page_title: 1932 24 Hours of Le Mans
section_title: Finish and post-race
hierarchical_section_title: 1932 24 Hours of Le Mans / Race / Finish and post-race
caption_attribution_description: English: Sommer and Chinetti at the 1932 24 Hours of Le Mans.
context_page_description: The 1932 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 10th Grand Prix of Endurance that took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 18 and 19 June 1932. A significant year for the Automobile Club de l'Ouest with the biggest changes to the circuit in the race's history. A new section bypassing Pontlieue suburb was built starting with a long right turn after the pits, going over a hill then down to the Esses, a left-right combination, before rejoining the Hunaudières straight at the new right-hand corner of Tertre Rouge. This shortened the track by almost 3 km down to 13.491 km.
  On paper it looked like it would be a race between the seven 2.3-litre supercharged Alfa Romeos and the two similarly powered Bugatti T55 four-seaters. But from the start it was the Alfa Romeos that set the pace, led by the two works cars in a furious duel. But a first-lap accident by a privateer Bentley at the tricky White House corners caused much disruption for drivers who would not slow down. First Minoia went off at the same place, taking Brisson's Stutz with him, then Marinoni smacked the Bentley trying to make up for an hour lost digging himself out from the Arnage sandbank after another excursion.
context_section_description: After a heroic drive, Sommer held on to take the victory after driving for over twenty hours. His pace was sufficient to also win the Index of Performance. After their delays Cortese and Guidotti come home only two laps in arrears. 
   
  The Talbot started its final, and target, lap with just eight minutes to spare and finished third, a distant 36 laps (nearly 500 km) further back. Just a lap behind, in fourth, was the 2-litre Alfa Romeo of Odette Siko. Taking the 2-litre class win, to date this is still the highest finish at Le Mans by a female driver. Their 179 laps had not overtaken the Czaykowski Bugatti that had retired three hours earlier.
  Fifth was the Newsome/Widengren Aston Martin which had a good run after its initial fuel hiccups. It beat home the Bugatti of Sébilleau/Delaroche to win the 1.5-litre class. Because of the speed of the new circuit layout, they won at a record speed but actually covered 60 km less than the class-winning Aston the previous year.
  In the end the Bertelli/Briscoll Aston Martin beat its target distance by 20 laps, only placing it 7th on the Index of Performance, but about 5 laps further than the Caban needed to win the Biennial Cup. After a reliable run the French special had been delayed near the end with an intermittent misfire.
  It was the last time that two-time winner, Sir Tim Birkin, would be at Le Mans. In May the next year he burnt his arm on his exhaust pipe at the Tripoli Grand Prix. The wound turned septic and he died of septicaemia a week after the 1933 Le Mans race, aged 36.
  It was an inauspicious result for debutantes Citroën and Alta, and neither appeared at Le Mans again. Nor did Stutz or Caban after more successful results. It was also the last race for a while for Mercedes-Benz as they put their focus on Grand Prix racing. They would be away for two decades until returning in the 1950s
  For finishing third in three consecutive races, the ACO awarded Arthur Fox a special gold medal, perhaps compensating for the Talbot's tribulations. However, in a final insult, upon returning to England, the Customs department charged him 30% import duty on the medal.
  This year was arguably one of the most dominant displays by a single manufacturer – with Alfa Romeo winning every major European racing prize in 1932. The 8C, in its sports or racing guises, aside from this Le Mans victory also won the Targa Florio, Mille Miglia, Spa 24-hours and Monaco GP; while the Tipo B won the other Grand Epreuves of the year at France, Germany and Italy. Alfa Romeo drivers finished 1-2-3 in the European Championship, headed by Tazio Nuvolari. Yet, despite their racing successes, economic circumstances forced both Alfa Romeo and Talbot to withdraw from motor-racing at the end of the year.
caption: Winners Raymond Sommer and Luigi Chinetti
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