24h Le Mans
When it decided to launch the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the ACO was able to draw on its previous experience in organising motorsport events. We look back at the twenty years that led up to the first ever 24 Hours of Le Mans Grand Prix d’Endurance.
It all began with a tragedy during the 1903 Paris-Madrid race held on open roads, when Marcel Renault and several other drivers lost their lives in what turned out to be a nightmare event. The French police brought the race to an early end at Bordeaux. They then anticipated the government’s decision in December 1905 and approached the regional authorities to find out if one of them would volunteer to create a closed circuit competition.
An engineer named Verney produced a robust and very well-document application for the Sarthe that included some enticing financial aspects added by the astute Georges Durand. Their proposal ended up beating sixteen other bids.
The Automobile Club de la Sarthe was founded on 23 January 1906 and the countdown began. However, there was no way a circuit could be built in five months. Instead, the organisers made the wise decision to privatise 103 kilometres of road for the weekend, following Verney’s recommendations. The event was a triumph, with 33 cars at the start and only a broken leg to report after a race covering 1,200 kilometres. Proof, in needed, that closed circuit racing was the way to go.
Armed with the experience acquired during the 1906 Grand Prix, the ACO launched the Grand Prix de France on a new 54-kilometre route that even included the Mulsanne Straight, known until that point as the Route des Records and used by carmaker Amédée Bollée. Built in 1873, his Obéissante steam-powered vehicle had sparked passion for motoring in the area when it made a triumphant road trip between Paris and Le Mans that August.
Three other Grand Prix races were held in 1911, 1912 and 1913, before the First World War disrupted events. During the war, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest devoted all its efforts to reducing the misery of prisoners and their families, an admirable achievement that earned it official recognition from the State.
As soon as the war ended, the ACO resumed its races, this time using a 17-kilometre track that pointed to the shape the future permanent Circuit of the Sarthe would take. After a host of races and a further Grand Prix, won by the Americans in 1921 (proof of the circuit’s prominent international reputation at the time), car manufacturers became concerned about the sky-high costs of pure speed racing and were reluctant to invest.
With this in mind, a delegation from Le Mans attended the Paris Motor Show that autumn. Among them, Georges Durand, secretary general and the ACO’s driving force, and the Club’s treasurer. The latter was determined to replace the wheels on his car with Rudge and Withworth rims, reputed to be the best and imported in France by Emile Coquille.
During the conversation, Charles Faroux, chief editor of La Vie Automobile, came along and immediately let it be known that his readers wanted a “confrontation” between all industrially built cars. Durand stated that he had the circuit and the necessary authorisations… and after some discussion, the principle of the 24-hour Grand Prix d’Endurance was adopted. The race regulations were the outcome of deliberations by both Charles Faroux, a mechanical engineer trained at the Ecole Polytechnique, and Durand, a resourceful man with an inquisitive mind and plenty of common sense. To complicate matters, victory in this race would only be considered final after a repeat performance the following year – or even a third year. However, the idea of these biennial or triennial cups was deemed too complex and quickly shelved.
For a century now, stringent regulations and their strict application have been a hallmark of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Le Mans is the ideal testing ground, with the ensuing technology benefiting cars and their drivers. This has held true since 1923, as demonstrated by the array of innovations that have emerged from the race.
Six major manufacturers will vie for victory at the Centenary race in 2023, the highest number for many years, confirming that the 24 Hours of Le Mans remains more relevant than ever in an age of major transition for the automobile.
PHOTOS: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS - TOP TO BOTTOM (COPYRIGHT: ACO ARCHIVES): left to right, René Pellier (treasurer), Gustave Singher (deputy secretary general) and Georges Carel (vice-president) alongside the ACO's secretary general Georges Durand (second from left), whose energy and enthusiasm gave rise to the 24 Hours of Le Mans; plan of the 17-kilometre circuit used for the first running of the race; a Bentley on track – its drivers John Duff and Frank Clement finished fourth.
