1908 French Grand Prix
Encyclopedia
The 1908 French Grand Prix was a Grand Prix
Grand Prix motor racing
Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. It quickly evolved from a simple road race from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and driver...

 motor race held at Dieppe
Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...

 on 7 July 1908.

Formula Changes

The race was run under a new formula agreed in Ostend in 1907. There was no fuel consumption limit, but the cars had a minimum weight of 1100 kilograms, and a maximum cylinder bore of 155 millimetres.
This formula differed from the regulations in place for the American Vanderbilt Cup
Vanderbilt Cup
The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing.-History:An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held at a course set out in Nassau County on Long Island, New York. The announcement that the race was to be held caused...

 series, which discouraged American manufacturers from entering the race. Lewis Strang drove the single American entrant, the Thomas
Thomas Motor Company
E. R. Thomas Motor Company was a manufacturer of motorized bicycles, motorized tricycles, motorcycles, and automobiles in Buffalo, New York between 1900 and 1919.-Motorized Bicycles, Tricycles, and Motorcycles:...

 Flyer.

The Race

Christian Lautenschlager
Christian Lautenschlager
Christian Friedrich Lautenschlager was a German Grand Prix motor racing champion.Born in the village of Magstadt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany near Stuttgart, Christian Lautenschlager was 14 years old when he began training for a career as a machinist at a company in Stuttgart...

 won the race in his Mercedes
Mercedes (car)
Mercedes was a brand of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft . DMG which began to develop in 1900, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler...

 finishing nearly nine minutes ahead of Victor Hémery
Victor Hémery
Victor Hémery was a champion driver of early Grand Prix motor racing who was born in Sillé-le-Guillaume, France, Sarthe, France. In 1904 he joined Automobiles Darracq S.A. as their chief tester and helped prepare cars to compete in that year's Gordon Bennett Cup...

's Benz. Lautenschlager's average speed for the race was 69.045 mi/h. Otto Salzer
Otto Salzer
Otto Salzer was a German racing car driver, famous for his contributions to the success of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft in Untertürkheim near Stuttgart, where he became team leader in 1903, previously having worked as an engineer since 1896.He had some good results, and was one of the first German...

 set fastest lap in his Mercedes, with an average speed of over 78 mi/h. The race was notable for tragic reasons. Henri Cissac's car lost a tyre and rolled, killing Cissac and Schaube, his riding mechanic.
This was the first fatal accident in Grand Prix history.

Classification

Pos No Driver Car Laps Time/Retired
1 35   Christian Lautenschlager
Christian Lautenschlager
Christian Friedrich Lautenschlager was a German Grand Prix motor racing champion.Born in the village of Magstadt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany near Stuttgart, Christian Lautenschlager was 14 years old when he began training for a career as a machinist at a company in Stuttgart...

Mercedes
Mercedes (car)
Mercedes was a brand of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft . DMG which began to develop in 1900, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler...

10 6:55:43.8
2 6   Victor Hémery
Victor Hémery
Victor Hémery was a champion driver of early Grand Prix motor racing who was born in Sillé-le-Guillaume, France, Sarthe, France. In 1904 he joined Automobiles Darracq S.A. as their chief tester and helped prepare cars to compete in that year's Gordon Bennett Cup...

Benz 150 hp +8:40.2
3 23   René Hanriot Benz 150 hp +9:29.2
4 11   Victor Rigal Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard was a French manufacturer of automobiles, aeroplanes and airships founded in 1903 by the entrepreneur Adolphe Clément-Bayard . The name celebrated the Chevalier Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard who saved the town of Mézières in 1521...

+34:52.8
5 2   Willy Pöge
Willy Pöge
Willy Pöge was a German engineer and racing car driver.He was born in Chemnitz, son of Hermann Pöge who encouraged him to study electrical engineering at the Chemnitz University of Technology in 1890...

Mercedes
Mercedes (car)
Mercedes was a brand of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft . DMG which began to develop in 1900, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler...

+36:47.2
6 27   Carl Jörns Opel
Opel
Adam Opel AG, generally shortened to Opel, is a German automobile company founded by Adam Opel in 1862. Opel has been building automobiles since 1899, and became an Aktiengesellschaft in 1929...

