Man is a competitive animal. No matter where and no matter when, one of a group has to prove that he is the best. Sometimes this is a personal contest but sometimes animals or machines are also involved. Just as soon as motor cars were
invented, therefore, competitions followed on. The world's first recorded motoring competition was held in France in 1894. The Concours des Voitures sans Chevaux (literally, 'a test for horseless carriages') was promoted by a newspaper, Le Petit Journal, and ended with a reliability run from Paris to Rouen and back. According to the regulations it was meant to be a trial, but most competitors made a race of it. On that occasion the fastest time between two cities
was set by Compte de Dion whose steam-powered device averaged 11.6mph (18.6km/h). In less than a century the world of motor racing has developed, from a standing start. into something whose technology is as advanced as anything found in space. The Victorian pioneers could have had no idea of the speeds. the forces and the commercial pressures which would develop in the future. In the early days, of course, top speeds were around 20mph (32km/h). brakes and tyre grip were almost non-existent, and the 'cars' were crude in the extreme. Even so, man's competitive spirit was aroused, and everybody was trying just as hard as they do today.

In the beginning there were no special circuits, so motor racing events were held on public roads. It might have been anti-social, and it might have been dangerous, but no one worried at the time. Until the danger was realized, the classic motor race was a long-distance dash from one place to another —this was the period of the town-to-town race.
The world's first official motor race was staged in France, in July 1895, over the formidable distance of 732 miles, from Paris to Bordeaux and back. Conditions, of course, were indescribable, for the roads were still unsealed, which meant that every passing vehicle set up clouds of dust, pot-holes soon developed, and safety features were nonexistent.
The hero of the first event, unquestionably. was Emile Levassor, who drove a 4hp Panhard et Levassor car, without rest and without a relief driver to help him. To win the race, he was at the wheel for 481 hours, of which only 22 minutes were spent in involuntary stops for repairs or wheel changes. The brave Frenchman covered the distance at 15mph (24km/h), and arrived back in Paris eight hours ahead of the next competitor!

This was only the start. In the next live years competition intensified, speeds rocketed — and the first serious accidents followed. The self-appointed governing body of world motor sport was set up in Paris. the result being that all early motor races were held in that country. In 1896 the big test was Paris-MarseillesParis, in 1898 it was Paris-Amsterdam-Paris. and in 1900 it was Paris-Toulouse. Race distances were always 800 miles (1287km) and more, but average speeds rose to no less than 40mph (64km/h). It was magnificent, it was heroic, but it was also incredibly dangerous. The miracle was that town-to-town races survived for eight years before public opinion turned against them. The crunch came in 1903. when the Paris-Madrid race was stopped at Bordeaux. On a hot and dusty summer's day, a series of accidents resulted in no fewer than 15 deaths to competitors and to spectators. The cars were ignominiously towed to the railway station behind horses, and the sport was indisgrace. The hero of that black day. however, was Gabriel, whose 60hp Mors averaged an incredible 65.3mph ( I 05km/h).

Even before 1903, the authorities had invented circuit racing, though these circuits were long loops of public highway, closed for the occasions. The spark came from James Gordon Bennett. who offered a trophy to the Automobile Club de France for a competition between teams nominated by various national clubs. The first 'Gordon Bennett' race was held in 1900, between teams entered by France and the USA, and the last in 1905. when teams were entered from France, Italy, Germany. England and the USA. These were the precursors of Grand Prix racing as we know it, for on each occasion rigid rules were applied to the engines and weight of the cars, to make the sport as equal as possible. In the meantime other countries, notably the USA, Italy and Great Britain, had started promoting motor races. Town-totown races had disappeared, but long-distance trials (which eventually became rallies) were invented instead.

In the vibrant early years of the twentieth century. each country developed motor racing in its own way — the French staying faithful to races organized on long 'natural' circuits in the open countryside, the USA on dosed tracks such as Indianapolis, the British first on 'natural' circuits like the Isle of Man, but soon on the new Brooklands banked circuit, the Italians on demanding circuits such as the Targa Florio in Sicily.

By the 1980s Formula 1 Grand Prix racing was a world-wide sport, embracing 16 races and several continents. Before World War 1, however, there was only one Grand Prix —the Grand Prix — every year. this always being held in France. The Germans soon promoted their own race, the Kaiser Prize —hut it was not until 1921 that another 'Grand Prix' — the Italian — was added. to the list. Grand Prix racing. therefore, was a very restricted business for some years, and the reason for this was straightforward enough. World motor racing was administered by the French, Grand Prix racing was invented by the French as a natural progression from the Gordon Bennett racing, and it seemed to be devised for the benefit of French manufacturers at first.

