Chronography of Motor Racing
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last modified 23/6/2022
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24/8/2015, English racing driver Justin Wilson
died of injuries sustained in a crash the previous day.
19/5/2014, Sir Jack Brabham, Australian
racing driver, died aged 88.
16/5/2013, Richard Trickle, racing car
driver, took his own life after suffering a long painful illness.
10/5/2012, Racing car driver Carroll Shelby
died this day.
12/12/2010, Tom Walkinshaw, British racing
car driver, died aged 64.
7/12/2009, Silverstone was awarded a
17-year contract to host the British Grand Prix, starting from 2010.
28/8/2008, Phil Hill, US racing car driver,
died aged 81.
9/12/2007, Brazilian racing driver Rafael
Sperafico was killed in a� car
crash in Sao Paulo
21/4/2005, Gerry Marshall, English racing
car driver, died.
13/2/2004, Polish racing car driver Janusz Kulig
died when his car was hit by a train.
10/3/2003, Barry Sheene, motorcycle racer,
died.
25/4/2001, Italian racing car driver Michele
Alboreto died when a tyre blew out in a speed test.
18/2/2001, Stock car racing driver Dale Earnhardt
Sr was killed in an accident at the Daytona 500 course.
20/5/1998, Jamie Chadwick, English racing
car driver, was born.
14/7/1996, US racing car driver Jeff Krosnoff
was killed in a racing accident.
17/7/1995, Argentinean car driver Juan Manuel
Fangio died aged 84.
20/5/1994, William Kitchen, speedway champion, died.
1/5/1994, Formula One driver Ayrton Senna (born 1960) died in
a crash in Italy.
26/12/1993, Belgian racing car driver Andre Pilette
died, aged 75.
22/10/1993, Innes Ireland, motor racing champion, died
(born 12/6/1930).
10/6/1993, Scott McLaughlin, racing driver, was born.
7/6/1992, NASCAR stock car racing
co-founder Bill
France Sr. died aged 82.
5/12/1985, Frankie Muniz, US racing car
driver, was born.
30/12/1983, British racing car driver Violette
Cordery died (retired 1938).
8/5/1982, Canadian Formula I racing
car driver Gilles
Villeneuve was killed in an accident whilst qualifying for the
Belgian Grand Prix.
10/4/1989, Michael Dunlop, Northern Irish motorcycle
racer, was born.
4/2/1979, Giorgio Pantano, Italian racing car driver,
was born.
20/9/1975, Juan Pablo Montoya, racing car
driver, was born.
4/12/1974, Leo Goossen, US racing car
designer, died aged 82.
26/2/1974, Sebastian Loeb, racing car
driver, was born.
12/5/1973, Racing car driver Art Lee Pollard
Jr was killed in an accident.
23/9/1972, Last motor race at the
Crystal Palace circuit, south London.
9/4/1971, Jacques Villeneuve, Canadian
racing driver, was born in Quebec.
23/9/1969, Racing car driver Tapio Laukkanen
was born.
13/9/1969, The Talladega
Superspeedway car racing venue opened in Alabama.
12/7/1969, William Ivy, motor cycle racing champion, died
(born 27/8/1942).
3/1/1969, Michael Schumacher, racing car
driver, was born.
17/12/1968, Paul Tracy, Canadian racing car
driver, was born.
5/8/1968, Collin McRae, rally driver, was born.
21/11/1967, US racing car driver Ken Block
was born.
4/11/1966, Gary Havelock, speedway champion, was born.
1/7/1965, Carl Fogarty, motorcycle racing champion, was
born.
18/4/1964, Ford unveiled its GT40
racing car. It was built specifically to outperform Ferrari in endurance races,
because Henry
Ford was angry that Enzo Ferrari refused to sell his company to
him. The car suffered from aerodynamic issues and became airborne in a race and
crashed; however by the late 60s this car proved able to beat Ferrari�s models.
24/9/1963, Peter Craven, speedway driver, died (born
21/6/1934).
4/11/1962, The first Mexican Grand Prix was won by Jim Clark
and Trevor
Taylor.
28/9/1962, Fred Merkel, US motorcycle racing champion,
was born in Stockton, California
12/4/1962, Ronald Flockhart, motor racing champion, died
(born 16/6/1923).
11/1/1962, Steven Hislop, motorcycle racing, was born.
