At 2:00 am 224 participants {subdivided as follows: 88 cars in the heaviest class, (650 to 1000 kg), 49 cars between 400 and 650 kg, 33 voiturettes under 400 kg and 54 motorcycles} started at one minute intervals in front of the Eau des Suisses at the gardens of Versailles, for the first leg of the Paris to Madrid road race


Sunday 24th May 1903

At 2:00 am 224 participants {subdivided as follows: 88 cars in the heaviest class, (650 to 1000 kg), 49 cars between 400 and 650 kg, 33 voiturettes under 400 kg and 54 motorcycles} started at one minute intervals in front of the Eau des Suisses at the gardens of Versailles, for the first leg of the Paris to Madrid road race. Almost immediately the track became clogged with spectators after the soldiers, whose job it was to keep the track clear of human obstacles, failed to hold back the 300,000 or so spectators. To worsen an already dangerous situation, severe dust hampered the drivers’ vision and in some locations the drivers reported a visibility of no more than a few feet in front of their cars. This made it near impossible for the drivers to effectively weave around the careless spectators. A young soldier who stepped in front of a car to save the life of a toddler who had innocently strayed into the path of the car, died. He wasn’t the only person to lose their life over the course of the first day. Marcel Renault, co-founder of the car brand which shares his name, and his mechanic were killed when Renault’s car left the road at Poitiers. A mechanic riding on Porter’s car was killed instantly and Porter himself was badly injured when his car hit a rail crossing guard and overturned. A driver and two spectators died when a car left the road while trying to avoid a dog in the latter part of the day and hit the crowd. Loraine Barrow crashed his De Dietrich into a tree, killing the mechanic. A woman who was obscured by dust was killed while crossing the road when she was struck by another driver. Over the course of the first day, half of the cars left the race, either through retirements or crashes, while four spectators and five drivers or mechanics were killed. The French Parliament reacted strongly to the news of the numerous accidents. An emergency Council of Ministers was called and the officers were forced to shut down the race in Bordeaux, transfer the cars to Spanish territory and restart from the border to Madrid. The Spanish government denied permission for this, and the race was declared officially over in Bordeaux.


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