31 replies to this topic

[1920sracing]

I was wondering if anyone out there might help me with answering the question as to how Ralph DePalma wound up driving for Vauxhall in the French Grand Prix, 1914. Press reports before the race, as early as February, 1914 had him driving for Mercedes, which is a lot more logical given his racing history in the US and what he returned to America with after the Grand Prix. How did he have the detailed knowledge of Vauxhall to make a decision to not drive Mercedes? Everyone I have asked so far has no specific knowledge and can only speculate. Does anyone know?

Ralph always drove fast cars and seemed to wind up in what was the best equipment. Didn't always win but always had the chance. Vauxhall didn't seem to have a chance in 1914. They didn't even practice on the course before the race. Arrived in Lyons the afternoon before the start. Why would he make the decision to go to the trouble of travelling to Europe and then be in the wrong car. Had Mercedes withdrawn their offer?

1020sracing

[David Birchall]

I can only offer more speculation: With the build up to WW1 Germany was feeling very nationalistic, and may have wanted to beat the French and the British especially, with a German driver. It is interesting to note the difference in approach by the German team and the British, Vauxhall, team. From Bunty Scott-Moncreif's book on Mercedes:

"Three months before the race was due to take place strange things began to happen on the course. A party of Germans, consisting of 7 drivers, a team of mechanics and a manager, took up residence at an hotel in one of the villages. They brought with them seven half finished cars of obviously high power. At 5 a.m. to the second, each morning, a whistle was blown by the team manager. The drivers would leave their rooms to find their cars, attended by the mechanics, all ready for them. Then they would proceed to certain parts of the course, and for hours each corner would be made the subject of careful experiment. Each driver would try getting round it at high speed, frst on one gear and then on another, changing the point at which the engine would be cut off and finally memorising some minor object on the roadside such as a tree or milestone to idicate where to change gear or cut off. These proceedings would continue until 11 a.m., and punctually at that hour the party would return to their hotel, have a meal and discuss matters. At 2 p.m. out they would come again, for further experiments of the same nature, until 7 p.m., when work would finish for the day.
Day after day, these proceedings continued, and then, just as suddenly as the party arrived, it departed. A month later, back came the party again for further experimentsm and the careful observer might have noticed that the cars seemed rather differrent; they were shorter; the wheel bases had been reduced."

Compare this to the Vauxhall approach as recorded in Laurence Pomeroy's excellent "Profile" #21:

"The connecting rods were a key problem. The finest steel of the day came from B.N.D. whose works were in Liege, and immediately after returning home [From the debacle of the T.T.] [L.H.P. [The authors father and designer of the cars] ....left for Liege carrying with him a bag of gold(in sovereigns) together with blueprints showing revised contours in red. Crossing the channel in a colleague's motor yacht and travelling in an age without passports, he went straight to B.N.D. who handforged some sixteen rods in three days, and were paid in sovereigns. L.H.P. then returned by yacht to England, and after day and night work the G.P. cars left Luton for Lyons on Wenesday, 1st July. They were driven straight to the scrutineerng and weighing-in, arriving a little after the official closing time of 5 p.m. on July 3rd.
On the way down they ran superbly,....[However, at the start] Far from out accelerating their rivals the Vauxhalls departed in a series of pops and bangs...."

Months later it was realised that the carburettor manufacturer's recomendation, the night before the race, to lower the fuel tank pressure from 8 psi to 2.5 psi was responsible for the poor performance at the start, at least.

What a difference in preparation!! Is this national personality traits personified or what??

Vauxhall had done well the previous year in the Coupe de L'Auto and were expected to do well at the Grand Prix. Perhaps the nationalism of the Germans ultimately shut out DePalma and Vauxhall, who would not have had anything planned, one assumes, had a seat available.

My interest in Vauxhalls? For 20 years I owned a 1922 Vauxhall 23/60 that, with the engine modified to 30/98 spec and the wheel base shortened to 8feet raced on dirt tracks in Canada and the States in the late twenties and thirties. My lack of a scanner prevents me from posting a picture.That car is now in England. Untill 2 years ago I owned a Wensum bodied 23/60 that I modified the engine to full 30/98 spec. That car is now in the States.

Phew, this is the longest post I have ever made

[robert dick]

Concerning Mercedes, DePalma had the best experience with the "Grey Ghost", but also an unfavourable one with the 6-cylinder which had been driven by Salzer in the 1913 GP de France/Le Mans and, in view of the 1914 Indianapolis 500, had been bought and imported to the US by E. C. Patterson. During practice at Indianapolis, it became apparent that the vibrations of the six would prevent any good result. DePalma did not start.

