During the pre-war era, a grand prix represented a formidable challenge for both the car and driver. The French grand prix of 1931 was run as a 10-hour event, beginning at 8.00 a.m., finishing around 6.00 pm and consisting of 101 laps of the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhery circuit, located south of Paris, with the winning car completing 1287 kilometres.
1931 ACF GP Maserati Dreyfus-Ghesi
To achieve this, each car had two designated drivers. The grand prix was a huge attraction with more than 100,000 spectators leaving Paris at dawn to arrive at the circuit in time for the start, with the early arrivals beating the officials and ticket-office staff. As the gendarmes had no orders regarding such an event, thousands were able to access the event for free. They witnessed a strong entry of 30 cars including three works teams, Bugatti, Alfa Romeo and Maserati, as well as a number of independents driving a wide range of cars from manufacturers such as Sunbeam and Delage. A private entry was received from Rudi Caracciola who arrived with a huge Mercedes SSKL sports car, usually raced on the Mille Miglia but qualifying as a grand prix car once much of the bodywork was removed to expose the wheels.
The gruelling circuit was part race track and part dirt roads that took its toll on the cars, especially the brakes. Those cars designed for easy access to carry out brake repairs had a notable advantage over those that required much of the assembly to be dismantled. The race was equally hard on the drivers with hands being blistered as the drivers hung on to the steering wheel, Henry Birkin’s clothing was worn through and some drivers raced with a cushion strapped to their backs. At the end it was the Bugatti T51 of Louis Chiron and Achille Varzi that triumphed having completed four laps more than its competitors. The photograph shows the factory-entered Maserati 26M of Rene Dreyfus and Pietro Ghersi in the process of refuelling during a pit stop. They had climbed to third place during the first half of the race but a long pit stop to search for a missing brake drum dropped them to eighth at the finish.
