0{{current_slide_index}} 0{{total_slide_count}} where it all started 1867 On August 30, 1867, at circa. 0430hrs, in the market town of Ashton-under-Lyne of Manchester, England, Isaac Watt Boulton, an engineer from Stockport, took part in the first ever documented motorsport event. The race routed to Old Trafford, Manchester, a distance of about eight miles, and saw Boulton's carriage victorious, believed to have been driven by his own son, James, against the carriage of Daniel Adamson. The event directly violated Red-Flag laws, one of the first adoptions of automotive legislation, and ignited the long tradition of the fast driving outlaws and the furious engineers who instigate them. On August 30, 1867, at circa. 0430hrs, in the market town of Ashton-under-Lyne of Manchester, England, Isaac Watt Boulton, an engineer from Stockport, took part in the first ever documented motorsport event. The race routed to Old Trafford, Manchester, a distance of about eight miles, and saw Boulton's carriage victorious, believed to have been driven by his own son, James, against the carriage of Daniel Adamson. The event directly violated Red-Flag laws, one of the first adoptions of automotive legislation, and ignited the long tradition of the fast driving outlaws and the furious engineers who instigate them. learn more Home 2021 1894 0{{current_slide_index}} 0{{total_slide_count}} The First Grand Prix 1894 On Sunday, July 22, 1894, in the town of Paris, France, the editor-in-chief of Le Petit Journal, Pierre Giffard, organized the 'Concours du Petit Journal Les Voitures sans Chevaux', a 126km (78mi) race from Paris to the city of Rouen. The race hosted eight qualifying events, each around 50 km (31 mi) near the Bois de Boulogne and comprised interwoven routes around Paris to select the entrants for the main event. The total distance covered amounts to circa. 1178 km (732 mi), at an average speed of 19 km/h (12 mph), making it one of the longest motor races in history. Due to a technicality involving the type of vehicle used and how many passengers it could carry (the rules required 2+), the winner ended up being the third-place finisher, Paul Koechlin, who arrived in his Peugeot a total of 11hrs after the initial race finisher. But this was eventually over-ruled by the crowd, who honored the original victor, Emile Levassor, who completed the 1,178 km run in a total of 48 hours. The 5,000 francs award was shared equally between Panhard et Levassor and 'Les fils de Peugeot Frères'. learn more Home 1876 1900 0{{current_slide_index}} 0{{total_slide_count}} The Start of Circuit Racing 1900 At the turn of the 20th Century, organizers proposed a new way to measure the driver's participation, introduced as an alternative to the existing sprint-style races that had already grown in popularity among the crowds. What was decided on was the idea of routes (or "circuits"), where the start and finish line of a race would intersect. The first "Circuit" in written history was the "Circuit Du Sud Ouest", or "South West Circuit", a whopping 300 km circuit made up of entirely of public roads in Pau, France. To put that into perspective, that's approximately the length of every circuit on the F1 calendar, times three.

Across the pond, the "Long Island Road Race", pictured on this page, was the first automobile race to be held on Long Island which went from the Springfield Boulevard intersection in Queens, to Bablyon in Suffolk County - and all the way back. Started by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904, this became known as the 'Vanderbilt Cup' and was first held on October 8, on a course set out in Nassau County, Long Island, New York.
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