So we have two possibilities:
- either, as it was reported in the contemporary press, DePalma really had an offer to drive a 4.5-litre Mercedes at Lyon. He declined since in his opinion the Mercedes of the "new generation" was not competitive. In the 1913 GP de France the Mercedes were not able to keep the pace of the Delages. Peugeot and Delage were favourites at Lyon, not Mercedes.
- or this offer was just a speculation of the press based on DePalma's Mercedes past. But he had never taken the wheel of a factory Mercedes. He continued to act as freelance driver and, as side trip to Europe, accepted an attractive offer from Vauxhall - in view of the salary and despite a careless preparation of the car.

After the GP at Lyon DePalma went to Untertürkheim, took delivery of a 4.5-litre Mercedes that Patterson had bought for him. In August 1914 he won two races at Elgin, in 1915 at Indianapolis, ...

As far as I know there is no Mercedes factory document proving that DePalma was under discussion to be a member of the factory team at Lyon, or even had an official offer.

= = = = = =

BTW: Any infos about Patterson's background?

[Don Capps]

Perhaps Gary Doyle has something on this since I know that one of the drivers he is considering writing about is de Palma.

I started thinking about this and after nosing around think that it was mostly an opportunity to have someone pay him to race while they were in Europe to pick up the mount for the next season or so.... It appears that the preparation by the Vauxhall team for the event was abysmal....

Somewhere, I have some material on E.C. Patterson, now if I can only find it...

[Vitesse2]

Originally posted by Don Capps
... It appears that the preparation by the Vauxhall team for the event was abysmal....

According to Mathieson it was non-existent! Apparently they (and Sunbeam) didn't even bother surveying the course .... although they were both rather preoccupied with the TT, which might be some of the reason.

[Vitesse2]

Originally posted by David Birchall
I can only offer more speculation: With the build up to WW1 Germany was feeling very nationalistic, and may have wanted to beat the French and the British especially, with a German driver.

Well, up to a point, David. But that wouldn't necessarily explain why Theodore Pilette was a Mercedes driver .....

[Mike Argetsinger]

Originally posted by Don Capps
Perhaps Gary Doyle has something on this

Apparently not.







(it is Gary who asked the question.)

[David Birchall]

Originally posted by Vitesse2

Well, up to a point, David. But that wouldn't necessarily explain why Theodore Pilette was a Mercedes driver .....

Needle, nardle, noo

[Don Capps]

Originally posted by Mike Argetsinger


Apparently not.







(it is Gary who asked the question.)

Oooooooooops.....

[1920sracing]

David,

Thank you for the long response. I had not stumbled across the sources you cite. Helps resolve some of it. I wonder if Patterson went to Europe with Ralph? Was the Mercedes purchased before going? Was it opportunity based after Ralph saw what happened in Lyons? The Germans would have no problem giving DePalma a car given his racing history with Mercedes in the US and it was not apparent that America would get involved with the coming war. It was a way for Mercedes to stay in the game. Later on DePalma saw it as his "reward" for being successful racing Mercedes in the US.

Anything else that clarifies would be helpful. There is a picture of 3 cars at Unterturkheim, 28, 39 and 40 after the Grand Prix. Would lend credence to the fact the Mercedes factory reconditioned those three cars, DePalma got Wagner's car and one remained in France and one went to England. Wonder why DePalma drove his to ship on the S.S. Vaterland and himself went home on a different ship from France. Maybe he already had his ticket? Was with Patterson? No space on the Vaterland????

1914 to 1917 is the most interesting period of DePalma's career in terms of cars and why I am so interested in the Vauxhall/Mercedes issue. He drove or owned 2 Mercedes, 1913 and 1914 GPcars, a Stutz, Peugeot, Detroit Special (a Mercedes look-a-like) then the 299 Packard. He even manufactured his own engine and had a racing business with people in Detroit as well as joining with Packard. Interesting to sort it all out with photos and other evidence.

As to Pilette...he had raced at Indianapolis in a Mercedes variant (1913, finishing 5th. Interesting that the car was entered by E.C. Patterson.) and was a major customer of the company in Belgium. Maybe he replaced DePalma or they made room for him by passing on Ralph. Or maybe Wagner was added when Ralph passed. Wasn't he most associated with FIAT? Salzer, Sailer and Lautenschlager are understandable.

