Race Footage

The first auto races were organized and held in France. In 1894, the Le Petite Journal, a French newspaper planned a race from Paris to Rouen, a distance of 126 kilometers. Then in 1895 another race was run from Paris to Bordeaux. The winning speed was seventeen kilometers an hour. However, in the beginning of racing, speed was not so important. The ability to navigate from the starting line to the finish line with the car arriving intact was the main goal.

In the following years, the French automobile club organized several international races. These races began or ended in Paris and connected with another major city, either in France or Europe.

While automobiles raced from city to city on open roads, people lined up along side the road to watch. Though soldiers were assigned to do crowd control, they were often engulfed within the crowd rendering them totally ineffective. Without any means of control, spectators frequently ventured into the path of the oncoming vehicles. Watching a race could be as dangerous as driving in it.

The roads were atrocious and the washboard surfaces caused not only breakdowns but also accidents. Tires frequently blew out resulting in the drivers losing control of their vehicles.

There was also no means of qualifying drivers. Although many entrants were expert drivers, there were those whose only qualification was the courage or insanity to try. In their eagerness to win, many drivers competed in cars that were not safe or suitable for racing. In spite of the loose conditions, these races were successful until 1903.

The 1903 inter country race was scheduled to run from Paris, France to Madrid, Spain. The first stage would be from Paris to Bordeaux. For some it would run to death and for all it ended in Bordeaux by orders of the French government.

In this ill-fated race, about every type of accident that could take place did take place.

One driver capsized at eighty miles an hour. Another driver hit a dog, damaged his steering and ran into a tree. A child ran out in front of a car and a soldier followed, trying to save the child. The driver, trying desperately to dodge both, hit and killed them. He then plummeted into the crowd lined up along side the road.

Another novice driver upset on a corner. His companion was pinned under the car and burned to death when the car caught fire. All in all, nine people were killed. One of them was Marcel Renault.

The English newspapers, published on May 25th, 1903 billed the race as, "The Race to Death." Horrified at the carnage, the French government intervened and ended the race at Bordeaux. The government authorities confiscated all of the cars. Engines were prohibited from being started. The cars were towed to the railroad station by horses. Upon arrival at the station, the cars were loaded on trains and transported back to Paris.

Oddly enough, until this time, in the many races run, there had been few serious injuries. But 1903 marked the end of open road racing as the French government now outlawed it. Auto racing did continue but it took place on closed circuit roads until the time when planned tracks were constructed.