Motor racing
Motor racing refers specifically to racing by means of motor cars aka automobiles. The term is also used generically as a synonym of "motorsport" in the sense of all sports in which motorised vehicles are used for racing. Hence, motorsport extends to motorcycle racing, truck racing, air racing, speedboat racing and others.
Origins
The internal combustion engine was developed from simple gas-fuelled designs during the later part of the 19th century to the point in the 1880s where several technicians such as Karl Benz in Mannheim and the partnership of Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart had built the first true automobiles.
Racing of horse-drawn carriages has been popular among its participants in the past and it was a natural progression to race the new automobiles. The beginning of motor racing is generally traced to a run from Paris to Rouen on 22 July 1894. Although there had previously been some private events, this first real contest was organised by Paris magazine Le Petit Journal as a reliability test, but it was not actually a race as the contestants did not start together, so it was more of a rally than a race. Albert de Dion was the first to arrive at Rouen in his de Dion-Bouton car, but the judges ruled that the steam-powered vehicle was outside the competition's scope and a Panhard-Levassor was judged to be the winner.
Beginning of organised racing
The Paris-Bordeaux-Paris Rally was held in 1895 and was the first real motor race as all competitors started together. The winner was Émile Levassor in his Panhard-Levassor 1205 cc model. He completed the course in 48 hours and 47 minutes, finishing nearly six hours before the runner-up. The race is in retrospect sometimes referred to as the I Grand Prix de l'ACF.[1] The significance of the event was that it proved that cars and their drivers could travel very long distances in a reasonable time. It gave an enormous boost to the motor industry and the enthusiastic public interest in the event ensured the lasting popularity of motor racing as a sport. Subsequently, in November of the same year, several French motoring pioneers formed the Automobile Club de France (ACF), which thereafter governed most of the major races in France.
In 1896, the next major event was the Paris-Marseille-Paris Trail, held over 1710 km from 24 September to 3 October and won by Émile Mayade driving a Panhard-Levassor 8 hp model in a time of 67:42:58. This race is in retrospect sometimes referred to as the II Grand Prix de l'ACF.[2]