Gordon Bennett Cup Prep

This article originally appeared in the April 15, 1905 edition of The Automobile. This is less than one PDF page of content and offers some interesting insights to events leading up to the 1905 (and final) James Gordon Bennett Cup auto race. This was published prior to the American manufacturers filing entries, but a list of French, Italian and German cars and drivers is provided. The material reports that the Mercedes team had set up training facility on the mountainous Auvergne (near Clermont) circuit with 30 employees. Also, we learn that the most of the European teams had already tested equipment on the course, including George Heath (Panhard), who used the car he drove to victory in the Vanderbilt Cup the previous Ocotober. Albert Clement (Clement-Bayard), who finished second to Heath in the Vanderbilt Cup, was also scheduled to drive his Vanderbilt racer in practice.
 
There was a bit of controversy around this race as the French threatened to boycott it, but held off for another year. This is hinted at early on in the article. Also, unfortunately, there was a jump to another page I did not catch, but the bulk of the article is presented here.