1968 Thuxton 10 lap race for historic racing cars filmed by D Roscoe
Motor racing dates back to the car itself early time, however, he was not racing t as we know it today was cars that were far from sophisticated They were huge gas guzzlers and low power they were unreliable and break anytime They even lacked basics such as the windshield and a suitable cockpit pilots were brave and ambitious young men who were willing to push their machines to the limit that elusive glory and satisfaction of racing has changed, it witnessed dramatic changes, has come under legal constraints and today, each race has a governing body which sets strict rules and regulations.
The following list contains ten legendary races in chronological order, which were milestones in this fascinating story of evolution.
The first series of international race in history was the brain child of the eccentric James Gordon Bennett Jr., millionaire owner of the New York Herald in 1899 Gordon Bennett offered a trophy to the Automobile Club de France, run for annually by automobile clubs in various European countries, the entry conditions required that all parts of a competition vehicle was to be produced in the country he represented, including wheels the first race in 1900 took place from Paris to Lyon, and won by the French Fernand Charron, driving a Panhard Levassor-on les six races until 1905, four of them were sprinting city to city size and those from 1903 and 1905 were circuit races held in Athy in Ireland and Auvergne of France circuit This was also the first organized record of the circuit race, which later, after 1905 in the development of large Price France was the most successful country in the Gordon Bennett races, winning four of the six victories The other two were won by a British Napier in 1902 and a German Mercedes in 1903.
While many independent racing series have been increasing in Europe in the first decade of the 20th century, leading to a better European automotive technology and design, William Kissam Vanderbilt Jr., a self-Amateur American would even occur in his country, so he founded the Vanderbilt Cup, in 1904 it was an international racing event, open to all countries around the world the news of the race, however, was riddled with political and legal issues, with people trying to prevent it from happening, but Vanderbilt prevailed, and the Vanderbilt Cup final became the first trophy in the history of American racing races were held in long Island, and the first, 1904-1910, were some -unes of the best races of the time the Vanderbilt Cup also saw the rise to fame of some of the race cars successfully earlier as the Locomobile and Lozier place of the Vanderbilt Cup was moved from Long Island to Wisconsin in 1912, Santa Monica, and later S an Francisco until 1916, when he was arrested for America to join World War however, it was later revived in 1936 when the nephew of Vanderbilt, George Washington Vanderbilt III, sponsored a 300-mile race at Roosevelt Raceway newly built Lack of American competition, and a boring race format, however, and played spoilsport it was withdrawn after only two years of renewal next Vanderbilt Cup was held in 1960 and remained until 1968, eventually being merged with the Bridgehampton sports car racing.
One of the oldest endurance road racing events, the Targa Florio was founded in 1906 by the Italian racing driver Vincenzi Florio The race was held around a circuit of 72 km, Circuito delle Piccolo Madonie, around the Italian mountains that surround the city of Sicily the first Targa Florio covered 3 laps through the treacherous trails and mountain curves with control heights often changing climate and difficult Alessandro Cagno won the inaugural race in 1906 amid 1920s, the Targo Florio was one of the biggest races in Europe or the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Mille Miglia was not in place then.
The Targa was put under the FIA Sportscar Championship of the World in 1955, and its success has continued to grow He became an arena where great racing names from all over the world came together to challenge the great Italian drivers thus, the Targa Florio saw his neck and competition neck between the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio and Briton Stirling Moss, against Italian champion Tazio Nuvolari and Alfieri Maserati race as an international event saw the last sun rays 1973 when it was won by a Porsche 911 prototype he continued until 1977, a national event, when a fatal accident resulted having stopped the convertible version of 911's classic Targa was appointed because of their success in the Targa Florio.
The most famous idea of all the vintage car races came from a challenge published in the Paris Journal, Le Matin, What is to be proved today is that as a man has a car, he can do and go wherever we ask question of car manufacturers in France and abroad there is someone who will travel this summer from Peking to Paris by automobile than it is, this tough and daring man, whose gallant car will have a dozen nations to watch his progress, he certainly deserves his name to be spoken as mockery in the four corners of the earth.
The race, which was to span two continents and a distance of fifteen thousand kilometers was simply unimaginable in a time when people still doubted Automobile replacement carts pulled by horses There were forty entries however, only five were enthusiastic enough to ship their cars in Beijing now, Beijing There was a Dutch Spyker, a French Contal 3 wheels, two French and one Italian DeDion 120 hp Itala, driven by Prince Scipione Borghese.
The race followed a telegraph and each car was a reporter as a passenger, to be able to cover the travel of each car's remote regions of Asia, which had never seen before travel engine, proved to be a inhibition exhausting crews met with a variety of challenges and difficulties the Itala for example, fell by a wooden bridge Some of the cars had to be transported over rough terrain using ropes they were stranded in quicksand Some went along crackling and cough after being refueled with benzene the Contal 3 wheeler was grounded by the vast Gobi desert and leave the crew, fortunately, found and rescued by a group of residents.
In the end, after months of swashbuckling heroics, lumbered cars in Paris Itala Borghese was leading, days ahead of the Dutch Spyker second.
This race was a turning point in automotive history, he distributed all the myths about motor cars, and proved to the world that the cars had come to stay The race has reached legendary status when it was replayed several times over the years, including a recent text involving 126 classic cars to celebrate its centenary for as it was, the race Paris-Beijing 1907 was not only a race; it was the greatest adventure of driving all the time.
If the Paris-Beijing 1907 race proved that cars had come to stay, the New York-Paris was to wear a final death blow to all the skeptics of the car he was in Times Square, a frigid February morning that the six cars from four different countries took off for the first automatic competitions around the world the conditions were bad and there were very few paved roads before drivers, after a they almost always took horse on railways on balloon tires, for hundreds of miles, when no route could be found the initial route was supposed to take them all the way to Alaska and cars would be shipped across the Bering Strait on ruthless cold steamers Alaska makes reroute through Seattle and then shipped across the Pacific in Yokohama, Japan.
