5 Fernand Charron
France
Panhard

7 Léonce Girardot
France
Panhard

Charron on the Panhard wins the Gordon Bennett Race

The Gordon Bennett Cup was the first international motor race, also called "Prix Internationale". The race was staged annually in Europe between 1900 and 1905. Only five starters were at the first race, a 3-car team from France with Charron, Girardot and de Knyff, all with 24 hp Panhard cars, one Belgian Snoeck-Bolide for Jenatzy and the American Winton with his own car. The 566 km (353 mi) race from Paris to Lyon, started very early at 3:14, passing through Versailles, Limours, Chartres, Bonneval, Châteaudun, Ormes and Orléans after 173 km. All five cars reached that place but Winton and de Knyff withdrew. Now only Charron, Girardot and Jenatzy were racing. When the latter retired at Gien, 236 km, only the Panhard cars of Charron and Girardot passed through Nevers, Moulins, La Palisse, Roanne and reached Lyon. Charron on Panhard won for France and the trophy went to the ACF of France.

Gerald Rose: A Record of Motor Racing > In October 1899, it became known that Mr. James Gordon Bennett, the proprietor of the New York Herald [with its Paris edition (ed.)], who had followed with interest the development of the automobile from the very first run to Rouen in 1894, had offered to the Automobile Club de France a Trophy, which was to be competed for under somewhat unusual conditions. [James Gordon Bennett was one of the founder-members of the ACF. (ed.)] It was understood that the main principle underlying the gift was that the prize was to be annually raced for, not by private drivers or manufacturers, but by the Automobile Clubs of the various countries, so that the donor had really founded an international Challenge Trophy. The Gordon Bennett race regulations consisted of 24 articles. The international trophy was contested between the established national clubs of each country which could enter teams of only three cars, which had to be constructed in every detail in the country they represented. The car's maximum weight was not restricted. Cars had to have at least two seats side by side, carrying two people of at least 70 kg weight; in case the weight was less, it had to be made up with ballast. Any qualified club wishing to take part in the race had to deposit 3,000 francs with the ACF before the 1st of January 1900. All trophy races should take place between 15 May and 15 August. The smallest race distance had to be 550 to 650 km, 342 to 403 mi. To better differentiate between the competing nations, cars had to be painted for the first time in different colors: France in blue, Belgium yellow, America red and Germany white.       The artful massive Gordon Bennett trophy depicted a racing Panhard, steered by the Genius of Progress with the Goddess of Victory upright upon the seat, ready to hand the award to the victor. The expensive honor prize was worth 12.000 francs, made of silver, weighing not much less than 17 kg (37 lbs.) and was executed by the Paris silversmith André Aucoc.

The route:

Entries: Lord Montagu of Beaulieu: The Gordon Bennett Races > The French who were probably the only nation with anything to eliminate, held no eliminating trials. Instead, the ACF balloted for their representatives, the winner being de Knyff, with 32 votes, second place going to Charron, with 25 votes, and the third position to Girardot, with 15 votes. They also voted for a team of reserves, the chosen chauffeurs being Chasseloup-Laubat, Lemaître, and Huiller. The selection of the three drivers soon caused opposition in the newspapers since all three drove Panhard cars, which was an unjustified preference of a single company. Hardly had the voices calmed down when a campaign against autocar racing caused a great dilemma. The Sporting Committee of the ACF had a dilemma having to deal with the campaign against autocar racing that it seemed impossible to run off the race in France. The Autocar p610 > The committee had to face the attitude of the various local authorities that it did not know up to the very last moment whether the race could be held on the day fixed. When at length all the necessary permissions had been obtained, the committee informed the competitors about 24 hours before the start, but as the representatives of the four countries participating had been told to hold themselves in readiness it was supposed that this notice, short as it was, would have been amply sufficient. In any event, the committee was certainly wise in taking early advantage of the permissions given, for had there been any delay it is quite possible that some of the scores of local authorities whose good graces have to be secured would have withdrawn their sanction, as had been the case on several previous occasions. The short notice, however, did not please the German and Belgian competitors, who complained that they did not get their cars ready.as they had not sufficient time.

