1923 24 Hours of Le Mans
[1] A strong field of twenty manufacturers entered, all from France aside from a single Bentley from Great Britain and a pair of Excelsiors from Belgium.
The Bentley was delayed by stones smashing a headlight and puncturing the fuel tank, and in the end the Chenard-Walckers of René Léonard / André Lagache and Christian Dauvergne / Raoul Bachmann had a comfortable 1–2 victory.
However, there was no official victory for them as this event was the first part of three consecutive annual races, for the Rudge-Whitworth Triennial Cup, where the ultimate winner would be the manufacturer whose best car exceeded their nominated target distance by the greatest margin.
A maximum of two drivers were allowed (but not riding together), and they alone could replenish the fluids (petrol, oil and water), although there was no minimum distance between refills as in later years.
[2][4] All cars had to have standard touring equipment, such as wheel wings, hood (if a convertible), running boards, headlights, a rear-view mirror and "warning devices" (horn).
Generators provided power for the public address system and lighting around the spectator area, and a long scoreboard was manually maintained giving the cars’ positions and laps completed and target distance.
Works drivers, Belgians Nicolas Caerels and André Dills, were pre-war veteran riding mechanics from Grand Prix and Indianapolis.
The DE raced at Le Mans was a 1-off special of the current popular production model fitted with its engine modified to carry an overhead-valve cylinder head.
They had a close relationship with coachbuilding company FAR who built their bodywork, led by André Lagache and Raymond Glaszmann (both keen racers).
Duff drove the car to Newhaven then Clement took it to Le Mans, with two Bentley mechanics, their luggage and tools in the back seats.
[16] It ran special long-endurance tyres, designed by Lionel Rapson, convincing Duff he could get away without the weight of carrying a spare wheel.
His Le Mans entry was based on the abundant Ford Model T with his own engine design and sturdier mechanical parts.
[23] In a similar fashion, Vinot-Deguingand had started building bicycles in 1898 before moving onto voiturettes and then automobiles, raced for the Parisian company by the brothers Léon and Lucien Molon.
[25] Georges Irat was a decorated French pilot from the war who moved from being a foreign-car importer in Paris to setting up his own company in 1921 with Maurice Gaultier, an engine designer from Delage.
Lucien Desvaux, Benoist and Georges Casse had just finished 1–2–3 at the single-driver 24-hour Bol d’Or cyclecar race the weekend before Le Mans.
Two VAL-3 voiturettes were entered for Desvaux / Casse and the other regular team driver Luis Ramon Bueno, who drove with Maurice Benoist (Robert's brother).
Recently relocated back to Molsheim when the Alsace was ceded to France after the war, Ettore Bugatti was still only producing small touring cars.
[28] SARA was a new Parisian company, only formed a year earlier to build cars based around the pioneering new pressurised air-cooling system of August Tisserant.
An entry to Le Mans was filed at the behest of privateer owners Maurice Boutmy and Jérôme Marcandanti to race the new CV model.
With no official practice session, some teams (including La Lorraine, Chenard-Walcker and Bignan) arrived earlier in the week before Friday scrutineering to learn the track.
[16] Salmson's race engineer Émile Petit was furious when he arrived at the track to find company director André Lombard had changed the cars’ electrics to a new supplier.
[27] The early summertime start of the first 24 Hours of Le Mans at 4 pm began just after a hailstorm, in cold rain and wind.
[12] After a brief respite the rain and wind returned making for very difficult night-driving, especially as most cars chose not to run with their hoods up, as it compromised top speed and fuel economy.
Paul Gros left his Bignan and was crossing the circuit to shake the hand of a friend, when he was struck by the car of second-place Raoul Bachmann.
[36][25] Fourth equal on distance, having all completed 112 laps were the Bentley, the lead Excelsior driven by the Belgians Caerels and Dills, and the second Bignan of de Marne and Martin.
In fact, the leader at this first stage of the event (and awarded the Coupe Interim) was the 1.1-litre Salmson of Desvaux and Casse that finished 12th but had exceeded its target distance by 46 laps.
[16] The Bentley went through on one set of its Rapson tyres,[35][16] as did the Berliet,[22] and the smaller Corre-La Licorne was the only tourer to drive with its hood up for the race's duration.
[28][39] The Georges-Irat team had requested the ACO to monitor their fuel consumption through the race, and officials came back with figures of 32.7 mpg‑imp (8.6 L/100 km; 27.2 mpg‑US) for their best-finishing car.
[27] Repusseau & Cie, French agents for the American Hartford Suspension Company, had set up a dining area for the drivers and pit crews.
They later reported that 150 gallons of onion soup, 50 chickens, 450 bottles of champagne (and an unspecified quantity of red and white wine) had been consumed over the weekend by the racing personnel.
