Chiron wins the European Grand Prix. Bouriat the moral victor

The 1930 European Grand Prix on the Spa circuit was held to the fuel consumption formula. The Bugatti and Imperia factories both entered three-car teams while the remaining nine entries comprised independent Belgian and French drivers with no real chance of outright victory. The three factory Bugattis were the only serious racecars with Chiron, Divo and Bouriat as the early leaders. Stoffel in an old Peugeot rated amongst the favorites and held second place when he ran out of fuel near the end. The works Bugattis in the first three places were arranged with a staged finish to let Chiron win. Duray (Ariès) finished fourth ahead of Zehender (Imperia), Charles Montier (Ford-Montier) and Ledure (Imperia) was the last finisher. From the eight retirements four cars ran out of fuel.

The European Grand Prix was held for the first time in 1923 at Monza and was won by Salamono (Fiat). In 1924 the race was held in France where Campari (Alfa Romeo) was victorious at Lyon. In 1925 Belgium held the European Grand Prix at Spa where Ascari (Alfa Romeo) won. The following year Goux (Bugatti) won the event at San Sebastian in Spain. In 1927 the European Grand Prix returned to Monza and was won by Benoist (Delage). In 1928 Great Britain had declined to hold the European Grand Prix, so it went again to Monza and was won by Chiron (Bugatti). In 1929 the ACF had organized their great annual race to the fuel consumption formula, but the other clubs did not want to comply with it. Then Italy was chosen again to taken over the organization of the European Grand Prix but the Italian club withdrew and the European Grand Prix did not take place that year.       For 1930 the sporting committee of the R.A.B.C. (Royal Automobile Club de Belgique) organized the Grand Prix d'Europe on the occasion of the centennial celebrations of independence, a national holiday on July 21. The race was held the day before on the 14.914 km Spa-Francorchamps circuit to the A.I.A.C.R. consumption formula, which specified that the cars were not allowed to use more than 14 kg/100 km of 70% gasoline mixed with 30% benzol, including oil consumption. The cars had to weigh at least 900 kg and the race distance had to be no less than 600 km. With this strict ruling the spectacular side of the speed races was missing. The secret of victory depended on technical methods like a well-regulated fuel feed system for example, which was unseen by the public.

Entries: Three factory Imperias with Zehender, Ledure and Doré headed the entry list. The Belgian company had prepared three racecars for this event, so that the Belgian Industry was appropriately represented at their nation's important event. These modified sports cars raced without a supercharger and had an 1800 cc, 6-cylinder slide-valve engine fed by six carburetors designed by engineer Jean Couchard, but they had no real chance of winning. Bugatti sent three factory entries with supercharged 8-cylinder 2.3 - liter T35Bs, formerly entered at the Targa Florio, for Chiron, Divo and Bouriat. There were three independent Bugattis, Reinartz with a 2.3-liter T43 in race trim Thiron drove a T35C and Cornet a T35, according to Delsaux's reports. There were two Ford Montier special cars, built by the Frenchman Charles Montier on the basis of the Ford A model. The chassis was lowered and cylinder heads altered with valves, camshafts and other parts. Charles drove one car while his son Ferdinand drove the other. One independent 3-liter Ariès was driven by the veteran Arthur Duray, who at a younger age had raced in the town-to-town races. The strongest of the independent amateurs was a 4-liter Peugeot with slide-valve engine, which belonged to Stoffel and was driven by him under the pseudonym "Henry". The Belgian Franz Gouvion drove a Lombard sports car in race trim with the smallest engine of 1083 cc with two overhead camshafts and a Cozette supercharger. Emile Burie drove a 3-liter 6-cylinder Georges Irat sports car in race trim.

Race: A large crowd had arrived to watch this Grand Prix of Europe on a day with beautiful summer weather. From the drawing of lots before practice, the 15 car starting grid assembled in the following order:

16 Thirion Bugatti 3 Doré Imperia 9 Chiron Bugatti 1 Zehender Imperia 6 F. Montier Ford-Montier 12 Reinartz Bugatti 7 Divo Bugatti 4 Duray Ariès 2 Ledure Imperia 17 Bourie Georges Irat 8 Bouriat Bugatti 18 Gouvion Lombard 11 Cornet Bugatti 19 Stoffel Peugeot 5 C. Montier Ford-Montier

