benjafield and
Kensigton Moir. They were joined by Sunbeam and Austin, and an AC would have
started, but it was withdrawn minutes from the start with a broken frame. Sir
Henry Seagrave and George Duller, and Jean Chassagne and SCH ‘Sammy’ Davis drove
3 litre sunbeams. There were 49 starters ranging from the 749cc Austin to the
4.5 litre Sizaire-Berwick.
In 1925 the start was held for the only time on the Mulsanne straight near
Hunaudières. The pits and the grandstand moved with it. This was because the
owner of the land on which they had originally stood had asked for too much money.
1925 also saw the beginning of the traditional Le Mans start. The drivers
running across the track, erecting their hoods, starting the cars and racing
off. The Le Mans start (except for the hoods) was kept for another44 years.
Duff was away first, but Seagrave’s Sunbeam was ahead at the end of the first lap.
However the Lorraine-Dietrich of De Courcelles and Rossignol which was ahead at
the end of the race. The Bentleys had a rough time. Kensington-Moir had led, but
having already stopped to fix a loose oil-filler cap, he fell foul of the twenty
lap-refuelling rule, stopping at the Pontlieu hairpin on his nineteenth lap. At
about the same time Duff had fuel pump problems near the old start line and he
ran across country to his pits, picked up a spare pump, went back and fitted it.
This took an hour and a half, but he was back in the race, until a carburettor
cracked and the car caught fire just before midnight.
Seagraves’ Sunbeam fell out with clutch problems. But Chassagne and Davis in the
other Sunbeam finished second between two of the Lorraine-Dietrichs. De
Courcelles and Rossignol won by 45 miles. Fourth and fifth were Italian OMs and
sixth the lone American Chrysler, although it failed to reach its allocated
distance.
There were problems with the track too. The Mulsanne straight held up to the
heat but the sandy sections from Mulsanne to Arnage broke up badly and gave the
drivers problems with an unpredictable surface and flying stones.
1925 also saw the first fatalities at Mulsanne. André Guilbert died in practice
on Saturday morning and Marius Mestiver’s car went into the trackside trees,
killing him instantly.
Results in full
1926
By 1926 the Automobile Club de l’Ouest had bought the disputed land and moved
the start back to its original position. They also built more permanent pits,
grandstand and a press stand. Road surfaces were also improved.
The Lorraine-Dietrich B3/6 from 1926
Lorraine-Dietrich won again in 1926, to the disappointment of the now three-car
company entered Bentley team. America was represented by the Willys-Overland and
Peugeots debuted.
The improved roads led to higher speeds, the winner averaging 66mph and the lap
record being raised to 71.1mph.
Duller, in a Bentley had taken the lead but stuck his car into an earth bank at
Anarge, and took ages to dig it out. Then he was flagged into the pits for not
wearing the now compulsory crash helmet. Trying to catch up he suffered engine
failure. The second Bentley followed suit early on Sunday morning. The third
Bentley was in the lead with half an hour remaining, when, ‘Sammy’ Davis’ brakes
failed and he ran into the sandbanks at Mulsanne, where the car stayed. Although
he ‘dug like a badger’ he could not move the car.
The Lorraine-Dietrichs ran out 1-2-3 winners for Bloch and Rossignol, De
Courcelles and Mongin and Stalter and Brisson. Thus De Courcelles and Mongin won
the second Biennial trophy and its first two-time winner.
Results in full
1927
The 1927 race was arguably the greatest race of all. It was certainly the one
that finally established Le Mans in the hearts of the British.
The regulations changed again. Now 1100cc cars could have two seats, 1500cc had
the have three and the rest had to have four. At least 30 for each car type had
to be built; minimum distances were changed, as were regulations about spares,
repairs, lights, fuels and pit stops. All cars had to run in national colours.
The 1927 start with Clement and Callingham in the number 1 Bentley and Davis and Benjafield in the No. 3.
On the 18th June 22 cars lined up on the grid. The big French names were missing
and the three bottle green Bentleys (two 3 litre cars and one 4.5 litre) were
favourites. From the start Clement and Callingham’s 4.5 litre took the lead,
with Duller and Baron D’Erlanger second and Davis and Dr Benjafield third.
Clement had soon lapped half the field and began breaking the lap record,
eventually setting it at 73.4mph.
Then about 9.30pm everything changed. The Autocar described what happened as ‘one
of the most sensational accidents ever recorded in connection with the history
of road racing’. It took place on the narrow, fast blind and dangerous White
House corners between Arnage and the start-finish line. As another car took him,
Tabourin’s Theo Schneider slid broadside into the barriers and rebounded into the
middle of the track. Callingham’s leading Bentley was next to arrive at 85 or 90
mph, and rather then hit the Th Schneider he aimed for the ditch to his right.
