1907 ARDENNES CIRCUIT

1 9 0 7

18 Moore Brabazon
SA Minerva Motors, Antwerp
Minerva

11 Frederick Koolhoven
SA Minerva Motors, Antwerp
Minerva

24 Algernon Lee Guinness
SA Minerva Motors, Antwerp
Minerva

1907 ARDENNES CIRCUIT RACE
Kaiser Formula

Bastogne (B), 25 July 1907 (Thursday).
7 laps x 85.714 km (53.262 mi) = 599.988 km (372.838 mi)

No.	Driver	Entrant	Car	Type	Engine		Bore Stroke

1	Warwick Wright	SA Minerva Motors, Antwerp	Minerva		7.9	S-4	145 x 120
2	Otto Hieronimus	Süddeutsche Automobilfabrik	Gaggenau		7.9	S-4	135 x 139
3	Geisinger	Adlerwerke, Heinrich Kleyer AG	Adler		8.0	S-4	146 x 120
4	Jean Vallée	SA Ariès	Ariès		7.8	S-4	160 x 98
5	Schulz	Automobiles Imperia, Liège	Imperia		8.0	S-4	140 x 130
7	Victor Hémery	Benz & Cie	Benz		7.9	S-4	145 x 120
9	Lucien Hautvast	Co. Belge de Construction Auto.	Pipe		8.0	S-4	140 x 130
10	Hugo Wilhelm	SA L'Auto Métallurgique	Métallurgique		8.0	S-4	140 x 130
11	Frederick Koolhoven	SA Minerva Motors, Antwerp	Minerva		7.9	S-4	145 x 120
12	Thaddy Robl	Süddeutsche Automobil-Fabrik	Gaggenau		7.9	S-4	135 x 139
13	Gerhard Adelberger	Adlerwerke, Heinrich Kleyer AG	Adler		8.0	S-4	146 x 120
14	Alfred Villemain	SA Ariès	Ariès		7.8	S-4	160 x 98
15	de Guise	Automobiles Imperia, Liège	Imperia		8.0	S-4	140 x 130
16	René Hanriot	Benz & Cie	Benz		7.9	S-4	145 x 120
17	Charles Deplus	Co. Belge de Construction Auto.	Pipe		8.0	S-4	140 x 130
18	Moore Brabazon	SA Minerva Motors, Antwerp	Minerva		7.9	S-4	145 x 120
19	Domenico Piccoli	Süddeutsche Automobil-Fabrik	Gaggenau		7.9	S-4	135 x 139
20	Bartel	Adlerwerke, Heinrich Kleyer AG	Adler		8.0	S-4	146 x 120
21	Paul Henze	Automobiles Imperia, Liège	Imperia		8.0	S-4	140 x 130
22	Paul Spamann	Benz & Cie	Benz		7.9	S-4	145 x 120
23	Camille Jenatzy	Co. Belge de Construction Auto.	Pipe		8.0	S-4	140 x 130
24	Algernon Lee Guinness	SA Minerva Motors, Antwerp	Minerva		7.9	S-4	145 x 120
25	Theodore Pilette	A. Pilette	Mercedes	82 hp	8.0	S-4	140 x 130

Moore Brabazon wins 1907 Ardennes Circuit to Kaiser Formula

by Hans Etzrodt

The Royal Belgian AC organized the 1907 Ardennes Circuit Race, when 23 Kaiserpreis vehicles lined up at the start followed with a struggle between Pipe and Minerva. Hautvast (Pipe) led the first two laps but at the third round Guinness (Minerva) drove a record lap and passed into the lead while the last of the three Pipes retired after the fourth lap. Guinness held the lead till the sixth lap, closely followed by his Minerva teammates Koolhoven and Moore-Brabazon. The Benz of Hanriot worked himself into third position before Moore Brabazon drove a very fast last lap and won the race by 27 seconds ahead of Koolhoven and Guinness in the three Minerva cars followed by Hanriot (Benz), Hieronimus (Gaggenau), Wright on the fourth Minerva and Henze (Imperia), the last finisher. The sixteen retirements are listed in the results.

