The race was run in three legs across consecutive days: Paris to Aachen on 27 June (459 kilometres), Aachen to Hanover on 28 June (447 kilometres), and Hanover to Berlin on 29 June (299 kilometres). The route passed through multiple countries and required competitors to manage their cars and their mechanics across an extended multi-day effort on open public roads.
The race attracted a large and competitive field. Léonce Girardot, the French driver who raced for Panhard et Levassor, finished second overall. He had won the 1901 Gordon Bennett Cup — a concurrent race held over part of the same course — and his performance in Berlin confirmed him as one of the leading drivers of the era.
Henri Farman, driving for a major manufacturer, finished fifth. Camille du Gast, one of the very few women competing in international motor racing at the time, was among 122 entrants. She drove a 20 hp Panhard that was under-powered relative to the leading cars and was not designed for racing. Starting last of all entrants, she finished 33rd overall — 19th in the Heavy class — with a total time of 25 hours, 30 minutes, and 23 seconds. Her finishing result was widely noted; Baroness Hélène van Zuylen, the only other woman entered, retired on the first day with technical problems, making du Gast the sole woman to complete the race.
Du Gast was accompanied by Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord, the Prince de Sagan, as her riding mechanic.
During the race a young boy was killed after stepping into the road and being struck by a competitor's car. The accident prompted the French government to pass legislation banning motor racing on public roads. The ban required negotiation between the French automobile industry and government authorities before it was eventually repealed, allowing racing to resume in 1902. Those negotiations also produced an agreement with Switzerland — where racing was banned — to allow the 1902 Paris–Vienna race to transit Swiss territory under a neutralised section with enforced speed limits.
The incident highlighted the fundamental danger of racing on open public roads without adequate crowd control, a problem that would culminate in the catastrophic Paris–Madrid race of 1903.
The Paris–Berlin race illustrated the ambitions of the early intercity racing era: immense distances, international routes, and a growing commercial and sporting rivalry between French, German, and British manufacturers. The race confirmed Panhard et Levassor's dominance among French constructors while also showing the increasing capability of rival designs. The death of a spectator during the event and the resulting legal prohibition marked an early acknowledgment that unconstrained road racing carried risks that sporting and commercial enthusiasm alone could not manage. The temporary ban foreshadowed the more permanent end of open-road intercity racing that would come two years later after Paris–Madrid.