1894 1ª Corrida de Carros @ Motores Daimler

(from Daimler Press Release) Birth of motor sport 120 years ago: Daimler engines dominated first motor car race in 1894:
-"Système Daimler" two-cylinder engines performed superbly in the 126-kilometre Paris--Rouen race on 22 July 1894
-Panhard & Levassor and Peugeot with Daimler engines shared first prize, Roger-Benz received 5th prize from the "Petit Journal"
-The fast-running combustion engine triumphed as propulsion system for motor cars

Two cars fitted with a Daimler two-cylinder V-engine shared first prize in the world's first motor car race in 1894 and a Benz vehicle received 5th prize. The reliability test drive from Paris to Rouen paved the way for the unique tradition of 120 years of Mercedes-Benz motor sport history. But the winners of the race from Paris to Rouen were not only the vehicles from Panhard & Levassor and Peugeot, but the motor car with a combustion engine per se. After all, on the 126-kilometre-long route, the motor vehicle powered by the fast-running Daimler engine demonstrated its superiority over road-going vehicles with other propulsion systems. This magic moment would change mobility for ever: "How can you travel other than in an motor car?" (« Comment peut-on voyager autrement qu'en automobile? »), is how on 23 July the newspaper "Le Petit Journal", organiser of the competition, enthusiastically summed up the result of the competition, as it looked forward to the future with excitement and anticipation.

The first motor car race in history, which took place on 22 July 1894 over the 126-kilometre route from Paris to Rouen, was not just about speed. Rather the aim was for vehicles to demonstrate their excellent road-going credentials as part of the competition organised by the French daily newspaper "Le Petit Journal": the vehicle to win would be the one that most effectively fulfilled the criteria, "to be easy to operate for the competitors without any danger and not too expensive to run" (« être sans danger, aisément maniable pour les voyageurs et de ne pas coûter trop cher sur la route »).

Safety, ease of operation, and transparent costs: those were the specialities of the motor car with fast-running combustion engine, at that point just eight years old, compared to steam technology in particular. And so the brands Panhard & Levassor and Peugeot took away the (shared) first prize of 5,000 francs for their vehicles equipped with Daimler engines. The jurors singled out Daimler's innovativeness as especially noteworthy: "[...] The Daimler engine, developed by a skilled engineer from Württemberg; Mr Daimler -- who was present yesterday in Rouen to share in the triumph of his work -- has turned petroleum or gasoline fuel into a practical solution." (« [...] l'essence de pétrole ou gazoline, que le moteur Daimler, inventé par un savant mécanicien du Wurtemberg, M. Daimler, -- lequel était hier à Rouen pour assister au triomphe de son œuvre, -- a rendue pratiquement maniable. »)
Birth of motor sport alongside the Bois de Boulogne

21 vehicles in total were approved for the race from Paris to Rouen. They had to go through test drives on the three days before the final competition to qualify to take part in the long-distance race. From 7 a.m. on 22 July 1894, the vehicles lined up on the starting grid at the Porte Maillot in the Paris district of Neuilly sur Seine, located right next to the Bois de Boulogne. The start on the Boulevard Maillot was scheduled for "8 o'clock sharp" (« à 8 heures précises du boulevard Maillot »). The steam tractor of Count de Dion with its single-axle passenger trailer in tow was the first vehicle to set off at 8.01 a.m., with the remaining vehicles following at intervals of 30 seconds.

The road had not been specially cordoned off for the reliability test drive. The traffic proved very heavy particularly after the start because the extensive reporting in the run-up to the race had attracted thousands of spectators; to compound matters other vehicles were mingling among the starters: "The convoy is led, flanked and pursued by numerous cyclists, also by a number of vehicles with a mechanical propulsion system which are tackling the route as amateurs." (« La colonne est précédée, flanquée, suivie par d'innombrables cyclistes et aussi par quelques voitures à moteur mécanique qui vont faire le parcours en amateurs. »)



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