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History of Auto Racing Articles And News
the sport of racing automobiles
Below, you'll find leading History of Auto Racing articles and extensive
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Auto Racing History: Over 100 Years of Speed
By Toby Trumbill
It seems that from the dawn of man, since people have learned how to walk, that they have been trying to be faster that all others. While motor car racing doesn't go back quite that far, it has a rich and proud history spanning more than 100 years of burnt rubber.
Motor car racing began in Paris, France, way back in 1894, soon after the advent of petrol-powered internal combustion engines. The first organized motor car competition was held by a French magazine called Le Petit Journal. It was a 78-mile trip from Paris to Rouen. However, this wasn't a conventional race but rather a reliability test In fact, first place wasn't even awarded to the car that finished first.
The first true motor car race was staged a year later. The race was once again in France and had competitors travel between Paris and Bordeaux. The car that finished first did not win the race yet again, after being disqualified for not meeting the required car specifications.
In 1985, Chicago played host to the first ever event in America. The race was held on Thanksgiving and was sponsored by the Chicago Times Herald. The race ended with only two cars finishing.
The following years saw France heading the car manufacturing and racing scene. The Automobile Club of France held the first international race in 1898. The race was from Paris to Amsterdam and was followed in the subsequent years by races emanating from Paris to Berlin, Vienna, and Madrid respectively.
The Paris to Madrid race however, saw the worst car accident up to that time. An accident killed 8 people, including spectators. It was then decided to halt staging races on open roads.
The
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Gordon Bennett Cup was an international racing competition set up by the rich owner of the New York Herald. It was first held in 1900 and then in every year thereafter until 1905. The race allowed three entrants from participating countries, which include America, France, and Germany among others.
In 1906 both France and Italy declined to host the event, opting instead to host their own major racing events. These became the first ever Gran Prix races.
In 1908, the first Grand Prix in America was held in Savannah, Georgia. The first Indianapolis 500 race was conducted on Memorial Day 1911.
The outbreak of World War I effectively saw a pause in in Europe and America. After the war, America began to favor more oval tracks, as opposed to European races which were held on more traditional closed-off road tracks.
From this time, races began to use more specifically built race cars as opposed to production-derived models. New technology was being used to make the cars lighter, faster, and more race-worthy.
1950 was a landmark year for car racing. This was the year that the F?ration Internationale de l'Automobile or FIA established Formula One. F1 linked together several Gran Prix races from different countries under a common set of rules. The first ever F1 world champion was the Italian Giuseppe "Nino" Farina, driving for Alfa Romeo.
Today, Formula One is still going strong, as one of the most popular and expensive sports in the world. F1 races have been held everywhere from countries like Malaysia to Brazil.
F1 and other forms of has been greatly supported worldwide since it first started thrilling fans so long ago. With ever-advancing technology allowing for even greater mind-numbing speeds, there is no doubt that it will blazing through checkered flags for a long time to come.
Toby Trumbill is a lifelong racing enthusiast, and amateur racer. He is the resident writer at http://motor-racing.com - You can reach Toby at toby@motor-racing.com
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