Pneumatic explosions and broken axles: the race from Paris to Vienna in 1902

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Pneumatic explosions and broken axles: the race from Paris to Vienna in 1902

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Created on December 1, 1973

Text:

Halwart Schrader

Photos:

Thesupermat (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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Renault Type K (1902) - Winner Marcel Renault on his Voiturette at the finish line of the 1902 Paris-Vienna race

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Renault Type K (1902) - Winner Marcel Renault on his Voiturette at the 1902 Paris-Vienna race in Belfort

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Rétromobile Paris 2012 - Impressions - Renault celebrates 110 years of engine excellence

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Renault Type K (1902) - at the Rétromobile 2012, when 100 years of Renault motorsport were celebrated

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Renault Type K (1902) - at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2013

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Summary

The 1500 km race from Paris to Vienna in 1902 demonstrated impressively that race victories did not necessarily depend on absolute engine power and achievable speeds, but also on reliability. The lighter cars beat the larger cars despite their weaker engines. A milestone!

This article contains the following chapters

Reliability before engine power
When the defect devil strikes

Estimated reading time: 4min

Preview (beginning of the article)

In 1902, the 1500-kilometre race from the Seine metropolis to the city of Waltz proved to be full of obstacles and pitfalls.Broken frames, broken springs, seized clutches and countless pneumatic explosions made the journey an ordeal. This was the first time that the superiority of the lightweight Voiturettes over the horsepower cars became apparent. Charles Jarrot, himself the driver of a 70 hp Panhard, recorded his impressions of this marathon: "The Paris-Vienna race is etched in my memory with embarrassing memories, so that I would prefer to pass over it; but in view of the fact that it was won by a light car, it is worth mentioning, because for the first time the big cars were beaten by a vehicle of lighter construction with a less powerful engine."

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Images of this article

Renault Type K (1902) - Sieger Marcel Renault auf seinem Voiturette beim Rennen Paris-Wien von 1902 am Ziel

Renault Type K (1902) - Sieger Marcel Renault auf seinem Voiturette beim Rennen Paris-Wien von 1902 in Belfort

Rétromobile Paris 2012 - Impressionen - Renault feiert 110 Jahre Motoren-Exzellenz

Renault Type K (1902) - auf der Rétromobile 2012, als 100 Jahre Renault-Motorsport gefeiert wurden

Renault Type K (1902) - am Goodwood Festival of Speed 2013

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