At 12:00 noon the 15 cars started when Thirion and Zehender got away first followed by Chiron and Reinartz. At Stavelot corner Chiron's Bugatti was in the lead, followed by his team mates Divo and Bouriat, while Reinartz and Stoffel trailed behind. After the first lap Chiron led with a lap of 7m49s at an average speed of 114.371 km/h, ahead of Divo (Bugatti) and Bouriat (Bugatti), followed by Reinartz (Bugatti), Stoffel (Peugeot), Duray (Ariès), Thirion (Bugatti), F. Montier (Ford-Montier), Bourie (Georges Irat), Doré (Imperia), C. Montier (Ford-Montier), Zehender (Imperia), Ledure (Imperia), Gouvion (Lombard) and Cornet (Bugatti).       On the second lap the three factory Bugattis had formed a unified leading trio ahead of the remaining cars. Bourie's Georges Irat gained three places. Chiron held the lead also on lap 5 with the cars in the following order: 1. Chiron (Bugatti) 39m09s 2. Bouriat (Bugatti) 39m28s 3. Divo (Bugatti) 39m35s 4. Stoffel (Peugeot) 40m29s 5. Reinartz (Bugatti) 41m02s 6. Duray (Ariès) 41m35s 7. Bourie (Georger-Irat) 41m40s 8. Zehender (Imperia) 41m42s 9. Thirion (Bugatti) 42m24s 10. Doré (Imperia) 42m50s 11. F. Montier junior (Ford-Montier) 42m52s 12. C. Montier senior (Ford-Montier) 43m25s 13. Ledure (Imperia) 43m55s 14. Gouvion (Lombard) 44m40s 15. Cornet (Bugatti) 47m09s 1 lap behind After six laps, Chiron was 30 seconds head of Divo and Bouriat. Chiron completed the first eight laps in 1h02m18s. Bourie's Georges-Irat was the first retirement on lap eight when running in seventh place. Zehender passed Duray and captured sixth place. Gouvion (Lombard) was lapped on the tenth lap by Chiron, who led at an average speed of 115.214 km/h after 10 laps. 1. Chiron (Bugatti) 1h17m40s 2. Divo (Bugatti) 1h18m15s 3. Bouriat (Bugatti) 1h18m19s 4. Stoffel (Peugeot) 1h19m39s 5. Reinartz (Bugatti) 1h21m25s 6. Zehender (Imperia) 1h21m48s 7. Duray (Ariès) 1h23m49s 8. Thirion (Bugatti) 1h23m50s 9. F. Montier junior (Ford-Montier) 1h23m55s 10. C. Montier senior (Ford-Montier) 1h25m38s 11. Doré (Imperia) 1h25m58s 12. Ledure (Imperia) 1h26m04s 13. Gouvion (Lombard) 1h28m17s 1 lap behind 14. Cornet (Bugatti) -- After the twelfth lap Divo very briefly stopped at his pit, just to come in again after lap 13 when a wheel was changed in a rush. That allowed Bouriat into second position and Stoffel was third. When Cornet at the end of the field retired his Bugatti after 12 laps, there were only 13 cars left racing. Chiron was still leading after 15 laps. 1. Chiron (Bugatti) 1h56m37s 2. Bouriat (Bugatti 1h57m08s 3. Stoffel (Peugeot) 1h58m30s 4. Divo (Bugatti) 1h59m41s 5. Reinartz (Bugatti) 2h01m32s 6. Zehender (Imperia) 2h01m33s 7. F. Montier junior (Ford-Montier) 2h03m43s 8. Thirion (Bugatti) 2h08m26s 1 lap behind 9. Duray (Ariès) 2h08m29s 1 lap behind 10. Doré (Imperia) 2h08m50s 1 lap behind 11. C. Montier senior (Ford-Montier) 2h09m28s 1 lap behind 12. Ledure (Imperia) 2h09m42s 1 lap behind 13. Gouvion (Lombard) 2h11m53s 2 laps behind Very soon Divo in the faster car had made up ground and passed the Peugeot without a problem to gain third place. The Impérias were not fast enough to challenge the front runners and could only reach 160 km/h. The Montier Specials showed themselves to be regular and solid, but the fastest cars of the day were unquestionably the Bugattis. After the 15th lap, Cornet had retired. At mid-race, Chiron was leading at 114.955 km/h after 20 laps: 1. Chiron (Bugatti) 2h35m41s 2. Bouriat (Bugatti) 2h36m19s 3. Divo (Bugatti) 2h38m06s 4. Stoffel (Peugeot) 2h38m23s 5. Reinartz (Bugatti) 2h41m20s 6. Zehender (Imperia) 2h41m57s 7. F. Montier (Ford-Montier) 2h45m13s 1 lap behind 