The 1907 Ardennes Circuit race was held over the same course as in 1902 and 1903, having to cover seven laps of the now 85.714 km long Bastogne circuit. This year two races were arranged, on account of the different car types in existence. The race for Kaiserpreis vehicles on Thursday, 25. July to the Kaiser formula brought an entry of 23 cars and the race for Grand Prix cars, two days afterwards took place on Saturday, 27. July and is described after Thursday's report.
The more important Kaiserpreis regulations limited the car's engine to 8-liters engine capacity. The minimal wheelbase had to be 300 cm. The minimum weight of each car was 1175 kg without fuel, oil, water, tools and spare parts. Every car had to have two seats for an adult person next to each other. Every manufacturer could enter up to three cars. The Belgian Minera company had been allowed to appear with four cars.

Circuit:
The 85.714 km Ardennes Circuit was driven in counterclockwise direction seven times, a total distance of 599.998 km. The same route, now remeasured, had been used for the 1902 and 1903 race. The course passed through small towns and large villages that did not require neutralization. As a result, the race was without any mandatory stops. From the start at Bastogne at a 300-meter stretch of cobbled stone paving the road headed south-west for 25 km to Longlier along a straight road with some fast bends. At Longlier the course turned south-east for 23 km passing through some sharp turns, climbing up to Béhême village, then downhill to Habay la Neuve. At that juncture, the track led east, to soon turn north for 17.2 km to reach Martelange, near the Luxembourg border. The following section went further north for 20.2 km on an almost straight stretch to Bastogne., completing the 85.714 km circuit. The repeated passing of the cars over the same road made the race very interesting for the spectators. The course had been tarred to reduce the dust.

Entries:
Minerva, the Belgian company at Antwerp, appeared with four cars for Warwick Wright, Frederick Koolhoven, Moore Brabazon and Algernon Lee Guinness, the latter had finished third at the second Kaiserpreis qualification race.
Süddeutsche Automobilfabrik in Gaggenau, Germany entered three cars for Otto Hieronimus, Thaddäus "Thaddy" Robl and Domenico Piccoli. Hieronimus had retired at the Kaiserpreis qualification race.
Adlerwerke in Frankfurt, Germany entered three cars for Geisinger, Gerhard Adelberger and Bartel. The cars had taken part with other drivers at the Kaiserpreis qualification but did not reach the Final.
SA Ariès was a French factory at Asniêres-sur-Seine which arrived with two newly designed cars for this race run by Jean Vallée and Alfred Villemain.
Automobiles Imperia in Liège in Belgium entered three new cars for Schulz, de Guise and Paul Henze, which had not taken part at the Kaiserpreis race.
Pipe at Brussels, Belgium entered three cars for Lucien Hautvast, Charles Deplus and Camille Jenatzy. Hautvast had finished second at the Kaiserpreis race on June 14.
SA L'Auto Métallurgique at Marchienne-au-Pont, Belgium arrived with just one car for Hugo Wilhelm, who had taken part at the Kaiserpreis qualification but did not make it into the Final.
Benz & Cie in Mannheim, Germany entered three cars for Victor Hémery, René Hanriot and Paul Spamann. They had taken part at the Kaiserpreis qualification but did not race at the Final.
Mercedes was entered independently by the car's owner Theodore Pilette from Belgium. In the 14. June Kaiserpreis race Otto Salzer had finished ninth with a works entered car.

Scrutineering:
Le Figaro on 23. July reported that the preliminary operations of weighing and checking the cars were to take place on Wednesday 24. July. However, none of the newspaper reports available for this report mentioned the pesage or weighing the cars.

Controversy, Variances and Race Numbers:
There are variations amongst all accounts used in both Ardennes Circuit reports. Only La France Automobile and Gerald Rose used the correct race numbers in their reports, with number '6' missing. But then all our first four sources published wrong race numbers except for the first five cars, all others were wrong, probably originated by L'Auto. Each of the intermediate times has been rechecked, so adding up all lap times turns out correct Total Times.

Start:
The morning weather was fine when 23 cars lined up ready to be released in minute intervals. Warwick Wright was loosened at 5 a.m. Pilette (Mercedes) had left by 22 minutes past the hour.

Time

Driver

Racing Car