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58-517: Opened on June 20, 1929, financed by Philippe de Rothschild on the estate of his father Henri de Rothschild , the Rothschilds' ambition was to construct the most modern theatre in the world. The architects, Charles Siclis, Henri Just and Pierre Blum, were sent through Europe to research the latest technical developments in theatre design. Graphic artist Jean Carlu designed two well-known posters emphasizing its machine-age image. André Antoine

116-549: A Cabernet Sauvignon based, Bordeaux -style red wine in a new winery built in Chile's Maipo Valley, the Almaviva. Baron Philippe de Rothschild remained active in the wine business until he died in 1988 at the age of 85, whereupon his daughter assumed control of the company. She has also had a successful career as a theatre actress under the stage name "Philippine Pascal". As an offshoot of self-bottling, Philippe also came up with

174-410: A bobsled team, refused to participate in the 1936 Winter Olympics at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, protesting what they called the "persecution of Germans of Jewish religion." Despite the time spent racing automobiles and producing the 1932 film Lac aux dames , the first French " talkie " to gain international recognition (adapted from a novel by Vicki Baum and directed by Marc Allégret , it had

232-456: A brief appearance for the elite Bugatti works team, but at the end of 1929 he abruptly withdrew from motorsport, to concentrate on the family wine-growing business. Rothschild made his first competition appearance in the Paris–Nice auto race of 1928, competing in a borrowed Hispano-Suiza . After purchasing a supercharged Bugatti , the ex Targa Florio factory type 37A (37317) T37 , he adopted

290-514: A crop he considered not up to the high standards of his vineyard, he chose not to sell that year's vintage under the Château label. In 1932 Philippe de Rothschild began to sell this second-string vintage as a good low-cost Bordeaux under the name " Mouton Cadet ". The product became so successful that he eventually had to purchase grapes from vineyards throughout the Bordeaux region just to meet

348-536: A script by Colette and starred Jean-Pierre Aumont and Simone Simon ), the energetic Philippe de Rothschild still devoted his energies and innovation to Château Mouton Rothschild in Pauillac. He was only twenty years old when he took over the operations of the Château Mouton Rothschild vineyards and two years later, in 1924, came up with the unheard of idea of bottling the entire vintage at

406-409: A speed of 400 km/h (250 mph) on the famous straight), although the official team entry was named WM Secateva. Roger Dorchy and Claude Haldi would be the drivers of car 51 while Pascal Pessiot and Jean-Daniel Raulet would drive the team's other car (#52). The latter lasted only 22 laps, and car 51 went into the pits around 17:00 in the afternoon with engine problems. After spending 3.5 hours in

464-635: A weather station in Le Mans, which exhibits an oceanic climate ( Köppen Cfb ). With both the 24-hour races and the French MotoGP round being run before the peak of summer, high-profile races often have cool temperatures both in terms of ambient and track conditions with rainfall being a potential factor. Although nights cool off, sometimes into the single-digits, during the 24-hour car race, air frosts have never been recorded in June. The weather station

522-528: A young man, in sharp contrast to the Rothschild family's staid aristocratic traditions, Philippe de Rothschild became a larger-than-life figure. During the 1920s, Philippe lived the life of a wealthy playboy, often found in the company of a beautiful woman, usually an actress, at one of the popular night spots in Paris. Philippe's older brother had made friends with Robert Benoist when they served together in

580-486: The Armée de l'Air during World War I and through this connection, for a short time Philippe took up Grand Prix motor racing . From his father, he inherited the love of fast cars, but wishing to maintain a low profile Philippe used the pseudonym "Georges Philippe" in order to race anonymously. Rothschild raced his own Bugatti T35C with moderate success, including coming fourth in the 1929 Monaco Grand Prix . He also made

638-465: The 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans , Sarthe , France , is a semi-permanent motorsport race course , chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race . Comprising private, race-specific sections of track in addition to public roads which remain accessible most of the year, its present configuration is 13.626 km (8.467 mi) long, making it one of

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696-645: The 1929 German Grand Prix , around the notorious Nürburgring Nordschleife, Georges Philippe was comfortably ahead of Chiron before contact with a wall caused damage to his Bugatti's axle, slowing the car and allowing Chiron to pass and take the victory. Unfortunately, increasing fame was wearing Georges Philippe's anonymity rather thin. His final appearance was in the 1930 24 Hours of Le Mans where, driving an American Stutz , he failed to finish. After this Rothschild quietly laid 'Georges Philippe' to rest, and returned to running Château Mouton Rothschild. In 1935, Rothschild and his friend, Jean Rheims, who were sponsoring

