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TEAM QUAIL AT LE MANSThe History - The Thirties |
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TEAM QUAIL AT LE MANSThe History - The Thirties |
1930
The economic depression that had hit the size of entry in previous years continued into 1930, with the smallest field yet, a mere eighteen cars taking part.
This race also saw the first female competitors, the all-French team of Madame Mareuse and Madame Siko, in one of only three French cars in the race. They went on to finish seventh in their Bugatti. The field also included the American Stutz team, and a single Alfa Romeo and the first appearance of a Mercedes-Benz.
There were two supercharged four-cylinder 4.5 litre Bentleys, built not by the works team, but by Birkin’s team. The factory team did not think that supercharged cars were sufficiently reliable and they depended on increased capacity, and they entered three 6.5 litre Sixes driven by Baranto and Kidston, Clement and Watney and Davis and Dunfree. Birkin and Chassagne, and Benjafield and Ramponi drove the supercharged models.
Tim Birkin changing a shredded tyre
The race took place on 21st June, and it was hot and sunny. The 7-litre Mercedes of Caracciola took the lead with the three big Bentleys and the Birkin’s supercharged Six just behind. By the fourth lap Birkin had just climbed to second and was trying to overtake the Mercedes at the Mulsanne corner when his tyre shed its treads. He replaced the wheel, and was just about to overtake again when another tyre shed its tread. Over the next few hours this continued, with the Bentley catching the Mercedes only to lose tyre treads in the hot weather.
This allowed Davis to chase the Mercedes until Dunfree stuck the car in the sandbank at Mulsanne, where despite the efforts of both drivers it stayed. Sandbanks on the faster corners were a safety feature of Le Mans at the time, and one that together with earth banks and fences, that helped to make it a safe track.
The surviving Bentleys hounded the Mercedes, led by Barnato’s Speed Six, and just before 8.30pm he took the lead, if only for a lap. They raced neck and neck into the night until at midnight Barnato’s Bentley was leading until it had its own tyre problems.
However, then the Mercedes retired with electrical problems, setting the scene for another Bentley win.
One Stutz ended in a sandbank, whilst the other caught fire. The Alfa Romeo ran steadily, but not sufficiently quickly the finish fifth. The supercharged Bentleys, as predicted by the official team, failed with engine problems, but only after Birkin had set a new lap record of 89.7mph.
Baranto and Kidston won ahead of Clement and Watney, with the British Talbot of Lewis and Easton a distant third.
This was Baranto’s finest hour, his third win. But it was also his last appearance, and also that of Bentleys, who were in financial difficulties and soon to be swallowed up by Rolls Royce. They would not race again until 2001.
1931
The demise of Bentley heralded a golden age for Alfa Romeo, who won the next
four races. Mercedes, like Bentley did not enter a works team, but there was a
private entry from Iwanowski and Stoffel. In addition there were only three
American private entries, one Stutz and two Chryslers, none of which saw dawn.
France however had a serious challenge in Bugatti.
Alongside a number of private entries Ettore Bugatti entered three works 4.9
litre unsupercharged Type 50s. Competing with them were three 2.3 litre
supercharged 8C 2300 Alfas based on their Grand Prix cars. In the event, only
two Alfas started, one being withdrawn on the morning on the race.
Birkin in his winning Bentley
The Bugatti challenge to Alfa Romeo was over before the end of the night. The
Type 50 driven by Rost swapped places with the leaders, but had a tyre detach at
around 130mph and wrapping around the brake, locking the wheel and causing the
tyre to burst. Rost was pitched off the circuit, over a ditch and light fencing
into an area with marshals and spectators. Rost and several marshals were badly
injured and one spectator died. The others in the team were immediately
withdrawn.
That just left the Alfas to battle with the Mercedes, which had proved to be
very quick right from the start. The Mercedes survived tyre problems to finish
second, but was some seventy miles behind Howe and Birkin’s Alfa. Rose-Richards
and Saunders-Davies in a British Talbot finished third. Further down the field
two MG Midgets delighted the crowd, but failed to finish.
1932
There were more changes for 1932. The Rudge-Whitmorth Cup was renamed the
Biennial Cup of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, and the circuit changed again.
The troublesome section of the course from just beyond the pits to the Pontlieu
hairpin and back to the long stretch past Hunaudières to Moulsanne was by
passed.
As well as cars getting faster, the town of Le Mans was growing and swallowing
up the suburb of Pontlieu, and so the link between the two long straights was
moved away from the town.
The Automobile Club de l’Ouest bought a stretch of land, and built a new road in
the area of the present Dunlop curves, sweeping right beyond the pits, over a
brow, down through a section of S bends and hard right onto the shortened
straight. The new section was called Tertre Rouge ‘the red hillock’. The bends
beyond were called the Esses and the corner onto the straight was also called
Tertre Rouge. All this reduced the lap distance by just under two miles.
