AUTOMOBILE KACES. 601 



were thrown out, but sustained no injury. Thiery also had trouble 

 with the valves of his Decauville motor. Altogether 55 vehicles passed 

 through Chartres in the official time. On nearing Ch&teaurenault the 

 little De Boisse three-wheeled vehicle ran into the gate of a level 

 crossing which was closed, and was so far damaged as to compel the 

 driver to give up the race. Levegh and Girardot were lighting out ;i 

 grand battle, and the Panhard representative seemed to be gaining on 

 the Mors vehicle up to Chateaudun — 77 miles — but the most remark- 

 able thing was the driving of Fournier, who was now leading in the 

 open race, and was only three minutes behind Girardot. Voigt was 

 close up, but he found it a disadvantage in having only three changes of 

 speed, while the others had four. Andre Axt followed eighteen min- 

 utes afterwards, w T ith Edge and Girardot at his heels. Charron was 

 eighth, and Maurice Farman ninth. Edge lost his position through 

 stopping fifteen minutes at Chateaudon. Another accident, due to a 

 level crossing, occurred to a Godard-Demarest light carriage, which 

 arrived just as the gate was closing, and in the collision the driver 

 was thrown out with considerable force, and was so far injured that 

 he had to be attended by a doctor. Girardot, who had been 

 getting marvellous speed out of his Panhard, now began to 

 have trouble with his friction clutch, and he reached Vendome — 

 102 miles — twenty minutes after Levegh, who arrived there 

 at 6 h 27 m . Fournier was only three minutes behind Girardot, and 

 then came Voigt, Gilles Hourgieres, Andre Axt, Maurice Farman, 

 Giraud, and Edge. Charron found that it was hopeless to con- 

 tinue when he had to stop every few miles to see to his valves, 

 and he gave up the race. The first motor cyclist (Teste) reached Ven 

 dome at 7 h . 34 m . The weather was hot and heavy, and the roads thick 

 w T ith dust, which rose in dense clouds as the autocars sped along at 50 

 and 60 miles an hour. Levegh was going strongly, and reached Tours 

 —137 miles — at 7 h . 19 m ., and Fournier. who arrived twenty minutes 

 afterwards, had actually beaten him by three minutes. Voigt was 

 third. Girardot stopped to fix up his friction clutch. He was already 

 hopelessly out of it for the cup, and was philosophically letting the 

 Mors vehicle increase its lead. After Girardot came Maurice Farman, 

 Andre Axt, and Edge, and the motor cyclist Teste. Gilles Hourgieres, 

 who was expected to do great things with his new Mors, lost a lot of 

 time through tire punctures. The situation of the leaders remained 

 unchanged up to Saint Maure — 151) miles — except that Edge had 

 retreated to the rear and Girardot had fallen a long way behind, but a 

 few miles farther on an accident happened to the Mors cup vehicle, 

 which struck a gulley across the road with so much force that the fore- 

 part of the car was smashed. It is supposed that the cause of this is 

 the curved axle, which brings the motor case down to within a few 

 inches of the road, and is very liable to be caught by an obstruction. 