Motoring in Japan was something new, especially in rural areas in most places, they were welcomed by foreign faces who had never met a car before from Japan route climbed northward to Vladivostok in the tundra regions of Siberia daily progress was so slow from then, this rate has been given in feet per hour, as opposed to miles Finally, after a grueling workout on three continents, the roads of Europe were a show welcome the winner, a Thomas Flyer US reached Paris on July 30, four days after the German German Protos were denied victory and received a 30-day penalty for not passing all the way to Alaska before crossing the Pacific on winning driver, George Schuster was later inducted into the automobile of fame in 2010.
Considered the greatest racing show, the Indy 500 began in 1911 and is still held every year, usually the last weekend in May, the place is perfect oval Motor Speedway Indianapolis in Indianapolis, US this race, one of the most prestigious to date, sees some of the highest rates obtained in circuit races in the world, with cars virtually fly around at speeds above 320 km on time.
While the races were held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before the 500, the first 500 figure comes from the total distance in miles from start to finish 200 laps of the race circuit was won by Ray Harroun, driving a model-based 32 Marmon Wasp result was questioned by other drivers, especially because Harroun defied the rules and made the entire race without mechanical horse, which checked the oil pressure and informed when other pilots were coming, the grand prize money 50 000 in 1912 has attracted many people around the world, including Europe as Fiat and Peugeot Marqués established over the years, the Indy 500 has evolved and , according to European standards, engine size was limited to 1920-1922 3 liters, 2 liters to 5 liters to 1 1923 to 1925 in 1926-1929.
After the two world wars, the future of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was dark abandoned and choked with weeds appearance with brick surface runway beyond repair, professional race seemed impossible it was local entrepreneur Tony Hullman, who revived the track, resurrected the Indy 500 and helped usher in the golden age of American car racing after the war.
The prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans is the oldest and the most famous endurance race in the world that is still held every year originally to test the effectiveness and reliability of production cars to the circuit of Sarthe Mans in France, this race has, over the years, seen almost all the famous brand participate Le Mans was also a seat for the bitter personal rivalries and professional competition like no other race in the world 1960 were most notable in this regard Henry Ford frustrated at his failure trying to buy the Italian stallion, Ferrari, he promised to defeat Ferrari on the race track, and made huge investments to develop top racing cars and Indeed, the 24 Hours of Le Mans will see some of the greatest riders through the ages some prominent ones included the Ford Mark IV, the Ferrari 250 GTO, Porsche 917 and Chevrolet Corv ette.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans also saw a new type of start of the race, called Le Mans begins when the cars were lined up along the pit wall and wave the flag, drivers rushed to their cars, enter, start the engines, reverse and start the race, all without any assistance this stampede before each race has become an iconic aspect of this race, which, however, was later discarded because of drivers traveling without fixing their safety harness.
These 24 hours of Le Mans sees cars covering more than 5000 kilometers from start to finish which is about eighteen times the length of an average Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The Mille Miglia was probably the last of the legendary road races It was launched in 1927 by Italian car lover Count Aymo Maggi, who himself participated in the first edition of his Isotta Fraschinni 8A SS Departure and arrival in Brescia, the Mille Miglia covered a thousand miles without compromising the Italian countryside despite setting some value of major brands of Italian GranTurismo as the Maserati, the Isotta, Fiat, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, the race was canceled in 1957 following a fatal accident that killed Ferrari driver, the Spaniard Alfonso de Portago, his navigator Edmund Nelson and nine spectators, including five children.
The most popular and the most prestigious event of the Formula 1 calendar every year, the Monaco Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indy 500, is unofficially called Triple Crown of motorsport the Monaco circuit hosting this grand Prix since 1929 has also been called an exceptional location of glamor and prestige.
Before 1929, the circuit of the Grand Prix had been located in the countryside or purpose built racetracks effect The first Monaco Grand Prix has brought a new dimension to the sport since he was executed in the streets of the capital, Monte Carlo, on a tight, twisting and of course close, which also included a car tunnel Maneuverability has been on the premium for this course the first editions of the Monaco grand Prix was dominated by the nimble Bugattis, who succumbed to the most powerful Alfa Romeo 8C Monza in 1930.
Ayrton Senna, indicated by many as the greatest driver running of all time, won the largest number of times in Monaco, with six wins, including five consecutive victories between 1989 and 1993.
The Carrera Panemericana was yet another historical road race through the roads of Mexico, originally started to advertise and draw attention to the new Mexican section of Route Panamericana The first race was a period of nine steps, five days ran nearly 3300 km over the entire length of the road from north to south panning Mexico After two years, however, the race was shown as the most dangerous race ever, because of the terrain difficult, hard cornering and extreme elevation changes of 328 feet above sea level in some places to 10,500 feet in a few other cars had carburetors on be adjusted to treat thinning air at higher altitudes the first edition of the race was won by Hershel McGriff and Ray Eliot, driving an Oldsmobile other recognizable cars succeeded in various stages of the Carrera Panamericana was the Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing and Porsche 550 Spyder Porsche has been very successful in these races, clinch and share many victories at the classroom level, which demonstrated the reliability of the VW Beetle, a large number of Porsches drawing ancestry to the same end, after a fateful accident of Le Mans in 1955, the Carrera Panamericana and all other such road races were canceled he was resurrected again by Eduardo Le n Camargo, however, 1988 and still survives to this date.
Porsche named two of their cars after their success as a team in this race, the Carrera and later, the Panamera tourer.
10 historic racing car-like Motor Racing, Historic racing engine.