Robert Sénéchal

Robert Marie Georges Sénéchal (5 May 1892 – 30 July 1985) was a French industrialist/motor manufacturer, racing driver and pilot, noted for the car company bearing his name and for being the winner of the first-ever British Grand Prix.

Early life Sénéchal was born at Rocquencourt, in the Oise department in north-eastern France, to a family of grain merchants. After attending school in Amiens and in the Rue des Postes in Paris, he intended to study engineering at L'École Centrale, but contracted typhoid fever and was unable to take up his place.

Motor manufacturer Demobilised in 1919, Sénéchal assisted Pierre Delage (son of Louis Delage) in directing sales of surplus US military vehicles and parts, making sufficient money to enable him in 1921 to rescue the Éclair cyclecar company from impending insolvency, renaming the company "Cyclecars Robert Sénéchal" and retaining the 30 or so employees at its works in Rue Louis Blanc in Courbevoie.

Aided by the publicity generated by the marque's successes in competitions, the range of models produced by the company increased, to include larger-engined cyclecars and cars.

Two weeks later, Sénéchal was rewarded with one of Delage's three entries in the first-ever British Grand Prix, held at Brooklands on 7 August 1926. However, it had been impossible for the team to solve the extreme overheating problems experienced at San Sebastián, but Sénéchal nevertheless managed to complete 83 of the 110 laps and was holding second place behind Robert Benoist's sister car when he was forced to stop and hand over to Wagner, who had retired his own car early on. Benoist was delayed by a lengthy pitstop a few laps later, and so Wagner brought Sénéchal's car to the chequered flag and the £1,000 winner's cheque.

Later racing career Despite this success, Robert Sénéchal never raced for the factory Delage team in a grand prix again, although he did compete in several more grands prix as a privateer, including finishing 6th (and first in class) in his own Delage 15-S-8 at the 1930 French Grand Prix and 5th the following year, when he was the only driver to complete the 10-hour, 800-mile race solo. although a serious accident in the Circuit of Lorraine in June 1931 had marked the effective end of his racing career and he soon afterwards returned to his true love, flying, establishing an aerial photography business

Other achievements In 1924, Sénéchal was elected president of the Motocycle Club de France (MCF), a post he held for almost a decade. In 1925 he founded the Society of French Racing Drivers (l'Amicale des Coureurs Automobiles de France) and also held an official position at the Linas-Montlhéry autodrome.

World War II In 1939, Sénéchal was mobilised again and, aged 47, promoted to captain and appointed commander of a school for fighter pilots based near Montpellier.

Later life After World War II, Sénéchal was involved in a number of businesses, including motorcycle insurance and businesses selling ladies’ clothing, cakes and groceries. In 1964 he and his second wife relocated from Paris to Orleans, where they stayed until Sénéchal – who had finally retired in 1980, when he was aged 88 – suffered a hemiplegia at the end of 1983. Seriously handicapped by this, Sénéchal moved to Sanary-sur-Mer in the south of France, where he died on 30 July 1985.