The section also became a natural focus for the growing social scene and
nightlife. From the start there were two pedestrian bridges over the track. The
first carried advertising for Champion spark plugs; later this would move to the
brow of the hill and become the Dunlop Bridge. These links between the infield
and outfield made it a natural place to have the ‘village’ of cafes and bars and
fairground rides.
The new Champion Bridge
The first
race to use the revised circuit turned out to be another Alfa Romeo success.
They made up seven of the 26 starters; six 3 litre supercharged 8Cs and one six
cylinder 1750. The big Alfas proved to be a lot quicker than the pair of
supercharged 2.3 litre Type 55 Bugattis. There was a 7.1 litre Mercedes, a
private 4.5 supercharged Bentley and a Stutz, but none of these three finished.
The Bentley crashed on the White House curves on Trevoux’s first lap, this time
in daylight. He turned over and partially blocked the track. Several other cars
joined in the pile up.
The end of Tevouxs's Bentley
For a while there were four Alfas in the first four places followed by the
Mercedes, until it crashed in the evening. It turned into a remarkable
performance by Raymond Sommer, and a victorious one. After just one driving
stint, his co-driver was taken ill and could not continue. Sommer drove on,
completed some twenty hours of the race single-handed. The rules at the time
allowing such a feat. Sommer swopped places during the night with the Alfas of
Howe and Birkin and Cortese and Guidotti, until the former withdrew with engine
problems just before dawn and the latter lost a lot of time with minor repairs.
The fastest Bugatti dropped out on Sunday afternoon to ensure a win for Alfa.
Sommer won by just sixteen miles. Cortese and Guidotti were second, and Britains
Lewis and Rose-Richards finished third in a Talbot, and Madame Siko was fourth
in an Alfa. Aston Martin was fifth and seventh.
The winning average speed was 76.5 mph and the fastest lap 88.5 mph, both slower
than the old circuit.
The Circuit 1932-1955
Length: 13.492 km
The track was further shortened with a new purpose built section connecting the
pits straight and the Tertre Rouge corner on the Le Mans - Tours road. The
section included the erection of the famous Dunlop bridges.
Distance record set by the 1955 winners: 4,135.38 km, average speed: 172.308
km/h.
Fastest lap was set during the 1955 race by Mike Hawthorn in the winning Jaguar
D-type with a time of 4:06.60, an average speed of 196.963 km/h.
1933
There were 29 starters in 1933, seven of the Alfa Romeos again. The \Alfa drivers included one of the best drivers in the world, Tazio Nuvolari, teamed up with Raymond Sommer. This would be Nuvolari’s only Le Mans drive, but he made it count.
Alfas were actually in deep financial trouble; they had been partially under Government control since 1931 and raced in 1933 effectively in liquidation. The race team was however managed by one Enzo Ferrari and it would survive under the guise of Scuderia Ferrari.
The Alfas had little competition. The big cars were all private entries, one Bugatti, one supercharged Bentley and one Model J Duesenberg, and none of then lasted very long. The smaller cars could not compete with the Alfas.
The Alfa drivers had a fine race between then. Nuvolari and Sommer led, fell back with a leaking fuel tank, clawed back into the lead, sprang another leak, and eventually won on the very last lap. Cortses had crashed at the Esses, and Chinetti it was who swapped the led with Nuvolari, The last lap began with Chinetti in the lead and Nuvolari about to leave the pits. They swapped the lead several times until Chinetti made a mistake at Arnage, letting Nuvolari through to win by just 10 seconds. Lewis and Rose-Richards were third in another Alfa, and the next three places were taken by smaller British cars, an 1100cc Riley, a 1.5 litre Riley and a 750cc MG Midget. Sommer took the lap record at 90.9mph.
1934
There were more improvements to the circuit for 1934. There was a new two-tier
pit building with new re-fuelling arrangements. Up to now fuel had been added
from a petrol can (or latterly a milk churn) through a funnel. But now there
were built in refuelling rigs, similar to that seem today. The pits were
electronically lit and could now accommodate sixty cars, and the second tier,
although built to accommodate the tanks for the refuelling rigs, included
hospitality boxes, for the first time. There was still no barrier to separate
the pits from the circuit.
The entry of 44 cars comprised seventeen French entries, twenty-three British
and four Italian. But the race was a disappointment, developing into a race
between the four privately entered 8C 2300 Alfas. Bugatti did not enter a works
team. There were a reported 1000 spectators.
Left: 1934 Talbot Alpine
Right: Alfa Romeo 8C LM
Sommer took the lead again, but caught fire near Arnage in his first stint. Howe
and Rose-Richards battled with Chinetti and Etancelin, but at nightfall the
former were slowed by lighting problems. They climbed back up the order until
another electrical failure and the clutch problems forced the to retire. Another
Alfa of Saunders-Davies and Clifford retired in mid-evening, and Veyron’s big
private Bugatti went by midnight.
