~22 July ~
1894: A Peugeot driven by Frenchman Albert Lemaître won the Paris-Rouen race and the first prize of 500 francs. It was sponsored by Le Petit Journal, who declared that ‘the competition is open to all types of vehicle, providing they are not dangerous, are easily controllable by the driver and do not cost too much to run’. Entries included those that declared themselves to be powered by gravity, weight of the passengers, hydraulic propulsion, compressed air, levers, a combination of liquids, a series of pendulums, pedals, electricity and compressed gas. Continue Reading →
1962: Fernand Tavano won the Lyon-La Fouret Hillclimb in France driving a Ferrari 250 GTO.
1962: Bill Krause won a sports car race in Pomona, California, US driving a Maserati Birdcage. Jack McAfee, in his last race, finishes second in a Porsche RSK.
1984: Harry Gant held off Cale Yarborough at the finish for his fourth victory in NASCAR’s top series, winning the Like Cola 500 at Pocono Raceway, Pennsylvania (US). Gant led 107 of the 200 laps and outran Yarborough by .34 seconds to the finish line. Pole-starter Bill Elliott came home third.
1984: Niki Lauda won the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in a McLaren MP4/2-TAG. Derek Warwick finished second in a Renault, with Ayrton Senna third for the Toleman team.
2006: The Mongol Rally, run as a charity event, began with 167 cars setting off from London. 117 teams made it to Ulan Bator in Mongolia.
2007: After being declared fit to race after a crash in practice, Lewis Hamilton spun off in a torrential downpour at the European Grand Prix at Nürburgring, eventually coming home ninth – ending his run of nine successive podiums – behind race winner Alonso. It started a dry race with a chance of rain and clouds hanging overhead. At the start of the warm-up lap, the timing screens displayed the warning that the rain was going to begin falling in about 3 minutes. Continue Reading →
~23 July ~
1911: The Automobile Club de la Sarthe organized the Grand Prix de France was won by Victor Hemery driving a FIAT S61. This race is not considered to be part of the lineage of French Grands Prix, as it was a separate event from the official French Grand Prix, the Grand Prix de l’ACF, organized by the Automobile Club de France from 1906 onwards.
1919: At the first post-war speed trial in England on the seafront at Westcliff, Essex, competitors included Malcolm Campbell (12 hp Talbot), Woolf Barnato (10 hp Calthorpe) and Yvonne Arnaud (10 hp Eric-Campbell)
1939: Some 250,000 – 300,000 spectators turned up at the Nurburgring to witness Rudolph Caracciola win his sixth and Mercedes fifth German Grand Prix.
1941: Richie Evans, a nine-time NASCAR Modified champion, was born. The “Rapid Roman” from Rome, New York, US, is credited with 28 track championships at 11 speedways across the Northeast U.S. Continue Reading →
1950: Curtis Turner recorded his fourth victory of the year in the 100-mile NASCAR Grand National race at Charlotte Speedway, US. Lee Petty, who ranked third in the points standings, had all 809 points removed by NASCAR. During the three-week lull, Petty competed in a nonsanctioned stock car race, and NASCAR decided to strip all of his points for failing to compete within NASCAR sanctioning boundaries.
1950: The first Dutch Grand Prix set to Formula One rules, staged at the Circuit Park Zandvoort, Netherlands, was won by French driver Louis Rosier in a Talbot-Lago.
1950: The first races were held at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, US. The main 60 mile event run over a 3.35 mile triangular road course laid out on public roads just west of Elkhart Lake was won by Jim Kimberly in a Ferrari 166 (56 minutes, 13. Continue Reading →
