As well as founding a legend, the very first 24 Heures du Mans has two rare boasts. First, despite unsurfaced roads, fragile tyres and pioneer engineering, only three of the 33 starters failed to finish – a ratio unmatched in the 90 years since. The second odd fact about the 1923 race is – nobody won. Why? Because the ACO set up this test of endurance as a rolling three-year trial for the Rudge-Whitworth Cup. Theoretically there would be no victor until 1925.

Decided by a maths-fest of average speeds and percentage gains, the three-year ploy soon fizzled out. But you can’t have a race and no winner, so the honours for greatest distance in that first 24 hours fell to the 3-litre Chenard et Walcker of Lagache and Léonard, who whistled past the makeshift pits 128 times, ahead of a sister car and a Bignan. A French whitewash, in fact; not surprising as there was only one foreign entrant, John Duff’s 3 Litre Bentley, running second until a punctured fuel tank lost him and Clement more than two hours, dropping them to fourth after Clement had to cycle out with fuel.

The Chenard et Walcker of André Lagache and René Léonard rounds Pontlieue Hairpin on its way to victory in 1923