Vilafranca de Penedès is an historic town 30 miles west of Barcelona which held an important second tier voiturette race from 1921 to 1923. Penya Rhin was a private club that promoted sport in Catalunya, including the Gran Premio do Penya Rhin that was organised intermittently until 1950. The triangular 9-mile course in the hills to the southwest of Vilafranca was praised for the state of its roads, with the start and imposing grandstand on its outskirts. Pierre de Vizcaya (Bugatti T22) survived five hours in sweltering conditions to win the inaugural event by over 24 minutes while Kenelm Lee Guinness’s Talbot-Darracq withstood a strong challenge from Aston Martin in 1922. Count Louis Zborowski was second that day and he repeated that result in Vilafranca’s final race in 1923, beaten by Albert Divo’s works Talbot T70.