1920sracing

[Hans Etzrodt]

Originally posted by Vitesse2
...that wouldn't necessarily explain why Theodore Pilette was a Mercedes driver .....

The Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft entered five cars, the maximum allowed. Besides Lautenschlager there was again Otto Salzer, then the experienced Parisian Louis Wagner, 31-year-old Max Sailer, a research engineer at D.M.G., and the Belgian Mercedes importer Théodor Pilette. So, we have two foreigners here or 40% of their driver force.

[robert dick]

There is no Mercedes document whereupon Patterson was present at Untertürkheim when DePalma picked up the 4.5-litre car, and no mention in the contemporary French press that Patterson was at Lyon.

The exact date when and how the 4.5-litre was ordered and paid remains open. It is not mentioned in the Mercedes commission books.

Was a 4.5-litre available for purchase before the GP at Lyon, just after the GP or only when the war was imminent?
Just after the GP at Lyon, Untertürkheim had the intention to prepare a batch of three ex-Lyon cars for the Belgian GP and the GP de France to be held in August 1914 at Le Mans. These races were cancelled because of the war. From the outset two of the five 4.5-litre cars were available for purchase after the GP at Lyon. Probably Patterson ordered a 4.5-litre already in the first half of 1914.

The 4.5-litre picked up by DePalma had completely overhauled/new internals since a few weeks later at Elgin there was no trace of a mechanical problem. So maybe it was the ex-Wagner car (concerning the chassis number), but the engine, gearbox and rear axle were certainly fitted with new internals or were completely new (for the GP at Lyon, Untertürkheim had built five cars and a huge amount of spare parts).

Théo Pilette was the Belgian Mercedes agent, based at Brussels. In 1909/10 Pilette had a lot of successes with a 17-litre sprint Mercedes (based on the 1908 GP car). In 1913, he finished fifth in the Indianapolis 500 (with a little 4-litre/Knight sleeve-valve engine), and in the GP de France at Le Mans he was third behind two Delages. In addition he was on good terms with Paul Daimler. For the 1914 GP at Lyon, Pilette was no replacement for any other driver. He was full member of the factory team, from the outset.
Was the fact that Patterson entered the 4-litre-Knight-Mercedes for Pilette in the 1913 Indianapolis 500 and, one year later, purchased a 4.5-litre for DePalma pure coincidence? There was certainly a close connection between Patterson and Untertürkheim, but it does not mean that at Lyon Pilette replaced DePalma.

In my opinion DePalma was not invited by the factory to drive a factory car at Lyon. Paul Daimler assembled his team with an elaborated plan in mind. Each driver had a well defined task. In Daimler's eyes DePalma would have been misplaced within the team.

[humphries]

In the 7 Feb 1914 edition of "The Autocar" there was a list of 39 entries for the Grand Prix at Single Fees. Entries at double fees were available up to 31 March. Some teams had drivers mentioned in the list, " the names of the probable drivers, where these are known, ......"

The drivers listed for Mercedes were Lautenschlager, Pilette, Salzer, Nagel and Seiler (sic).

The final list for the Grand Prix appeared in the 4 April edition with the same drivers listed. An interesting aside was as follows:-

" In order to enable the roads to be got into proper order for the Grand Prix, the French Automobile Club has just issued a notice forbidding the driving of racing cars - new or old - on the course in the Lyons district, as from the commencement of the present month". Obviously the French had heard of the Germans intensive practising forays!

No drivers for the Vauxhalls were listed.

In the edition of 2 May the Vauxhall drivers were announced for both the Tourist Trophy and the Grand Prix. The GP drivers were slated as John Hancock, Ralph de Palma and " Mr S.S.Ovsiannikov, the manager of the St. Petersburg branch of Vauxhall Motors, Ltd".

Initially I thought that DePalma was approached by Vauxhall at the last moment as he was over here in order to buy a racing car but it appears that he had agreed terms with Vauxhall much earlier.

Hope this helps.

John

[robert dick]

Originally posted by 1920sracing
Wonder why DePalma drove his to ship on the S.S. Vaterland and himself went home on a different ship from France.

This was not unusual. For example in 1914 the two Delages driven by Guyot and Thomas in the Indianapolis 500 were shipped on the "Oceanic" while the drivers crossed the Atlantic on the "Provence".

[Don Capps]

Okay, is it "De Palma" or "de Palma" since the good Ralph himself did not seem to sign anything I have seen as "DePalma"? Or, has "DePalma" become the accepted spelling by simply being used over and over versus the actual "De Palma" or "de Palma"?

