In 1937, a transatlantic race was proposed to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Charles Lindbergh's pioneering solo flight from New York to Paris.
There was resistance to participating in the race from the United States because any accidents might create a bad impression of nascent transatlantic passenger services.
[1] In June 1937, the Aero-Club de France changed the race to Istres - Damascus - Paris, a course representing a similar distance to the original transatlantic flight.
Competitors were expected to travel non-stop from Istres to Damascus (2971 km).
Take off times were staggered by nationality, with the French leaving first between 18:00 and 18:30; Britain (who had only one entrant) at 21:00; finally, the Italians took off between 22:00 and 22:30.