Aunaud - not another obscure driver thread!

As you do, I have been investigating races held on the circuit where my next slot car event will take place. In this case it is the circuit at La Baule.

It would appear that this place was used only once for a relatively major race - an F.2 Grand Prix in 1952. This was an odd race because it was a 3 hour race, not an X number of laps effort. (Ascari won in a Ferrari 500 completing 87 laps.)

Anyway, I digress; this got me looking at other French F.2 races in 1952 and other years. I came across the name MICHEL AUNAUD , who had a few reasonable races in 1950 and 1951 driving a D.B Panhard.

I find him racing at Angouleme (where he was 3rd), as well as Cadours and Aix-les-Bains, and I have not searched every race in that period.

So who was this masked stranger? And can anyone post an image of what this D.B Panhard looked like?

Can't help you with a photo of the mysterious Michel Aunaud, but he did take part at Le Mans in 1953 (Constantin-Peugeot 203C) & 1954 (DB Renault HBR).

Also it seems there is some confusion of websites.. is it Michel Aunaud, Michel Arnaud, or are they two different guys???

Rob

La Baule held races on the beach 1924-38 'W.Williams' winning 3 years running in his Bugatti.
8 1952 french F2 races were 3 hours-part of a championship-'les Grands Prix des France'

I wondered about Arnaud but Aunaud appears several different times.

The La Baule beach races have come up before but I don't think the circuit race/s have.

The DB was an 850cc version of their Formula 3 car. Let me know if you want a picture of that. THey also built a Formula 2 car with two Panhard engines and four wheel drive, but it didn't race.

Perhaps Aunaud's greatest success was victory, single-handed of course, in the 1950 Bol d@Or 24-hour race, driving a 610cc version of the DB "500" 24 hours in a single seater with a couple of tiny lights and no rear suspension!

Aunaud for Barry: Côte Lapize 9/3/1952.



It is Aunaud. He used 500cc 610cc 750cc Panhard engines in his DB. Here with the 750.

I think maybe that somewhere, there is a law against things that look like that. The car that is, not the driver!

Thanks for that, Alessandro. What and where was the Cote Lapize?

The car reminds me a bit of the things that ran at Pau in 1955.

Originally posted by Barry Boor
What and where was the Cote Lapize?

Côte Lapize is an area of the Monthléry Autodrome ;) .


Narcís.

Originally posted by Barry Boor


The car reminds me a bit of the things that ran at Pau in 1955.

Isn't it the same thing?

There's an interesting little book from Editions Palmier called 'L'épopée française des "Racers 500"
1949-1959' written by François Jolly. In it is says that Henri Julien of AGS fame was or is working on a massive tome on 500cc F3 - has anyone heard about this and is Henri Julien still around? [Maybe this belongs in the...something about books thread...]

From the same author and publisher there's also "D.B. - La renaissance du sport automobile en France". Considering the otherwise fresh engineering approaches of Messrs. Deutch & Bonnet, it is in a sense surprising that they did not make their little Panhard-based single seaters mid-engine/rear wheel drive. Perhaps they were totally 'sold' on front wheel drive. The F3 cars did quite well locally when there weren't too many Coopers around, but even if the front wheel drive grip and handling were okay, the 'shrunk' 500cc Panhard engines were no match for a JAP, and certainly not for a Double Knocker Norton.

BTW (Barry will love this): In France the little DB front-engined single seaters were often dubbed "peeing dogs" on account of their always lifted inner rear wheels on hard cornering! I'm sure Barry will find that the nick-name matches their appearance, even when stationary!