754-595: The 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycle race , and a round of the MotoGP Championship . The circuit also holds French motor club races and in the past has hosted rounds of the International Formula 3000 Championship and DTM (German Touring Car series). In addition to motor racing, it is the venue for the 24 rollers , a 24h race on inline skates or quads. The Bugatti Circuit was used for the 1967 French Grand Prix , though it would prove to be

812-454: The Casino de Paris , Helene Delangle regularly took to the track under her professional pseudonym Hellé Nice . Nevertheless, Georges Philippe had attracted sufficient attention to be offered a factory drive alongside Monegasque star Louis Chiron . In his two races for the crack squad, Rothschild ran at the front of the field, before dropping back later in the race due to vehicle troubles. At

870-732: The German occupation of France , Philippe de Rothschild's parents fled to the safety of Lausanne, Switzerland , and the Paris mansion where they had lived became the headquarters for the German Naval Command. Although he was called up to serve in the French Air Force , the quick fall of France resulted in de Rothschild being arrested in Algeria by the Vichy government and the vineyard property seized. His French citizenship

928-733: The Mulsanne Straight before the 1990 race to limit the maximum achievable speed. The chicanes were also added because the FIA decreed it would no longer sanction a circuit which had a straight longer than 2 km (1.2 mi), which is roughly the length of the Döttinger Höhe straight at the Nürburgring Nordschleife . The fastest qualifying lap average speed though only dropped from 249.826 to 243.329 km/h (155.235 to 151.198 mph) in 1992. In 1994,

986-721: The Sarthe département ) D338 (formerly Route Nationale N138 ). As the Hunaudières leads to the village of Mulsanne, it is often called the Mulsanne Straight in English, even though the proper Route du Mulsanne is the one from or to Arnage. After exiting the Tertre Rouge corner, cars spent almost half of the lap at full throttle, before braking for Mulsanne Corner. The Porsche 917 long tail , used from 1969 to 1971, had reached 362 km/h (225 mph). After engine size

1044-452: The 1960s, pushing the limits of the "classic circuit" and sparking criticism of the track as being unsafe after several trials related fatalities occurred. In 1965, a smaller, but permanent, Bugatti Circuit was added which shares the pit lane facilities and the first corner (including the famous Dunlop bridge) with the full "Le Mans" circuit. For the 1968 race, the Ford chicane was added before

1102-690: The 1973 upgrading of Chateau Mouton Rothschild to Premier Cru status, and after the historic results of the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, he began looking beyond France for wine-growing opportunities and in 1980 announced a joint venture with the respected American wine grower, Robert Mondavi , to form the Opus One Winery in Oakville, California. In 1997, under the direction of Rothschild's daughter Philippine, Château Mouton-Rothschild teamed up with Concha y Toro of Chile to produce

1160-497: The British theatre director Joan Littlewood ) describe a partnership of great passion but also enormous tempestuousness and despair. The couple's difficulties increased when their only son was born tragically deformed and died soon after birth. They eventually separated, and the baron's wife reverted to her maiden name . The outbreak of World War II had serious consequences for the entire Rothschild family, who were Jewish. Following

1218-466: The Château, an idea that other producers of Premier Cru wines soon copied. Previously, vineyards sold their wines in bulk, leaving the maturing, bottling, labeling and marketing to be handled by the wine merchants. Philippe de Rothschild's idea was to maintain control over the quality of his product and allow marketing of the brand name. Two years later, he developed a de facto price-fixing arrangement among other top Bordeaux producers. Upon harvesting

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1276-733: The Dunlop chicane was tightened. In 2002, the run to the Esses was reconfigured in the wake of renovations to the Bugatti Circuit. The Le Mans circuit was changed between the Dunlop Bridge and Esses, with the straight now becoming a set of fast sweeping turns. This layout allowed for a better transition from the Le Mans circuit to the Bugatti circuit. This layout change would also require the track's infamous carnival to be relocated near

1334-676: The Porsche curves, and in 2006, the ACO redeveloped the area between the Dunlop Curve and Tertre Rouge, moving the Dunlop Chicane in even tighter to create more run-off area, while also turning the area after the Dunlop Chicane into an even larger set of fast, sweeping turns, known as the Esses en route to Tertre Rouge. As part of the development, a new extended pit lane exit was created for the Bugatti Circuit. This second pit exit re-enters

