Who won the first car race ever?

Posted on 10-07-2014 at 20:15 by JordyS – 14 Comments”

The racing and the automotive industry for decades and are inextricably linked. The basis for the modern sport was already in 1894 laid, when a group of car enthusiasts to the first race ever reason.

We write 22 July 1894, almost 120 years ago. No fewer than 21 cars will take part in Concours du Petit Journal, a 126-kilometre-long trip from Paris to the also French Rouen. It is the time of the emergence of the internal combustion engine, especially for automobiles a lot more practical was the usual steam engines.

It went on the race not only about speed: also reliability and comfort played a major role. Therefore, all potential participants first in a three-day test subject, for they were admitted on the day of the competition. That paid off, because in the end took 17 of the 21 participants cross the finish line.

Albert Lemaitre and Auguste Doriot Peugeot shared the victory, ultimately with Paul Panhard and Émile Levassor, all riding with a Daimler-block. Since Daimler at that time, paramount went with the development of its two-cylinder V-engine, it is not surprising that the Germans quite a part in that success.

These engines of Daimler proved a very easy to use, so wrote Paul Daimler in later years. The participants with a steam engine had constant pressure in the holes, while the Daimler-riders only gas needed to give.

Gallery: The first car race in 1894

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