Race: The two Belgian Bolide cars of de Caters and Levebvre did not appear. One day before the start, Michaud from the Belgian Bolide Company explained that they would not start, because the race organizer had not adhered to the regulations, which stated that the exact race date would be decided by all participating clubs. But this did not happen, instead they had been notified only the day before the race, so that they could not prepare the cars in such a short time. We knew about the race prohibition from the government and for this reason we are not ready for this contest. And for that same reason, the Bolide speaker was asking also for postponement of the starting date. However, Jenatzy, who also protested and started with a Bolide which he said was not the one he had intended driving in the race because it was not yet ready. Levegh on a 4-cylinder 7.3-L Mors, who protested for being excluded from the French team, decided to drive simultaneously but as unofficial competitor. Eugen Benz, starting as Eugen, with a German Benz was present but explained that he could not start because his tires for the wheels had not yet been completed. At the same time, he protested about the short time allowed to prepare for the race. As a result, only five cars appeared at the start. There was no starting order for the five cars, which were sent away by the starter Count de Chasseloup-Laubat, who was the only representative of the organizing committee present.       The chronometer of Edouard Perrodil was marked at 3:14 on Thursday morning, when the signal was given at Montretout on the Paris-Versailles-road, at the entrance of the Parc de Saint Cloud. Despite the early hour about 200 people were present, some were carrying lanterns. The scene was very picturesque in the semi-obscurity of dawn.

3:14m00s 1 de Knyff Panhard 3:14m00s 4 Winton Winton 3:14m00s 5 Charron Panhard 3:14m00s 6 Jenatzy Bolide 3:14m00s 7 Hémery Panhard