1392-677: The Rothschilds created the Museum of Wine in Art; here a collection of art works covering three millennia of wine is on display, including original art by Pablo Picasso and rare glassware. In 1978 Mercure de France published Philippe de Rothschild's Le Pressoir perdu: poèmes . In 1981 Presses de la Cité published his Vivre la vigne: du ghetto de Francfort à Mouton Rothschild 1744-1981 . Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans , also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after

1450-413: The brakes and suspension as cars must slow from over 322 km/h (200 mph) to around 100 km/h (62 mph) for the sharp corner at the village of Mulsanne . The road racing track, which was a triangle from Le Mans down south to Mulsanne , northwest to Arnage , and back north to Le Mans, has undergone many modifications over the years, with CIRCUIT N°15 being in use since 2018. Even with

1508-445: The brothers Émile Isola and Vincent Isola , Raymond Rouleau , and many others. Although the venue had been "furnished with four elevators, an immense switchboard, and a vast amount of complicated theatrical machinery", Jouvet, for one, found it challenging to make it work theatrically. After the failure of Claude Vermorel's Thermidor in 1948, the theatre closed its doors. The site was sold in 1958, and an automobile garage built on

1566-487: The circuit in 1929), before exiting the city again on the rather straight section now named Avenue Georges Durand after the race's founder. Then 17.261 km (10.725 mi) long and unpaved, a bypass within the city shortened the track in 1929, but the city was only bypassed completely in 1932, when the section from the pits via the Dunlop Bridge and the Esses to Tertre Rouge was added. This classic configuration

1624-666: The demand. Today, Mouton Cadet is the number-one-selling red wine in the world. In 1933 Philippe expanded the Mouton-Rothschild estates with the acquisition of the neighboring Château d'Armailhac . By the late 1930s, the wines of Mouton Rothschild were recognized as among the world's best. Nonetheless, the Mouton vineyard was still rated as a "Second Growth" as a result of the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 (reputedly due to

1682-457: The exit of the slow Mulsanne corner, and the track being resurfaced. In 1979, due to the construction of a new public road, the profile of "Tertre Rouge" had to be changed. This redesign led to a faster double-apex corner and saw the removal of the second Dunlop Bridge. In 1986, construction of a new roundabout at the Mulsanne corner demanded the addition a new portion of track in order to avoid

1740-459: The fastest official race lap records at the Circuit de la Sarthe for different classes are listed as: In 1988 , Team WM Peugeot were well aware of their slim chance of winning the 24-hour endurance race outright, but they knew that their Welter Racing designed car had exceptional straight line aerodynamics. Thus they nicknamed their 1988 entry "Project 400" (aiming to be the first car to achieve

1798-447: The head fashion designer at Hattie Carnegie . After their marriage, she used her aesthetic talents to help restore an old storage building on the estate, converting it into an opulent home, and became known as a tastemaker in the worlds of fashion and interior design. In 1973, Château Mouton Rothschild became the only French vineyard to ever achieve reclassification to First Growth , thanks to decades of relentless lobbying. Subsequently,

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1856-467: The idea of having his labels designed by famous artists. In 1946, this became a prominent and traditional part of the vineyard's image, with labels created by great painters and sculptors such as Jean Cocteau , Leonor Fini , Henry Moore , Marie Laurencin , Georges Braque , Salvador Dalí , Jacques Villon , Pierre Alechinsky , Joan Miró , Marc Chagall , Pablo Picasso , César , Jean-Paul Riopelle , Andy Warhol , and other notables. In 1962 at Mouton

1914-536: The larger circuit and a separate, purpose-built section. The sections of track on the Bugatti Circuit that are on the Circuit des 24 Heures include the Ford Chicane at the end of the lap, the pit complex, and the straight where the Dunlop Tyres bridge is located. At this point in the overlapping section of the tracks there is a left-right sweep that was added for motorcycle safety in 2002. Vehicles turning to

1972-430: The left continue onto the Circuit des 24 Heures, toward Tertre Rouge and Mulsanne, vehicles turning to the right at La Chapelle will continue the Bugatti Circuit. The infield section features Garage Vert, a back straight, the 'S' du Garage Bleu, and Raccordement, which joins back at the Ford chicane. The track was home base for Pescarolo Sport , founded by famous French driver Henri Pescarolo . The circuit currently hosts

2030-425: The longest circuits in the world. The capacity of the race stadium, where the short Bugatti Circuit is situated, is 100,000. The Musée des 24 Heures du Mans is a motorsport museum located at the main entrance of the venue. Up to 85% of the lap time is spent on full throttle, putting immense stress on engine and drivetrain components. Additionally, the times spent reaching maximum speed also mean tremendous wear on

