1922 French Grand Prix

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1922 French Grand Prix
1922 French Grand Prix - Circuit de Strasbourg.jpg
Race details
Date15 July 1922
Official name XVI Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France
Location Strasbourg, France
Course Public roads
Course length 13.38 km (8.31 miles)
Distance 60 laps, 802.88 km (498.89 miles)
Pole position
Driver Fiat
Grid positions set by ballot
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Pietro Bordino Fiat
Time 5:43.0
Podium
First Fiat
Second Bugatti
Third Bugatti

The 1922 French Grand Prix (formally the XVI Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France ) was a Grand Prix motor race held at Strasbourg on 15 July 1922. The race was run over 60 laps of the 13.38km circuit for a total distance of just over 800km and was won by Felice Nazzaro driving a Fiat. This race is notable as the first Grand Prix to feature a massed start. [1]

The race was run to new Grand Prix regulations, requiring engines no larger than 2 litres, in cars with two seats and weighing at least 650kg. In practice, the Fiats were dominant, with only the Bugatti drivers close in times (the Bugatti drivers had the advantage of the Bugatti factory being in nearby Molsheim, so had already learned the circuit). After the rolling start, Felice Nazzaro lead Friderich at the end of the first lap, with the other Fiat drivers down in the pack due to their lower starting positions. By lap 4, Bordino had taken the lead, and by lap 10 Biagio Nazzaro was up to third, so Fiat lead 1-2-3. The two lead Fiats would trade the lead several times due to pitstops, with Biagio Nazzaro holding third, the three Fiats continuing to increase their lead whilst many of their competitors retired, until after halfway, Biagio Nazzaro experienced difficulties, and made a slow pitstop, dropping him to fourth until Foresti, who had taken third, retired on lap 44. With nearly all other competitors retired (mostly with engine problems), and the race nearing its end, Biagio Nazzaro's Fiat lost a rear wheel at top speed, then hit a tree, turning the car over and killing him instantly. With just two laps to go, Bordino suffered a similar failure at a much slower part of the track, his car stopping safely with a lost rear wheel. Felice Nazzaro was left to finish the race, winning by nearly an hour. It was later found that on all three Fiats the rear axle casings were faulty, with a large crack developing on Felice Nazzaro's. [1]

Classification

The race start and another shot from the start-finish area Depart et vue de course du Grand Prix de l'A.C.F. 1922 a Strasbourg.jpg
The race start and another shot from the start-finish area
Winner Felice Nazzaro Felice Nazzaro at the 1922 French Grand Prix (3).jpg
Winner Felice Nazzaro
Felice Nazzaro after the race Felice Nazzaro at the 1922 French Grand Prix (5).jpg
Felice Nazzaro after the race
PosNoDriverCarLapsTime/Retired
14 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Felice Nazzaro Fiat 804606h17m17.0
212 Flag of Spain (1785-1873, 1875-1931).svg Pierre de Vizcaya Bugatti T30607h15m09.8
322 Flag of France.svg Pierre Marco Bugatti T30607h48m04.2
411 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Pietro Bordino Fiat 80458Rear axle, crash
518 Flag of France.svg Jacques Mones-Maury Bugatti T3057+ 3 laps
Ret17 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Biagio Nazzaro Fiat 80451Rear axle, fatal crash
Ret14 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Giulio Foresti Ballot 2LS44Engine
Ret7 Flag of France.svg Jules Goux Ballot 2LS31Crash
Ret8 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Clive Gallop Aston Martin GP30Engine
Ret21 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Henry Segrave Sunbeam 29Engine
Ret15 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Louis Zborowski Aston Martin GP19Engine
Ret20 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Giulio Masetti Ballot 2LS15Engine
Ret5 Flag of France.svg Ernest Friderich Bugatti T3014Engine
Ret13 Flag of France.svg Victor Hémery Rolland Pilain A2212Overheating
Ret16 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Kenelm Lee Guinness Sunbeam 5Engine
Ret9 Flag of France.svg Jean Chassagne Sunbeam 5Engine
Ret6 Flag of France.svg Albert Guyot Rolland Pilain A222Engine
Ret19 Flag of France.svg Louis Wagner Rolland Pilain A222Engine
Sources: [1] [2] [3]


References

  1. 1 2 3 Hodges, David (1967). The French Grand Prix. pp. 60–64.
  2. Darren Galpin. "1922 Grands Prix, The GEL Motorsport Information Page". Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  3. "1922 French Grand Prix". Motor Sport Magazine Database. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
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