1930 24 Hours of Le Mans

Page Created 15/07/2020

24 Hours of Le Mans: 1930

Last Edit: 12/06/2024

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.

The AIACR (forerunner of the FIA) Appendix C rules stayed in effect. The biggest change this year was the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) now allowing private entrants as well as “works” entries from the manufacturers. This just acknowledged the existing practice of private owners being entered by the car-company. Five engine-classes were specified, with brackets at 3.0, 2.0, 1.5 and 1-litres. To be eligible, a minimum of thirty vehicles had to have been produced, and the cars had to be “as per sales catalogue”. Many small companies were selling bare chassis upon which an owner would get a coach-builder to put on a body-shelled, so the specifications were still quite broad as long as the car had some basic minimum equipment (mudguards, lights, hood, windscreen etc.).

The Société des Pétroles Jupiter, Shell's French agents, provided three standard fuel options: Gasoline, Benzole and a 70/30 blend of the two. Teams were allowed to add up to 2% by volume of their own additives. As before, all liquids (fuel, oil and water) could only be replenished after every 20 laps (326.8 km (203.1 mi)). Night-time, when headlights had to be used, was defined by the ACO for the race as between 9.30pm and 4am.

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		4	Bentley Motors Ltd	Woolf Barnato Glen Kidston	Bentley Speed Six	Bentley 6.6L S6	179
2	(example)	2	Bentley Motors Ltd	Frank Clement Dick Watney	Bentley Speed Six	Bentley 6.6L S6	173
3	Still Looking	15	Fox & Nicholl	Brian Lewis, Baron Essendon Hugh Eaton	Talbot 90	Talbot 2.3L S6	162
4	Still Looking	16	Fox & Nicholl	Tim Rose-Richards Johnny Hindmarsh	Talbot 90	Talbot 2.3L S6	160
5	(example)	23	Earl Howe (private entrant)	Earl Howe Leslie Callingham	Alfa Romeo 6C-1750 Super Sport	Alfa Romeo 1752cc S6 supercharged	159
6	Still Looking	24	Lea-Francis Ltd	Kenneth Peacock Sammy Newsome	Lea-Francis S-Type Hyper	Meadows 1495cc S4 supercharged	140
7	Still Looking	25	M. Mareuse (private entrant)	Marguerite Mareuse Odette Siko	Bugatti T40	Bugatti 1496cc S4	132
8	Still Looking	27	SA des Automobiles Tracta	Jean-Albert Grégoire Fernand Vallon	Tracta Type A	S.C.A.P. 988cc S4	128
9	Still Looking	26	SA des Automobiles Tracta	Roger Bourcier Louis Debeugny	Tracta Type A	S.C.A.P. 988cc S4	123
DNF		8	Hon. Dorothy Paget	Dr Dudley Benjafield Giulio Ramponi	Bentley 4½ Litre 'Blower'	Bentley 4.4L S4 supercharged	144
DNF	(example)	9	Hon. Dorothy Paget	Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin Jean Chassagne	Bentley 4½ Litre 'Blower'	Bentley 4.4L S4 supercharged	138
DNF	(example)	1	R. Caracciola (private entrant)	Rudolf Caracciola Christian Werner	Mercedes-Benz SSK	Mercedes-Benz 7.1L S6 supercharged	85
DNF	(example)	28	Huskinson & Fane Ltd (private entrant)	Robert Murton-Neale Jack Hicks	MG Midget M	MG 847cc S4	82
DNF	(example)	6	R. Parke (private entrant)	“Georges Philippe” (Philippe de Rothschild) Edmond Bourlier	Stutz Model M Blackhawk	Stutz 5.4L S8	42
DNF	(example)	5	É. Brisson (private entrant)	Édouard Brisson Louis Rigal	Stutz Model M Blackhawk	Stutz 5.4L S8	34
DNF	(example)	29	F. Samuelson (private entrant)	Sir Francis Samuelson Fred Kindell	MG Midget M	MG 847cc S4	28
DNF	(example)	3	Bentley Motors Ltd	Sammy Davis Clive Dunfee	Bentley Speed Six	Bentley 6.6L S6	21

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