Fiat: best result second
Fiat (then known as F.I.A.T., for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, or ‘Italian Automobile Factory of Turin’) did not win the Grand Prix, but it surpassed all the other manufacturers by having two of its 16.3-litre cars finish in the top five.
Felice Nazzaro (pictured) won that battle for second with Albert Clément, and would go on to become one of the most celebrated drivers of the era, taking victory in the next French Grand Prix, the Targo Florio and the Kaisperpries in 1907, plus the French Grand Prix again in 1922.
Vincenzo Lancia, who was about to set up a car company under his own name, finished fourth, half an hour behind Barillier’s Brasier, but 25 mins clear of Heath’s Panhard.
The less well-known Dr Aldo Weill-Schott (also referred to as Weill Schott and Weillschott), a wealthy Italian of German ancestry, was clearly a formidable driver, too, because he was running third, just behind Clément and ahead of both Nazzaro and Lancia, when he crashed out on the sixth lap.
