René Hanriot

Born in Vaite in the département of Haute-Saône, this Frenchman worked as a champagne manufacturer, but was also an aviation pioneer and, from 1908, an aircraft manufacturer who also took part in competitions with his products. He also indulged his passion for cars and celebrated numerous successes as a racing driver, first for the French brand Darracq, then in 1907 and 1908 for Benz & Cie.

The year 1908 in particular brought Hanriot extraordinary success. In July he finished third driving Benz at the French Grand Prix in Dieppe behind his compatriot and team-mate Hémery and repeated this placing in September at the Semmering hill climb near Vienna. At the end of October he finished fourth in the American Grand Prix in Savannah/Georgia.

After that, the Frenchman turned increasingly to the emerging field of aviation. His company had to declare bankruptcy in 1912, and in the same year he drove for Lorraine-Dietrich in the French Grand Prix, but retired after a fire. At the beginning of the First World War, Hanriot again founded an aircraft factory, which produced successfully and was continued by his son after Hanriot's death.