11/11/1960, Robert Byron, stock car racing
driver, died of a heart attack aged 45.
15/10/1960, Simon Wigg, speedway champion, was born.
17/9/1960, Damon Hill, motor racing champion, was born.
1/6/1959, Martin Brundle, motor racing champion, was
born.
31/5/1959, Andrea de Cesaris, Italian racing driver, was
born.
11/2/1959, Racing car driver Marshall Teague
died in an accident.
6/8/1958, US athlete Glenn Davis broke his own world record by 0.3
seconds (49.2 seconds) in the 400m hurdles in Budapest, Hungary.
3/8/1958, Peter Collins, motor racing champion, died
(born 8/11/1931).
12/5/1957, Alfonso de Portago, racing car
driver, died after a tyre blowout.
23/12/1956, Italian racing car driver Michele
Alboreto was born.
16/11/1956, Terry Labonte, US stock car
racing driver, was born.
15/7/1956, South African racing car
driver Wayne
Taylor was born.
28/8/1954, Charlie Collier, motorcycle racer, was born.
15/4/1954, The first stock car race
in Britain was held in front of an audience of 26,000 at new Cross, London.
24/3/1954, Peter Collins, motorcycle speedway champion,
was born.
8/8/1953, Nigel Mansell, motor racing champion, was
born.
18/1/1953, The first Argentine Grand
Prix was held.
4/9/1950, The first 500 mile NASCAR
race, the Southern 500, took place
18/1/1950, Gilles Villeneuve, racing car
driver, was born.
4/5/1949, John Force, racing driver, was born in Bell
Gardens, California
22/2/1949, Austrian racing driver Nicki Lauda
was born.
28/1/1949, Jean Pierre Wimille, racing car
driver, was born.
5/12/1948, Formula One motor racing
champion Keijo
�Keke� Rosberg was born in Solna, Sweden.
27/7/1948, Woolf Barnato, motor racing champion, died.
21/2/1948, NASCAR, the National Association for Stock Car Auto
Racing, was founded in the USA. The origins of stock car racing were in the
US Prohibition era, when drivers delivering illegal alcohol tuned up their cars
so as to be able to outrun the police. After Prohibition ended, for-profit
racing of these enhanced-performance cars began.
13/4/1947, Jean Chassagne, French racing car driver, died
aged 65.
12/12/1946, Emmerson Fittipaldi, Brazilian racing driver,
was born.
4/5/1946, John Watson, motor racing champion, was born.
27/11/1945, British racing car driver Alain de Cadenet was
born.
23/11/1945, English racing car driver Tony Pond was born.
25/2/1944, Francois Cevert, racing driver, was born in
Paris, France (died 1973)
8/1/1944, US racing car driver William Vanderbilt died (born
1878).
21/7/1943, Austrian racing driver Fritz Glatz was born.
30/12/1942, English racing car driver Guy Edwards was born.
27/8/1942, William Ivy, motor cycle racing champion, was
born (died 12/7/1969).
5/8/1939, Roger Clark, rally driver, was born.
25/6/1939, Richard Seaman, motor racing champion, died.
17/10/1938, Evel Kneivel,
US stunt motorcyclist, was born in Butte, Montana.
17/1/1938, David Bickers. Moto Cross champion, was born
17/9/1937, Nigel Boocock, speedway champion, was born
17/7/1937, The first London Grand Prix motor races were held,
at Crystal Palace.
10/10/1934, Lucien Bianchi, Italian racing car driver, was
born (died 1969).
21/6/1934, Peter Craven, speedway driver, was born (died
24/9/1963).
11/11/1933, Samuel Miller, motorcycle racing champion, was
born.
29/2/1932, Masten Gregory, racing car driver, was born in
Kansas City, Missouri.
8/11/1931, Peter Collins, motor racing champion, was born
(died 3/8/1958).
12/6/1930, Innes Ireland, motor racing champion, was born
(died 22/10/1993).
17/9/1929, Stirling Moss, motor racing champion, was
born.
10/4/1929, Michael Hawthorn, motor racing champion, was
born (died 27/1/1959).
7/11/1928, Bob McIntyre, motorcycle racer, was born.
7/6/1928, Ken (Robert) McKinlay, speedway champion, was
born.
18/7/1927, The first motor races were held at the
Nurburgring, Germany.