Only six true Grands Prix were held between 1906 and 1914, and the technical rules changed on every occasion. Administrators were constantly searching for a 'Formula' which would make it possible for more cars to be competitive, but this was applied in several different ways. The first race, in 1906, set a maximum car weight, the 1907 event a fuel economy limit, the 1908 race limited engine piston area and car minimum weight, the 1912 race set maximum dimensions for the car body, the 1913 race required fuel economy and minimum weight limits, while the 1914 race set a maximum engine size. Confused? So was everyone else. As an annual event, however, the Grand Prix at least allowed the world's most ambitious manufacturers to compete on level terms, even though those terms changed so often, and so confusingly. It was an event where reliable speed and endurance counted for more than flashing acceleration and delicate technology.

The pre-Great War Grands Prix were utterly different from more modern events. Today we expect to see Nigel Mansell.
Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in tiny cars which can exceed 180mph (290km/h), performing with surgical precision for 90 minutes at a time — in 1906 the first-ever Grand Prix occupied two days, the cars looked big and were heavy to drive, and the winner was at the wheel for more than 12 hours. Let us not forget that punctures and wheel-changing were accepted hazards, and that drivers like Renault's F. Szisz also had 'on board' riding mechanics who tackled running repairs and wheel changes as well as refuelling. pumping up the fuel pressure, and urging on the driver to better efforts. At the end of a Grand Prix, in those days, the driver I was exhausted, so Szisz's first victory, at 63mph (101 km/h) over a circuit near Le Mans, by 32 minutes from his nearest rival. was a stupendous achievement. Although costs were high, the original Grand Prix attracted 32 starters (of whom only 11 finished), and in the following year no fewer than 38 cars, from six nations, appeared. This was the year in which 'national' colours were imposed —green for the British. red for the Italians, blue for the French. white for the Germans. yellow for the Belgians. white-and-red for American cars, and red-and-yellow for Swiss machines.

In the first three years the French won once, the Italians (Fiat) once, and the Germans (Mercedes) once, which may explain why Grand Prix racing then went into abeyance until 1912! That was the year in which Peugeot produced the world's first successful twin overhead camshaft engine (and won the Grand Prix, at 68.45mph/ 110.20km/h), but it was in 1914 that Mercedes chilled everyone by entering a massive team of 41/2-litre cars at the Lyonscircuit, dominating practice, and taking a I2-3 result in the race itself.

This was the approach to motor racing which made Mercedes (later Mercedes-Benz) feared, and often hated, by rival teams. It was clinical, it was efficient, it was purposeful and, somehow, it was completely joyless. It was no wonder that, over the years, many came to respect the German approach to motor sport but few came to admire the way it was done.

Once Grand Prix racing, which was the summit of the motor racing pyramid. had become established, it was time to invent other formulae, and for some years there was a 'Division 2' for what became known as 'voiturettes'. Such cars invariably had smaller engines, and less performance. than the Grand Prix cars of the day, but they were cheaper to build, and the racing of these models attracted a lot of attention from sporting manufacturers.
Voiturette racing, in fact, was dominant in Europe for a few years, bringing fame and fortune to marques such as Delage, HispanoSuiza, Peugeot, Vauxhall and Sunbeam. After World War I there always seemed to be a lot of 'junior formula' racing for such cars, and many well-known racing marques (notably Bugatti and ERA) came to prominence by this route. Many years later, of course, the spirit and heritage of voiturette racing was passed on to the other junior formulae such as Formula 2 and Formula 3.

