Tom Moran and Tom Sewell Fantasy by the Sea Peace Press: Culver City, CA, 1980 (1979) (Originally published by Beyond Baroque Foundation with a grant from the Visual Arts Program of the National Endowment for the Arts), 1915
Venice Grand Prix
"Venice scheduled a road race on the city's streets for Saint Patrick's Day, 1915. Sanction was obtained from the Western Automobile Association for the First Annual Venice Grand Prix. A winner's purse of $3,500 was guaranteed.
"The entry list included Earl Cooper, Dave Lewis, Dario Resta, Ralph DePalma, Orville Jones, Barney Oldfield, Johnny Marquis, Bill Carlson, G. Ruckstell, Eddie Hearne, Louis Disbrow, Harold Hall and Eddie Pullin.
"The motor car industry was represented by Peugeot, Mercer, Case, Stutz, DeLage, Napier, Bugatti, Chalmers, Simplex, Hercules, Maxwell and Chevrolet . . .
"A Saturday afternoon crowd estimated at 75,000 surrounded the race course . . . Oldfield . . . a Maxwell. 400 hours and 24 minutes, 300 miles.
"There were two fatalities and a number of injuries. A riding mechanic was killed during a practice lap. A spectator died when he wandered fon the course and was struck by Marquis's Bugatti. The race scoreboard toppled over and injured nearby spectators.
"The City of Venice ws the official promoter of the event, which was a disappointment. Gate crashers, counterfeit tickets and lawsuits turned the race into a financial failure. The annual event was never repeated."