The 1935 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 13th Grand Prix of Endurance. It took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 15 and 16 June 1935. The race was won by Johnny Hindmarsh and Luis Fontés in a British Lagonda, breaking the run of four consecutive Alfa Romeo victories. A record number of 58 starters included a record number of British cars, at 37, dominating the smaller classes. Another notable point of the entry was four all-female cars, and a Le Mans record of ten women competing.
A strong quartet of privateer Alfa Romeos, including previous winners Raymond Sommer, Earl Howe and Luigi Chinetti, were the favourites. Up against them for outright victory were five Bugattis, two Lagondas and a debut for French manufacturer Delahaye. Most of the race was run in poor weather with intermittent showers, though fortunately there were no serious accidents. Sommer initially had the lead for most of the first quarter of the race, until delayed by engine issues and, with his co-driver too sick to drive, he retired. The race then became a contest between the Hindmarsh/Fontés Lagonda and the Alfa Romeos charging back up the field after early delays. The big Bugatti of Roger Labric was also consistently running among them in the top-three.
Just after half-time, everything changed over the next hour, as successively Labric, Chinetti and then Howe all were forced out with engine or suspension issues. As a drizzly dawn broke, it was the Alfa of Pierre Louis-Dreyfus only a half-lap ahead of the Lagonda, and the lead continued to swap through the morning as the two cars pitted. When the Alfa lost two laps fixing a misfire late in the morning, it gave the British drivers a comfortable margin. However, with less than an hour to go, they were struck with their own engine problems. Forced to tour gently just to make the finish, Louis-Dreyfus passed them, which was mistakenly interpreted as going into the lead when, in fact, it had only got him back onto the lead lap. By the time, that error was picked up there was only ten minutes to run and Fontés made it home to win by a half-lap.
By dint of good reliability, the smaller British cars of Aston Martin and Riley had pushed into the top-five. The works Aston of Brackenbury/Martin took a fine third-place overall and won both the Index of Performance and Biennial Cup. British cars set new distance records in the 2-litre (MG), 1.5-litre (Aston Martin) and 1-litre classes (Singer). All three MGs of George Eyston's all-female team finished, virtually in formation, after running trouble-free to a careful schedule.
Regulations and organization To avoid controversy and argument, this year the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) introduced a mathematical formula to calculate the target distances for the Index of Performance. This formula was based on engine size, although a variation on the basic equation was used for 2-seater cars under 1.5-litres.Spurring 2017, p.8 This mainly impacted on the smaller engine cars, adding around 8-12 laps to their targets. The class-divisions remained as per the previous year, except for the over 3-litre class. An additional bracket at 4-litres was included, so creating a new engine class.Spurring 2017, p.182
There were no significant updates or changes to the track or facilities this year. Numbered circles were painted onto the pit straight opposite where the cars would line up, to deter drivers from jumping the start.Williams 2023, pp.76-7 As usual, the petrol supplier alternated and this year, Shell offered four fuel choices: its regular fuel, 100% benzole, a 70/30 blend of the two and a 70/15/15 blend of the regular with benzole and ethanol. As an incentive, the French Office National des Combustibiles Liquides offered a FF10,000 bonus prize to a team who won either the Index of Performance or Biennial Cup using the ternary fuel.
Engine size 1934Minimum distance 1935Minimum distance Average speed Equivalent laps 6000cc+ 194.1 laps 5000cc 192.7 laps 4000cc 190.4 laps 3000cc 186.0 laps 2000cc 174.2 laps 1500cc 164.9 laps 1100cc 149.5 laps 750cc 129.2 laps Spurring 2017, p.360
Entries A total of 59 cards were entered for a scrutineering at the start of the race week, the largest entry for a pre-war edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Clausager 1982, pp.61-2 At the time, Mercedez-Benz and Auto Union were dominant in Grand Prix racing, while Alfa Romeo and Bugatti increasingly focused on sports car competition. Both manufacturers were strongly represented in the race.
Having equalled Bentley's total of four Le Mans victories the previous year, Alfa Romeo sought to surpass that record. Other entrants in the larger-engine classes included La Lorraine and Duesenburg, as well as newer competitors such as Delahaye, Talbot, and Lagonda.
Building upon the growing perception that Le Mans was a “British race held in France”, British brands dominated the medium- and small-engine classes.Laban 2001, p.81They comprised 36 of those 44 entrants, including works entries from Austin, Riley and Singer. With the two Lagondas it was a record number of British cars.Clarke 1998, pp.138-9: Light Car Jun14 1935Bernard et al 2023, p.236 The 59 British drivers at this race is also, to date, a record participation from the UK>. Georges Durand, General-Secretary of the ACO, wrote: "We can't help noticing that the British entries are in the majority, because their government has banned road racing on mainland Britain. British constructors understand that racing encourages progress, but they aren’t content to stand by with folded arms."Williams 2023, p.75 By contrast, there were only single entries from the French manufacturers aside from Bugatti who had seven cars represented. There were a total of 26 works-supported entries this year. Also of note were the ten women entered, including three all-female pairings. This is still, to date, the highest number of women competing in one Le Mans. It was also the first instance of a husband-and-wife racing at Le Mans (albeit in different cars) with Tommy and Elsie Wisdom.
