Ferenc Szisz (September 20, 1873–February 21, 1944), was a French race car driver and the winner of the first Grand Prix motor racing event. September 20 is the 263rd day of the year (264th in leap years). ... 1873 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Georges Boillot winning the 1912 French Grand Prix in Dieppe, France Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organized automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. ...

Ferenc Szisz

Ferenc Szisz was born in the small town of Szeghalom in Békés County of the Hungarian part the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was trained to be a locksmith but in his early twenties the growing proliferation of automobiles fascinated Szisz and he studied engineering. After time spent in several Austrian and German cities, in the spring of 1900 he ended up in Paris, France where he found work at the new Renault Automobile company. This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... Békés county is an administrative division (comitatus or megye) in south-eastern Hungary, on the border with Romania. ... Official languages Latin, German, Hungarian Established church Roman Catholic Capital & Largest City Vienna pop. ... The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Renault S.A. is a French vehicle manufacturer producing small to upper-midsize cars, vans, buses and trucks. ...

At Renault, Ferenc Szisz's engineering talent made him an integral part of the testing department, and when the company became involved in racing in 1902 he was chosen as the riding mechanic for Louis Renault. Following the death of Marcel Renault in the 1903 Paris-Madrid race, Ferenc Szisz took over as a driver. In 1905, he finished fifth in the Gordon Bennett Cup elimination race on the Circuit d'Auvergne at Clermont-Ferrand. In October of that same year, along with other French and Italian automobile manufacturers, Renault sent a team to the United States to compete in the Vanderbilt Cup on Long Island, New York. In a field that included Felice Nazzaro and Louis Chevrolet driving for Fiat, Ferenc Szisz finished in fifth place behind the winner, fellow Frenchman Victor Hémery driving a Darracq. Louis Renault (1843 - 1918) was a French jurist and educator, the cowinner in 1907 (with Ernesto Teodoro Moneta) of the Nobel Prize for Peace. ... One of three Gordon Bennett Cups, established by James Gordon Bennett, Jr. ... Clermont-Ferrand is a city of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of approximately 140,000. ... The original Vanderbilt Cup The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing. ... This article is about Long Island in New York State. ... Louis Chevrolet Memorial, Indianapolis Speedway. ... Fiat S.p. ... Darracq poster ad, London, England Automobiles Darracq S.A. was a French motor vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq. ...

Szisz at the first Grand Prix

Szisz's primary duties as the head of testing at Renault limited the number of races he could compete in. However, in 1906 he achieved a permanent place in the annals of auto racing when he and his riding mechanic M. Marteau drove a Renault AK 90CV to victory in the first Grand Prix race. His victory in the French Grand Prix and the commercial success of the race soon led to the establishing of other Grand Prix races throughout Europe. The following year, Italy's Felice Nazzaro, who had finished second behind Szisz, captured the second French Grand Prix. Szisz competed in the 1908 race but did not finish and suffered a similar fate following mechanical problems in Savannah, Georgia at an American Grand Prize race organized by the Automobile Club of America. This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... Renault S.A. is a French vehicle manufacturer producing small to upper-midsize cars, vans, buses and trucks. ... The French Grand Prix is a Formula One race held as part of Fédération Internationale de lAutomobiles annual Formula One automobile racing championship season. ... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... Savannah Savannah is a city located in (and the county seat of) Chatham County, Georgia. ...

In early 1909 Szisz left the Renault company to open his own garage in Neuilly-sur-Seine. In July of 1914, Fernand Charron lured him out of retirement to drive an Alda in the French Grand Prix at Lyon. In a race won by Christian Lautenschlager in a Mercedes, Szisz was honored with the No.1 designation on his vehicle but an injury forced him out a little more than halfway through the race. European automobile racing ended in September with the onset of World War I and Ferenc Szisz joined the French army, serving as head of the transport troops in Algeria until being hospitalized with typhoid fever. At war's end, he went to work for an aircraft company until his retirement to a cottage in the country at Auffargis not far from Paris, where he passed away in 1944. Neuilly-sur-Seine is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine département in France. ... The Alda was a French automobile created by Fernand Charron of CGV; it was manufactured between 1912 and 1922. ... City motto: Avant, avant, Lion le melhor. ... Christian Lautenschlager, born April 13, 1877 _ died January 3, 1954, was a German Grand Prix motor racing champion. ... This page is about the Mercedes-Benz brand of automobiles and trucks from the DaimlerChrysler automobile manufacturer. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... This is about the disease typhoid fever. ...

Ferenc Szisz and his wife are interred in the churchyard cemetery in Auffargis. The Szisz museum is part of the Renault Museum located near the Le Mans racetrack. Le Mans is a city in France, located at the Sarthe River. ...