Race distance was determined by time rather than the number of laps, the result being declared after 3 hours.

The race was won from pole position by Alberto Ascari in a Ferrari 500.

Ascari's teammate Luigi Villoresi finished second and set fastest lap, and Louis Rosier in his privateer 500 was third.

William Grover-Williams won the event three consecutive years, from 1931 to 1933.

Originally raced on the famed beach at La Baule, the 1952 event was moved near the aerodrome of the French coastal town.