Lyon-Givors

The Automobile Club de France had previously always chosen a northern town to hold its Grand Prix before Lyon was named as venue for the 1914 race. A 23-mile circuit using the roads to the southwest of the city were chosen, with a fast and flowing downhill section from the start and impressive grandstand at Les Sept Chemins to the village of Givors. A sharp righthand bend was followed by the twisting road that rose above the Canal du Gier to a dusty hairpin at La Madaleine. The return leg featured a 5-mile straight section before sharp righthand turns and the ‘Piege de la Mort’ (death trap) hairpin as the road descended to the Sept Chemins hairpin and start-line. The 1914 GP de l’ACF proved to be a seminal event – played out under the spectre of impending war in Europe. Christian Lautenschlager led an unpopular victory for Mercedes and Germany in what was one of the great Grands Prix just weeks before the outbreak of World War I. The race returned 10 years later on a shortened version of the circuit with Giuseppe Campari winning for Alfa Romeo after team-mate Antonio Ascari retired.