Léonce Girardot

Léonce Girardot (30 April 1864 - 7 September 1922) was a French racing driver. He drove for Panhard & Levassor, the leading brand of this era and his strongest competitors were his teammates Fernand Charron and René de Knyff.

His first major race came in the 1897 season, when in the Paris-Dieppe race he took sixteenth place. Twenty-fourth place in the 1897 Paris-Trouville and the retirement from the first race in the next season 1898 Paris-Bourdeaux followed before Girardot finished in second place in the 1898 Paris–Amsterdam–Paris. He continued with the same result at the Tour de France for automobiles in 1899 and Paris-Lyon 1900. In 1901, he won the Gordon Bennett Trophy race, although he was the only one who finished from the field of three cars that entered. He finished in second place in the 1901 Paris-Berlin race.

In 1901, he founded the race car company Charron, Girardot et Voigt (C.G.V.) along with his teammates Charron and Carl Voigt. These cars proved unreliable, and it was only at the 1903 Ardennes race he finished, taking second position. After an accident in the French trials for 1905 Gordon Bennett Cup which he only just survived, he ended his racing career.

Léonce

Léonce is a French masculine given name. People with the name Léonce include:

Léonce (actor)

Édouard-Théodore Nicole (1823 – 19 February 1900), known as Léonce, was a French actor and singer.

Biography

Léonce was born in Paris. After studying law, he made his stage debut at the Théâtre de Belleville.

In the 1850s, he was engaged at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens by Jacques Offenbach and sang many roles in the works of Offenbach and Hervé. After some time at the Théâtre de l'Athenée, he played in the premieres of Tromb-al-ca-zar, Croquefer, Orphée aux Enfers, Mesdames de la Halle and Monsieur Choufleuri. For several years, he appeared at the Théâtre des Variétés including in Les brigands, Le docteur Ox, La vie parisienne and La Périchole.

After an unwise investment in a café, he ended his life in poverty. He died at Raincy on 19 February 1900.

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