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Paris–Rouen (motor race)

Photo d'Albert de Dion, vainqueur de l'épreuve.
Jules-Albert de Dion finished first in a steam powered De Dion tractor towing a caléche carriage, but was not eligible for the prize. Among the passengers are de Dion, Étienne van Zuylen van Nyevelt-Rothschild, and writer Émile Driant.
Photo de Albert Lemaître, deuxième de l'épreuve.
Albert Lemaître (pictured on left) finished second in a 3 hp Peugeot but was judged the winner. Bicycle and tyre manufacturer Adolphe Clément-Bayard was the front passenger.

Paris–Rouen, Le Petit Journal Horseless Carriages Contest (Concours du 'Petit Journal' Les Voitures sans Chevaux), was a pioneering city-to-city motoring competition in 1894 which is sometimes described as the world's first competitive motor race.

The contest was organised by the newspaper Le Petit Journal and ran from Paris to Rouen in France on 22 July 1894. It was preceded by four days of vehicle exhibition and qualifying events that created great crowds and excitement. The eight 50 km (31 mi) qualifying events started near the Bois de Boulogne and comprised interwoven routes around Paris to select the entrants for the main 126 km (78 mi) event.[1]

The first driver across the finishing line at Rouen was Jules-Albert de Dion, but he did not win the main prize because his steam vehicle needed a stoker and was thus ineligible. The fastest petrol-powered car was a 3 hp (2.2 kW; 3.0 PS) Peugeot driven by Albert Lemaître. The premier prize, the 5,000 franc Prix du Petit Journal, for "the competitor whose car comes closest to the ideal", was shared equally by manufacturers Panhard et Levassor and Les fils de Peugeot frères ('The sons of Peugeot brothers'), with vehicles that were "easy to use".[2][3][4][5]

1894 – Paris to Rouen

Pierre Giffard
Photo d'Auguste Doriot, troisième de l'épreuve.
Auguste Doriot, finished third in a Vis a vis (Face to face) 3 hp Peugeot.[6]
Panhard-Levassor (1890–1895), similar to Hippolyte Panhard's fourth-place finisher.
Émile Kraeutler finished 6th in a 3 hp Peugeot "break".
Gratien Michaux finished 9th in the 3 hp Peugeot phaeton.
Michaux passes through a busy street in Mantes-la-Jolie, racing amongst horses and pedestrians, en route to Rouen where he finished 9th in the 3 hp Peugeot phaeton.
1894 Paris-Rouen Serpollet Steamer No 44 DNF (Leon Serpollet is 3rd from left)

Organisation

In 1894, Pierre Giffard, editor of Le Petit Journal, organised the world's first motoring competition from Paris to Rouen to publicise his newspaper, to stimulate interest in motoring and to develop French motor manufacturing. Sporting events were a tried and tested form of publicity stunt and circulation booster. The paper promoted it as "Le Petit Journal Competition for Horseless Carriages" (Le Petit Journal Concours des Voitures sans Chevaux) that were "not dangerous, easy to drive, and cheap during the journey", the main prize being for "the competitor whose car comes closest to the ideal". The "easy to drive" clause effectively precluded from the prizes (but not the event) any vehicles needing a travelling mechanic or technical assistant such as a stoker (i.e. steam powered vehicles).[2][7]

Le Petit Journal announced prize money totalling 10,000 gold francs – 5,000 for first place, 2,000 for second, 1,500 for third, 1,000 for fourth, and 500 for fifth. The main prize was for the first eligible vehicle across the finish line in Rouen.[7]

Entrants

One hundred two people paid the ten franc entrance fee. They ranged from practical manufacturers like Peugeot, Panhard, de Dion-Bouton, and Serpollet to amateur owners and "over-ambitious concepts." Seventy-eight entrants did not show up for qualifying on 18 July, which included some 25 powered by unfamiliar and improbable technologies such as: gravity (nine); compressed air (five); "automatic" (three); electricity (three); gas (three); hydraulics (two); and one each for liquid, pedals, propellers, and levers. Additionally, 19 petrol-powered designs and 26 steam-powered cars, quadricycles, and tricycles did not show up at the qualifying event.[2][3][8]

