page_title: 1925 24 Hours of Le Mans
section_title: Entries
hierarchical_section_title: 1925 24 Hours of Le Mans / Entries
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Lorraine Dietrich B3 6S ayant servi à la photographie de l'affiche du film Borsalino
context_page_description: The 1925 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 3rd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 20 and 21 June 1925. It was the last of the three races spanning 1923 to 1925 to determine the winner of the Rudge-Whitworth Triennial Cup, as well the second race of the inaugural Biennial Cup.
context_section_description: The international attention that had come with Bentley's win the previous year drew a much bigger list of entries. Of the 68 submitted, 55 arrived for scrutineering. But this included 15 cars from outside France. Sunbeam, AC and Austin joined Bentley from Great Britain, and there were teams from Italy (Diatto and OM) and the USA (Chrysler). There were also six different tyre companies represented at the race. 
  Note: The first number is the number of arrivals, the second the number who started.
  After their distance victory the previous year, Bentley returned with a full works car to support John Duff’s privateer entry and carrying the “favourites” tag. Duff had the same car as last year. The works car had an uprated 3.3-litre engine and was driven by Bentley salesman Bertie Kensington-Moir and Dudley Benjafield, a Harley St doctor and Bentley racer at Brooklands.
  Chenard-Walcker were well-placed in both Rudge-Whitworth Cups and arrived with four cars split over two engine-sizes to hedge their bets. The plan was to chase the Cups with the smaller cars and go for the distance victory with the bigger ones. Once again, their lead drivers René Léonard and André Lagache were assigned their primary car – the latest version of the 22CV. This was lower and now had a straight-8, 3.95-litre engine. The second car was driven by 1924 team hero André Pisart, and Jacques ‘Elgy’ Ledure, formerly with Bignan. The smaller cars were inspired by the streamlined Bugatti Type 32 ‘tank’. Designer Henri Toutée's advanced Z1 was a racing version of the upcoming Y8 tourer. It had a new 1.1-litre engine produced 50 bhp and had new steering and 4-wheel braking, making it very quick. They were assigned to Sénéchal/Loqueheux and Glaszmann/de Zúñiga.
  After coming very close to victory the previous year, La Lorraine-Dietrich arrived with three of their B3-6 cars. The cars had been lightened, and the troublesome steel “artillery” wheels were replaced by Rudge-Whitworth wire ones. All three cars were now on Englebert tyres. Last year's driver pairings were shuffled a bit: Gérard de Courcelles and André Rossignol stayed together, but Brisson was with Stalter and Robert Bloch with the new Léon Saint-Paul.
  Sunbeam were now ready for Le Mans and arrived with two cars. Founded in 1899, the company came to pre-war prominence with French designer Louis Coatalen. Making aero-engines for Bristol during the war, they had been forced to merge with Talbot-Darracq in 1920, becoming STD. Already with a strong racing pedigree, with Land Speed Records for Kenelm Lee Guinness and Malcolm Campbell, they became the only British carmaker to win a Grand Prix in the first half of the twentieth century when Sir Henry Segrave won the 1923 French Grand Prix. Coatalen developed the two cars for Le Mans from the current production 24/60 model. The 2.9-litre engine put out 90 bhp with a 4-speed gearbox. With 4-wheel braking, they also ran with Rapson tyres like the Bentleys. Segrave was perhaps the most well-known British racing driver, and was paired with George Duller, while the second car had works drivers Jean Chassagne and Autocar journalist Sammy Davis. Originally a British company, Talbot had been bought out by the British-owned, Paris-based Darracq company 1919, which then merged with Sunbeam the next year. Its production was relocated to Paris and it was two of the 1.5-litre Type C, first made in 1923, that were sent to Le Mans.
  Ariès brought a newmodel to Le Mans this year. The Type S GP2 was lowered, with a shorter wheelbase and an improved 3-litre engine. This year company-owner Baron Charles Petiet was able to procure the services of the great Louis Wagner who had raced Darracq, FIAT and Mercedes before the war, and recently with the Alfa Romeo works team. Ariès also bought a pair of its smaller CC2 1100cc cars to compete for the 1924-5 Biennial Cup.
  The biggest car in the field was a Sizaire-Berwick, in the Anglo-French company's only Le Mans appearance. Designed by Maurice Sizaire in Paris, the cars had originally been made in London. Financial struggles saw that fact
caption: Lorraine Dietrich B3 6 Sport
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