602 AUTOMOBILE RACES. 



Fournier now went ahead, but when about a couple of hours after- 

 wards Girardot, whose bad luck is proverbial, saw Levegh's Mors 

 stranded b}^ the wa3^side, fate for once in a way smiled upon him. 

 Fournier reached Chatellerault at 8'\ 37'"., followed thirteen minutes 

 afterwards by Voigt, while Maurice Farman was third, Andre Axt 

 fourth, and Giraud fifth. Despite the sweltering heat, enormous 

 crowds of people waited for hours along the route to see the autocars 

 pass, and special precautions had to be taken to prevent spectators 

 from crossing the road until the cloud of dust that rose up after the 

 passage of each vehicle had cleared away. Couche-Verac — 1223 miles — 

 was reached by Fournier at 9*". 58°"., preceding Voigt by twent-four 

 minutes. Maurice Farman passed through at 10'\ 45"'., Andre Axt at 

 11". 4'"., and Giraud at 11". 12'". Finson, Teste, Girardot, Osmont, 

 and Gleizes followed in that order, and then came S. F. Edge, who 

 reached the town at 12". 4"*. C^loseat his heels was Gilles Hourgieres, 

 who had picked up Levegh and his companion. He was constantly 

 puncturing his tires, and had given up all hopes of finishing in the 

 first flight. There was no change in the positions of the leaders up to 

 Rafi'ec — 242 miles — which was reached by Fournier at 10". 25"'., half an 

 hour in front of Voigt, and an interval of twenty-one minutes separated 

 Voigt from Maurice Farman. The sun was hot and stifling as the 

 first lot passed through Ruffec, but in the afternoon a violent thunder- 

 storm burst over the district and thoroughly soaked those unfortunate 

 competitors who were still behind. Many of them gave up the race 

 from this cause. Voigt punctured a tire, and only arrived at Angou- 

 leme — 269 miles — nine minutes in front of Maurice Farman, and Pinson 

 also had a similar misfortune. S. F. Edge did not get to Angouleme 

 until after 2 o'clock, and as he went through without stopping at the 

 control he was obviously no longer racing. Up to Barbezieux — 291 

 miles — Maurice Farman was able to pass Voigt for the second place, but 

 Fournier was still increasing his lead, and got to Barbezieux fort3'-nine 

 minutes before Farman. Fournier now had matters all his own way, 

 and steadily augmented his advance, while Maurice Farman was improv- 

 ing his advantage on Voigt, who had up till now been going wonder- 

 fully well. On leaving Libourne, the motor cyclist Gleizes had a 

 serious accident through trying to light a cigarette when traveling full 

 speed. On letting go the handle bar, the machine went ofl' at a tangent, 

 and the unfortunate rider was badly knocked about. He remained 

 unconscious for four hours. Interest in the race, which had been 

 growing all along the course, culminated in enthusiasm at Bordeaux, 

 where Fournier got a magnificent reception as he arrived at Pavilions 

 at 1", 9™ 45^ his net time for the full distance of 327^ miles being 6" 

 11'" 44', which is equal to an average of 53.3 miles an hour. Maurice 

 Farman finished nearly an hour afterwards, followed after an interval 

 of five minutes by Voigt. Then there was a pause of thirtj^-three 



