Motorsport year 1894
After a few tentative beginnings, the journey from Paris to Rouen on July 22nd, 1894 is considered to be the real beginning of motorsport . The event was designed as a reliability drive and not as a pure speed competition.
Paris – Rouen
| space | driver | dare | time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Albert de Dion
|
de Dion | 6: 48.00 h |
| 2 |
Albert Lemaître
|
Peugeot | + 3.30 min |
| 3 |
Doriot |
Peugeot | + 16.30 min |
With the trip from Paris to Rouen, a general public interest in an automobile competition could be generated for the first time. The Parisian journalist Pierre Giffard , with the support of the newspaper Le Petit Journal, called for a race for "horseless vehicles" in 1894 , in which not only the driving time achieved, but also criteria such as the quality of the construction, economy, user-friendliness and operational safety are assessed should. For the first time, a whole range of vehicle types (in addition to automobiles, two- and three-wheelers as well as so-called quadricycles - similar to today's quads ) with different drive concepts (petrol, steam, electric and even muscle or spring-powered) applied as participants, of which, however, only wagons with steam engines or internal combustion engines survived the mandatory preliminary test over 50 km and were sent on the 126 km long route. The fastest of the total of 21 competitors was Count Albert de Dion , with an hourly average of around 19 km / h and a consumption of 800 liters of water, with his steam car, basically a tractor with an attached carriage, which, in addition to the driver, also has another heater to operate Board needed. The winning prize of 5000 gold francs was awarded to petrol-powered cars from Panhard & Levassor and Peugeot in equal parts due to the much easier handling , both equipped with Daimler engines built under license by Panhard . 17 of the 21 vehicles taking part in the race reached the finish.
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anecdote
In the 24th episode ( departure into the 20th century) of the animated series " Once upon a time ... the human being " is the theme of the competition.
Web links
- Le Petit Journal (French)
- Photography by R. Girard (French)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Katja Iken: The hour of birth of motorsport - unlucky fellow on the steam monster. In: Der Spiegel . July 21, 2014, accessed March 11, 2020 .
- ↑ Once upon a time there was man E24. 20th century. In: YouTube . October 26, 2013, accessed on February 10, 2015 (video not available in Germany).