After one of the highest number of finishers in the previous year's race, there were sixteen cars turning up to contest the Coupe Bienniale. These included four Aston Martins, three Singers and fully six Rileys.Spurring 2017, pp.180-1
Category Entries Classes Large-sized engines 16 / 15 over 3-litre Medium-sized engines 9 / 8 1.5 to 3-litre Small-sized engines 35 / 35 up to 1.5-litre Total entrants 60 / 58 Note: The first number is the number of entries, the second the number who started. Using the equivalent engine-size, with supercharged engines having the x1.4 conversion factor
Over 2-litre entries
The Alfa Romeo 8C had been the premier car in the 1930s races. This year, four cars were entered by privateers, but the driver quality still made them the cars to beat. Last year's winner Luigi Chinetti was paired with the Monégasque Jacques Gastaud. Raymond Sommer, another two-time winner, also had a gentleman-driver as his partner – Raymond d'Estrez Saugé. The British lord, Earl Howe (running with Brian Lewis, Baron Essendon) brought his three-year old Alfa that he ran the year before. Wealthy Parisian banker Pierre Louis-Dreyfus (racing under the name "Heldé", onomatopoeic of his initials ‘L-D’) enticed veteran Henri Stoffel as his co-driver. After four comfortable wins in succession, Alfa Romeo were confident for their fifth win.Spurring 2017, pp.188-9 There was also an Alfa Romeo 6C-1750 SS entered by Guy Weisweiller. Part of a rich Parisian banking family, he raced under the pseudonym "Guy Don". Driving a 1933, late-model, version of the classic 6C, it was now tuned to put out 85 bhp from the supercharged 1774cc engine.Spurring 2017, p.201
Bugatti's largest entry yet at Le Mans saw eight cars arrive. The two biggest were ex-works Type 50 Sports, with their mighty 5-litre supercharged engines. Racing journalist Roger Labric once again had works support, and their driver Pierre Veyron. The other was owned by the wealthy French aristocrat Charles Richer-Delavau.Spurring 2017, p.202 French film director Georges d'Arnoux had raced earlier in the decade but this was his first Le Mans. He shared a 2.3-litre Type 55 with fellow-nobleman Pierre Merlin. There were two touring models – a Type 44 and an elegant new Type 57. This had the supercharged straight-8 engine from the Type 59 Grand Prix car bored out to 3.3-litres giving 135 bhp. It was owned and entered by Franco-Brazilian Pedro Bernardo de Souza Dantas.Spurring 2017, p.203 Three French Bugatti drivers, Max Fourny, Albert Blondeau and Bernard Chaudé, had formed a new racing team. The Écurie Argo had two entries: a 2.3-litre Type 51 modified with aerodynamic bodywork over the rear suspension would be driven by Fourny and Chaudé. The other was a Type 35 chassis fitted with a supercharged 2-litre engine with similar bodywork applied. Blondeau had Paul Vallée as his co-driver.Spurring 2017, p.205 The final Bugatti was a Type 51A driven by champion boxer Louis Villeneuve. However, the 1.4 equivalence modifier put the supercharged 1.5-litre engine up against 3-litre cars.
The Fox & Nicholl racing team had raced a Lagonda in the 1929 race, and then scored a successive trio of third places with a British Talbot with works backing. Arthur Fox had renewed the deal with Lagonda even though the company had been placed in liquidation. With works support, he arrived with the new M45 Rapide. This version of the M45 tourer had a 4.5-litre Meadows straight-6 engine that put out 140 bhp. Two cars with a shorter wheelbase were entered, each fitted with a 120-litre fuel tank, improved brakes and suspension. Fox had one car for his team regular Squadron Leader Johnny Hindmarsh and new member Luis Fontés (English son of a wealthy Portuguese shipping executive), while the other had former "Bentley Boy" Dudley Benjafield alongside Sir Roland Gunter.Spurring 2017, pp.184-5
Delahaye had competed in some of the earliest races at the turn of the century, but had gone back to making standard saloons. But they chose to make a bold change into the high-end sports car market after the recession. Encouraged by wealthy heiress Lucy O'Reilly Schell to develop a car for hill-climb racing, the company set up a competition department. That, in turn, led to them entering Le Mans for the first time this year. The Type 138 Sports had a 3.2-litre engine race-tuned to give 100 bhp. Five cars were built, one for Lucy Schell and another sold to Parisian Henri Toulouse. Bringing it to Le Mans for its first race, he had pro-driver Marcel Mongin beside him.Spurring 2017, pp.211-2 Prince Nicholas of Romania returned for a third attempt with the big 7-litre supercharged Duesenberg.Spurring 2017, p.216 Daniel Porthault also came back with his venerable 1926 Lorraine-Dietrich, on the tenth anniversary of its first victory. He had refitted the 3.5-litre car was re-fitted with a lighter, modern body. His co-driver would again be Just-Émile Vernet.
Talbot returned to Le Mans after a 2-year absence, albeit in far different circumstances. The Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq company was being broken up and Venetian émigré Anthony Lago was targeting the Parisian concern. As director at Talbot he had commissioned a new model – the T120 Baby Sport. The 3-litre engine 90 bhp straight-six engine could get the 4-seat tourer up to 150 kp/h (95 mph). One was entered by its Parisian owner, and Le Mans regular, Auguste Bodoignet.Spurring 2017, pp.196-7
1- to 2-litre entries