Next to aviation, motorsports is the fastest-developing direction in the world. Less than two centuries have passed since the invention of the first gasoline-powered cars. However, man’s desire to find out how fast these could go gave birth to the sport of car racing, starting the chain of famous motoring disciplines, such as the first IndyCar – 1909, the first Rally Monte Carlo – 1911, or the 24 Hours of Le Mans – 1929. The modernization process was progressive and fascinating. How, in less than 150 years, we’ve gone from the very first car race to today’s high-tech motorsport?

Carl Benz or Gottlieb Daimler?

Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler are forefathers of the automobile because they created the worlds first gasoline-powered vehicles simultaneously.

After the first stationary gasoline engine, which brought him commercial success in 1879, Carl Benz designed a three-wheeled Benz Motor Car model no. 1 in 1886- the world’s first car.

On the other hand, Gottlieb Daimler, the first to use a gasoline engine in a two-wheeled vehicle, developed the forerunner of the modern automobile engine in 1885. He centered on repeating success with the four-wheeled car. With the help of Wilhelm Maybach, Daimler adapted it to a stagecoach and designed the world’s first four-wheeled automobile in 1886.

Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler had never met personally and worked at different places: Mannheim and Stuttgart. However, Benz became the first to invent the car because he received the patent first.

With getting the milestone, a question arose: whose vehicle was superior? The answer, it seemed, could only be determined by pitting against each other in a race.

First Attempts At Car Racing

Did you know that its ‘elite sport’ label motorsport has got from its origins? Because, in a time when most of the citizens rode by horses, only rich people could afford gasoline cars.

All the early competitions were closed challenges between business associates, where each wished to label their car as the best to sell those more.  

So there were no requirements and no rules, but there were rich people, start-up entrepreneurs, talented engineers, and car enthusiasts, while newspapers became the main car advertisers and racing promoters.

Bois de Boulogne (1887)

Thus, the editor-in-chief of Le Vélocipède, Monsieur Fossier, attempted first, as he organized a 2 km race from the Pont de Neuilly to the Bois de Boulogne on 28 April 1887.

George Bouton was the one and only driver. He won the race.

Paris-Rouen (1894)

It took seven years to design the regulations before the chief editor of Le Petit Journal, Pierre Giffard, kicked off the car race The Paris-Rouen on 22 July 1894.

Le Petit Journal announced the ‘Competition for Horseless Carriages’ with the top prize of 5,000 francs going to ‘the competitor whose car comes closest to the ideal.’ The points were awarded for easy-to-drive, simple design, and aesthetics.

25 of the 69 cars from serious manufacturers like Peugeot, Panhard, and De Dion to amateur owners started the race. They completed the 126 kilometers and arrived in the Bois de Boulogne after 6 hours and 48 minutes. However, the event was like a rally.

One by one, the racers started with an order, separated by 30 seconds. Each driver had a judge on the board, who was responsible for the crew maintaining the rules and evaluating the driving style with a score of 0 to 20.

With a steam engine designed by Gottlieb Daimler, Count Jules-Albert de Dion took first, traveling at an average speed of 19 km/h. He finished ahead of Albert Lemaître (Peugeot), Auguste Doriot (Peugeot), René Panhard (Panhard), and Émile Levassor (Panhard). But Jules-Albert de Dion didn’t win because his car didn’t score enough.

Peugeot, powered by Panhard Levassor’s engine, had won, but the victory was in doubt. The car was a two-seater, not a four-seater as required.

The Godfathers of Power and Speed

Therefore, Peugeot, with a Daimler engine, became the official Paris-Rouen winner, launching the era of Mercedes-Benz because. After a while, they associated with Carl Benz to start the Daimler-Benz which has been known today as the Mercedes-Benz Group.

In 1894, Carl Benz revealed the Benz Velo – a car designed specifically for racing. Powered by a single-cylinder engine, producing 3hp, Velo had a top speed of about 30 km/h.

