A brief overview of the creation and early history of automobile racing in Europe and the United States.

1. T H E E A R L Y
H I S T O R Y O F
A U T O M O B I L E
R A C I N G
ROD SHEGEM

2. 1 8 9 4
The first organized
competition was a
reliability test, held in
1894 from Paris to Rouen,
France.
The distance traveled was
about 50 miles, and the
winner had an average
speed of 10.2 mph.

3. 1 8 9 5
The first true automobile race
was held a year later from
Paris to Bordeaux, France and
back. The winner had an
average speed of 15.01 mph
over the course of about 732
miles.
In the United States,
organized racing began the
same year with a 54 miles
race on Thanksgiving from
Chicago to Evanston, Illinois.

4. 1 8 9 8
The Automobile Club de
France was founded, and
closed-circuit racing was
born.
The first closed-circuit
road race occurred in
1898, the Course de
Périgueux. This style of
racing became the most
common form in Europe,
except in England, Wales,
and Scotland.

5. 1 9 0 0
By 1900, racers had reached
speeds of more than 50 mph.
Town-to-town races in France
and races from France to
other countries were
incredibly common.
The increasing danger to
spectators, racers, and
livestock on roads that were
not built for automobiles or
automobile racing caused the
overall decline of road races.
.

6. 1 9 0 1 - 1 9 0 3
James Gordon Bennett, the
then owner of The New
York Herald offered a
trophy to be competed for.
The annual Bennett Trophy
Race was organized by the
Automobile Club de France
from 1901-1903 and
consisted of national
automobile clubs that
raced three cars each, all
built with parts from their
respective countries.
In the following years, the
races were held in Ireland,
Germany, and again in
France at Circuit
d’Auvergne.

7. 1 9 0 4
William K. Vanderbilt
chartered America’s first
international trophy race in
Long Island.
With the assistance of other
wealthy racing enthusiasts,
William formed the National
Automobile Racing
Association.
In 1904, he founded the
Vanderbilt Cup Race at
Garden City, Long Island..

8. 1 9 0 6
French manufacturers
boycotted the Bennett
Trophy Race because they
did not want to be limited
to only representing three
vehicles.
This resulted in the
established of the first
French Grand Prix Race at
Le Mans in 1906. Here,
each car was raced by the
manufacturer’s team.