René de Knyff

Chevalier René de Knyff ( born December 10, 1865 in Antwerp, Belgium, † 1954) was a French race car driver and chairman of the Motorsport Association CSI.

The weighty Beard carrier de Knyff is one of the doyen of motor racing and one of the major drivers in the first epoch.

His car racing, he played always with the brand Panhard & Levassor car, where he also worked in a managerial capacity. In addition, he was involved in the founding of the French automobile club ACF.

His racing career began at the race Marseille -La Turbie in 1897 with a fourth place finish, his first victory he celebrated at Paris- Bordeaux 1898. Further successes were a victory in the Tour de France for automobiles in 1899, a third place at Paris- Berlin in 1901 and a he left second place in the Gordon Bennett Trophy, 1903. during the race Paris -Innsbruck in 1902, by a large margin leader, just 40 km from the finish from.

After 1903 he retired from active racing. He was chairman of the racing department of the French Automobile Club from 1922 to 1946 and was Chairman of the International Motorsport CSI organization, the predecessor of the FIA.

René de Knyff died in 1954 at the age of 90 years.

• GP rider before 1950
• Racers (France)
• Frenchman
• Born 1865
• Died in 1954
• Man