The 1947 French Grand Prix was a

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

motor race Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

held at Lyon-Parilly on 21 September 1947 and was won by

Louis Chiron Louis Alexandre Chiron (3 August 1899 – 22 June 1979) was a Monégasque racing driver who competed in rallies, sports car races, and Grands Prix. Among the greatest drivers between the two World Wars, his career embraced over thirty years, ...

driving a

Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago was a French automobile manufacturer based in Suresnes, Hauts de Seine, outside Paris. The company was owned and managed by Antonio Lago, an Italian engineer that acquired rights to the Talbot brand name after the demise of Darracq L ...

. The race was marred by an accident involving Pierre Levegh crashing into and killing 2 spectators.

Entries

As the first

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

held after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the entry was quite mixed. Pre-race favourites, the two

Alfa Romeo 158 The Alfa Romeo 158/159, also known as the ''Alfetta'' (''Little Alfa'' in Italian), is a Grand Prix racing car produced by Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo. It is one of the most successful racing cars ever; the 158 and its derivative, the 1 ...

s entered by

Jean-Pierre Wimille Jean-Pierre Wimille (26 February 1908 – 28 January 1949) was a Grand Prix motor racing driver and a member of the French Resistance during World War II. Biography Born in Paris, France to a father who loved motor sports and was employed as th ...

, did not arrive. The entrants which did arrive were two two-seater

Delahaye Delahaye was a family-owned automobile manufacturing company, founded by Émile Delahaye in 1894 in Tours, France. Manufacturing was moved to Paris following incorporation with two unrelated brothers-in-law as equal partners in 1898. The compa ...

s, four sports car

s with two single seaters for Louis Chiron and

Luigi Chinetti Luigi Chinetti (July 17, 1901 – August 17, 1994) was an Italian-born racecar driver, who emigrated to the United States during World War II. He drove in 12 consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans races, taking three outright wins there and taking two ...

, six

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...

s, two of which were the latest 4CLTs for

Alberto Ascari Alberto Ascari (; 13 July 1918 – 26 May 1955) was an Italian racing driver and a two time Formula One World Champion. He was a multitalented racer who competed in motorcycle racing before switching to cars. Ascari won consecutive world titles ...

and

Luigi Villoresi Luigi Villoresi (16 May 1909 – 24 August 1997) was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver who continued racing on the Formula One circuit at the time of its inception. Biography Born in Milan, Lombardy, and nicknamed "Gigi", he was the older ...

, three

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

s, one of which was Peter Whitehead's aging B-Type, and finally the experimental French

CTA-Arsenal The CTA-Arsenal is a French racing car which was developed by the ''Centre for the study of car and cycle technology'' then abbreviated as CTA but today renamed as the :fr:Union technique de l'automobile, du motocycle et du cycle, UTAC and construc ...

Report

The start of the race was quite eventful.

Henri Louveau Henri Louveau (January 25, 1910 – January 7, 1991) was a racing driver from France. He participated in two Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on September 3, 1950. He scored no championship points. Louveau came 2nd in ...

(in a

Maserati 4CL The Maserati 4CL and its derived sister model the Maserati 4CLT are single-seat Open-wheel racing, open-wheel Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix racing cars that were designed and built by Maserati. The 4CL was introduced at the beginning of the ...

) lead at first from the front row, but was overtaken by fellow Maserati driver

Pierre Levegh Pierre Eugène Alfred Bouillin (22 December 1905 – 11 June 1955) was a French sportsman and racing driver. He took the racing name Pierre Levegh in memory of his uncle, a pioneering driver who died in 1904. Levegh died in the 1955 Le Mans disas ...

. Both were overtaken by another Maserati driven by Raph who lead the first lap. Meanwhile, from the back of the grid Villoresi in the newer Maserati had moved up to third place, while

Raymond Sommer Raymond Sommer (31 August 1906 – 10 September 1950) was a French motor racing driver. He raced both before and after WWII with some success, particularly in endurance racing. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in both and , and altho ...

retired the CTA-Arsenal in its only ever race appearance without completing a lap. On the second lap Villoresi moved into second place and by the end of the third lap had taken the lead. On the fourth lap he was forced to retire with smoke pouring out of his engine, handing the lead to Raph followed closely by

Emmanuel de Graffenried Immanuel ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל, 'Īmmānū'ēl, meaning, "God is with us"; also romanized: , ; and or in Koine Greek of the New Testament) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the ...

, in another Maserati, who took the lead on the following lap. Chiron made a slow start but quickly moved up through the field, taking the lead from de Graffenried on the eighth lap. de Graffenried stayed with Chiron until engine overheating forced him to retire after 20 laps, handing second place to

. Thanks in part to just about every competitor suffering from various mechanical issues, the lead two would hold their positions until the end of the race. After making a fuel stop, on his 24th lap

crashed his Maserati through a barrier, killing two spectators, after his engine seized. Not long after half distance, Chiron looked to be experiencing engine problems as an oiled plug caused stuttering. Although this quickly cleared, it was clear that Chiron's car was not running well, and if not for his fellow competitors experiencing trouble themselves he would not have been competitive. Chiron's fuel stop on lap 44 left him with a lead of 48 seconds over Louveau who would himself stop on the next lap, increasing the gap to 1 minute and 35 seconds. Louveau would reduce this lead by over a minute, if not for making a late-race stop, allowing Chiron to continue running at a low enough pace to preserve the car. It was a popular victory, with the slower French cars demonstrating their much stronger reliability over the faster Maseratis, of which just one of six finished.

Classification

References

External links

XXXIV Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France
{{Grand Prix race report , Name_of_race =

, Year_of_race = 1947 , Previous_race_in_season =

1947 Italian Grand Prix The 1947 Italian Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held in Portello district on 7 September 1947. Entries Classification Qualifying Race References :''Session results taken from:'' # # # Italian Grand Prix Italian Grand Pri ...

, Next_race_in_season = 1948 Monaco Grand Prix , Previous_year's_race = 1939 French Grand Prix , Next_year's_race = 1948 French Grand Prix

French Grand Prix 1947 in French motorsport