[1920sracing]

OK. Tomato, tomato. I think it is DePalma. That is how I have seen it most often. It could have been De Palma. There always is a seperation between the e and the D but definately capital D when he signed his name. The sepeartion is probably the way he thought about it. Ralph was always trying to affect a style and be a little above the rabble that drove cars. His early friends were Caleb Bragg and David Bruce-Brown...tells us something about how he thought about himself. Doesn't the seperation suggest nobility? In the book I am going to use DePalma because it is easier to type.

1920sracing

[David Birchall]

Throughout Peter De Paolo's autobiography, "Wall Smacker", published in 1935, he refers to his own name as I have spelt it and to his uncle Ralph as De Palma.

[David Birchall]

In "The Star and The Laurel", by Beverly Rae Kimes, the book on the centennial history of Daimler, Mercedes and Benz on page 164 is a picture of De Palma sitting in his Vauxhall and the caption reads: "In 1914 Ralph De Palma accepted Laurence Pomeroy's invitiation to race for Vauxhall in the French Grand Prix. Forced out early wtih gearbox problems, De Palma watched the GP from the sidelines-and knew immediately what car he wanted to take back to America to race."

The author talks about E.C. Patterson, and states:"[Patterson] now arranged with the factory to buy one of the grand prix cars. It left Germany on July 25, a fortnight before the British blockade of German ports...."

[robert dick]

DePalma or de Palma?
In the contemporary press most of the time it is de Palma or De Palma.
I have a handwritten letter from his wife Marion - she signed DePalma. So I adopted DePalma.

= = = = =

Motor Age/29 January 1914 :
"DePalma is also in receipt of a cablegram from the Mercedes company of Germany which announces it will have a factory entry in this year's Indianapolis race and which wants DePalma to drive it. A second Mercedes will be in the classic with Pilette for driver. This will be entered by E. C. Patterson."

Motor Age/26 February 1914 :
"DePalma this morning received a telegram from Paul Lecroix, informing him that the Mercedes company is sending over a six-cylinder car, one of those that ran in the last French Grand Prix., for the Italian to drive in the 500 mile race at the Indianapolis Speedway Memorial day. DePalma is slated to drive one of the Mercedes entries in the French Grand Prix to be run July 4."

Motor Age/16 April 1914 :
Entries for the GP de l'ACF/Lyon :
Mercedes = Wagner, Lautenschlager, Salzer, Pilette, Nagel
Vauxhall = Hancock, Leslie Munroe, Watson

Motor Age/23 April 1914 :
These names are confirmed for the GP de l'ACF.
A photo of DePalma at the wheel of the Mercedes six is published.

The Motor/London/5 May 1914 :
DePalma will drive for Vauxhall in the GP de l'ACF.

Motor Age/4 June 1914 - Indianapolis 500 :
"DePalma withdrew his Mercedes at the eleventh hour because of the excessive vibration of the aviation motor used in the German speed creation."

Motor Age/9 July 1914 - GP de l'ACF :
"DePalma struggled hard against fate, covering the first lap in 26' 29" as compared with 21' 11", the best time for the initial circuit made by Sailer in the Mercedes. DePalma completed the second circuit in about the same time, was a little faster in the third and fourth, and after he had completed the fifth, he pushed his car off to the side of the road after passing the pits."

Lap times published in Motor Age :
26' 29"
1 h 01' 58"
1 h 27' 41"
2 h 07' 45"
2 h 33' 16"
withdrew because of "various motor troubles"

The Motor/London/7 July 1914 published additional times for DePalma's sixth and seventh lap :
3 h 08' 56"
3 h 44' 03"

The Motor/London/7 July 1914 :
"The Vauxhall drivers were unable to get round the course on their racing mounts. Their familiarity with the many difficult turns had to be obtained from the seat of a touring car. The racers themselves have had plenty of road work and have gone through not a few test on Brooklands track. The drivers expressed themselves as hopeful of success, despite the handicap of rather late preparation. From an examination of the cars, their confidence appears to be justified : certainly there are few, if any machines in the race on which so much original work has been done."

Motor Age/27 August 1914 - Elgin races :
"Mr. Patterson, a member of the Chicago Automobile Club, imported the German machine which DePalma drove to victory in both races at Elgin."

"The no. 33 Peugeot is far from the scene of the struggle, its owner, E. J. Schroeder, refusing to ship it from New York on hearing that DePalma would not drive it."

