Today, at a time when the car is no longer welcome anywhere, I would like to tell you about a time when no one asked questions, a century ago, the car was everyone’s dream.
Of course, security was not there, it was a hell of a racket, and we had to rely on the pilot’s reflexes to get out of it. A century ago, on July 15, 1922, the Grand Prix automobile de France was organized in Alsace. You will tell me ? But where ? The Rhine ring was not built! In the fields.
And then, did we already have roads? Let’s be clear, no, we can’t call them roads. It happened to the south-west of Strasbourg. Let’s take a look at the 13.38 kilometer circuit, forming a nice triangle, with a start and grandstands in Duppigheim. Direction straight towards Entzheim, hairpin bend to Innenheim, yes, that road, you know it, it has been paved since. 90° turn to Duttlenheim, and off you go, towards Duttlenheim. For 60 laps of the track. The circuit was secured by barriers, all covered with advertising. that hasn’t changed. 60 times this circuit gives you a total of 802.88 km. Can you imagine driving non-stop with a century-old clunker? On the starting track, Aston Martins, Rolland-Pillains, Bugatti Type 30s, the poetic little engine that we have just heard, Fiat 804s, Sunbeams, out of the 18 crews, yes the pilot had his mechanic in the car, only 3 will finish the 60 laps of the event, all the others will abandon because of overheating, engine failure, accidents or broken axles.
It was an Italian, Felice Nazarro, who won the race in a Fiat, nearly an hour ahead of second, an hour and a half ahead of third, these two Bugatti Type 30s did not didn’t resist, but they finished the race. The fastest lap was done at an average of 145 km/h, the winner of the stage still held an average speed of 128 km per hour over the 800 terminals, that commands respect. It is wrong to believe that the cars of the time were not fast. Unfortunately, a tragedy came to mar the race. Eight laps from the finish, the winner’s nephew, Biaggio Nazarro, also from the Fiat team, was killed when his car overturned on him, the mechanic being seriously injured. We are better than at the time, in terms of driver safety, road safety in general, think about it when you take the road between Innenheim, Duttlenheim, Duppigheim and Entzheim, your tires follow a century after those of brave driving enthusiasts.
The Wikipedia page of the race with all the results.