Text and pictures compiled by motorracinghistory with courtesy of hathitrust.org, USA.
MOTOR AGE
VOL. XIV. No. 23 – CHICAGO, DECEMBER 3, 1908. – $3.00 PER YEAR
LAP BY LAP WITH THE GRAND PRIX RACERS
SAVANNAH, GA., Nov. 26 – Fog again threatened a long postponement of the American grand prize just as it had the day before in the light car race. As it was, when the cars were lined up at 8:30 o’clock the mist so thickly clouded the course that one could not see 100 yards up the road. At the appointed starting hour of 9 o’clock conditions were just as bad. Half an hour later there was some improvement, but then prudence forbade sending the drivers away into the mist clouds. A quarter of an hour later Starter Wagner gave Rigal the word. By the time the field of twenty was under way, however, the sun had triumphed and a bright balmy day was at hand.
The Start – All of the twenty entrants faced the starter, who sent them away at minute intervals in the following order: Rigal, Clement; Mulford, Lozier; Seymour, Simplex; Burman, Buick; Haupt, Chadwick; Nazzaro, Fiat; Zengle, Acme; Hemery, Benz; Duray, de Dietrich; Szisz, Renault; Harding, National; Cagno, Itala; Hautvast, Clement; Wagner, Fiat; Hanriot, Benz; Strang, Renault; Fournier, Itala; de Palma, Fiat; Erle, Benz, and Piacenza, Itala. The Americans had the best positions in line, four of them being in the first quintet, the other two starting seventh and eleventh respectively.
First Lap – With the field under way in 19 minutes, the spectators had not long to wait for the head of the flying column to reach the grand stand. It was the Lozier, Mulford having gotten by Rigal. Then came Seymour, who also had passed the Clement crack. Haupt outfooted Burman and Hemery easily disposed of Zengle.
All this time de Palma, the former bicycle rider, was coming like a whirlwind from the rear with the Fiat. When the racers had passed and the times were matched up de Palma was the leader, 12 seconds ahead of Wagner, who had beaten Hanriot 8 seconds, the Benz driver in turn leading Szisz by 3 seconds. Nazzaro and Hemery, the favorites, were content with conservative laps in 23:42 and 23:54 respectively. Szisz was pushing the Renault hard in 22:41, a 67-mile-an-hour clip, which was fast for the tortuous circuit.
Second Lap – Willie Haupt flashed to the fore in the second lap with the Chad- wick and got a royal welcome from the spectators, who were eager to hurrah for an American as long as they had a chance. De Palma continued to climb up the ladder hand over fist. Scoring 21:36, the fastest lap in the race, equaled only by his own in the seventh round and showing a 70-mile-an-hour gait, the Italian-American lad increased his lead over the field. He led Hanriot, who had been going some also, by 1 minute 19 seconds, a good mile and a half of margin. Wagner, Erle, Cagno and Szisz also were hitting the pace. Nazzaro and Hemery were driving well within themselves at 652 and 61½ miles an hour averages. It was a magnificent struggle for the lead of the seven leaders traveling at faster than 63 miles an hour.
Third Lap – Before the third round closed the three Americans, Mulford, Seymour and Haupt, had lost their leadership of the procession and Nazzaro was making the pace. De Palma suffered a 5-minute delay and dropped back from the leadership into the ruck. Henriot and Szisz had fought their way to the front and were having a neck-and-neck struggle for the premiership, the Benz leading the Renault by but 7 seconds, with Erle in hot pursuit ½ a mile further back. One of the Americans, Burman, was out of the race for good. Nazzaro, Hemery and Wagner, the ultimate trio of leaders, were back in the second division, which included Cagno and Strang.
Fourth Lap – The fourth round saw Nazzaro, Hemery and Szisz leading the pro- cession. They were only leaders, however, so far as the order of passing the stand went, for Hanriot still held the lead, in time the Benz having covered 100.52 miles in 89:44. Another Benz man, Fritz Erle, was in second place, only 44 seconds behind his team mate. The German pair had opened close to a 2-minute gap on Nazzaro, who was being hotly pursued by Hemery, ½ a minute further to the rear. Haupt was making the best showing of the Americans, the Chadwick being still in the middle of the European bunch with as many behind him as ahead of him.
Fifth Lap – Hanriot still hung stubbornly to his lead, by a round in 24:26, a 61.5-mile gait. Wagner had dislodged Erle from second place. It was now becoming a race that for closeness will live in motor history. The leaders were only seconds apart, their order and times being: Hanriot, 114:10; Wagner, 114:14; Nazzaro, 114:44; Szisz, 114:46; Hemery, 115:02; Erle, 115:12, for 125.65 miles.
Sixth Lap – Nazzaro and Hemery were now driving their cars. for all they were worth in an effort to overtake the flying Hanriot. They managed to outpace Szisz, Warner and Erle, but Hanriot for the time being was too much for them, for the Benz showed a round in 21:52, which landed it 34 seconds ahead of Hemery and 1 minute 8 seconds to the better of Nazzaro. Wagner was their pursuer.
