1922 French Grand Prix

The 1922 French Grand Prix (formally the XVI Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France) was a Grand Prix motor race held at Strasbourg on 15 July 1922. The race was run over 60 laps of the 13.38km circuit for a total distance of just over 800km and was won by Felice Nazzaro driving a Fiat. This race is notable as the first French Grand Prix to feature a massed start.[1]

1922 French Grand Prix
Race details
Date	15 July 1922
Official name	XVI Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France
Location	Strasbourg, France
Course	Public roads
Course length	13.38 km (8.31 mi)
Distance	60 laps, 802.88 km (498.89 mi)
Pole position
Driver	Felice Nazzaro	Fiat
Grid positions set by ballot
Fastest lap
Driver	Pietro Bordino	Fiat
Time	5:43.0
Podium
First	Felice Nazzaro	Fiat
Second	Pierre De Vizcaya	Bugatti
Third	Pierre Marco	Bugatti

The race was run to new Grand Prix regulations, requiring engines no larger than 2 litres, in cars with two seats weighing at least 650kg. In practice, the Fiats were dominant, with only the Bugatti drivers close in times (the Bugatti drivers had the advantage of the Bugatti factory being in nearby Molsheim, so had already learned the circuit). After the rolling start, Felice Nazzaro lead Friderich at the end of the first lap, with the other Fiat drivers down in the pack due to their lower starting positions. By lap 4, Bordino had taken the lead, and by lap 10 Biagio Nazzaro was up to third, so Fiat lead 1-2-3. The two lead Fiats would trade the lead several times due to pitstops, with Biagio Nazzaro holding third, the three Fiats continuing to increase their lead whilst many of their competitors retired, until after halfway, Biagio Nazzaro experienced difficulties, and made a slow pitstop, dropping him to fourth until Foresti, who had taken third, retired on lap 44. With nearly all other competitors retired (mostly with engine problems), and the race nearing its end, a Fiat 1-2-3 seemed inevitable, when tragedy struck: while at top speed, Biagio Nazzaro's Fiat lost a rear wheel, then hit a tree, turning the car over and killing him instantly. With just two laps to go, Bordino suffered a similar failure, thankfully at a much slower part of the track, his car stopping safely with a lost rear wheel. And so Felice Nazzaro was left to finish the race, winning by nearly an hour. It was later found that on all three Fiats the rear axle casings were faulty, with a large crack developing on Felice Nazzaro's.[1]