The impact threw him out of his car, into the middle of the road. He was largely
uninjured and ran back to warn the approaching drivers. Theluon in a Fasto
squeezed past the first accident but span to a halt just beyond it, facing
backwards.
Theo Schneider 25 SP
Callingham was too late to warn Duller in the second Bentley, who saw the Theo
Schneider across the track, but not his teammate in the ditch, where he was also
heading. At the last moment he jumped clear over the steering wheel. His car
crashed with the first 4.5 litre Bentley with such force it threw back on the
road again. So the big Bentley was now on the track with the Theo Schneider, the
first of the smaller Bentleys was half in the ditch, half rear up on its sister
car, and the Fasto was just beyond them. Duller bleeding from his mouth went off
to warn the oncoming cars, but he was on the wrong side of the hedge and too
disorientated to realise. Davis was approaching at full speed in the third
Bentley. However he realised that something was wrong, perhaps from the track
condition, and he braked heavily. He still arrived at perhaps 80mph, but picking
out the obstacles he threw his car into a broadside to lose more speed and to
ensure that when he made impact he was travelling backwards. His right rear
wheel caught the other two Bentleys, peeling back the mudguard and running
board, smashing the headlamp and causing extensive damage to the front of the
car. But amazingly he satisfied that there were no fatalities and that his car
was still driveable he set off to complete the race.
Davis made the pits, driving in the rain on one headlamp. As only the driver was
allowed to work on the car, he changed the battered front wheel and did what he
could with the mudguard and headlamp mounting. The chassis was twisted and the
front axle bent, but he could do nothing about those.
Immediately after the accident they were in the lead, but when Davis handed over
to Benjafield about midnight they had lost six laps to repairs. Now they chased the
Aries, driven by Chassagne and Laly through the foul night weather.
By daybreak the weather was fine and the Bentley was four laps behind. But the
Aries started to falter, losing time in the pits with a jammed starter. With two
hours to go the Aries was back in the race but its lead was less than half a lap.
The Bentley put maximum pressure on the Arties and in the 23rd hour the Aries
stopped on the track and Bentley took the lead. With only minutes to go
Benjafield
pulled in and handed the car to Davis to take the flag in one of the most
remarkable races ever. They had covered 1472.6 miles at an average of 61.4 mph.
They were 218 miles ahead of the second placed Salmson of De Victor and Hasley.
1928
There was more British interest in 1928 as Legonda, Alvis, and Aston Martin
joined a field that has risen to 33 cars. French cars were now in a minority and
apart from the Aries were mainly smaller capability cars. There were also four
America Chryslers and a 4.9 litre straight eight Stutz.
For the first time there was officially an outright winner with a new award for
the greatest distance covered.
The big Stutz led from the start swapping both lead and lap records with the 4.5
litre Bentleys, with one Chrysler not far behind. The Bentley shared by
Chassagne and Sir Henry Birkin lost time with a puncture and collapsed wheel,
partly because they were not carrying a jack. The Bentley shared by Benjafield and
Clement retired with a broken chassis, laving Woolf Bernato and Bernard Rubin to
lead the chase.
The Stutz v Bentley contest continued whilst the other cars fell by the
roadside. First the Stutz slowed with gearbox problems, allowing the Bentley
into the lead then this broke its chassis, but was close enough to the end to be
nursed home before the leaking radiator killed it.
So it was another dramatic Bentley victory, ahead of the Strutz and two
Chryslers. The winners had covered 1658.7 miles at 69.1 mph, winning by 64
miles. Birkin took the lap record to 79.1 mph on his very last lap.
1929
For 1929 the circuit was modified. The hairpin at Pontlieu was replaced by a
short link between the main straights. This reduced the lap slightly to 10.15
miles.
A pit stop for the third placed Bentley
Bentley brought five cars to the 1929 meeting, four 4.5 litres and a new
six-cylinder 6.5 litre short-chassis Speed Six for Barnato and Birkin. In the
absence of big French cars the main competition came from America with Strutz,
Chrylser and Du Pont entering teams.
It was not a thrilling race. Bentley finished first, second, third and fourth,
completing their hat trick and fourth win in six years. Bararto and Birkin in
the Speed Six won covering 1765 miles at an average of 73.5 mph, 73 miles ahead
of the second Bentley. Only nine cars finished, including a privately entered
Lea-Francis in eighth. Birkin raised the lap record to 83.5mph and won the fifth
Biennial Cup.
The Circuit 1929-1932
Length: 16.340 km
The track was shortened for safety reasons to avoid the town suburbs that were
expanding rapidly. The new link road constructed at the ACO’s expense was named
the ‘Rue du Circuit’.
Distance record set by the 1931 winners: 3,017.65 km, average speed: 125.735
km/h.
Fastest lap was set during the 1930 race by Henry Birkin in his 4.4 litre
Bentley with a time of 6:48, an average speed of 144.362 km/h.
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