Seventh Lap – Hanriot slowed down a bit in this round, but not enough, however, to cost him his lead. Nazzaro and Hemery were having a fine duel between themselves, the Frenchman leading the Italian by but 14 seconds. Both were hot-foot after the runaway Benz. Wagner was hanging fire a bit, but de Palma had got his Fiat going again and was after the leaders in earnest with a lap in 21:36, which tied his record of the second lap. All this time the fat and prosperous veteran Fournier was not making a half bad showing with the Itala, plugging along pretty steadily at a 60-mile-an-hour gait. Seymour was driving the best of the Americans, Haupt having thrown up the sponge for good during the fifth round because of lubrication troubles.
Eighth Lap – Before the half-way post had been passed, Wagner, Hemery and Nazzaro, the ultimate leaders in the race, had fought their way into the three leading positions. At the end of the round, in fact, they occupied the positions named, which were the order of their final finish. Wagner led Hemery 30 seconds, who had a margin of but 10 seconds over Nazzaro. The Fiat crack, following his invariable custom, stopped at the half-way post to replenish fuel. So did the Benz champion. Wagner, however, continued. Hanriot had halted by the wayside, and now was in fifth position, Hautvast having passed him. The other racers were now hardly in the running, so far as hopes of the first three places went. In the preceding round, by the way, Szisz had dropped out, having broken a bearing in the front axle of his Renault.
Ninth Lap – The race now had practically narrowed down to a triangular duel among Wagner, Hemery and Nazzaro. Wagner lost his narrow lead this round by making his delayed stop for gasoline and oil. Entering the last half of the race, Hemery began to drive like a speed fiend possessed. Covering this lap in 22:32 he completed it with 39 seconds of precious margin to his credit. Wagner having fallen over a minute to the rear of Nazzaro; Hautvast, Hanriot, de Palma and Erle were also spurting hard, but they were too far behind for their sprinting to be of much avail.
Tenth Lap – The three-cornered fight for the lead kept the spectators „on their toes“ all the time. They watched eagerly for the coming of the first of the trio and listened attentively for the figures as they were announced. Wagner got by Nazzaro, but still was 9 seconds behind Hemery.
Eleventh Lap – In the preceding lap Wagner had made the 25:13-mile circuit in 22:11. He lowered this to 22:05 in this round, and by his sprint secured a lead of a minute over Hemery and 1 minute 19 seconds over Nazzaro. Cagno was put out of the race in this lap by a broken rear spring.
Twelfth Lap – It was now up to Nazzaro to be up and doing something. He did it. A lap in 22:52, aided by a faltering of Wagner and Hemery, gave him the lead, and a pretty good lead, too, considering how near the finish was. In fact, the score board was completely upset, Nazzaro leading Wagner 2 minutes 39 seconds and Hemery by 2 minutes 44 seconds. It looked to be all over but the shouting for Nazzaro.
Thirteenth Lap – Increasing his pace to a 23:38 lap, Nazzaro pulled still further away from Hemery. Wagner had slowed down to 24:45 and wound up the round 1 minute 5 seconds behind Hemery, who was 3 minutes 39 seconds behind Nazzaro. It looked to be more than ever a cinch for the Italian.
Fourteenth Lap – Hemery spurted gamely in this round, scoring 22:48 for the circuit and cutting down Nazzaro’s lead to 2 minutes 27 seconds. Wagner went even faster and at the finish of the lap had reduced the Benz’s lead to 29 seconds by a round in 22:12, his fastest circuit so far.
Fifteenth Lap – Nazzaro having the race well in hand slowed down a wee little bit. Wagner quickened his pace to 22:11, his fastest in the race, and Hemery raised his gait to 22:38. The two French pilots were making a magnificent effort to overtake the cool-headed Italian. To what a high pitch of excitement the closeness of the struggle had wrought up the spectators can easily be imagined. All hands were on their feet watching up the stretch for the appearance of the leader and straining their ears to catch promptly the figures the timers gave out.
The Finish – Nazzaro entered the final round with a lead of 1 minute 52 seconds over Hemery, whose margin over Wagner was but 2 seconds. Barring one of those hundred accidents that can befall a motor car racer, Nazzaro was the winner. Within 2 minutes after Hemery and Wagner had passed the stand, the megaphone man fired a bombshell into the crowd. „Hemery has passed Nazzaro.‘ A telephone man had sent the message, but gave no particulars. The crowd refused to believe its truth, until the white Benz was seen coming down the stretch. Nazzaro was indeed beaten, but Wagner had not started until 6 minutes after Hemery, and the race was not over. Then came Nazzaro, the first of the trio to start. Then came at last, after what seemed hours of suspense to the waiting crowd, Wagner. There was a death-like silence and then someone in the Fiat pit cheered. Then came the megaphoned time. Wagner had won. He had beaten Hemery by 56 seconds and Nazzaro by 2 minutes 27 seconds. A puncture, in fact, two of them, had been the Italian’s un- doing. A tire was quickly replaced, but Nazzaro had gone but a short distance when he discovered that the tire he had just put on was soft and another change was necessary. The finish of Hanriot, who was fourth, was ludicrous. His Benz had run short of gasoline at the head of the home stretch, and it literally coasted in. Its crew swayed their bodies and the crowd „rooted“ to help it along. It just managed to get across the tape.
