Paris-Bordeaux

The first motoring contest in which speed alone was the deciding factor was held on the roads from Paris to Bordeaux and back on 11-13 June 1895. They left Place de l’Étoile (now Place Charles de Gaulle) in a procession before being released at two minute intervals in Versailles. Émile Levassor won by almost six hours at an average speed of 15mph but was ineligible for the first prize as his Panhard only had two seats. Nine of the 22 starters finished the groundbreaking race. Paris-Bordeaux held races in 1898 and 1899 before the road was chosen as host for the 1901 Gordon Bennett Cup when Léonce Girardot’s Panhard 40 was the only classified finisher. He was ninth in the overall classification, beaten by a couple of Light Cars and some 2hrs40min behind the overall winner Henri Fournier (Mors).