The French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours this Sunday the 26th will mark the 100 year (to the day) anniversary of Grand Prix racing.
The very first Grand Prix (Grand Prix de France) was held on July 26th 1906 on a 1240 km road circuit just outside of Le Mans in France.
Renault won the race at the hands of Hungarian-born Ferenc Szisz.
The car was a far cry from the Grand Prix cars of today. The winner of the first ever Grand Prix was a 13l engine pushing 105 bhp and reaching a maximum speed of 148kph. Although by no means the fastest car on the circuit, it had one clear advantage over the rest of the field:
Michelin’s jante amovible (detachable rim) allowed a new wheel rim and pre-inflated tyre to be fitted in under two minutes while the rest of the field needed up to 15 minutes to replace a rim and inflate the tyre.
After 2 days of racing, the Renault claimed the win, with Fiat’s Felice Nazzaro coming in second.
100 years later and Renault hope to use the R26 close out the centenary of Grand Prix racing by taking the chequered flag once again in the French F1 GP this coming weekend.
Sweet article. I sent it to some of my colleagues who also read it. (We are a retailer of high-endBMW upgrades and stuff!). Anyways, Keep doing what you do!
April 12, 2010 7:58 pm
Random Rich
Yo Kheiron, thanks for a highly informative article dude! Can’t believe grand prix has been around for 100 years already!
July 15, 2006 12:37 am