In Britain there was no lack of enthusiasm for motor racing, but there was always one major problem — a distinct lack of places to hold events. Unlike other European countries, mainland Britain's legal system did not allow roads to be closed for competitive motor sport, which meant that there was no way of matching French and Italian enterprise. Some early races — notably the "TT and the Gordon Bennett events — got round this by being promoted in the Isle of Man and Ireland, where the law was different. It was to eliminate this problem, and also to provide Britain's fledgling industry with somewhere to test its new model cars at speed, and in safety, that Hugh Locke-King built a large banked concrete circuit in the grounds of his home in Surrey, calling it Brooklands. His neighbours hated it at first. but soon came to terms, so from 1907, when it opened, until 1939. when World War 2 broke out, Brooklands was the home of British motor racing. It also doubled as an airfield, and by the end of its life the Vickers concern was building military aeroplanes in factories in the grounds.
Brooklands had, and still has, its supporters, but in many ways it ensured that British cars, and British drivers, lagged behind their European competitors for many years. Not only was the atmosphere extremely class conscious at all times (The right crowd, and no crowding ...' was one advertising slogan), but in almost every case the organizers attempted to provide close racing by imposing handicaps on every car. Many cars were built at Brooklands, raced at Brooklands, repaired at Brooklands, and rarely visited another circuit during their competitive career. The result was that most cars which raced at Brooklands were 'specials'. specifically designed to excel in the short sprints which made up most of the events. Because most had crude suspension, 'short-life' engines and lightweight construction, many were uncompetitive — usually ineligible too— for events in other countries.
On the other hand, some magnificent machines were built, purely to be the fastest cars of all, and a series of exciting lap record attempts were witnessed in the 1930s, the result being that John Cobb's Napier-Railton (a machine which also took many long-distance endurance records at other locations) lapped the high-speed concrete bowlat 143.44mph (230.83km/h), achieving up to 160mph (257km/h) on the straights. For more than 30 years Brooklands hosted a multitude of races throughout the year, with various clubs using as many variations on the basic circuitry as possible. Only rarely were long events held — the 200 Miles race, the Double-Twelve endurance event and the flat-out 500 Miles race being the most famous — and on only two occasions was the British GP held there.

Well before 1939, when the last race was held on this track, the owners had built an extra 'road' circuit (called the Campbell circuit) to make the sport more realistic, but by the end of the decade all the facilities had started to crumble, and enthusiasts were turning to other British circuits, notably at Donington Park, in Derbyshire.

By 1914 the world's fastest sports cars were very reliable, so it was inevitable that a number of long-distance races evolved to test their endurance. Even though the cars generally carried open styles at first, which made life cold and blustery for the drivers, some of these races lasted for 24 hours. Except for events later held at circuits like Brooklands and the Nurburgring, these were usually run on roads normally used by the public. Open road races asked a lot of drivers, and cars. Not only were road races usually held on bumpier surfaces than tracks, but they were festooned with all manner of natural hazards. The very best not only featured potholes, ditches, bridges and tunnels, but towns and villages, railway level crossings and tramways. Added to that was the unpredictability of spectators and animals, and the sheer challenge of such races could be imagined. It was no wonder that the most successful sports cars were large. heavy and solidly engineered. Brute force, if not ignorance, was all important, it being thought more vital to have a lot of power than to have a light car with good wind-cheating properties.

The first major long-distance race was the Targa Florio. first run in 1906. which took place on a lengthy and sinuous open road circuit in Sicily. It was so demanding. and so difficult to learn, that average speeds rarely rose above 50mph (80km/h). The circuit was eventually adjudged too long, and too difficult, and was replaced by a shorter loop — but not that much shorter, for lap times took ages to get down to less than 60 minutes! The most famous of all, no question, was the French Le Mans 24-Hour race, first held in 1923, and really a spiritual descendant of the early Grands Prix. Held on a closed circuit to the south of Le Mans itself, the 'Circuit of the Sarthe' was fast, and featured one very long straight where cars could reach their ultimate velocity, and hold that speed for well over two minutes.

Like other races of the day, the Le Mans event used public roads especially closed for the occasion, these roads often being gravel strewn, with crumbling edges, the sort which taxed drivers' skills, and a tyre company's endeavours, to the limit. At night, and particularly just before dawn, fog was a problem. Not only that, but the organizers seemed to change their regulations every year; at one stage the open cars had to spend an early period of the race with hoods erect.
It was at Lc Mans that the British Bentley concern made its name as a great sports car in the Twenties, while in the Thirties Alfa Romeo and Bugatti made most of the headlines. Average speeds rose over 70mph (113 km/h) in the Twenties to well over 80mph (128km/h) in the Thirties, the first 'streamlined' bodies were introduced in the Thirties,and speeds along the great Mulsanne straight soon rose to 120mph (193km/h) and beyond. The most charismatic long-distance race of all, however, was the Italian Mille Miglia event, a 1000-mile (1609km) dash around Italy's fastest roads, where the start and finish was located in Brescia and the half-way point was always Rome, but where the route changed in detail from year to year. This race catered for all types of car, large and small, super-sporting or merely brave touring. The slowest cars started first. s t . but the fastest Alfa Romeos and Bugattis traditionally started at around dawn, to be faced with a day-long dash around the nation.