Chinetti and Etancelin cruised to victory by the margin of 130 miles, the
fastest lap breaking no records. British smaller cars made up the places with
four Rileys and an MG Magnette making the top six.
1935
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The entry of 58 cars showed that times were improving. There were Alfa Romeos and Bugattis again to challenge the majority entry of British cars. Although most of the British entry was made up of small cars once more, there was now a major challenger in Lagonda. W.O Bentley was about to join Lagonda, but these 4.5 litre cars were not of his design.
The Lagondas were driven by John Hindmarsh and Luis Fontes, and Dr Benjafield ad Ronald Gunter. From the start they chased the pace setting Alfas lead by Howe and Lewis, before the leaders fell back with electrical problems. Chinetti and Gastard’s Alfa then led from the Lagondas, the two other Alfas and the Bugatti. Sommer’s co-pilot, de Sage fell ill, again leaving Sommer with the prospect of a long drive, as happened in his epic 1932 race. He led again, but had to retire in the early hours of Sunday.
It was wet on Saturday evening and through the night, as the Lagonda of Hindmarsh and Fontes disputed the lead with the Alfas. But then the opposition started to fall away. First the Bugatti broke its back axle on Sunday morning; the Alfa of Chinetti and Gastard found a ditch and Howe’s engine blew up. The remaining Alfas led but was overhauled by Hindmarsh and Fontes’ Lagonda on Sunday morning and hung on despite failing oil pressure. The other Lagonda had dropped right back with gearbox problems. The lone Alfa might have won but for a mistake in the final hour when Dreyfus passed the Lagonda while it was in the pits, and his crew signalled that it was in the lead, but in fact he was a lap down.
Lagonda won at and average of 77.8mph, less than a lap ahead of the Alfa. All but six of the 28 finishers were British, who dominated the smaller classes. Martin and Brackenbury were third in their Aston Martin, but won the 1500cc class; and a Singer won the 1 litre class.
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| The Alfa Romeo 8C passes the pits | |
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| The winning Lagonda in the new pits |
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1936
The 1936 race was cancelled due to strikes that particularly affected the motor industry and caused petrol shortages. There had been a maximum of sixty entries but the race was cancelled just a week before it was due to be held. There was a suggestion of holding it in August, but this never occurred.
1937
This race was one that the French anticipated with relish. Their entry included a 3.6 litre Delahaye, Delage D6 Coupe and a four litre Talbot; and Bugatti were back with a works team and one of their very special cars, the supercharged 3.3 litre Type 57.
1937
Talbot-Lago T-150C
Bugatti won for the first French victory since 1926, overcoming a strong challenge from the seven Delahayes and the Delage. They set a new distance record of 2044 miles (the first time 2000 miles had been exceeded) and a new lap record of 96.4 mph. Once the Alfa of Sommer and the Lagonda had gone with the Bugatti of Veyon and Labric, there was only the Delahayes to beat, which Benoist and Wimille comfortably managed.
The race however saw its first
fatal accident since 1925. Within the first hour there was a multiple pile-up at
the White House corners that claimed half a dozen cars and two lives; Rene
Kippeurt driving a private Bugatti and Pat Fairfield in a Frazer-Nash.
Some of the remains of the 1937 White House crash
1938
Bugatti did not defend their title in 1938, strangely withdrawing them after practice saying they were not ready to race. But the French still had Talbots, Delages and Delahayes, which were strongly fancied. The biggest challenge came from the twin supercharged 2.9 Alfa. In the event the Delahayes finished first, second and fourth, with a Talbot third.
This was a fine race. From the start it developed into a battle between Sommer and Biondetti’s Alfa 8C, Comotti and Divo and Chiron and Dreyfus in the Delahayes and Etancelin and Chinetti in the Talbot. Comotti retired early with a gearbox failure, followed by Dreyfus with engine problems and overheating and the Talbot’s engine broke just before nightfall.
Through the night the Alfa led as car after car behind broke down. Then, almost in sight of the finish and with a lead of about 100 miles the Alfa failed too. Chaboud and Tremoult’s Delahaye won followed by teammates Serraud and Giraud-Cabantous.
1939
Bugatti were back to fight it out with its French rivals the Delahayes and Delages. But 10 works Delahayes and Delages, British Legondas, the latest Alfa and a team of three BMW’s (on their debut) could not match the one works Bugatti.
There was a prize of 1000 francs for the leader after each hour and Gerard and Moinneret took quite a lot of that money in the Delage before falling back with engine problems on Sunday morning. The other big cars were also struggling when the Bugatti took the lead and stayed there. Following were the Gerard and Moinneret Delage two Lagondas driven by Dobson and Brackenbury and Lords Selsdon and Waleran. Two BMWs were next, winning the 2-litre category.
The 1939 start - the last for 10 years
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