1907 Grand Prix season


The 1907 Grand Prix season was the second Grand Prix racing season. It saw a blossoming of circuit events, with the shift from the inter-city races. The popularity of the inaugural French Grand Prix and Targa Florio saw those events held again. The new Kaiserpreis was the first major motor-race held in Germany. This year also saw a number of voiteurette races as the number of specialist small-engine cars grew which gave close, exciting racing very popular with spectators.
Felice Nazzaro, former chauffeur for Vincenzo Florio, was the pre-eminent driver of the year by winning the Targa Florio, Kaiserpreis and French Grand Prix in his FIAT. With Alessandro Cagno and Ferdinando Minoia winning the Brescia races it signalled the rise of Italy as the leading motorsport nation over France, that had dominated during the first decade.
This year also saw the opening of the first purpose-built racing circuit at Brooklands southwest of London, England on the estate of British entrepreneur Hugh F. Locke King.

Major Races

Sources:
DateNameCircuitRace
Regulations		Race
Distance		Winning driverWinning
constructor		Report
18 Apr I Coppa delle VetturetteMadonieVoiturette300 km Louis NaudinSizaire-NaudinReport
22 Apr II Targa FlorioMadonieTarga Florio450 km Felice NazzaroFiatReport
13–14 Jun I Kaiser PreisTaunusKaiserpreis290 miles Felice NazzaroFiatReport
2 Jul II French Grand PrixDieppeACF Grand Prix760 km Felice NazzaroFiatReport
2 Jul I Coupe de la Commission SportiveDieppe450 km. de LangheDarracqReport
25 Jul VI Ardennes CircuitBastogneKaiserpreis600 km John Moore-BrabazonMinervaReport
27 Jul VI Ardennes CircuitBastogneACF Grand Prix600 km Pierre de CatersMercedesReport
27 Jul Liederkerke CupBastogne425 km. PorlierMinervaReport
13 Aug I Corsa Siciliano VetturettePalermoVoiturette240 km Vincenzo FlorioDe Dion-BoutonReport
1 Sep III Coppa FlorioBresciaKaiserpreis300 km Ferdinando MinoiaIsotta FraschiniReport
2 Sep I Coppa della VelocitàBresciaACF Grand Prix300 km Alessandro CagnoItalaReport
10 Oct I Corsa Vetturette MadonieMadonieVoiturette300 kmPaolo TascaDe Dion-BoutonReport
28 Oct II Coupe des VoiturettesRambouilletVoiturette300 km Louis NaudinSizaire-NaudinReport

Season review

The success of the first Targa Florio the previous year had been built up since, and 45 cars arrived in Sicily from Italy, France and Germany. Tens of thousands of spectators arrived for the race. In an exciting race, Louis Wagner in his Darracq pursued the FIATs and Italas. But when the Darracq broke its half-shaft on the rough mountain roads, the Italians took the victory. Felice Nazzaro won from his teammate, Vincenzo Lancia, with Maurice Fabry in third and Arthur Duray fourth.
The German Kaiserpreis Rennen was held on a 117km circuit in the Taunus Mountains north of Frankfurt. It was part of the circuit used for the 1904 Gordon Bennett Cup. The ADAC regulations stipulated the race was for touring cars of a maximum of 8-litres and 1165kg. Such was the interest, with 92 entries, that two 2-laps heats were held to get a final 20 qualifiers for the 4-lap final. FIAT dominated the race with Lancia winning the first heat and Nazzaro the second, before he went on to win the final.
Great Britain had a universal speed limit of on the open road and did not allow motor-racing on public roads, as on the continent. Therefore, constructed at his own expense, Hugh F. Locke King established the first purpose-built racetrack in the world at Brooklands on his estate in Surrey. A pear-shaped course, with banking at each end, it was long and wide. It opened on 28 June with Selwyn Edge setting a new 24-hour distance record of. The first full race meeting was on 6 July with six races.
Although the inaugural Grand Prix had made an impact, it had not been a financial success for the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and they declined to host this year’s event. Instead, it was held at Dieppe on the northern coast. The French Automobile Club also modified the regulations and format. In an effort to limit the trend for ever-increasing engine size in pursuit of power, the ACF dictated a fuel-consumption formula allowing 30 litres of gasoline per 100km. The race was 10 laps of a roughly triangular circuit from Dieppe to Eu, Londinières and back. Though initially of better quality roads, the surface soon broke up. Lancia had his Fiat run out of fuel on the last lap while in 3rd position. But once again it was Nazzaro who claimed the victory. His 16.3-litre FIAT completed the 770km in 6 hours and 47 minutes, at an average speed of 114 km/h. The 1906-winner, Ferenc Szisz, in a 12.8-litre Renault was second.
The Belgian Automobile Club presented its Circuit des Ardennes weekend in three formats: there were only 6 entrants in the race run to the ACF rules. The alternative race, using the Kaiserpreis regulations had 23 starters. Belgian car-company Minerva scored a 1-2-3 finish, headed by the British Baron John Moore-Brabazon. Finally there was the Liederkerke Cup. This time Moore-Brabazon finished second behind Porlier also in a Minerva.
Similarly, the Italians ran the Coppa Florio to the two regulations. Ferdinando Minoia, in an Isotta Fraschini, won the third Coppa Florio, run to the Kaiserpreis rules, while the next day Alessandro Cagno in his 18-litre Itala won the ACF-based Coppa della Velocità di Brescia.
Meanwhile, in the United States, with ongoing issues with crowd-control the Vanderbilt Cup was not run this year.
There were still several inter-city races held: in June Arthur Duray in his Lorraine-Dietrich won the Moscow to St. Petersburg race in Russia. Perhaps the most epic though was the Peking to Paris race. Sponsored by French newspaper Le Matin, five cars started the 15000km trial in June. The Italian Conde Scipione Borghese arrived in his Itala exactly two months later and two months ahead of the next finisher, a French De Dion-Bouton.
;Citations