= = = = =

Remarks :
Who was Paul Lecroix?
Seems that DePalma originally was to drive Schroeder's Peugeot in the Elgin races. Probably the availability/shipment of the Mercedes was uncertain.

[humphries]

Many moons ago I wrote to Jim O'Keefe, a stickler for accuracy as far as motor-racing history is concerned, mentioning the names of de Palma and de Paolo only to receive a polite reply telling me that it should be DePalma and DePaolo.

Checking in Georgano's Encyclopaedia of Motorsport I saw that Al Bloemker's brief bios were DePalma and DePaolo and from then on that is how I recorded their names despite them looking a little odd to Eurpoean eyes.

Since then I have acquired a lot more contemporary resources and now looking through Motor Age I see that DePalma was also spelt dePalma, de Palma and De Palma, all in the same race reports! Closer inspection shows that de Palma and De Palma were the popular form in the text but DePalma was usually quoted when official results or data were lifted.

Looking at the official posed car and driver photos for the Indy 500 it was always DePalma and DePaolo in the captions. In Rich Popely's Indianapolis 500 Chronicle he has the race programme covers depicted and I'm sure he would have checked the names in the programmes. He uses DePalma and DePaolo.

It is DePalma and DePaolo as far as Phil Harms is concerned and who would query his judgement?

The reason for this American anomaly, I think, lies with the 19th century bureaucracy of the United States immigration authorities. They had little concern about a name a person used back in Europe. They were more concerned with the registered name of the person beginning a "new life" in America. Some immigrants took the opportunity to change their surname for registration, or Anglicised it or had it translated from the Cyrillic either by themselves or by an immigration official listening to the phonetics. It appears that one name was required as a surname not two. As many of the officials were of Irish extraction they had no problem with people having two capital letters in a surname, McDonogh, MacKenzie and O'Connor for example. So the head of the de Palma family could have his name registered as DePalma or Depalma or as with the English gentry and their American cousins the hyphenated De-Palma. Little wonder they plumped for DePalma as others decided on DePaolo, DeVore, DiMaggio and LaMotta. Of course these restrictions do not apply now and some people have reverted to original spellings.

As far as signatures go it is very cumbersome and ugly to join a small case "e" with a capital "P". As with those with the prefix "Mac", the "De" would become separated from the rest of the name in longhand as the signature would look better. Probably the appearance of De Paolo and De Palma in "Wallsmacker" was owing to Peter writing text in longhand and it being typed up as it appeared with the separation.

It is doubtful if DePalma or DePaolo were overly concerned which version was used, Italian or American.

As Robert indicates Mrs DePalma should know.

[Don Capps]

Well, for me it is De Palma and De Paolo since that is what I have seen most often in the signatures and contemporary sources -- although it most likely really de Palma and de Paolo. If you study the contemporary American sources such as newspapers and the data from the various offices dealing with "vital statistics" on the Atlantic Seaboard between about 1880 and 1930, you will find "de" and "De" being used almost interchangeably in the records and often being merged into one for the sake of convenience in the records. It is not unusual to see a signature clearly written as, say, "Ralph De Palma" next to a printed "Ralph DePalma" in the document. So, John is clearly on target with his thoughts on the matter. I had the personal pleasure of wading through some of these records from the War Department and the related veterans records for NY, NJ, CT, RI, PA, and MA on a project I worked on some years ago concerning some WW1 business. I remember finding names spelled several different ways -- all with the same service number.... Ah, the joys of research....

[1920sracing]

I think Paul Lecroix or maybe LeCroix or even Le Croix was the head of the Mercedes import company in New York and represented their interests in America.

1920sracing

[robert dick]

Good summary of the political situation at the time of the 1914 GP and of DePalma's trip to Untertürkheim to pick up the 4.5-litre Mercedes :
http://www.firstworl...gins/causes.htm

Availability of a 4.5-litre Mercedes in July 1914 :
All these events and the consequences of the alliances were well known in diplomatic circles at Berlin. But was it also the case in the racing department at Untertürkheim?
During the second week of July 1914 the French press announced the definitive dates for the GP de France at Le Mans, 16 August, and the Belgian GP, 20 September. In 1913 Peugeot, the winner of the GP de l'ACF at Amiens, did not start in the GP de France at Le Mans. Thus, after the 1914 GP at Lyon, one part of the French and the British press concluded that Mercedes would not start a few weels later at Le Mans and risk a loss of reputation. The other part focused on a revenge for the 1913 defeat against Delage. In fact, by the end of July, there were no Mercedes entries for Le Mans.

