The voiturette class was shaken up by divergent fortunes of the two main teams: Lion-Peugeot and Hispano-Suiza. Strikes at the Barcelona factory caused friction between the Hispano-Suiza designers and the drivers. The managers decided to shut down the racing department. This left Paolo Zuccarelli without a job, until he was soon hired by Lion-Peugeot, joining Georges Boillot and Jules Goux. He filled a gap left following the death of Giosue Giuppone at the end of the last season. The squat 4-cylinder engine of the Hispano-Suiza provided far better stability than the tall 2-cylinder in the faster Peugeots, and the team to tap into Zuccarelli's ideas. The rift between Lion-Peugeot and their parent company had been mended. The three drivers were all also engineers and Goux's family had worked in Peugeot for several generations. Although the other managers called them “The Charlatans”, Robert Peugeot recognised the innovative ideas and skill the drivers could bring to racing design. He also hired Swiss Ernest Henry (formerly at Hispano-Suiza) and Italian Ettore Bugatti (just starting his own firm). At the Coupe des Voiturettes (also called the Coupe de l’Auto, as it was promoted by L’Auto newspaper) the Lion-Peugeot team arrived in force with its new V4 VX5; the three regular drivers joined by René Hanriot. With a maximum engine size of 3-litre, ranged against the Peugeots now was a variety of manufacturers that included new models from Delage and Grégoire from France, Arrol-Johnston and Calthorpe from Great Britain. From the start, Boillot took the lead with Burgess's Calthorpe second, Goux third and then the three Delages. But when all four Peugeots had issues with engines, tyres or, in Zuccarelli's case, crashing, it allowed the Delages of Paul Bablot and René Thomas to establish a gap. Although Boillot was able to make up time and pass Thomas, it was Bablot who won giving Delage a surprise victory at first attempt over the Lion-Peugeot team. Once again, the Vanderbilt Cup and American Grand Prize were to be held together. For the first time, the Vanderbilt Cup left New York and joined the Grand Prize at Savannah, Georgia. FIAT and Daimler sent cars across the Atlantic for the end-of-season races. The Vanderbilt Cup was an all-American affair as part of the AAA championship. Ralph DePalma and Spencer Wishart drove the Mercedes, and 21-year old David Bruce-Brown led the team of three 14-litre FIAT S74s. Harry Grant had