Motorsport

A Peugeot 206 World Rally Car

"Motor racing" and "Motorsports" redirect here. For other uses, see Motor racing (disambiguation).

"Racing cars" redirects here. For the Welsh pop band, see Racing Cars.

Automobile racing (also known as auto racing, motor racing, or car racing) is a sport involving racing automobiles. Auto racing began in 1895,^[1] and is now one of the world's most popular sports.^[2]

History

The beginning of race cars

Racing began soon after the construction of the first successful petrol-fueled autos. In 1894, the first contest was organized by Paris magazine , a reliability test to determine best performance. But the race was changed to Paris to Rouen 1894. Competitors included factory vehicles from Karl Benz's Benz & Cie. and Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach's DMG.

In 1895, one year later, the first real race was staged in France, from Paris to Bordeaux. First over the line was but he was disqualified because his car was not a required four-seater.

An international competition began with the Gordon Bennett Cup in auto racing.

The first auto race in the United States took place in Evanston, Illinois on November 28, 1895 over a 87.48-km (54.36 mile) course, with Frank Duryea winning in 10 hours and 23 minutes, beating three petrol-fueled and two electric cars.[1] The first trophy awarded was the Vanderbilt Cup.

City to city racing

Fernand Gabriel driving a Mors in Paris-Madrid 1903

With auto construction and racing dominated by France, the French automobile club ACF staged a number of major international races, usually from or to Paris, connecting with another major city in Europe or France.

These very successful races ended in 1903 when Marcel Renault was involved in a fatal accident near Angouleme in the Paris-Madrid race. Nine fatalities caused the French government to stop the race in Bordeaux and ban open-road racing.^{[citation needed]}

1910-1950

The 1930s saw the transformation from high-priced road cars into pure racers, with Delage, Auto Union, Mercedes-Benz, Delahaye, and Bugatti constructing streamlined vehicles with engines producing up to 450 kW (612 hp), aided by multiple-stage supercharging. From 1928-1930 and again in 1934-1936, the maximum weight permitted was 750 kg, a rule diametrically opposed to current racing regulations. Extensive use of aluminium alloys was required to achieve light weight, and in the case of the Mercedes, the paint was removed to satisfy the weight limitation, producing the famous Silver Arrows.

See: Grand Prix motor racing

Use of flags

Car handling

Composite materials

Engine tuning

Import scene

List of auto racing tracks

Race track

Racing game

Sim racing

References

^ Rendall, Ivan (1995). The Chequered Flag. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, pp.10. .
^ "F1 World’s most watched TV sports events: 2006 Rank & Trends report", Initiative, 2007-01-19. Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
^ NHRA Mile High Nationals 2001, and 2002 testing from the National Seismology Center.

External links

WRC.com - Official site of World Rally Championship

Sanctioning bodies

Other

Racetrack Database Racetrack information and locations.
Revvs.net Motorsport Fans Networking.

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