Henri Cissac

Henri Cissac
With mechanic Schaube at the 1908 G.P.
Born(1877-07-15)15 July 1877
Ivry-sur-Seine, France[1]
Died7 July 1908(1908-07-07) (aged 30)
Sept-Meules, France

Henri Cissac (15 July 1877 – 7 July 1908) was a French racing cyclist, motorcyclist, and racing driver, notable as being the first driver to be killed at a Grand Prix meeting.

Cissac ready to take part in the 1906 Tour de France Motorcycliste

Career

Cissac started his sporting career as a racing cyclist in 1893 (at the Paris-Trouville race),[2] famously winning a match race against the English "crack" Platt-Betts in 1896.[3] By 1898 he was considered one of the best middle-distance riders in the world[4] and lay claim to a world championship.[5]

Motorcycle records

He soon graduated to motorcycle racing, although a serious injury after a crash kept him away from racing for a while; the time away gave him time to set up a find for injured motorcyclists, and he also became a trainer for cycling and motorcycling teams.[6] In 1904, at the Vélodrome d'Hiver, riding a Peugeot, he won the "brassard" from Marius Thé, marking him as French champion, which he then successfully defended from a number of challenges.[7] He also acted as pacemaker for cyclists seeking to break endurance records[8]

Cissac set a new motorcycle world record on his Peugeot at the Brighton Speed Trials in July 1905, and two weeks later broke his own record at Blackpool, leaving the record at 87.38mph.[9] In 1906, still faithful to Peugeot, he won the Tour de France Motocycliste, beating future Grand Prix driver Giosuè Giuppone into second place.[10]

Motor racing career

In 1907, he switched to four wheels, and at that year's Coupe des Voiturettes, driving an Alcyon, finished a remarkable 4th out of the 33 finishers;[11] the magazine L'Auto-Vélo rated him as one of the top three drivers of the race, alongside Victor Rigal and Georges Sizaire, and called for one of the manufacturers to give him a Grand Prix drive.[12] He followed this up with a second on the Alcyon at the Corsa Vetturette Torino in January 1908, behind Giuppone.[13]

Death

For the 1908 French Grand Prix, he was recruited by Panhard-Levassor, which meant he could not represent Alcyon in the Coupe des Voiturettes.[14] Cissac was the 48th driver to start in the big race itself. He struggled on the first lap, completing it 47th and last,[15] but had moved up to 6th place on the ninth of ten laps. At Sept-Meules, between the village of Fresnois and the town of Londinières, a tyre blew out, and the rubber wrapped around the car's chain drive. This sent the car into a roll, and both Cissac and riding mechanic Jules Schaube were killed.[16] Cissac's mother sued Panhard for damages in negligence, but was only awarded a statutory lump sum, the French appellate court deeming Cissac's death to have been a workplace accident.[17]

External sites

References

  1. ↑ "Ivry-sur-Seine, Naissances, 1877 - 1878, page 58". Archives Valdemarne. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  2. ↑ "Paris-Trouville". Le Journal: 2. 16 August 1893.
  3. ↑ "Cycling notes". London Evening Standard: 11. 18 July 1908.
  4. ↑ "Electrical pacing tandem". Pittsburgh Post: 6. 14 February 1898.
  5. ↑ "Thizy". Le Progrès: 3. 9 September 1898.
  6. ↑ "L'accident du circuit". La Dépêche: 1. 1 July 1908.
  7. ↑ "Cycling and motoring". Alfreton Journal: 6. 11 March 1904.
  8. ↑ "Paul Darragon". Cycling: 507. 30 May 1906.
  9. ↑ "Henri Cissac". go-faster.com. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  10. ↑ "1906". Motorcycle Timeline. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  11. ↑ Sheldon, Paul (1987). A Record of Grand Prix and Voiturette Racing Volume 1. Shipley, West Yorkshire: St Leonard's Press. pp. 66–8.
  12. ↑ "Comment ils ont conduit". L'Auto: 3. 8 October 1907.
  13. ↑ "1908 Corsa Vetturette Torino". Formula 1 Results. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  14. ↑ "The Grand Prix". Sheffield Daily Telegraph: 5. 14 February 1908.
  15. ↑ Sheldon, Paul (1987). A Record of Grand Prix and Voiturette Racing Volume 1. Shipley, West Yorkshire: St Leonard's Press. p. 61.
  16. ↑ "Henri Cissac". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  17. ↑ "Société des Anciens Établissements Panhard et Levassor c Mme veuve Cissac". Recueil périodique d'assurances: 170–2. 1 January 1913.
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