The 1921 French Grand Prix (formally the XV Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France) 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 held at Le Mans on 25 July 1921. The race was held over 30 laps of the 17.26 km circuit for a total distance of 517.8 km and was won by Jimmy Murphy driving a Duesenberg. This was the last victory for an American constructor in a major European race until the Ford GT40's triumph at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as in a Grand Prix race until the

Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, ...

's win with the

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

car at the

1967 Belgian Grand Prix The 1967 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 18 June 1967. It was race 4 of 11 in both the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 28-lap race w ...

. The race did not feature a massed start, with cars released in pairs at one-minute intervals instead.

Report

Jean Chassagne at the 1921 French Grand Prix

Jimmy Murphy at the 1921 French Grand Prix (4)

Although this was 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 ...

since the end of the

first World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the initial entry featured entries from four countries (note that entries from Germany were not allowed). The US was represented by eventual winner Duesenberg, and France by

Ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16 ...

and Mathis, the latter of which was based in Strasbourg, which was part of Germany before World War I. The three Italian Fiats entered did not materialise due to labour issues. The newly formed British-French Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq (S.T.D.) originally entered 7 nearly identical cars as 3 makes, Sunbeam,

Talbot Talbot was an automobile marque introduced in 1902 by English-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talbot ...

and

Talbot-Darracq A Darracq and Company Limited owned a French manufacturer of motor vehicles and aero engines in Suresnes, near Paris. The French enterprise, known at first as Automobiles Darracq France, A. Darracq et Cie, was founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darr ...

, however due to a lack of preparation, the two Sunbeams were withdrawn, while André Dubonnet - originally entered in a Talbot-Darracq - replaced the injured Inghilbert in the fourth Duesenberg and was not himself replaced by Talbot-Darracq for the race. As the first major Grand Prix since the War, it was decided that engine regulations should match those of the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

with a 3-litre maximum. The race started at 9 am (on a Monday due to a motorcycle race the previous day) under threatening clouds, with the first pair away being

Émile Mathis Ernest Charles "Émile" Mathis (15 March 1880 – 3 August 1956) was a French businessman who founded the car firm Mathis in 1910. (Before the frontier moved in 1919, he would have considered himself a German businessman and the car firm was a ...

and

Ralph DePalma Raffaele "Ralph" De Palma (December 19, 1882 – March 31, 1956) was an Italian-American racecar driving champion who won the 1915 Indianapolis 500. His entry at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame estimates that he won about 2, ...

(in a Ballot), with DePalma making a considerably better start. The other cars followed in pairs at one-minute intervals (the original starting intervals of 30 seconds having been changed at the last minute), with Andre Dubonnet last to start on his own in a Duesenberg. Fastest on the first lap were both DePalma and Joe Boyer in a Duesenberg, equal with 8 minutes 16, with the third-place also a tie, between Murphy in a Duesenberg and

Jean Chassagne Jean Chassagne (26 July 1881, in La Croisille-sur-Briance – 13 April 1947) was a pioneer submariner, aviator and French racecar driver active 1906-1930. Chassagne finished third in the 1913 French Grand Prix; won the 1922 Tourist Trophy and fi ...

in a Ballot. By the end of the second lap, the order was more established, with Murphy leading Boyer, Chassagne, and DePalma. The battle was close between the Duesenbergs, with their superior brakes, and the Ballots, with their superior cornering, whilst the S.T.D.s struggled with tire and road-holding problems ( Lee Guinness stopping a remarkably 15 times in the 30 lap race), with Andre Boillot the only S.T.D. to drive consistently, holding sixth place in the early laps. The order changed little near the front, with Murphy pulling nearly a two-minute lead by lap 7. Chassagne overtook Boyer for second on the ninth lap. Murphy made a pitstop at the end of lap 10 but didn't lose the lead, however, Chassagne was now close behind and was able to take the lead during lap 11. By half distance, Chassagne leads Boyer who had also overtaken Murphy, now third. Guyot was not far behind in fourth, then a much larger gap to the lower positions, lead by DePalma. On lap 17, Chassagne made a pitstop to refuel but his fuel tank had burst and was beyond repair. On the very next lap, Boyer who had just inherited the lead suffered a mechanical failure, giving the lead back to Murphy ahead of a slowing Guyot. Murphy would hold onto this lead until the end, but behind him, the fight for second place was more dramatic. Guyot had a large gap back to third place, but when he stopped for fuel and water on lap 28, he was unable to restart. His mechanic became very tired trying to push-start the car and was replaced by

Arthur Duray Arthur Duray (9 February 1882 – 11 February 1954) was born in New York City of Belgian parents and later became a French citizen. An early aviator, he held Belgian license #3. He is probably best known today for breaking the land speed record on ...

who was at the race as a spectator. They were able to restart but this had damaged the clutch forcing another stop and they ended up in sixth place. DePalma then took second, but he too had considerable difficulty restarting but was still able to finish ahead of third-placed

Jules Goux Jules Goux (6 April 1885 - 6 March 1965) was a French racing driver and Grand Prix motor racing champion. He was also notable for being the first Frenchman, and the first European driver, to win the Indianapolis 500. Biography Influenced by the G ...

in a 2-litre Ballot who finished the race without stopping.

Classification

References

{{Grand Prix race report , Name_of_race =

, Year_of_race = 1921 , Previous_race_in_season =

1914 French Grand Prix The 1914 French Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Lyon on 4 July 1914. Hailed as one of the greatest races of the twentieth century,Georgano 1971, p.87 it was a contest between the French Peugeots and the German Mercedes. For the fir ...

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1921 Italian Grand Prix The 1921 Italian Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held on the Circuito della Fascia d’Oro at Montichiari, near Brescia, on 4 September 1921. Classification References {{Grand Prix race report , Name_of_race = Italian G ...

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1922 French Grand Prix The 1922 French Grand Prix (formally the XVI French Grand Prix, Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France) was a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix motor race held at Strasbourg on 15 July 1922. The race was run over 60 laps of the 13.38km circui ...

French Grand Prix

1921 in French motorsport