Nepal

Car Racing

Car Racing

Student Name: Amer Abdulrahman

ID: H00155987

Car Racing

Car racing is a sport that involves the competition between cars in a race. The sport is commonly referred to as automobile racing. The sport was started back in the late nineteenth century immediately the discovery of a combustion engine that ran on gasoline. The first racing competition was carried out in 1894 between Paris and Rouen covering a distance of eighty kilometers. The winner of this race hit the average speed of 16.4 kilometers per hour (Charters, 2007).

The second race followed a year later taking place from Paris to Bordeaux and back. The winner hit the average speed of 24.15 kilometers per hour after covering a distance of one thousand one hundred and seventy eighty kilometers.  Later that year, automobiles racing spread to the United States of America on Thanks Giving day in a racing event that took place from Chicago to Evanston and back covering a distance of eighty seven kilometers. The races in the early days were sponsored by newspaper organizations purposely for promotion.

By the late nineteenth century, automobile racing had become a norm with frequent town to town races in France as well as races from France to other countries. However, the Paris to Madrid race through Bordeaux was stopped by authorities in 1903 citing the increased number of accidents (Charters, 2007). The closed-circuit racing that had been invented in 1898 was adopted after the closure of the Paris to Madrid race. It spread to other parts of Europe with the exception of England, Scotland and Wales.

Automobile racing as a professional and amateur sport is carried out around the globe in a number of forms such as closed circuit racing and tracks as well as roads. Automobiles racing is classified into categories based on the rues and regulations of the Federation of International Automobiles. The widely known events include the Grand Prix racing event, sports-car racing, speedway racing and rally driving.  

Grand Prix racing that commenced in 1906 takes place on closed roads as a measure to reduce fatal accidents. The race cars used in Grand Prix racing are the Formula One that is slightly smaller in size compared to other cars (Codling, 2011). The race follows the racing-car rules that are set by the Federation of International Automobiles. The cars participating in Grand Prix are single-seater and open wheeled with the size of their engine as well as fuel consumption under control by the Federation of International Automobiles. Since the mid of the twentieth century, Grand Prix racing has been the most popular global automobile racing. Grand Prix racing is held under national clubs as well as international events that involve competition between countries. Normally, cars from one country are painted with the same color to make identification simple. However, the competition has largely been between car manufacturing companies as a way of marketing their brands.

Speedway racing is the second automobile racing that involves motorcycles on racecourses or flat tracks. It originated in Australia in early twentieth century and spreads quickly to Europe and other parts of the world (Collins & Ireland, 2009). The racing is carried out on small oval tracks by use of light weight motorcycles that do not have brakes and their fuel tanks are very small. Ever since its inception, speedway racing has been known to pull large crowds with its competition ranging from local to global levels. The winners of the speedway racing are determined based on the Federation of International Motorcycles that is the body with the mandate of regulating motorcycle racing.

Rally driving is an automobile racing competition that uses public routes that are specified. The first rally racing competition was carried out in 1907 between Beijing and Paris covering a distance of twelve thousand kilometers. The widely known Monte-Carlo rally that started in 1911 has been held annually except for interruptions during war times (Nauright & Parrish, 2012). Another notable event is the Dakar rally that is believed to be the most grueling racing event began in 1978 covering a distance of fifteen thousand kilometers. The cars used have two seats for the driver and the navigator who helps in adhering to the prearranged schedule checkpoints that are completely concealed from the driver s until when the rally starts. Rally driving is still carried out until today with the most recent Dakar rally event in 2009 being relocated to Southern America as a result of terrorist concerns. Rally driving is currently all around the globe and ranges from inter-club competitions to events that get sponsorship from large organizations such as the Dakar Rally.

Sports-car racing is a racing event nearly the same as rally racing only that the cars used have a combined features of race cars as well as touring cars. They cars are meant for two or four people with high speed and power capabilities meant for touring on normal roads. Sports car racing events are mostly meant for amateur drivers by the organizing organizations both locally and internationally (Nauright & Parrish, 2012). The entrance of manufacturer sports cars championships in the mid twentieth century changed the participation in the event. This is because the manufacturers started using the events completely for marketing their new models and prototype cars.

Almost all sporting events have rules and regulations that govern how they are carried include racing events. Car racing events are required to adhere to the rules and regulations set up by the Federation of International Automobiles. The body is concerned with setting up of the required specifications for every car participating in the event. The body clarifies the differences that exist between the Grand Prix racing cars and the sports-car racing. On the other hand, the Federation of International Motorcycles sets the rules that should be attained by all those willing to participate in speedway racing.

It is a big challenge determining who stands out as the most famous driver. However, drivers have had different diverse abilities and they all have contributed to the sport immensely at different levels.  Ayrton Senna tops the list followed by Lewis as the most famous driver (Angus, 2013). Before his death almost two decades ago, Ayrton Senna had three world driving championships. He is remembered as being the most outstanding driver driving in rain and his ability to accommodate the weakness of the cars he drove. Lewis Hamilton as a Grand Prix driver is widely remembered for his prowess while at a tender age. He overcame a veteran driver Fellipe Massa in 2007 in what many viewed as a witty race. He later on broke the dry track racing record thereby stamping his authority. It is widely believed that Hamilton’s way of driving and his passion brought back excitement to Formula One racing.    

References

Angus, D. (2013). The Greatest Racing Driver The Life and Times of Great Drivers, With a Logical Analysis Revealing the Greatest. Balboa Pr.

Charters, D. (2007). The chequered past: sports car racing and rallying in Canada, 1951-1991. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Codling, S. (2011). Real racers: Formula 1 in the 1950s and 1960s: a driver's perspective: photography from the Klemantaski Collection. Minneapolis: MBI Pub. Co.

Collins, S. & Ireland, G. (2009). Speedway: auto racing's ghost tracks. Dorchester: Veloce.

Nauright, J. & Parrish, C. (2012). Sports around the world: history, culture, and practice. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO.