1922 French Grand Prix

GP French File:1922 French Grand Prix - Circuit de Strasbourg.jpg 15 July 1922 XVI Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France France Strasbourg, France Public roads 8.31 13.38 60 498.89 802.88 Felice Nazzaro Italy 1861 Fiat True Pietro Bordino Fiat 5:43.0 Italy 1861 Felice Nazzaro Fiat Italy 1861 Pierre de Vizcaya Bugatti Spain 1785 Pierre Marco Bugatti France The 1922 French Grand Prix (formally the XVI Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France) was a Grand Prix motor race held at Strasbourg on 15 July 1922. The race was run over 60 laps of the 13.38km circuit for a total distance of just over 800km and was won by Felice Nazzaro driving a Fiat. This race is notable as the first Grand Prix to feature a massed start.Hodges David 1967 The French Grand Prix 60–64 The race was run to new Grand Prix regulations, requiring engines no larger than two litres, in cars with two seats and weighing at least 650kg. In practice, the Fiats were dominant, with only the Bugatti drivers close in times (the Bugatti drivers had the advantage of the Bugatti factory being in nearby Molsheim, so had already learned the circuit). After the rolling start, Felice Nazzaro lead Friderich at the end of the first lap, with the other Fiat drivers down in the pack due to their lower starting positions. By lap 4, Bordino had taken the lead, and by lap 10 Biagio Nazzaro was up to third, so Fiat occupied the top three places. The two lead Fiats would trade the lead several times due to pitstops, with Biagio Nazzaro holding third, the three Fiats continuing to increase their lead whilst many of their competitors retired, until after halfway, Biagio Nazzaro experienced difficulties, and made a slow pitstop, dropping him to fourth until Foresti, who had taken third, retired on lap 44. With nearly all other competitors retired (mostly with engine problems), and the race nearing its end, Biagio Nazzaro's Fiat lost a rear wheel at top speed, then hit a tree, turning the car over and killing him instantly. With just two laps to go, Bordino suffered a similar failure at a much slower part of the track, his car stopping safely with a lost rear wheel. Felice Nazzaro was left to finish the race, winning by nearly an hour. It was later found that on all three Fiats the rear axle casings were faulty, with a large crack developing on Felice Nazzaro's. Classification thumb|The race start and another shot from the start-finish area thumb|Winner Felice Nazzaro (Fiat 804) thumb|Felice Nazzaro after the race PosNoDriverCarLapsTime/Retired 1 4 ITA 1861 Felice Nazzaro Fiat 804 60 6h17m17.0 2 12 ESP 1785 Pierre de Vizcaya Bugatti T30 60 7h15m09.8 3 22 FRA Pierre Marco Bugatti T30 60 7h48m04.2 4 11 ITA 1861 Pietro Bordino Fiat 804 58 Rear axle, crash 5 18 FRA Jacques Mones-Maury Bugatti T30 57 + 3 laps Ret 17 ITA 1861 Biagio Nazzaro Fiat 804 51 Rear axle, fatal crash Ret 14 ITA 1861 Giulio Foresti Ballot 2LS 44 Engine Ret 7 FRA Jules Goux Ballot 2LS 31 Crash Ret 8 GBR Clive Gallop Aston Martin GP 30 Engine Ret 21 GBR Henry Segrave Sunbeam 29 Engine Ret 15 GBR Louis Zborowski Aston Martin GP 19 Engine Ret 20 ITA 1861 Giulio Masetti Ballot 2LS 15 Engine Ret 5 FRA Ernest Friderich Bugatti T30 14 Engine Ret 13 FRA Victor Hémery Rolland Pilain A22 12 Overheating Ret 16 GBR Kenelm Lee Guinness Sunbeam 5 Engine Ret 9 FRA Jean Chassagne Sunbeam 5 Engine Ret 6 FRA Albert Guyot Rolland Pilain A22 2 Engine Ret 19 FRA Louis Wagner Rolland Pilain A22 2 EngineSources:1922 Grands Prix, The GEL Motorsport Information Page Darren Galpin http://www.teamdan.com/archive/gen/1922.html https://web.archive.org/web/20091028135231/http://www.teamdan.com/archive/gen/1922.html 28 October 2009 live 18 March 2009 1922 French Grand Prix https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/1922-french-grand-prix Motor Sport Magazine Database 26 January 2019 References French Grand Prix 1922 1921 Italian Grand Prix 1922 Italian Grand Prix 1921 French Grand Prix 1923 French Grand Prix French Grand Prix Category:French Grand Prix Category:1922 in French motorsport Category:July 1922 sports events in Europe