1929 24 Hours of Le Mans

Page Created 15/07/2020

24 Hours of Le Mans: 1929

Last Edit: 12/06/2024

The 1929 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 7th Grand Prix of Endurance that took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 15 and 16 June 1929.

In the most dominant display in the race to date, Bentley achieved a comprehensive victory taking the first four places on distance. Bentley director Woolf Barnato repeated his victory of the previous year, co-driven this time by fellow Bentley Boy Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin. They had led from start to finish, setting a new distance record and lap record.

The international regulations remained unchanged. However, for its part, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) decreed that 2-seater cars could now be no bigger than 1000cc (either supercharged or not) and the 3-seat dispensation for 1500cc cars was removed after two years. This year Shell petrol was the official fuel for all cars.

Residents of southern Le Mans city were successful in petitioning the council. A new by-pass road, the Rue de Circuit, was built 600 metres ahead of the Pontlieue hairpin at the edge of the city. It reduced the track length by 922 metres from 17.362 km (10.788 mi) to 16.340 km (10.153 mi). The road surface experiments continued on the track. The left-hand turn approaching Arnage was partially re-surfaced with bricks and named Indianapolis, after the famous American “Brickyard”. A new spectator area was opened between the two corners. Also, many roadside trees had their trunks painted white for visibility and all the corners were signposted. The media centre was also enlarged to include six phone booths and a telegraph table

Where we have not had a model of the car as raced through the business I've added another example of the car as an illustration (where I have one)

Pos	Car	No.	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Engine	Laps
1		1	Bentley Motors Ltd	Woolf Barnato Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin	Bentley Speed Six	Bentley 6.6L S6	174
2	(example)	9	Bentley Motors Ltd	Glen Kidston Jack Dunfee	Bentley 4½ Litre	Bentley 4.4L S4	167
3	(example)	10	Bentley Motors Ltd	Dr Dudley Benjafield Baron André d'Erlanger	Bentley 4½ Litre	Bentley 4.4L S4	159
4	(example)	8	Bentley Motors Ltd	Frank Clement Jean Chassagne	Bentley 4½ Litre	Bentley 4.4L S4	157
5	(example)	5	Automobiles Elite Paris	Guy Bouriat Philippe de Rothschild	Stutz Model M Blackhawk	Stutz 5.3L S8 supercharged	153
6	Still Looking	14	Grand Garage Saint-Didier Paris	Robert Benoist Henri Stoffel	Chrysler Six 75	Chrysler 4.1L S6	152
7	Still Looking	12	Grand Garage Saint-Didier Paris	Cyril de Vere Marcel Mongin	Chrysler Six 77	Chrysler 4.1L S6	149
8	Still Looking	21	K.S. Peacock (private entrant)	Kenneth Peacock Sammy Newsome	Lea-Francis S-Type Hyper	Meadows 1495cc S4 supercharged	136
9	Still Looking	26	SA des Automobiles Tracta	Louis Balart Louis Debeugny	Tracta Type A	S.C.A.P. 985cc S4 supercharged	128
10	Still Looking	27	SA des Automobiles Tracta	Jean-Albert Grégoire Fernand Vallon	Tracta Type A	S.C.A.P. 985cc S4 supercharged	126
DNF	(example)	6	Col Warwick Wright (private entrant)	Capt George Eyston Dick Watney	Stutz Model M Blackhawk	Stutz 5.3L S8 supercharged	104
DNF	Still Looking	20	Bollack, Netter et Cie	Lucien Desvaux Auguste Garalp	B.N.C. Acacias	Meadows 1496cc S4 supercharged	88
DNF	(example)	7	C.W. Fiennes (private entrant)	Maj Cecil Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes Arthur Owen Saunders-Davies	Invicta LC 4½ Litre	Meadows 4.5L S6	78
DNF	Still Looking	19	Société des Applications à Refroidissements par Air	W.R. Hutchinson R.F. Turner	S.A.R.A. SP7	S.A.R.A. 1806cc S6	73
DNF	Still Looking	25	SA des Automobiles Tracta	Maurice Benoist Lucien Lemesle	Tracta Type A	S.C.A.P. 993cc S4 supercharged	70
DNF	(example)	4	Société de Carrosserie Weymann	Édouard Brisson Louis Chiron	Stutz Model M Blackhawk	Stutz 5.3L S8 supercharged	65
DNF	Still Looking	24	SA des Automobiles Tracta	Roger Bourcier . Tribaudot	Tracta Spéciale	Cozette 999cc S4 (2-Stroke) supercharged	43
DNF	Still Looking	16	Fox & Nicholl / PERR	Tim Rose-Richards Brian Lewis, Baron Essendon	Lagonda 2 Litre Speed	Lagonda 1954cc S4	29
DNF	Still Looking	29	Bollack, Netter et Cie	Jean Lajeune Maurice Faure	B.N.C. Type 527	Ruby 995cc S4	24
DNF	Still Looking	18	Société des Applications à Refroidissements par Air	Gaston Mottet Douglas Hawkes	S.A.R.A. SP7	S.A.R.A. 1806cc S6	22
DNF	(example)	22	Alvis Car and Engineering Co	Cyril Paul Bill Urquhart-Dykes	Alvis FA8/15	Alvis 1484cc S4 supercharged	21
DNF	Still Looking	2	Du Pont Motor Co.	Charles Moran Jr. Alfredo Miranda Jr	Du Pont Model G Speedster	Continental 5.3L S8	20
DNF	Still Looking	30	Bollack, Netter et Cie	Michel Doré Jean Treunet	B.N.C. Type 527	Ruby 995cc S4	15
DNF	Still Looking	31	Cyclecars D’Yrsan	. Trillaud Henri Lachner	D’Yrsan Grand Sport	Ruby 749cc S4	9
DNF	(example)	11	Bentley Motors Ltd	Bernard Rubin Francis Curzon, Earl Howe	Bentley 4½ Litre	Bentley 4.4L S4	7

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