2088-455: The modifications put in place over the years, the Sarthe circuit is still known for being very fast, with prototype cars achieving average lap speeds in excess of 240 km/h (150 mph). In the 1920s, the cars drove from the present pits on Rue de Laigné straight into the city, and after a sharp right-hand corner near the river Huisne Pontlieue bridge (a hairpin permanently removed from

2146-513: The new cars, Georges Philippe was entered into the Grand Prix d'Antibes. In a field that included René Dreyfus and Philippe Étancelin , both race winners many times over, Rothschild led the race until he crashed out on the 36th lap. A mere two weeks later, with the car rebuilt, Georges Philippe finished a highly creditable fourth at the inaugural Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco , behind winner William Grover-Williams . Continued improvement

2204-408: The new record as "405". This has led to many people mistakenly stating the record as only 405 km/h (252 mph), but Dorchy's best run down the Mulsanne straight was clocked at 407 km/h (253 mph). Bugatti Circuit is a 4.185 km (2.600 mi) permanent race track located within Circuit des 24 Heures, constructed in 1965 and named after Ettore Bugatti . The circuit uses a part of

2262-717: The only time the Formula One World Championship would use the circuit, and is the current host of the French motorcycle Grand Prix . It also forms the final round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship , and was part of the World Series by Renault and 1988 Superbike World Championship seasons . As of May 2024, the fastest official race lap records at the Bugatti Circuit are listed as: Météo France runs

2320-556: The owner of Château d'Yquem sued unsuccessfully to have the reclassification reversed as illegitimate. After his Mouton Rothschild lost to a California wine in the Judgment of Paris , he "phoned one of the judges and asked haughtily, 'What are you doing to my wines? It took me forty years to become classified as First Growth!'" Rothschild purchased Château Clerc Milon, a fifth-growth classified vineyard strategically located next to his own property. After achieving his lifelong goal with

2378-452: The pits to slow down the cars. The circuit was fitted with Armco barriers for the 1969 race. The "Maison Blanche" kink was particularly harrowing, claiming many cars over the years (including three Ferrari 512 variants) and several lives, including the legendary John Woolfe in 1969 behind the wheel of a Porsche 917 . The circuit has been modified ten more times — 1971, a year when prototypes were averaging over 240 km/h (150 mph),

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2436-463: The pits, the team had the car back on the track and they decided to go for it. The plan worked: with Roger Dorchy behind the wheel the WM P87 achieved the speed of 407 km/h (253 mph). The Peugeot retired shortly after that (on lap 59) with an overheating engine. By then it had outlasted two other Group C1 entrants. Since Peugeot had just launched its new model 405, the team agreed to advertise

2494-403: The pseudonym to protect his family. 'Georges Philippe' made his first appearance at the 1928 Bugatti Grand Prix at Le Mans , a race solely for private Bugatti owners where he became second immediately after the winner André Dubonnet. For 1929, Rothschild decided to upgrade to a full Grand Prix-specification Type 35C . In fact, he was so enamoured with the vehicles, he ordered three. Using one of

2552-423: The roundabout. This created a right hand kink prior to Mulsanne corner. In 1987, a chicane was added to the very fast Dunlop curve, where cars would go under the Dunlop bridge at 180 mph (290 km/h). Now they would be slowed to 110 mph (180 km/h). Le Mans was most famous for its 6 km (3.7 mi) long straight, called Ligne Droite des Hunaudières , a part of the route départementale (for

2610-472: The script for the film La Demoiselle et son revenant . Philippe de Rothschild was an accomplished poet and in 1952 his poem Vendange inspired Darius Milhaud to write a three-act ballet for the Paris Opera . He also translated Elizabethan poetry and the plays of Christopher Fry . In 1954, Rothschild married a longtime mistress, Pauline Fairfax Potter (1908–1976), a Paris-born American who had been

2668-460: The site. Philippe de Rothschild Philippe, Baron de Rothschild (13 April 1902 – 20 January 1988) was a member of the Rothschild banking family who became a Grand Prix motor racing driver, a screenwriter and playwright, a theatrical producer, a film producer, a poet, and one of the most successful wine growers in the world. Born in Paris, Georges Philippe de Rothschild was

2726-423: The track just beyond the Dunlop Chicane and before the Dunlop Bridge. Following the fatal crash of Danish driver Allan Simonsen at the 2013 race at the exit of Tertre Rouge into D338, Tertre Rouge was re-profiled again. The radius was moved in approximately 200 m (220 yd) for safety reasons with new tyre barriers at the exit. The current version of the track has been in use since 2018. As of June 2024,

