1930 24 Hours of Le Mans

8th 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race

The 1930 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 8th Grand Prix of Endurance that took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 21 and 22 June 1930. It saw the first appearance of a German car and the first entry from female drivers. In the smallest ever field in the Le Mans history; there were only 17 starters. This was a race of two halves. At the start the Mercedes of Rudolf Caracciola/Christian Werner was pursued by the supercharged ‘Blower’ Bentley of Tim Birkin. Twice he passed the white car on the Mulsanne Straight and both times he was thwarted by a rear tyre blowout. Then Sammy Davis chased in a works Bentley. When that car was put into the sandbank at Pontlieue corner, it was the other works Bentley of Woolf Barnato and Glen Kidston taking up the Germans’ challenge. The lead changed a number of times into the night, until at 1.30am when the Mercedes was retired with a broken dynamo and a flat battery.

On race week, the competitors were allowed to do practice laps on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights between 10pm and 6am. However, the roads were not closed to the public and the ACO advised drivers it was at their own risk. The Paget team Bentleys had a bad practice week. The Harcourt Wood/Dunfee car had a big end failure and all the cars were suffering overheating issues. This was found to be due to the high combustion temperatures of the hybrid fuel. The team decided to switch to the pure benzol option, but it meant changing the engine compression ratios and fitting new pistons. There was only time to change two of the cars so the Harcourt Wood/Dunfee car was withdrawn. Faced with a similar issue, the Talbots had been modified in May. So the starting field was only 17 – the smallest in the Le Mans race history. They picked up a place as the Alfa Romeo was delayed – a race long struggle with fouled plugs and ignition from the blended fuel. Back at the pits, the car got assessed from damage. His co driver did a few laps but was not convinced it was safe, so Murton Neale got back in and drove on into the night. Around half time, the car was finally retired with a broken con rod. Rigal managed to pull the car over and get out, narrowly missed by Barnato's Bentley. Hindmarsh, also running close behind him, stopped his Talbot and ran to help him with his own fire extinguisher. The Talbots were now running fourth and sixth, splitting the hard charging Birkin/Chassagne Bentley making up for its lost time. Shortly before 3am, Rose Richards bought his Talbot into the pits when the front wing began to come apart, affecting his headlamps. The team jury rigged a fix with wire and cords.

The second half of the race devolved into a routine procession. Early morning mist and a heavy rain shower also contributed to a dour race. After 8 o’clock Birkin and Chassagne finally caught the Lewis/Eaton Talbot and moved up to fourth. Class Winners are in Bold text. Class Team Drivers Chassis Engine Tyre Targetdistance* 1 >3.0 4 Bentley Motors Ltd Woolf Barnato Glen Kidston Bentley Speed Six Bentley 6.6L S6 152 [B] 179 2 >3.0 2 Bentley Motors Ltd Frank Clement Dick Watney Bentley Speed Six Bentley 6.6L S6 152 [B] 173 3 3.0 15 Fox & Nicholl Brian Lewis, Baron Essendon Hugh Eaton Talbot 90 Talbot 2.3L S6 137 162 4 3.0 16 Fox & Nicholl Tim Rose Richards Johnny Hindmarsh Talbot 90 Talbot 2.3L S6 137 160 5 3.0** 23 Earl Howe(private entrant) Earl Howe Leslie Callingham Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Super Sport Alfa Romeo 1752cc S6 supercharged 137 159 6 2.0** 24 Lea Francis Ltd Kenneth Peacock Sammy Newsome Lea Francis S Type Hyper Meadows 1495cc S4 supercharged 134 [B] 140 7 1.5 25 M. Mareuse(private entrant) Marguerite Mareuse Odette Siko Bugatti T40 Bugatti 1496cc S4 130 132 8 1.0 27 SA des Automobiles Tracta Jean Albert Grégoire Fernand Vallon Tracta Type A S. C. A. P. 988cc S4 121 [B] 128 9 1.0 26 SA des Automobiles Tracta Roger Bourcier Louis Debeugny Tracta Type A S. C. A. P. 988cc S4 122 [B] 123

