Hampered by gusty winds and rain which turned the grass flying-field to glutinous mud, many of the twenty entrants were unable to take off, and none managed to complete the necessary two laps.

Alfred Leblanc, captain of the French team, described it as a death-trap because of the obstacles which would hinder any pilot trying to make an emergency landing, and a tight turn less than 30 m (100 ft) from one of the grandstands was christened "Dead Man's Corner" by the press.

Claude Grahame-White was first to take off at 8:42, flying a Blériot XI powered by a 100 hp Gnome Double Omega and completing his first lap in 3 minutes 15 seconds.

[17] Meanwhile, Alec Ogilvie had been forced to land by engine problems after 13 laps after a delay of 54 minutes he took off again and eventually completed the course in a total time of 2h 26m 36.6s, good enough to gain him third place.

[18] Hubert Latham took off at 10:59, but his attempt was plagued by engine failures, and he spent about four hours on the ground making repairs, eventually completing the course in 5h 48m 53s, an average speed of 28.6 km/h (17.8 mph).

[19][20] The 1911 race was held on 1 July at the Royal Aeronautical Society's flying field at Eastchurch, and attracted a crowd of around 10,000 spectators despite the comparative remoteness to the location.

Both France and Britain entered three pilots with three reserves, the British entries including a Bristol Prier monoplane to be flown by Grahame Gilmour, but this was not ready in time to compete.

Flying a Blériot XXIII monoplane which had been modified shortly before the race by having its wings cut down by about a metre (39 in), he misjudged his first turn and crashed at high speed, astonishingly escaping without serious injury.

Weymann took off at 3:45, impressing spectators by the steepness of his banked turns, shortly followed at 4:47 by Alec Ogilvie, flying the aircraft in which he had finished third the previous year, now powered by a 50 hp N.E.C engine.

Leblanc was recovering from influenza and, probably made cautious by Hamel's crash, did not take the corners as sharply as Weymann, and Nieuport's aircraft, with a less powerful engine that Weyman's, was clearly not in serious competition.

As none of the U.S. aircraft available to fly that day could exceed 78 mph (126 km/h), and with Védrines practice flights averaging far better, a French win was expected prior to the start of the race.