1900 Gordon Bennett Cup
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-1906 Grand Prix seasons | |||
| Date | 14 June 1900 | ||
| Official name | I Coupe Internationale | ||
| Location | Paris to Lyon, France | ||
| Course | Public roads | ||
| Course length | 568.66 km (353.35 mi) | ||
| Podium | |||
| First |
|
Panhard | |
| Second |
|
Panhard | |
The 1900 Gordon Bennett Cup, formally titled the I Coupe Internationale, was a motor race held on 14 June 1900, on public roads between Paris and Lyon in France. It was staged to decide the inaugural holder of the Gordon Bennett Cup, which was the first prize to be awarded for motorsport on an international level. The 568.66 km (353.35 mi) route started at Paris and headed south-west as far as Châteaudun. The route then took the competitors south-easterly, passing through Orléans, Nevers, and Roanne before reaching the finish at Lyon.
The race was won by Fernand Charron, who represented France and drove a car manufactured by Panhard. Léonce Girardot, also representing France on a Panhard, was the only other driver to finish. Five drivers had entered the race; three representing France, the maximum number any one country were permitted, one from Belgium, and one from the United States of America.
Prior to 1900, automobile racing consisted of city-to-city races, organised by various national automobile clubs. The Gordon Bennett Cup was established by American millionaire James Gordon Bennett, Jr. with the intention of encouraging automobile industries internationally through sport. Bennett had moved to Paris in 1887 and came up with the idea of an international competition between representatives of national motoring clubs. Among the principles of the competition were that each country was limited to three entries, that the race to determine the winner of the cup would be between 550 and 650 kilometres and that the race would be held annually between 15 May and 15 August. Bennett commissioned a trophy, which he offered to the custody of the Automobile Club de France (ACF) who he also entrusted to draft the technical rules for the competition, and to arrange the inaugural event. The latter responsibility would then be bestowed on the motoring club who's representative won the previous year's race.
In April 1900, a race for motor-tricycles was held from Paris-Roubaix. It was marred by many incidents, including a collision between two competitors which left two spectators injured, one of whom was the wife of the Deputy for the Department of the Seine. Soon after, motor racing was banned within the Department of the Seine, which was then extended by the Ministry of the Interior to all of France. Any exception to the law was required to be made through the central government, who had the choice of whether to grant a permit to allow a race to go ahead.
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