In the late Twenties and early Thirties, before speeds rose dangerously. the winner of the Mille Miglia took up to 14 hours to complete the race, usually driving the whole distance without rest, without food, and with no relief except for a quick stretch at refuelling points dotted around the route. No wonder this was the most machismo of events, where true Italian heros were made and confirmed, and no wonder Italy was the country which bred the best cars for this crazy sort of flat-out marathon.
All other major sports car races, even those held at the German Nurburgring, or the Belgian Spa circuits, paled into insignificance, and no British effort came close. The Tourist Trophy and the Irish Grand Prix were good races, and attracted fine entries, but they could not compete in charisma, scenery, length or character.
Brooklands, in its own way tried its best, but not even the 'Double Twelve' events (24- hour races, held in two 12-hour sections on consecutive days) could make an impact. The problem with the Double Twelve, as with almost every other Brooklands event, was that handicaps were imposed on various cars, handicaps being based on engine size, power output and — sometimes — the reputation of an individual machine.
In the late Twenties, therefore, this meant that the fastest Bentleys were often obliged to start a long way behind the snarling hordes of MGs and Austin Sevens, and spent two days trying to catch up. In 1930, for instance, the winning Bentley averaged 86.68mph (139.49km/h) for 24 hours, though the third place (on handicap!) Riley Nine could only manage 69.96mph (112.58km/h). What with this, and the continual visits to the pits for fuel, new tyres and driver changes. it was no wonder that the poor spectator was confused.

Early in the twentieth century motor racing took hold in North America, with many events held on board circuits, or other temporary facilities. Promoters realized that American spectators wanted to see thrills and spills, lots of starts, finishes and close racing — and this was what was provided. The American spectator, no matter what the sport, soon gets bored unless the action is varied, and continuous. This explains why long-distance events were few and far between, and why sports car racing never became popular. It was as early as 1911 that a promotor hit on the right mixture of speed. spectacle and 'show business', and produced the original Indianapolis 5(K)-mile race. The format was simple. At Indianapolis. Indiana. a permanent circuit, with a lap distance of 21/2 miles (4km), was erected. and surrounded by spectator grandstands. most of which were open to the elements. There were two long, and two short. straights. linked by long and slightly banked 90-degree curves. The whole track, at first. was surfaced in bricks — the result being that it was nicknamed 'The Brickyard'. Right from the start. Indianapolis stuck to its own rules, and soon set up its own traditions (the race was always held on Memorial Day, whatever day of the week that fell; no women were ever allowed in the pitlane, not even if they owned a car which was racing; the race was always stopped if it rained ... ). Cars needed to be strong, and specialized. if only because the 500 was a flat-out 200-lap affair, where the bravest drivers only needed to slow down for pit stops. where they took on fuel, and changed tyres. The fact that the cars did not handle well, and that their advanced technology was almost entirely centred around the engine, was not thought to be important. Year after year the racing was fast. furious, close, and the high-speed accidents which followed were usually accepted as inevitable. By 1919 the winning speed had risen to 87.95mph (141.53km/h), but the fastest lap had already exceeded 100mph (161km/h). Famous names like Offenhauser and Miller came to prominence at Indy; drivers like Tommy Milton, Louis Meyer, Wilbur Shaw and Mauri Rose became superstars: It was a race which the Americans kept to themselves, for there would be few successes by European-built cars until the Forties, while Jim Clark was the first European driver to win the event — in 1965.

In the Twenties, racing cars of all types ..-hanged considerably. Inspired by changes • to the rules, and by rapid advances in engine technology. engines became smaller but more efficient, cars became lighter and more nimble. yet speeds at every circuit continued to rise.
Some aspects of racing car design, however, were still crude and undeveloped. In particular there appeared to be little understanding of aerodynamics, no great advance in roadholding or chassis design, while tyres were durable but not at all sophisticated.

