The Deauville tragedy

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Pre-war Grand Prix races have been organised at some places that would raise an eyebrow today — from small tracks in rural Sweden or France to street circuits in Spain or Estonia to purpose-built tracks that weren’t designed particularly well and were abandoned soon after their opening. The 1936 GP of Deauville fits this latter category but is a race that often seems to have been overlooked. But perhaps there are reasons for this. It was a Grand Prix organised for prestige by investors and sponsors — among them industrialist Armand Esders, who famously owned a Bugatti Type 41 Royale. But things went very wrong.

Deauville was, and maybe still is, an upmarket beach resort on the French west coast. Back in the mid-1930s, it was felt it could do with some new action and a team of local entrepreneurs dreamt up an international Grand Prix in the fashion of Monaco. They also managed to get the municipality interested as they were keen to put the town on the map. A circuit was laid out along the Boulevard Eugène Cornuché, passing the casino and grand villas, and back along the seafront. The track, 3.712 meters long, was opened by Ettore Bugatti himself, driving a Royale (the Esders car?). The route was narrow in places, with some very sharp corners, and reputedly several of the drivers complained about it.

On race day, 19 July, Bugatti was there with two T59s for works drivers Robert Benoist and Jean-Pierre Wimille, while Scuderia Ferrari sent over two Alfa Romeos 8Cs to be raced by Giuseppe Farina and René Dreyfus. Other privately entered Alfa Romeos were to be raced by José de Villapadierna of Spain, Raymond Sommer of France plus Austin Dobson and Charles Martin from the UK. Other participants included another Bugatti T51, two Maserati 8CMs and an ERA Type B.

The first race started in heavy rain with a dissappointing number of visitors. But things were to get worse. When Albert Chambost lost control of his Maserati, he overturned and had to be taken to hospital. He had a fractured skull and would die three days later from his injuries. By that time the second race had taken place in which disaster would strike just as hard. Robert Benoist crashed his Bugatti T59 but escaped unhurt. Sadly, Marcel Lehoux wasn’t quite so lucky. Guiseppe Farina (Alfa 8C) tried to lap his 2-litre ERA and hit him at speed while doing so. Lehoux's car overturned and he died instantly. Farina escaped without major injuries. There is some fascinating footage from the race that illustrates how quickly things went wrong. It can be seen here.

It is probably no surprise that the Deauville GP never had a sequel. Bronze sculptures for both Marcel Lehoux and Albert Chambost were placed on the boulevard in 1937 but no one seems to know where they are now. Another disgrace?

Words by Jeroen Booij with thanks to Normandythenandnow.com. Pictures Wikipedia and from the archive.

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