8. Ledure (Imperia) 2h45m40s 1 lap behind 9. Duray (Ariès) 2h47m05s 1 lap behind 10. Thirion (Bugatti) 2h48m41s 1 lap behind 11. Doré (Imperia) 2h51m00s 2 laps behind 12. C. Montier (Ford-Montier) 2h51m41s 2 laps behind 13. Gouvion (Lombard) 3h03m06s 3 laps behind On lap 25 Chiron lapped Zehender's slow Imperia and headed for the pits to cure his car's ignition trouble. Changing plugs lost him 1m30s of his lead. . The order of the first seven drivers remained the same while Duray passed Ledure for eighth place and Thirion fell behind to twelfth position. Chiron was still leading after 25 laps. 1. Chiron (Bugatti) 3h14m07s 2. Bouriat (Bugatti) 3h15m00s 3. Divo (Bugatti) 3h15m52s 4. Stoffel (Peugeot) 3h15m54s 5. Reinartz (Bugatti) 3h21m30s 1 lap behind 6. Zehender (Imperia) 3h21m40s 1 lap behind 7. F. Montier junior (Ford-Montier) 3h26m10s 1 lap behind 8. Duray (Ariès) 3h26m20s 1 lap behind 9. Ledure (Imperia) 3h31m10s 2 laps behind 10. C. Montier senior (Ford-Montier) 3h33m32s 2 laps behind 11. Doré (Imperia) 3h36m58s 3 laps behind 12. Thirion (Bugatti) 3h40m25s 3 laps behind 13. Gouvion (Lombard) 3h46m53s 4 laps behind On lap 26 Chiron stopped again at his pit, losing more time changing plugs once more and dropping to fourth place. Bouriat now held the lead ahead of Divo and Stoffel while Chiron was busy recovering the lost time. Doré (Imperia) and Thirion (Bugatti) retired. After 30 laps, ¾ distance, Bouriat was leading at 115.088 km/h. 1. Bouriat (Bugatti) 3h53m15s 2. Divo (Bugatti) 3h53m18s 3. Stoffel (Peugeot) 3h53m30s 4. Chiron (Bugatti) 3h53m50s 5. Reinartz (Bugatti) 4h01m21s 6. Zehender (Imperia) 4h03m33s 7. Duray (Ariès) 4h04m56s 8. F. Montier junior (Ford-Montier) 4h08m54s 9. Ledure (Imperia) 4h15m04s 10. C. Montier senior (Ford-Montier) 4h15m06s 11. Gouvion (Lombard) 4h30m31s When Divo stopped at his pit with a second wheel change, Stoffel advanced to second place. Duray passed Zehender for sixth place and Ledure fell one place behind. After 35 laps Bouriat was in the lead. 1. Bouriat (Bugatti) 4h30m39s 1. Bouriat (Bugatti) 4h30m39s 2. Divo (Bugatti) 4h30m44s 3. Stoffel (Peugeot) 4h30m49s 4. Chiron (Bugatti) 4h32m52s 5. Reinartz (Bugatti) 4h42m36s 1 lap behind 6. Duray (Ariès) 4h43m43s 1 lap behind 7. Zehender (Imperia) 4h44m01s 1 lap behind 8. F. Montier junior (Ford-Montier) 4h47m47s 2 laps behind 9. C. Montier senior (Ford-Montier) 4h56m03s 3 laps behind 10. Ledure (Imperia) 4h56m58s 3 laps behind 11. Gouvion (Lombard) ? 5 laps behind Chiron in fourth place was closing on Divo whom he passed on lap 38 for third position, he then chased after Bouriat and Stoffel ahead of him. Stoffel, who temporarily was threatening for the lead, was just five seconds behind Bouriat. Then on the last lap Stoffel's Peugeot came to a stop 10 km from the finish with an empty tank. This was a great disappointment since he had driven splendidly against the Bugatti team without any factory support from Peugeot. Reinartz's Bugatti also ran out of fuel as did Charles Montier and Gouvion.       Jean Bugatti, who managed his team, had given strict instructions that if all three of them finished, Chiron was to be the winner since he had the best chance for the World Championship title. On the last lap Bouriat, who had a 2m30s advantage to Chiron, followed the order and waited some distance from the finish line to the amazement of the unaware spectators. Bouriat sat in his car until Chiron caught up and was content with second place. This shameless exhibition of an absurd arrangement did not go down well with the crowd. Divo finished in third position ahead of Duray, followed by Zehender, Montier Sr. and Ledure.