The 1934 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 12th Grand Prix of Endurance. It took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 16 and 17 June 1934. Four privateer Alfa Romeo entries were expected to fight for outright honours, with an outside chance for the four Bugattis ranged against them. British cars dominated the smaller classes. Two-time winner Raymond Sommer soon took the lead until, after only 90 minutes, he stopped out on the circuit with smoke pouring from his engine. For the next five hours the Alfas of Luigi Chinetti and Earl Howe duelled for the lead. However, soon after night fell, the lights failed on Howe's Alfa costing him two hours to get the electrics repaired. Chinetti took the lead, but their car had developed a leak in the fuel tank. The solution was the same as Sommer had used the previous year: to plug the gap with chewing-gum.
By the halfway point, there was only a single competitive big-engine car left running, and interest shifted to the race for the Index of Performance between the four British firms of Aston Martin, MG, Riley and Singer. For a time, with race attrition, the 1.1-litre MG of John Ford was running second overall, until a three-car pile-up at Maison Blanche took it out of the race. The Aston Martin challenge collapsed in a disastrous two laps that saw three of their works cars retire. This left the Riley works team to finish second, third, fifth and sixth and claim both the Index of Performance and Biennial Cup.
Chinetti and Étancelin held on to win comfortably overall, with the second-biggest winning margin to date, of , albeit the shortest overall winning distance of the decade.
Regulations and Organisation The renovation of the circuit and facilities by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) were completed. A completely new pit complex was built. Made of concrete with capacity for 60 cars, it was separated from the pit lane and racing track by a wooden picket fence. Pit counters were provided with a second storey for trade stands and guests. Eco and Jupiter, the French distributors of Esso and Shell fuel respectively, pay for each pit-box to be installed with a 1000-litre tank, gantry and hoses to allow refuelling direct to the cars. This was regulated to be at 120 litres/minute.Spurring 2017, p.148Bernard et al 2023, p.82Clausager 1982, p.20Laban 2001, p.80Williams 2023, p.71 Race control was also housed in the new pit complex, alongside new viewing balconies above the pits.Bernard et al 2023, p.84 However, the £25 entry fee dissuaded many of the small teams from availing themselves of them. A large restaurant opened beside the main grandstand. All the spectator areas now had access to drinking water, and had an earthen bank and fencing put between them and the circuit. Additionally, a 25-hectare golf-course built inside the circuit. Reflecting the greater commercialism of the event, the two main camping areas were regulated and numbered to allow charging spectators who wanted to camp overnight. Loudspeakers were placed every 100 metres along the new stretch of the circuit between the pits and Tertre Rouge, where very large crowds now gathered. Regarding the track itself, after Odette Siko's accident the year before, the straights between the Mulsanne and Arnage were resurfaced and trees along the roadside were felled. It was also notable the increasing proliferation of advertising banners along the circuit. A common trend of the time was for big sporting events to have an associated song with a song with a catchy tune. This year, one was unveiled for the race. Composed by Le Mans music lecturer Émile Baudrier, it was called ACO: Marche Officielle des 24 Heures du Mans with lyrics by Parisian actor Lucien Cazalis, and proved very popular.Bernard et al 2023, p.317
In the years of alternating fuel suppliers, this year Esso had four fuel choices: its regular fuel, a premium grade, 100% benzole and a 70/15/15 blend of the regular with benzole and ethanol. With the new fuel rigs, the ACO allowed a second mechanic to work on a car in the pits, nominated solely as the refueller. The minimum running distance between refuelling stops remained at 24 laps.Clarke 1998, p.130: Autocar Jun22 1933 The ACO made significant increases to the class distance-targets, this time in the mid-range engines, with an extra 125 km added to the minimum distance for 3-litre cars for example. Three 8-hour practice sessions were scheduled on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights between 10pm and 6am. Public traffic was also allowed onto the roads at the same time, but this year was only allowed to travel in the same direction as the racing cars.
Engine size 1933Minimum distance 1934Minimum distance Average speed Equivalent laps 6000cc+ 195.7 laps 5000cc 195.1 laps 4000cc 193.5 laps 3000cc 181.6 laps 2000cc 163.1 laps 1500cc 155.7 laps 1100cc 139.4 laps 750cc 126.0 laps Spurring 2017, p.360
Entries Whether due to the ongoing economic recovery, the improved facilities or the thrilling 10-second margin of victory the previous year by superstar Tazio Nuvolari, the race received the largest number of entrants for ten years.Clausager 1982, pp.60-1 Over half of those were from British marques. Out of the 52 applicants, 45 arrived on race-week for scrutineering with works entries received from the British Aston Martin, Riley and Singer companies and the small French manufacturer Tracta. Although British cars made up almost half the field, none were likely outright race winners. Those would probably come from the privateer Alfa Romeos or Bugattis.
From the thirteen finishers in the previous year’s race, twelve returned to contest the Biennial Cup, which therefore shaped up to be a significant competition.Spurring 2017, pp.146-7 As grid-order and Index distance were based on engine size (unmodified for supercharging, for the grid position), and there were no prizes for class victory, the nominal class groupings were largely irrelevant.