Since at Berlin it was clear that a war was inevitable, it is possible that Paul Daimler, who had been busy during the first months of 1914 in improving his aero-engines, received urgent aero-engine orders from Berlin as soon as July 1914. This could mean that a 4.5-litre which had been prepared either for Le Mans or for Belgium (or for both races) was sold overnight to Patterson.

Possibilities :
- the 4.5-litre was already ordered in the spring of 1914,
- Untertürkheim originally intended to deliver the car not before the autumn of 1914 after the Belgian race,
- the car was delivered in July as a consequence of the political situation,
- the whole deal got going overnight during the second week of July.

[fines]

Originally posted by robert dick
In fact, by the end of July, there were no Mercedes entries for Le Mans.

A bit off topic perhaps but, Robert, do you have an entry list for Le Mans? Or perhaps even for the Belgian GP? Was a circuit already chosen for the latter?

On the subject of the DePalma/de Palma controversy: I clearly remember my confusion when I saw Henry Farman's name spelled "Henri" (on his plane) and Henri Fournier's name "Henry" (in an autograph)! We have a saying in German: Namen sind Schall und Rauch, meaning there's no importance in names - it clearly applies to spellings, as well!

[GIGLEUX]

Originally posted by fines

On the subject of the DePalma/de Palma controversy: I clearly remember my confusion when I saw Henry Farman's name spelled "Henri" (on his plane) and Henri Fournier's name "Henry" (in an autograph)! We have a saying in German: Namen sind Schall und Rauch, meaning there's no importance in names - it clearly applies to spellings, as well!

We have the same in french: "les noms propres n'ont pas d'ortographe"; which means: "no formal spelling for surnames"!

[Ray Bell]

Is it only English speakers then?

I think one expression is "Get it right, will ya?"

[fines]

Call it laid-back continental approach!

[but I do have to admit that I like to get it right whenever there's a chance... ]

[robert dick]

The Belgian GP was to be run on a "short Circuit des Ardennes" near Bastogne, with 50 km laps, instead of the 100 and more km laps (120 km in 1905 for example) of the earlier years.

Entries for the GP de France at Le Mans : three-car teams from Peugeot, Delage, Alda and Théo Schneider.

[fines]

Thanks, Robert!

I guess that would have been the definite entry, no later entries to be accepted? Any drivers nominated?

[Marcor]

Bastogne ? It was rather Le Circuit d'Anseremme, near Dinant, a track already used in 1912 in the so-called GP du RACB.

The RACB expected the following entries: Mercedes (Theo Pilette was sure), Peugeot, Delage (4500 cc) + Minerva, Sunbeam, Abadal and Grégoire (3.3 L).

The race was first planed on July, 26, postponed on Augustus 2, then on September 20, and cancelled (the war was declared !).

[robert dick]

Originally posted by Marcor
... Le Circuit d'Anseremme, near Dinant...

It is correct that, according to the contemporary press, originally several courses were under discussion : Dinant, Bastogne and a third one south of Bastogne near Arlon. Again according to the contemporary (French, British and American - I have no Belgian newspapers) press, Bastogne had priority for the 20 September date. Obviously by the end of July the location was still uncertain and not definitively fixed.

Just after the GP de l'ACF/Lyon the press announced three Mercedes entries for the 2 August date, with Lautenschlager, Wagner and Pilette. As a consequense Peugeot quickly entered a three-car team and Delage began to prepare three cars (Delage did not enter, just "prepared the cars"). But by mid July the Mercedes entry was declared uncertain and Peugeot too withdrew.

= = = = =

No driver names for the GP de France/Le Mans entries.

[robert dick]

Motor Age, March 26, 1914 :
"E. C. Patterson, sportsman and entrant last year of the Mercedes-Knight, driven by Pilette in the 500-mile race, today forwarded to Indianapolis the nomination of the Salzer six-cylinder Mercedes and named for his driver none other than Ralph de Palma, twice winner of the Vanderbilt cup, who has abandoned his trip to Germany, decided not to drive the French grand prix and who will devote the entire summer to carrying the Patterson colors in the leading racing events on this side of the Atlantic. Patterson's deal with de Palma followed an interview Thursday between the Vanderbilt cup winner and the officials of the Mercer company. For a time it looked as if de Palma would return to his old love, but there was a hitch over terms which was followed by Ralph tying up with Patterson. De Palma agreed to forget the French grand prix and to give his racing services to the Chicago-New York sportsman."