The 1906 Grand Prix de l’Automobile Club de France was the first ever Grand Prix race, being the successor of the Gordon Bennet Cup races. The factual replacement of the Gordon Bennett races by the Grand Prix de l’ACF (French Automobile Club) though stood under much critisism, mostly by non-French racing nations. This first GP was to run on the la Sarthe course east of Le Mans. Part of the course required wooden planking, as the ground was marshy. 
   The race was a two-day event on 26 and 27  June over a total distance of almost 1,240 km. A high-speed event over a long distance, making it harsh for car and driver: out of 32 starters, only 11 cars finished! All cars were individually started with one and a half minutes interval, meaning the complete start procedure took some three quarters of an hour. By then, the first starter should not appear on the line, hence a long course length of about 100 km. The weather on both days was very hot and the race itself was very dull with hardly any sensation; so no real hammering succes. Nontheless, this first GP race would be the beginning of a long lasting race series.
   The winner of that 1906 Grand Prix de l’ACF was Szisz on a Renault. He won the race, not only by his driving capacities and the good car (a Renault), but also because his car was equipped with detachable wheel rims; the so called “jantes amovibles”. These enabled much shorter pits stops than with the then current wheels. As still today, tyres were a determining factor in a race. As all cars needed several tyre changes during a race, detachable rims gave a dominant time advantage. Second came Felice Nazzaro on a Fiat; third was Albert Clément on a Clément-Bayard. Both came over the finish line, about half an hour after the winner. No better sign for a dull race event.
Specific information on the jantes amovibles can be found in “Man&Machine/Car Technology/1906 detachable rims – Jantes amovibles”.