The Marathon de la Route was a series of road rallies held in Europe between 1931 and 1971, including Liège–Rome–Liège and Liège–Sofia–Liège rallies held on public roads and closed-circuit races held at the

Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

from 1965 until 1971. It was reserved for so-called

touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. The ...

s.Delsaux, Jean-Paul. ''Marathon de la Route 1931/1971'' (Jean-Paul Delsaux, 1991) Many renowned drivers participated such as

Olivier Gendebien Olivier Jean Marie Fernand Gendebien (; 12 January 1924 – 2 October 1998) was a Belgian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers in the history of sportscar racing, Gendebien was a Li ...

Willy Mairesse Willy Mairesse (; 1 October 1928 – 2 September 1969) was a Formula One and sports-car driver from Belgium. He participated in 13 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 19 June 1960. He achieved one podium and scored a total of seven cha ...

Lucien Bianchi Luciano "Lucien" Bianchi (, ; 10 November 1934 – 30 March 1969) was an Italian-born Belgian racing driver who raced for the Cooper Car Company, Cooper, Ecurie Nationale Belge, ENB, British Racing Partnership, UDT Laystall and Scuderia Centro Su ...

, and

Jacky Ickx Jacques Bernard Edmon Martin Henri "Jacky" Ickx (; born 1 January 1945) is a Belgian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Ickx twice finished runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in and , and won eig ...

History

Liège–Rome–Liège

The race took place on an open road, an average distance of 3,500 km non-stop (sometimes more than 5,000 km as in 1959): departing Wednesday at 11 pm from

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

, and returning to the same place on Sunday around 4 pm. A Golden Cup was also sometimes awarded to three-year class winners such as Bill Bengry. The rally of August 1939 was the last major rally event before World War II. Belgium's

Ginet Trasenster Jean Trasenster (nicknamed ''Ginet'') was a Belgian driver of rally marathons. Biography In 1931 he became famous in the Liège-Rome-Liège (''Marathon of the Road'') rally, with Baron Orban on a Bugatti 3000. He also participated in numer ...

Bugatti Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French automotive industry, manufacturer of high performance vehicle, high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German Empire, German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the ...

and France's Jean Trevoux in a Hotchkiss tied for first place, denying the German

works team A works team, sometimes also referred to as factory team and company team, is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business, institution, or organization in a broad sense. Works teams have very close ties with thei ...

s shortly before their countries were overrun. This was one of five Liège wins for Trasenster. The Liège continued as uncompromisingly an open road event run to an impossible time schedule, and remained Europe's toughest rally until it had moved to Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.

Liège–Sofia–Liège

From 1961 to 1964, the course was modified to Liège-

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

-Liège. This reflected the desire of the organizer — the Royal Motor Union of Liège to diversify the route and to find traffic-free roads. Despite the change in venue, the race still kept its reputation as a challenge of driver endurance and mechanical reliability. The 1961 race required 90 hours of driving with a 4 hour rest at Sofia. Only 8 cars finished out of 85 total entrants.

and Georges Harris won this event, driving a Citroën DS 19.

Nürburgring

From 1965 to 1971, the

race was held due to the refusal of some countries to cross their territory. The duration of the race was 82 hours to reach 96 hours in its last edition.

Afterwards

A revival was planned for 2011 but was cancelled.

Winners

Record holder of number of victories:

, 5

Liège–Rome–Liège (1931-1939)

*Multiple teams finished without penalties or with equal points and were declared co-winners 1956-08-29 Alps Ferrari 250 0373GT Gendebien Strasse

1956-08-29 Alps Ferrari 250 0373GT Gendebien Strasse

Liège-Rome-Liège (1950-1960)

Liège–Sofia–Liège

Nürburgring

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liege-Rome-Liege Rally competitions in Belgium Rally competitions in Italy Rally competitions in Germany Rally competitions in Bulgaria World Sportscar Championship races Recurring sporting events established in 1931 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1971

History

Liège–Rome–Liège

Liège–Sofia–Liège

Nürburgring

Afterwards

Winners

Liège–Rome–Liège (1931-1939)

Liège-Rome-Liège (1950-1960)

Liège–Sofia–Liège

Nürburgring

See also

References