+43.56.2
7 39   Fritz Erle Benz +56:48.0
8 37   Sergey Dimitriewich Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

+1:07:39.0
9 16 George Heath
George Heath
George Heath was an early American racing driver. A native Long Islander who spent much of his time in France, he won the first Vanderbilt Cup race in 1904 driving a Panhard and was retroactively awarded the 1904 National Championship in 1951. Heath returned to the Vanderbilt Cup in 1905 and...

Panhard-Levassor
Panhard
Panhard is currently a French manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its current incarnation was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005. Panhard had been under Citroën ownership, then PSA , for 40 years...

+1:09:03.0
10 49   Perpère Germain
Germain
Germain, the French variant of the name Germanus, may refer to:People*Sophie Germain, French mathematician*Paul Germain, American animation producer...

+1:12:34.4
11 12   Alessandro Cagno Itala +1:21:23.0
12 28   Fernand Gabriel Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard was a French manufacturer of automobiles, aeroplanes and airships founded in 1903 by the entrepreneur Adolphe Clément-Bayard . The name celebrated the Chevalier Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard who saved the town of Mézières in 1521...

+1:25:11.2
13 36 Courtade Motobloc
Motobloc
Motobloc was a French automobile manufacturer, building vehicles from 1902 to 1931 in a factory in Bordeaux.-History:The company was a descendent of the earlier Schaudel marque, which was noted for the development of an innovative engine design which combined the engine, clutch and gearbox in a...

+1:26:10.0
14 20   Pierre Garcet Motobloc
Motobloc
Motobloc was a French automobile manufacturer, building vehicles from 1902 to 1931 in a factory in Bordeaux.-History:The company was a descendent of the earlier Schaudel marque, which was noted for the development of an innovative engine design which combined the engine, clutch and gearbox in a...

+1:33:23.0
15 21   Gustave Caillois Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

+1:33:23.4
16 14   Camille Jenatzy
Camille Jenatzy
Camille Jenatzy was a Belgian race car driver. He is known for breaking the land speed record three times and being the first man to break the 100 km/h barrier....

Mors
Mors (automobile)
The Mors automobile factory was an early French car manufacturer. It was one of the first to take part in automobile racing, beginning in 1897, due to the belief of the company founder, Émile Mors, in racing's technical and promotional benefits...

+1:38:11.8
17 31 Landon Mors
Mors (automobile)
The Mors automobile factory was an early French car manufacturer. It was one of the first to take part in automobile racing, beginning in 1897, due to the belief of the company founder, Émile Mors, in racing's technical and promotional benefits...

+1:52:47.4
18 18   JTC Moore-Brabazon Austin
Austin Motor Company
The Austin Motor Company was a British manufacturer of automobiles. The company was founded in 1905 and merged in 1952 into the British Motor Corporation Ltd. The marque Austin was used until 1987...

+1:56:17.0
19 1   Dario Resta
Dario Resta
Dario Resta , nicknamed "Dolly", was an Italian Briton race car driver. Raised in England from the age of two, he began racing there starting in 1907. He took part in the Montagu Cup the very first race of the now historic Brooklands track. He set a record of in a half-mile run a few years later...

Austin
Austin Motor Company
The Austin Motor Company was a British manufacturer of automobiles. The company was founded in 1905 and merged in 1952 into the British Motor Corporation Ltd. The marque Austin was used until 1987...

+2:00:17.4
20 29   Henri Fournier Itala +2:00:47.4
21 10   Fritz von Opel
Fritz von Opel
Fritz Adam Hermann Opel, since 1918 von Opel , was the only child of Wilhelm von Opel, and a grandson of Adam Opel, founder of the Opel Company...

Opel
Opel
Adam Opel AG, generally shortened to Opel, is a German automobile company founded by Adam Opel in 1862. Opel has been building automobiles since 1899, and became an Aktiengesellschaft in 1929...

+2:21:38.6
22 17   François Degrais Germain
Germain
Germain, the French variant of the name Germanus, may refer to:People*Sophie Germain, French mathematician*Paul Germain, American animation producer...