2784-426: The vineyard and by the early 1950s was once again producing wine. At the same time, the multi-talented Rothschild returned to participation in the theatrical world, teaming up with Gaston Bonheur to write in both English and French the play Lady Chatterley's Lover . Based on the D. H. Lawrence novel, their play was later made into a motion picture starring Danielle Darrieux . In 1952 Rothschild and Bonheur wrote

2842-568: The vintner's Anglo-Jewish heritage) and Philippe de Rothschild began a lifelong mission to change this judgment. In 1934, Philippe de Rothschild married Élisabeth Pelletier de Chambure (1902–1945), the former wife of Jonkheer Marc de Becker-Rémy  [ Wikidata ] , a Belgian nobleman. They had two children: Philippine Mathilde Camille de Rothschild (born 22 November 1933, died 23 August 2014) and Charles Henri de Rothschild (born and died 1938). Rothschild's late-in-life memoirs ( Milady Vine , written in collaboration with his companion,

2900-549: The younger son of Baron Henri de Rothschild (1872–1947) (who was a noted playwright under the name André Pascal) and Mathilde Sophie Henriette von Weissweiller (1872–1926). At the outbreak of World War I , 12-year-old Philippe was sent to the safety of the family's vineyard in the village of Pauillac in the Médoc . There, he developed a love of the country and the wine business, an enterprise in his family since 1853, but one his father and grandfather had shown little interest in. As

2958-499: Was 13.492 km (8.384 mi) long and remained almost unaltered even after the 1955 tragedy . Its frighteningly narrow pit straight was further narrowed to make room for the pits and was part of the road itself, without the road becoming wider around the pits, and no separation. The pit straight then was about 3.7 m (12 ft) wide, further widened in 1956 after the tragedy, but the race track and pits were not separated for another 15 years. Car speeds increased dramatically in

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3016-429: Was clocked by radar travelling at 407 km/h (253 mph). Jean-Louis Lafosse and Jo Gartner would ultimately suffer from fatal high speed accidents in 1981 and 1986, respectively, leading to concerns with the growing speeds on the 3.7 mi (6.0 km) straight. As the combination of high speed and high downforce caused tyre and engine failures, two roughly equally spaced chicanes were consequently added to

3074-475: Was finally rewarded when Georges Philippe won the Burgundy Grand Prix three weeks later, finishing ahead of Guy Bouriat  [ Wikidata ] in a second Rothschild T35C. However, he was unfortunate to retire from the following race while running sixth. The third of Rothschild's T35Cs was regularly campaigned by a rather curious acquaintance for a future Baron. A model and exotic dancer at

3132-553: Was hired as art director, and Gabriel Astruc as manager. Antoine was replaced after two years with Gaston Baty following a disagreement with Rothschild. The 1500-seat venue opened with Sacha Guitry 's piece, Histories of France . The great German impresario Max Reinhardt staged a production of Die Fleidermaus here in November 1933 Through the 1930s and the war, directors and performers here included Louis Jouvet (the 1931 premiere of Judith written by Jean Giraudoux ),

3190-492: Was limited, the top speed dropped until powerful turbo engines were allowed, like in the 1978 Porsche 935 , which was clocked at 367 km/h (228 mph). Speeds on the straight by the Group C prototypes reached over 400 km/h (250 mph) during the late 1980s. At the beginning of the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans race, Roger Dorchy driving for Welter Racing in a "Project 400" car, which sacrificed reliability for speed,

3248-583: Was revoked on 6 September 1940 for what The New York Times described as "having left France without official permission or a valid reason." Released from Vichy custody on 20 April 1941, Philippe de Rothschild made his way to England, where he joined the Free French Forces of General Charles de Gaulle , earning a Croix de Guerre . On his return to France following the Allies' liberation, Philippe de Rothschild learned that, although his daughter

3306-740: Was safe, the Gestapo had, on charges of attempting to cross a line of demarcation with a forged permit, deported his estranged wife in 1941 to Ravensbrück concentration camp where she died – the cause of her death remains unresolved – on 23 March 1945. Élisabeth Pelletier de Chambure was the only member of the Rothschilds to be murdered in The Holocaust . Devastated, Rothschild had to deal with problems at his vineyard as well. The departing German army had done considerable damage to Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Together with dedicated employees, he put his energy into restoring

3364-403: Was the last year the classic circuit was used. That year, an Armco barrier was added to the pit straight to separate the track from the pits. In 1972, the race track was considerably revamped, at a cost of 300 million francs , with modification of the pit area and the first and final straights, the addition of the quick Porsche curves bypassing "Maison Blanche", the signalling area being moved to

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