1902 Gordon Bennett Cup
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-1906 Grand Prix seasons | |||
| Date | 26–28 June 1902 | ||
| Official name | III Coupe Internationale | ||
| Location | Paris, France to Innsbruck, Austria | ||
| Course | Public roads | ||
| Course length | 565 km (351 mi) | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Napier | ||
The 1902 Gordon Bennett Cup, formally titled the III Coupe Internationale, was a motor race held on 26–28 June 1902, on public roads between Paris, France, and Innsbruck, Austria. The race was held over a 565 km section of the route of the Paris-Vienna race, held concurrently. France were to attempt to defend the Gordon Bennett Cup against Britain, and each country was represented by three entries, with the car that finished the race in the shortest time winning the race on behalf of his country. Selwyn Edge driving a Napier, and representing the Automobile Club of Britain and Ireland, was the only competitor to finish the race and so Britain were the winners of the Gordon Bennett Cup and would be required to defend it in Britain the following year.
The first day of the race saw three of the six competitors retire from the race; two French drivers and one Briton. The only remaining French driver, Rene de Knyff led the race by over an hour from Edge, with the other British driver Montague Grahame-White over five hours behind. The second day took the competitors through Switzerland, where motor racing was banned, and so this was deemed a neutralised section with cars required to adhere to a speed limit of 15 mph. The third and final day of the race for the Gordon Bennett Cup began at Bregenz and ran to Innsbruck in Austria. The route took the competitors over the Arlberg Pass, and this section of the route caused de Knyff's differential to break and Grahame-White's crankshaft to fail, forcing them both to retire and leaving Edge as the only competitor remaining in the race. Edge reached Innsbruck to claim victory for Britain, in a time of just over 11 hours.
The Gordon Bennett races had been established by American millionaire James Gordon Bennett, Jr. in 1900, with the intention of encouraging automobile industries through sport. Both the inaugural event and the previous event in 1901 had been won by representatives of the Automobile Club de France (ACF). Under the rules of the competition, the following race was required to be held in the country that currently held the cup, meaning that for the third year in succession, France would host the Gordon Bennett cup.
However, following another race held later in 1901, the Paris-Berlin city-to-city race, in which a young boy had been killed after being struck by a competitor when he stepped into the road, the French government passed a law to ban motor racing. Some negotiations were required between representatives of the French automobile industry and the French government before the law was repealed and racing could proceed. An agreement was also required with the authorities in Switzerland, where racing was also banned. It was agreed that the section of the race through Switzerland would be neutralised, and cars would be given a minimum time to complete the journey which would be achievable without exceeding any speed limits.
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