Category Entries Classes Large-sized engines 13 / 8 over 3-litre Medium-sized engines 15 / 14 1.5 to 3-litre Small-sized engines 24 / 22 up to 1.5-litre Total entrants 52 / 44 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
For the past three years, Alfa Romeo had dominated Le Mans. The works team had been closed down, with the customer team Scuderia Ferrari representing the marque in Grand Prix racing across Europe. However, in sports-car racing, the team only competed in Italy. Eight private entrants were put forward although only half of them arrived. Both Raymond Sommer and Luigi Chinetti (winners together in 1932 and 1st and 2nd respectively in 1933) were back to contest the Biennial Cup. Sommer was aiming to equal Woolf Barnato's record winning three Le Mans in a row. He would be driving an Alfa Romeo with a Grand Prix Monza chassis owned by wealthy Parisian doctor Pierre Félix (bought through Chinetti's Alfa Romeo dealership), modified to accommodate the mandatory two rear seats. The Monza engine gave 180 bhp, an extra 25-30 bhp over the other Alfa entries. Félix had a second entry that did not eventuate.Spurring 2017, p.150Williams 2023, p.72 Chinetti had a corto (short-wheelbase) Mille Miglia chassis and brought in French Grand Prix racer Philippe Étancelin as his co-driver. Englishman Earl Howe had won the race in 1931 but had been unable to compete in 1933 because of an eye injury. He returned this year with his 8C-2300 Le Mans, with its 4-seater lungo (long) touring body and with former Talbot stalwart Tim Rose-Richards as his co-driver. Rose-Richards had also filed his own entry for another 8C-2300 Le Mans, driven by Owen Saunders-Davies and Freddie Clifford.Spurring 2017, pp.152-3
There were five big Bugattis entered this year. Racing journalist Roger Labric got a degree of works support, with two mechanics from Molsheim and test-driver Pierre Veyron. His was the biggest Bugatti – the supercharged 5-litre Type 50 run by the late Guy Bouriat and Albert Divo in 1931.Spurring 2017, p.162 There were three Type 55 cars entered, with their 2.3-litre supercharged engines. That of the Équipe Braillard did not arrive, while the others were of privateers Charles Brunet and Victor Bayard.Spurring 2017, p.163 There was also a privately entered 3-litre Type 44, a popular touring model but only capable of 80 bhp. It was not expected to be among the front-runners, even among the smaller British sports cars, but it would be reliable with an engine not over-stressed.
Once again, Prince Nicholas of Romania had the biggest car in the field, with his elegant Duesenberg Model SJ. Its supercharged 6.9-litre twin-cam engine put out 320 bhp with a top speed of 215 kp/h (135 mph).Spurring 2017, p.140-1 This year he was partnered by Whitney Straight, the Anglo-American with his own grand prix racing team. Labric’s 8-year old Lorraine-Dietrich was now owned by Daniel Porthault, who entered with Just-Émile Vernet, using Vernet’s tenth place finish in a Salmson last year, to take the entry to the Biennial Cup.Spurring 2017, p.174
1- to 2-litre entries
British cars dominated the medium-sized categories. There were six Rileys entered, including a squad of four works cars. Following on from its successful Brooklands Six racer of the start of the decade, two new designs were unveiled in 1934. The MPH had a 1458cc straight-six engine that now put out 70 bhp, while the Riley Nine Imp, was a short-wheelbase, low-slung version of the Riley Nine, with its 50 bhp 1087cc 4-cylinder engine. For their racing debuts, five cars were brought to Le Mans. Two of the MPHs were entered, for Freddie Dixon / Cyril Paul and Frenchmen Jean Sébilleau / Georges Delaroche. There were also three Imps, including a private effort sponsored by Dorothy Champney (who would soon marry managing director Victor Riley), who had Kay Petre as her co-driver. Those five cars all had the new Wilson pre-selector gearbox.Spurring 2017, pp.154-5 The works team also entered their last, unsold, Brooklands Nine taking the Biennial Cup spot. It was the one raced the previous year by Sébilleau / Delaroche and given to Ken Peacock and Bill van der Becke, who had earned the entry in that race finishing fourth.
This was the first race for the new Aston Martin design, the Mark 2 Le Mans, from Technical Director ”Bert” Bertelli. The 1.5-litre engine was developed from their racing experience and in the special lightened frame, could get the cars up to 175 kp/h (110 mph). The works team was managed by former Le Mans winner Sammy Davis, with three cars, led by Bertelli himself. There were also two private entries.Spurring 2017, p.165-6
The MG K3 had proven to be a giant-killer in British handicap races and on the continent, including consecutive Tourist Trophy victories by Tazio Nuvolari. It was a lightened, short-wheelbase, variant of the K-series and with a Roots supercharger, the 1087cc engine could put out 115 bhp. John Ludovic Ford and Roy Eccles both brought new cars to Le Mans, however Eccles ran his one unsupercharged to get a shorter distance in the Index competition.Spurring 2017, pp.157-8 After just a single entry last year, Singer put in a concerted effort this year. The Singer Nine Le Mans came with two engine options. The 1493cc version put out 63 bhp and was fitted with Singer’s constant-mesh gearbox. On the Hunaudières Straight, it could get up to 170 kp/h (105 mph). The company supported two customer teams, both eligible for the Biennial Cup. Stanley Barnes had raced the Singer last year. Arthur Fox had run Lagondas and Talbots at Le Mans for five years. Still awaiting the new Lagonda, he had a Biennial entry from finishing third in 1933 with an Alfa Romeo. His drivers were Brian Lewis, Baron Essendon (fresh from winning the Mannin Moar on the Isle of Man) and Johnny Hindmarsh.Spurring 2017, pp.159-60