+2:27:01.0
23 32   Henry Farman
Henry Farman
Henri Farman Henri Farman Henri Farman (26 May 1874 – 17 July 1958 was a French pilot, aviator and aircraft designer and manufacturer with his brother Maurice Farman. His family was British and he took French nationality in 1937.-Biography:...

Panhard-Levassor
Panhard
Panhard is currently a French manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its current incarnation was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005. Panhard had been under Citroën ownership, then PSA , for 40 years...

+2:38:07.0
Ret 8   Leon Théry
Léon Théry
Léon Théry, , was a French racing driver who won the premier European race, the Gordon Bennett Cup, twice in 1904 and 1905.-Career:...

Brasier
Brasier
Brasier was the successor of the early French Richard-Brasier automobile maker that had been in business since 1902. The name of the make was simplified to Brasier when Georges Richard left in 1905 to found Unic. Before World War I, several twin, four and six-cylinder models were offered...

9 Wheel
Ret 41   Paul Bablot
Paul Bablot
Paul Bablot was a French racecar driver. He also owned an early French-built Wright-model airplane....

Brasier
Brasier
Brasier was the successor of the early French Richard-Brasier automobile maker that had been in business since 1902. The name of the make was simplified to Brasier when Georges Richard left in 1905 to found Unic. Before World War I, several twin, four and six-cylinder models were offered...

9 Magneto
Ret 9   Emile Stricker Porthos
Porthos
Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After and The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers Athos and Aramis are friends of the novel's protagonist, d'Artagnan...

9
Ret 43 Michel Opel
Opel
Adam Opel AG, generally shortened to Opel, is a German automobile company founded by Adam Opel in 1862. Opel has been building automobiles since 1899, and became an Aktiengesellschaft in 1929...

9 Radiator
Ret 48   Henri Cissac Panhard-Levassor
Panhard
Panhard is currently a French manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its current incarnation was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005. Panhard had been under Citroën ownership, then PSA , for 40 years...

8 Fatal crash
Ret 13 Pryce Harrison Weigel
Weigel
-Weigel:*Andreas Weigel, German politician and member of the Bundestag*Christian Ehrenfried Weigel, German scientist*Christoph Weigel the Elder , German engraver, art dealer and publisher*David Weigel, American journalist and political commentator...

5 Crash
Ret 44   Lucien Hautvast Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard was a French manufacturer of automobiles, aeroplanes and airships founded in 1903 by the entrepreneur Adolphe Clément-Bayard . The name celebrated the Chevalier Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard who saved the town of Mézières in 1521...

5 Wheel
Ret 34   Warwick Wright Austin
Austin Motor Company
The Austin Motor Company was a British manufacturer of automobiles. The company was founded in 1905 and merged in 1952 into the British Motor Corporation Ltd. The marque Austin was used until 1987...

4 Engine
Ret 33 François Marie Roch-Brault Germain
Germain
Germain, the French variant of the name Germanus, may refer to:People*Sophie Germain, French mathematician*Paul Germain, American animation producer...

4
Ret 15 Lewis Strang
Lewis Strang
Lewis Strang was an American racecar driver. Strang was pole sitter for the inaugural Indianapolis 500. He was killed in a testing accident, becoming the first Indy 500 veteran to die....

Thomas
Thomas Motor Company
E. R. Thomas Motor Company was a manufacturer of motorized bicycles, motorized tricycles, motorcycles, and automobiles in Buffalo, New York between 1900 and 1919.-Motorized Bicycles, Tricycles, and Motorcycles:...

4 Clutch
Ret 40   Louis Wagner
Louis Wagner
Louis Wagner was a French race car driver who won the first ever United States and British Grands Prix. Wagner was also a pioneer aviator.Wagner was born in Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, Seine-Saint-Denis...

Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...

3 Gearbox
Ret 24   Felice Nazzaro
Felice Nazzaro
Felice Nazzaro was an Italian racecar driver, a native of Turin. He won the Kaiserpreis in 1907 as well as the French Grand Prix in 1907 and 1922 and Targa Florio in 1907 and 1913. His European wins in 1907 resulted in an invitation to compete in the 1908 American Grand Prize in Savannah, Georgia,...

Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...

3 Engine
Ret 3 Pierron Motobloc
Motobloc
Motobloc was a French automobile manufacturer, building vehicles from 1902 to 1931 in a factory in Bordeaux.-History:The company was a descendent of the earlier Schaudel marque, which was noted for the development of an innovative engine design which combined the engine, clutch and gearbox in a...

3 Crash
Ret 30 Gregor Laxen Weigel
Weigel
-Weigel:*Andreas Weigel, German politician and member of the Bundestag*Christian Ehrenfried Weigel, German scientist*Christoph Weigel the Elder , German engraver, art dealer and publisher*David Weigel, American journalist and political commentator...

3 Crash
Ret 25   Paul Baras
Paul Baras
Paul Baras was a road racing cyclist and racing driver from France. He competed in several early Grand Prix motor races, and held the world land speed record between November 1904 and January 1905....

Brasier
Brasier
Brasier was the successor of the early French Richard-Brasier automobile maker that had been in business since 1902. The name of the make was simplified to Brasier when Georges Richard left in 1905 to found Unic. Before World War I, several twin, four and six-cylinder models were offered...

3 Engine
Ret 38   Ferdinando Minoia
Ferdinando Minoia
Ferdinando "Nando" Minoia was an Italian racing driver with an exceptionally long, distinguished and varied career. In 1907, he won the Coppa Florio driving an Isotta-Fraschini. In 1923, he drove the world’s first mid-engine Grand Prix car, the Benz Tropfenwagen. In 1927, he won the inaugural...

Lorraine-Dietrich
Lorraine-Dietrich
Lorraine-Dietrich was a French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissments de Dietrich and Cie branched into the manufacture of automobiles...

3 Magneto
Ret 5   Arthur Duray
Arthur Duray
Arthur Duray was born in New York City of Belgian parents and later became a French citizen. An early aviator, he held Belgian license #3. He is probably best known today for breaking the land speed record on three separate occasions between July, 1903 and March, 1904...

Lorraine-Dietrich
Lorraine-Dietrich
Lorraine-Dietrich was a French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissments de Dietrich and Cie branched into the manufacture of automobiles...

2 Clutch
Ret 4   Ferenc Szisz
Ferenc Szisz
Ferenc Szisz , was a Hungarian race car driver and the winner of the first Grand Prix motor racing event on a Renault Grand Prix 90CV on 26 June, 1906....

Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

2 Wheels
Ret 19 Otto Salzer Mercedes
Mercedes (car)
Mercedes was a brand of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft . DMG which began to develop in 1900, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler...

2 Wheel
Ret 42 Jules Simon Porthos
Porthos
Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After and The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers Athos and Aramis are friends of the novel's protagonist, d'Artagnan...

2 Water pump
Ret 7   Vincenzo Lancia
Vincenzo Lancia
Vincenzo Lancia was an Italian pilot, engineer and founder of Lancia.Vincenzo Lancia was born in the small village of Fobello on 24 August 1881, close to Turin...

Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...

1 Engine
Ret 22   Henri Rougier
Henri Rougier
Henri Louis Rougier, was a French sportsman, racing cyclist, pioneer aeroplane pilot and sporting motorist. He is best remembered for his victory in the inaugural Monte Carlo Rally when he drove his Turcat-Méry from Paris to Monte Carlo, but he was also a regular competitor in both 'City to City'...

Lorraine-Dietrich
Lorraine-Dietrich
Lorraine-Dietrich was a French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissments de Dietrich and Cie branched into the manufacture of automobiles...

1 Magneto
Ret 46 Shannon Weigel
Weigel
-Weigel:*Andreas Weigel, German politician and member of the Bundestag*Christian Ehrenfried Weigel, German scientist*Christoph Weigel the Elder , German engraver, art dealer and publisher*David Weigel, American journalist and political commentator...

1 Steering
Ret 45   Giovanni Piacenza Itala 1 Gearbox
Ret 26 J. Gaubert Porthos
Porthos
Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After and The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers Athos and Aramis are friends of the novel's protagonist, d'Artagnan...

0 Water pump
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