However, those were Émile Levassor and René Panhard, who truly understood the potential of car racing and invented the first race car.

Levassor and Panhard founded Panhard & Levassor in 1886 to supply Daimler-upgraded vehicles.

The Birth Of Competitive Racing

However, in 1891, Émile Levassor invented a significantly superior automobile to Daimler, which had the front-mounted engine and innovative transmission system. It was the first purpose-built race car.

Panhard and Levassor came first with the concept of racing press coverage. Both sought to raise the public to stick with their cars.

Two French engineers and business executives organized the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris race in 1895 – the first car racing competition. 

With a twin-cylinder, 750 rpm engine, the Panhard-Levassor 1205cc model was the first-ever race car in the world, finishing a staggering eleven hours ahead of the competitors.

The Global Racing Revolution

Despite Émile Levassor and René Panhard being disqualified, they played a role in the Car Club de France’s formation. They established France as the birthplace of motor racing and the country as the leading nation in the automotive industry.

The same year, an American business and publisher, Herman Henry Kohlsaat, organized the USA’s first motor race – Chicago Times-Herald, which marked the beginning of a long history of motor racing in the United States.

Three years later, Enzo Ferrari was born, and motorsport was changed once to forever.

In 1901, Mercedes unveiled the 35 HP, a powerful and reliable model that dominated races, even though Henry Ford truly grasped the potential of racing to promote his brand.

His ‘Sweepstakes’ car, built with winnings from a race against Alexander Winton, helped establish Ford as a force to be reckoned with.

You already know what comes next. The battle between Enzo Ferrari and Henry Ford laid the foundation for what motorsports is today, while each of the following decades was marked by a new world championship start.

What About Trailblazing Women In Auto Racing?

Сontrary to opinions, women had raced too, and the wife of Carl Benz, Bertha, was the first female driver. She took her husband’s car on a famous joyride to demonstrate its capabilities in 1888.

In 1930, Odette Siko became the first female driver to race the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Driving for Maserati, Maria Teresa de Filippis was the first female Formula 1 racing driver in the sport’s history. She debuted at the Syracuse Grand Prix in 1958.

In the high-speed world of IndyCar, Janet Guthrie made history as the first woman to compete in the Indy 500 in 1977.

From Past to Present

We started with the invention of the first car in 1886, but imagine that just over a century later, the whole of motorsport has been revolutionized by the new hybrid era.

So in 2014, Formula 1 arrived with new hybrid engines, while the world saw the first Formula E race.

One by one, championships under the FIA government have switched to more sustainable technologies, such as the World Rally Championship, which also moved to hybrid engines in 2021.

The next milestone is set up for the 2026 season. Formula 1 cars will be fully sustainable, so the F1 cars won’t have to burn fossil carbon.

Takeaways

• Being in two different locations, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz simultaneously invented the first ever cars, even though Benz was first.
• However, these were Émile Levassor and René Panhard, who were passionate about car racing first. They started to observe what the car is capable of, and founded the term motor racing sports car.
• Their Panhard-Levassor 1205cc model was the first-ever race car in the world.
• With many attempts to hold the car race, Paris-Rouen in 1894 became the first one. However, due to a specific score system, the event was like a rally, so the first ever racing competition was the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris race in 1895.
• Overall, the 1900s was the milestone when the car racing sport was invented, while Carl Benz, Enzo Ferrari, and Henri Ford had rounded the motorsport world.
• Their heritage helped to improve this sport, as already in the 2010s, the world saw the entire moving to hybrid engines and sustainability.
• Among all the athletes, there were women racers. Even challenging disciplines like 24 Hours of Le Mans, Rally, and Formula 1 have their brave female drivers.

So the next time you watch a car race, remember its rich history and how people dared innovators. The world’s first race cars may seem simple compared to today’s racing monsters, but they laid the foundation for the thrilling sport we love. And who knows? Maybe the future race cars will look back on today’s vehicles with the same mix of nostalgia and awe.