The governing body of world motor sport, the AIACR, which was based in Paris, seemed constantly to be worried about the way that racing cars became faster and faster, for in the Twenties each new Grand Prixformula catered for smaller cars than before. For 1921, GP engines were restricted to 3 litres, for the 1922-1925 period they were reduced to 2 litres, and in 1926-1927 they were further reduced in size, to a mere 1.5 litres. Each year too, it seemed, other piffling restrictions were imposed — minimum weights one time, maximum dimensions another, the need to carry two occupants at all times — yet the most resourceful engineers always rose to the challenge. with costs and complications following suit.

In this period famous marques like Fiat set the standards, but new marques such as Bugatti, Alfa Romeo. Delage and Sunbeam rose to prominence and success. The most important technical development of the period (first tried in sports car racing by Mercedes), introduced to Grand Prix racing by Fiat in 1923. was the supercharger. This was so unexpected that the AIACR had never even considered it when defining the latest formulae!
Supercharging had originally been developed for aero-engines, to allow them to breathe more deeply in the thin air of high altitudes; when this forced-induction method was applied to motor racing engines on the ground it immediately helped produce a lot more power. At a stroke, engine builders could produce units which were small, complex but extremely powerful, and it meant that speeds once again rocketed upwards. In Grand Prix racing, the takeover by supercharged engines was complete, and until 1939 almost every major event was won by a car of this type —unless, that is. the regulations specifically banned their use.
The same phenomenon. if not quite as abrupt. was observed with turbochargers in Formula 1 in the Eighties — once turbo engines had been made reliable, they rapidly elbowed normally-aspirated engines right out of the limelight until the regulations were changed. Although the American Duesenberg 3-litre car came over to Europe in 1921, with Indianapolis hero Jimmy Murphy winning the Grand Prix against all the odds, early and mid-Twenties racing was henceforth dominated by French, Italian and British manufacturers. Fiat set all the standards in 1922 and 1923, though Britain's Sunbeam company (which had hired a Fiat designer to design its new car!) soon matched them, and by 1924 Alfa Romeo also had a winning car.

By the mid-Twenties there were several Grands Prix every year, which helped to make up a racing 'circus', with the French event eventually settling at Montlhery and the Italian at Monza. both being highspeed permanent circuits. A few years later Germany joined in, after thousands of labourers had helped to build the long and twisting Nfirburgring circuit in the Eifel mountains to the west of the Rhine valley. This was the period, too, in which the first two British GPs were held, both of them at Brooklands, both of them with various artificial corners being built up to slow down the cars, and repair manual, and both of them conclusively won by Dclagc. Because events went on for hours. and because the racing was not at all close, the British spectators hated it all, so after two years the project was abandoned. There would be no more top-quality GP racing in the UK for another decade.
As engines became smaller, they also became more complex. and before long one needed at least an eight-cylinder unit, with supercharging, to achieve success. Alfa Romeo's P2. Bugatti's Type 35 and the 1926 Delage all used engines of this type. The 1924-1925 Delage. however, went one better, for it had an amazingly complex 2- litre V12 unit, which produced 195bhp in supercharged form in 1925. and helped Delage to become

The typical Grand Prix car of this period, therefore, had a simple ladder-style chassis frame, with a complex supercharged engine *up front' driving the rear wheels, with a beam front axle and a solid rear axle. Suspension waS by short and very stiff leaf springs, wheels were high and narrow, and there were large but relatively ineffective drum brakes all round. Bodies were slim.elegant , but narrow '1.5 seaters', but no attempt was made to cheat the wind. Behind the seats the tail, usually pointed, or at least very slim, was almost full of fuel tank. Even in 1923, when Fiat's pioneering supercharged engine produced less than 140bhp, Salamano's car won the Italian GP, at Monza, at 91.06mph (146.54km/h), and top speeds were already back to 130mph (209km/h) and more. When the AIACR imposed smaller engines (1.5 litres instead of 2 litres) for 1926 and 1927, it reduced speeds for a while — but not for long. In 1927 the winning Fiat's race average speed at Monza was no less than 94.57mph (152.19km/h), helped along by an engine producing about 180bhp, this being one of the very first racing engines to develop more than 100bhp/litre. All this was achieved at high expense, mostly because the cars were becoming very complex indeed.
At the end of 1927, therefore, teams like Fiat withdrew from the sport. As that great self-styled doyen of Grand Prix racing, Laurence Pomeroy Junior, once wrote:
'Within two years, Grand Prix racing fell from one of its recurrent peaks to an absolute rock-bottom.'