The French Victory, Pau Grand Prix, April 10, 1938

After a great fight between Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes W154 and the Delahaye 145 V12 of René Dreyfus in the early going of the 1938 Pau Grand Prix, Caracciola began experiencing pain from an old leg injury suffered at Monaco five years before, and made a pit stop on the 52nd lap to turn the Mercedes over to Herrmann Lang. Despite a fine comeback drive from Lang, Dreyfus led the race until the end, scoring a great win for Delahaye, the only French victory against the Silver Arrows in Grand Prix racing between 1934 and 1939. That is why artist Lachavanne chose to create this painting, depicting not only the historic French victory, but also the atmospheric background provided by Pau’s beautiful ramparts and footbridge.