Qualifying

Qualifying was held from 19 to 21 July 1894, and was preceded by a public exhibition of 26 cars to Neuilly-sur-Seine on 18 July. Journalists reported great crowds and excitement throughout the routes, and at Précy-sur-Oise they finished through a triumphal arch. On 19 July, 26 cars lined the side of the Boulevard Maillot, stretching to the Bois de Boulogne, each parked 10 m (33 ft) apart until, at 8:00 am, the first car led off, followed at 15-second intervals by the others. The 50 km (31 mi) qualifying event had to be completed in under three hours to be eligible to start the main event, the 126 km (78 mi) race from Paris to Rouen; 21 were selected for the main event.[2][8][9]

Qualifying was used as a major publicity tool for both the event and the newspaper: "for our readers who want to see the cars on the roads around Paris". The 22 vehicles were split into five groups who completed complex interwoven tours of Paris and its environs, including Mantes-la-Jolie, Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Flins-sur-Seine, Poissy, Triel-sur-Seine, Rambouillet, Versailles, Dampierre-en-Yvelines, Corbeil-Essonnes, Palaiseau, Précy-sur-Oise, Gennevilliers and L'Isle-Adam, Val-d'Oise. The groups were carefully balanced to ensure each included petrol and steam, a Peugeot, a Panhard & Levassor, and different seating. Le Petit Journal, on the morning of the event, still officially expected Lemoigne and his gravity-powered vehicle to participate, although he was included as an additional member of group five.[8]

The groups that set off from Porte Maillot on Thursday 19 July were:[8]

(Note – Le Petit Journal does not show an itinerary three, presumably either a misprint or changed plan)
(Sources show three or five vehicles on this route and variance over qualification)

On Friday 20 July a second qualifying event was run over two routes.[10]

On Saturday 21 July a third qualifying event was run from Paris to Poissy.

Race

At 8:00 am on Sunday 22 July, twenty-one qualifiers started from Porte Maillot and went via the Bois de Boulogne, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Courbevoie, Nanterre, Chatou, Le Pecq, Poissy, Triel-sur-Seine, Vaux-sur-Seine, and Meulan, to Mantes where they stopped for lunch from noon until 1:30 pm, whence they set off to Vernon, Gaillon, Pont-de-l'Arche, and the 'Champ de Mars' at Rouen.

Count de Dion was the first to arrive in Rouen after 6 hours 48 minutes at an average speed of 19 km/h (12 mph). He finished 3 min 30 sec ahead of Albert Lemaître (Peugeot), Auguste Doriot (Peugeot) (16 min 30 sec back), Hippolyte Panhard (Panhard) (33 min 30 sec) and Émile Levassor (Panhard) (55 min 30 sec).[2][4][9] The winner's average speed was 17 km/h (11 mph).[11]

Prizes

On Tuesday 24 July Le Petit Journal announced the prizes :[5]

Results for Paris–Rouen

List of entrants

Gallery

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Systeme Serpollet was a form of steam engine. The car evidently had both a steam and a petrol motor, but details have been lost to time.

References

Citations

  1. ^ Le petit journal, publication of 20 December, column 1, Article 8 Gallica, Online Archive, Le Petit Journal
  2. ^ a b c d e Forix, Autosport, 8W – Welcome to Who? What? Where? When? Why? on the World Wide Web. The cradle of motorsport Rémi Paolozzi, May 28, 2003
  3. ^ a b Cent Ans, Concours du Petit Journal Les voitures sans chevaux. cent.ans.free.fr
  4. ^ a b c Le Petit Journal Gallica, Online Archive of France. 22 July 1894.
  5. ^ a b c d Prizes Gallica, Online Archive, Le Petit Journal Tuesday 24 July 1894
  6. ^ 22 July 1894 – Race day Gallica, Online Archive, Le Petit Journal
  7. ^ a b 19 December 1893 – Announcement Gallica, Online Archive, Le Petit Journal
  8. ^ a b c d 18 July 1894 – Selection around Paris Gallica, Online Archive, Le Petit Journal
  9. ^ a b CC Organisation – Course Paris-Rouen www.cc-organisation.com
  10. ^ Sat 21 July 1894 – Selection II Gallica, Online Archive, Le Petit Journal
  11. ^ Grand Prix History – Organized Racing & The First Grand Prix 1 November 2010 Grand Prix History.org (accessed 11 June 2017)
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Race report. Gallica, Online Archive of France. Mon 23 July 1894. Le Petit Journal
  13. ^ a b Richard J. Evans: Steam Cars (Shire Album), Shire Publications Ltd (1985) ISBN 978-0852637746, p. 15
  14. ^ The Early History of Motoring by Claude Johnson, extracted by Graces Guide
  15. ^ Provisional results it.wikipedia.org

Other sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1894 Paris-Rouen race.