Versailles, Picardie gate Since it was still very dark, the cars drove not very fast and arrived at the following times: 1. Girardot (Panhard) 3h23m00s 2. Jenatzy (Bolide) 3h23m02s 3. Charron (Panhard) 3h24m00s 4. Winton (Winton) 3h24m01s 5. De Knyff (Panhard) 3h24m02s Versailles, Buc gate the cars left town at the following times: 1. Girardot (Panhard) 3h26m00s 2. Jenatzy (Bolide) 3h26m02s 3. Charron (Panhard) 3h26m30s 4. De Knyff (Panhard) 3h27m00s 5. Winton (Winton) 3h27m04s Limours, 30 km Levegh with a 4-cylinder 7.3-L Mors was the unofficial competitor, and passed Limours at the rate of 100 km/h. Le Vélo reported, at 4.15 a.m., M. de Chasseloup-Laubat, whose white car was at first mistaken for the German car, passed very quickly and took the road to Dourdan-Etampes instead of that of Ablis-Chartres, no doubt to try to join the competitors by the race. Girardot was nearly three minutes ahead of Charron and the three Panhard cars were leading Winton. Jenatzy was plagued with tire trouble. The arrival times were as follows: 1. Girardot (Panhard) 3h49m15s 2. Charron (Panhard) 3h52m00s 3. De Knyff (Panhard) 3h53m30s 4. Winton (Winton) 3h59m00s 5. Jenatzy (Bolide) 4h29m00s Châteaudun, 125 km was the next timing place, but the preceding towns of Chartres, 80 km and Bonneval were not mentioned. The times of arrival were unofficial. Winton passed with a bent wheel in front and one of his rear tires punctured. The unofficial Levegh (Mors) was timed at 4h32m. The bad state of the roads and the total absence of organization were beginning to affect the competitors, who met with a series of incidents. The organization was extremely poor, Charron having to get down from his car very often to ask his way. In many towns he had to go though at a very slow pace, six km/h, owing to the strict applications of the law. 1. Charron (Panhard) 5h04m55s 2. Girardot (Panhard) 5h14m44s 3. Jenatzy (Bolide) 5h51m56s 4. Winton (Winton) 6h28m50s 5. De Knyff (Panhard) no time Ormes, 154 km Winton still suffered from his tire defect. The average speed shrank since the drivers were forced to crawl through towns and by the frequent stops when making enquiries as to the route. The motorists tried to make up for the loss of time by tearing over the country roads at a terrific speed. The following times were recorded. 1. Girardot (Panhard) 5h49m 2. Charron (Panhard) 5h55m 3. De Knyff (Panhard) 6h41m 4. Jenatzy (Bolide) 6h46m 5. Winton (Winton) no time Orléans, 173 km was the next place where the times of arrival were also unofficial. The independent Levegh (Mors) passed Orléans after 5h25m. Girardot arrived at 5h53m but had damaged his steering gear when he had gone off the road to avoid a horse. Le Vélo reported that Girardot arrived in a hurry at 5h53m, took the rue d'Illiers which ended in the center of the city, then turned onto the Place du Maritrol, turned again and followed the quays to the road to Gien. Meanwhile, the race commissioner in Orléans was waiting for the competitors at the Hôtel du Berry, on the boulevards, quite opposite to the route followed by Girardot.       Charron reached the town at 6h10m, slowing up to show his rear axle. When travelling at about 90 km/h Charron's car struck a drain running across the road, in Saint-Jean-de-la-Ruelle, 3 km from Orléans and his car literally flew up into the air, fortunately coming down again on the four wheels. Charron confessed that for once in his life he knew what it was to be seized with fear. The rear axle was so badly bent that he drove slowly, and it took some time to find a blacksmith to put it straight.       De Knyff turned up at 6h49m, at walking pace. His fourth speed gear broke shortly after leaving Chartres, so he withdrew.       Jenatzy came up three minutes later with several punctures and two broken spark plugs. He complained about the malfunction of his clutch, but immediately set off again.       Winton reached Orléans at 8:30. He had dropped out with a buckled front wheel and a rear tire had left the rim. Winton declared his intention to withdraw from the race and would return to Paris until he could get a new tire. 1. Girardot (Panhard) 5h53m 2. Charron (Panhard) 6h10m 3. De Knyff (Panhard) 6h49m 4. Jenatzy (Bolide) 6h52m 5. Winton (Winton) 8h30m On leaving Orleans, Girardot broke a rear wheel against the curbstone in trying to avoid a frightened horse. The damage was quickly repaired at a local blacksmith. The spokes of the wheels were attached and secured with wires and some spokes were hastily replaced. Girardot's delay was now considerable, since he did not leave until 7:55 a.m., more than an hour after his arrival at Orleans. Gien, 236 km The preceding town was Briare but was not mentioned in the reports. Jenatzy complained that never in his life had he met with so many flocks of sheep on the road and was totally miserable with bad luck and the difficulty of finding his way, he was ready to give up. The times at Gien were as follows: 1. Charron (Panhard) 7h15m 2. Jenatzy (Bolide) 8h28m 3. Girardot (Panhard) 8h45m Nevers, 322 km Charron appeared ahead of Girardot while Jenatzy with the Bolide burst his two front tires at Chevreuse which ended his race. At 11h25m René de Knyff was driving slowly from Orléans, to abandon the race at Nevers, and returned to Paris. Thus, only the two Panhard cars were left in the race with the following times: 1. Charron (Panhard)   8h42m 2. Girardot (Panhard) 10h10m Moulins, 376 km The road along this part of the course was in excellent condition and allowed Charron to travel at a very high speed, despite the imperfect repair to the axle. Charron passed at 9h28m, going full speed, running over a dog. He stopped there for supplies. Girardot arrived at 11h04m. Meanwhile Levegh on the Mors was preceding the other two drivers. Since his time was not taken, it was impossible to give any account of his performance. 1. Charron (Panhard)   9h28m 2. Girardot (Panhard) 11h04m La Palisse, 427 km The city was neutralized for 1 km. The weather was superb. This being market day, there was quite a large crowd swarming the streets and seemed keenly interested in the event. 1. Charron (Panhard) 10h09m 2. Girardot (Panhard) 11h44m Roanne, 476 km Charron stated that after La Palisse it was not possible for him to drive faster than 48 km/h due to the sharp turns and the inclinations of the road. The unofficial times of the contenders at Ronne were as follows: 1. Charron (Panhard) 11h03m 2. Girardot (Panhard) 12h41m Lyon, 566 km After Roanne, the cars passed through Tarare and L'Arbresle before entering Lyon. Charron arrived very exhausted as another accident to his car had occurred. He remarked in an interview, about 12 km ahead of Lyon as he drove at 90 km/h, an extremely large dog dashed into the road, to be run over in the next second, stuck between wheel and spring and blocked the steering. The car left the road into a ditch and a moment later was again on the road. The only damage was the broken water pump support. His companion Fournier held the pump with his hand in position all the way until they reached the finish at Lyon. Le Vélo > Charron arrived very tired, we will see later that there was a good reason. Fournier, who was acting as his mechanic, was even more tired than he was. For 12 km he had been holding the axle of the pump - broken by a dog - in his hand, which did not cease to be annoying in the long run. As Charron tells us about the accident and added details of his other accident, the faulty axle, I hear a good fat father say that "this poor boy - it is Fournier - has travelled 12 km with the axle in his hand", which supposes a good biceps. Charron told the story of his exploits, while Girardot arrived at 1h50m. It was reported that Levegh arrived at Lyon after Charron. Less than a hundred spectators took the trouble to be present at the finish - the smallest number in the history of any of the great races. 1. Charron (Panhard) 12h23m 2. Girardot (Panhard) 13h50m The Gordon Bennett Trophy thus remained with the French club. It was extremely unfortunate that the unforeseen series of accidents changed the race into a walk over for the French motorists. In the evening, the Automobile Bicycle Club of Lyon entertained the two successful "chauffeurs". At the time the first Gordon Bennet race was not only poorly organized it was considered a failure and an unimportant event.