3/3/1927, John Parry Thomas, motor car racer, died.
12/3/1926, Freddie Williams, speedway champion, was born.
27/9/1925, Construction of the Nurburgring motor racing
circuit, Getrmany, began.
28/6/1924, Italian racing car driver Luigi Musso was born.
3/5/1924, Robert Kenneth Tyrell, founder of Tyrell
Formula One Constructor, was born.
16/6/1923, Ronald Flockhart, motor racing champion, was
born (died 12/4/1962).
27/5/1923. The inaugural first 24 hours of the Le Mans car
race ended today.
17/5/1922, English racing car driver Dorothy Levitt died aged 40.
12/5/1922, Roy Salvadori, motor racing champion, was
born.
21/3/1920, Truman Fontello Flock, NASVAR stock car racing
driver, was born.
12/4/1917, Robert Manzon, French racing driver was born
(died 2015).
4/12/1916, US racing car driver Iggy Katona was born.
12/8/1916, The first Pikes Peak road race ended. The road
ascends 1440 metres with 156 turns and is 20 km long. The record time stands at
8 minutes 13.878 seconds, set in 2013.
8/4/1916, Racing car driver Rob Burman was killed this day
when his open cockpit Peugeot rolled over at a race in Corona, California. This
led to the development of the roll cage to protect drivers.
12/11/1914, Peter Whitehead, English racing car driver,
was born (died 1958).
16/5/1914, Erwin Baker completed a motor cycle cross
country race from San Diego, taking 11 days to arrive this day in New York,
smashing the previous record of 20 days. A journalist stated that he was faster
than the Cannonball Express Train, and the name stuck for subsequent such races
� usually illegal and unsanctioned.
22/5/1913, Guido Bigio, Italian racing car driver, died
whilst testing a new model prior to the French Grand Prix.
21/2/1913, Roger Laurent, Belgian racing driver, was born
(died 1997)
24/6/1911, Argentinean racing driver Juan Fangio was born.
11/6/1911, Thomas Price, speedway champion, was born.
30/5/1911, The Indianapolis motor race was first held.
28/1/1911, The first Monte Carlo car rally was run.
30/10/1909, The 5th
Vanderbilt Cup race was held on Long Island, New York, USA.
14/8/1909, The first motorcycle race at Indianopolis Motor
Speedway was held, the second day of the race was cancelled as the gritty
surface caused many of the bike tyres to puncture. In December 1909 the course
was covered in a brick surface, which remained in place for over 50 years until
tarmac was laid.
20/4/1908, The first British Motor Cycle Club race was held
at Brooklands, England.
1907, The Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) motorcycle race was first held.
The race, held on ordinary roads, can be dangerous, especially the mountain
climb to Snaefell. By 1992 the TT Race had claimed 160 lives. The British
Parliament had in 1904 refused to permit car racing on ordinary roads by
temporarily banning other traffic byt the Tynwald, the Manx Parliament, did
agree to this, and car racing was held there until 1953.
18/12/1907, US racing car driver Bill Holland was born.
8/10/1904, The first
Vanderbilt Cup motor race was held, in Long Island, New York, USA. It was
set up by William Kissam Vanderbilt II, of the wealthy Vanderbilt family, a fan
of motor racing and collector of cars until he died on 8/1/1944 (born 1878).
10/9/1900, The Coppa Florio (Florio Cup) motor race was first
held in Italy, originally as the Coppa Brescia.
1/8/1900, Raymond Mays, motor racing champion, was born.
14/6/1900, The first international championship motor race
was run, from Paris to :Lyons, France.
18/2/1900, The first motor race at the Course du Catalogue.
16/7/1899, The first Tour de France automobile race was held.
26/11/1898, Pete DePaolo, racing car driver, was born.
3/7/1898, Donald Healey, rally driver, was born (died
15/1/1988).
9/6/1898, Formula One racing car driver Luigi Fagoli was born in Osimo,
Italy.
28/6/1897, George Eyston, motor racing champion, was born
(died 11/6/1979).
26/7/1896, Henry Birkin, motor racing champion, was born
(died 22/7/1933).
22/9/1896, Henry Seagrave, motor racing champion, was
born (died 13/6/1930).
28/11/1895, The first organised motor race in the
USA was held.
27/9/1895, Woolf Barnato, motor racing champion, was born
(died 27/7/1948).