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Engine Tyre Targetdistance* Laps Reason DNF >3.0 8 Hon. Dorothy Paget Dr Dudley Benjafield Giulio Ramponi Bentley 4½ Litre 'Blower' Bentley 4.4L S4 supercharged 152 144 Engine(21 hr) DNF >3.0 9 Hon. Dorothy Paget Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin Jean Chassagne Bentley 4½ Litre 'Blower' Bentley 4.4L S4 supercharged 152 138 Engine(20 hr) DNF >3.0 1 R. Caracciola(private entrant) Rudolf Caracciola Christian Werner Mercedes Benz SSK Mercedes Benz 7.1L S6 supercharged 152 85 Electrics(12 hr) DNF 1.0 28 Huskinson & Fane Ltd(private entrant) Robert Murton Neale Jack Hicks MG Midget M MG 847cc S4 117 82 Engine(12 hr) DNF >3.0 6 R. Parke(private entrant) “Georges Philippe”(Philippe de Rothschild) Edmond Bourlier Stutz Model M Blackhawk Stutz 5.4L S8 151 42 Rear axle(~7 hr) DNF >3.0 5 É. Brisson(private entrant) Édouard Brisson Louis Rigal Stutz Model M Blackhawk Stutz 5.4L S8 151 [B] 34 Fire(5 hr) DNF 1.0 29 F. Samuelson(private entrant) Sir Francis Samuelson Fred Kindell MG Midget M MG 847cc S4 117 28 Engine(5 hr) DNF >3.0 3 Bentley Motors Ltd Sammy Davis Clive Dunfee Bentley Speed Six Bentley 6.6L S6 152 [B] 21 Accident(2 hr)Sources:
Note *: [B]= car also entered in the 1929 30 Biennial Cup. Note **: equivalent class for supercharging, with x1.3 modifier to capacity.

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Engine Reason DNS 1.5 20 Bollack, Netter et Cie Charles Charrier Joucia B. N. C. Vedette AER AER 1999cc S6 Engine DNS >3.0 7 Hon. Dorothy Paget Beris Harcourt Wood Jack Dunfee Bentley 4½ Litre 'Blower' Bentley 4.4L S4 supercharged Engine

Pos 1929 30Biennial Cup Class Team Drivers Chassis Indexresult 1 3.0 15 Fox & Nicholl Brian Lewis, Baron Essendon Hugh Eaton Talbot 90 1.176 2 1st >3.0 4 Bentley Motors Ltd Woolf Barnato Glen Kidston Bentley Speed Six 1.172 3 3.0 16 Fox & Nicholl Tim Rose Richards Johnny Hindmarsh Talbot 90 1.164 4 3.0 23 Earl Howe(private entrant) Earl Howe Leslie Callingham Alfa Romeo 6C 1750Super Sport 1.156 5 2nd >3.0 2 Bentley Motors Ltd Frank Clement Dick Watney Bentley Speed Six 1.133 6 3rd 1.0 27 SA des Automobiles Tracta Jean Albert Grégoire Fernand Vallon Tracta Type A 1.054 7 4th 2.0 24 Lea Francis Ltd Kenneth Peacock Sammy Newsome Lea Francis S Type Hyper 1.041 8 1.5 25 M. Mareuse(private entrant) Marguerite Mareuse Odette Siko Bugatti T40 1.016 9 5th 1.0 26 SA des Automobiles Tracta Roger Bourcier Louis Debeugny Tracta Type A 1.009

Class Winning Car Winning Drivers Over 3 litre #4 Bentley Speed Six Barnato / Kidston * 2 to 3 litre #15 Talbot 90 Lewis / Eaton * 1500 to 2000cc #24 Lea Francis S Type Hyper Peacock / Newsome 1000 to 1500cc #25 Bugatti T40 Mareuse / Siko Up to 1000cc #27 Tracta Type A Grégoire / Vallon*Note *: setting a new class distance record.