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The History of Car Racing
The history of competitive car racing began at the end of the nineteenth century after the first petrol fuelled automobiles were invented. At that point the racing car was a very exotic invention. A fashionable magazine called Le Perit Journal sponsored the very first race. The purpose of this race, which took place in 1894 was one of those turn of the century firsts that was devised to determine which vehicle was the fastest – the one designed by Karl Benz’s Benz & Ci, by Wilhelm Mabyach’s DMG or by Gottlieb Daimler. In 1895 the name of the race officially became Paris Rouen after some kind of dispute between the car manufacturers and Le Perit Journal.
Originally the race was staged as a run that traveled from Paris France to Bordeaux France. The winner of this first official Paris Rouen race was supposed to be Émile Levassor but he was disqualified because his car did not have four seats like the rest of the models in the race. Since then all kinds of international car racing competitions have taken place in France including the Gordon Bennet Cup.
France was the world center for car racing for over century with the race always beginning in Paris and ending up to finish in another popular European city. The French car racing had a forty year hey day and each race always featured the latest and greatest racing car models from many different types of manufacturers. The most common and popular contributors to the race included Delage, Auto Union, Mercedes-Benz, Delahaye and Bugatti. Through the years the world saw various innovations in cars come about in the attempt to create better and faster car racing models. For instance aluminum alloys were invented to make racecars lighter so that they would compete better in races.
Car racing first took place in the United States took place in Chicago on November 28, 1895. The prize was a trophy called the Vanderbilt Cup. Four petrol run cars and two electric run cars competed in that race. This car racing competition had a 54.36 mile (87.48 km) course, with Frank Duryea managing to complete it in ten hours and twenty-three minutes with his petrol run car.
Single-seater (open-wheel) car racing is a popular form of the motor sport with cars designed specifically for high-speed racing. The wheels are not covered, and the cars often have aerodynamic design elements that make them look like something out of a sci-fi movie.
The best-known variety of single-seater car racing, is the Formula One World Championship, which involves an annual championship of around eight races a Major car manufacturers such as Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz (McLaren), BMW (Sauber), Toyota, Honda, and Renault participate in Formula One World Championship car racing every year. It is a popular forum that major car manufacturers to introduce new type of engines and cutting edge car styles to the general public as well a create publicity for the much more pedestrian automobiles that they make for the masses to buy.
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