The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
And now for the real thing…
By Gijsbert-Paul Berk
In 1913 Ettore Bugatti (1881 -1947) began working on the design of an eight-cylinder engine at the suggestion of his friend, the pilot Roland Garros. Early in 1914 he sent his collaborator Ernest Friderich to the US with a four-cylinder car of 5.655 liters capacity to participate in the Indianapolis 500. When later that year WWI started, Ettore had to leave his factory in Molsheim, situated in the German occupied Alsace.
In previous chapters, Gijsbert-Paul Berk has described the background of the epic 1923 French Grand Prix. For the next few installments, he will describe a few of the major entrants, including Bugatti, Sunbeam, Fiat and below, Voisin. Ed.
In the early twenties Voisin was a relative newcomer in the auto industry. But Gabriel Voisin (1880 –1973) had already made his mark as an aviation pioneer and a creative designer of aircraft. From 1914 till the armistice in 1918, the Voisin factory in Issy-les-Moulineaux had become one of France’s major manufacturers of military aircraft. [Read more…] about 1923 French Grand Prix at Tours: Voisin
Omnia Cover Art, 15 July 1923; illustration based on a photo, artist unknown.
The 1923 Tours Grand Prix has inspired many artists. Below are just a few of the paintings, cover art and advertisements that were generated by the epic event. Much of the art is still available via prints and we have linked appropriate sites to the paintings wherever possible. Please click on the images for ordering information and similar automotive art.
By Gijsbert-Paul Berk
From the VeloceToday Archives, July 2012
The circuit was a closed-off triangle of public roads, just north of the city of Tours. The starting line was situated just outside a small borough called La Noue-Guérinet, between the villages Neuillé-Pont-Pierre and La Membrolle on the Route Nationale 158. The numbers on the map above correspond to the photographs below. The 1923 Grand Prix of Tours was much tougher and much longer than today’s Grand Prix events. In order to finish, the participants had to cover a distance of 800 km (497 miles). As the ‘Circuit de la Touraine’ had a total length of 22.83 km, (14.1 miles) this meant 35 grueling laps. On the straights some of the cars reached speeds of nearly 200 km/h (125 mph). Around the circuit. 22 marshaling posts had been installed each of them equipped with a telephone in direct and permanent contact with the officials at race control in front of the grandstand.
Come with us as we take a lap around the 1923 French Grand Prix.
Photo 1: At the starting line. At one side were the tribunes and a grandstand for 4000 spectators. Note the direction of travel.
Program cover, 1923 Tours Grand Prix.
By Gijsbert-Paul Berk
From the VeloceToday Archives, August 2012
The race generated an immense amount of advance publicity. Numerous articles in the national and local newspapers and the sporting magazines created a great deal of curiosity and even greater expectations.
The Press
One of the reasons was that the editors of these publications were well aware of the growing interest of the French public in motorcars and motor racing. They properly reasoned that giving support to this great event would increase their circulations and advertising revenues.
Beautiful artwork by the French illustrator Mahias for the cover of Omnia magazine No. 27 portrayed a typical French racecar.
The 1923 Grand Prix de la Touraine (The French Grand Prix at Tours) was not a battle of the “Tanks”, nor were the entries of the unique Voisin and the flat-iron Bugatti of truly great significance to motor racing. Author of the noted biography of André Lefebvre, Gijsbert-Paul Berk tells us why as he recounts the event from the very beginning, from a walk around the course to the final and surprising outcome with the help of a great number of historical photographs. (Above illustration by the author.)
By Gijsbert-Paul Berk (biography at end of this article)
From the VeloceToday archives, August 2012
The 1923 Grand Prix de Tours has been labeled ‘the Bugatti-Voisin duel’. But was it? Perhaps not; over the years the press and the ensuing legends have overshadowed the essence of the race itself and even the final outcome. Certainly, the teams of Bugatti and Voisin were adversaries. But the same is true for the teams of Fiat, Rolland-Pilain, Sunbeam and the Delage. It is our goal to review this famous race in a different light.
The 1923 Grand Prix of Tours
Friderich refuels his Bugatti T32 during the 1923 Tours Grand Prix. He would finish third; ironically neither the Bugatti “Tanks” nor the Voisin “Laboratoire” would ever race again.
By Gijsbert-Paul Berk
July 2, 1923, 8 a.m. For the start of the Grand Prix, seventeen race cars were placed in two rows. In 1923 the positions on the starting grid did not depend on lap times during practice but were, like the numbers on the cars, allotted by the organizers. Hence, pole position was taken by the V12 Delage (No. 1) with driver René Thomas and his mechanic Lhermit. Alongside was Guiness in the Sunbeam, car number 2. Guyot’s Rolland-Pilain was in the second row next to number 4, the Fiat of Bordino.
The noise and smell of the seventeen racing cars on the grid, with a total of 126 screaming cylinders, must have been similar to the noise and excitement of today’s Grand Prix starts. The pace car, driven by local motorcycle champion Paul Meunier, led the field before René Thomas in his blue Delage sprinted away with the Sunbeam of Lee Guinness. Above, Thomas and Bordino are already out of this photograph of the start. Number 2 is the Sunbeam of Lee Guiness, number 3 is Guyot in the Rolland-Pilain, the Voisin of Arthur Duray and the Friderich Bugatti, number 6.
At the end of lap one, Fiat of Pietro Bordino was in front; the Sunbeam of Lee Guiness second followed by the Delage of René Thomas; then Enrico Giaccone and Carlo Salamano both in the Fiats, Henry Segrave and Albert Divo in Sunbeams, Albert Guyot driving a Rolland-Pilain and Ernest Friderich the Bugatti. The race of the decade was on.