1.
Grand Prix motor racing
–
Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. It quickly evolved from a road race from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car. Grand Prix motor racing eventually evolved into formula racing, and Formula One can be seen as its direct descendant, each event of the Formula One World Championships is still called a Grand Prix, Formula One is referred to as Grand Prix racing. Motor racing was started in France, as a result of the enthusiasm with which the French public embraced the motor car. Manufacturers were enthusiastic due to the possibility of using motor racing as a window for their cars. The first motoring contest took place on July 22,1894 and was organised by a Paris newspaper, the Paris–Rouen rally was 126 km, from Porte Maillot in Paris, through the Bois de Boulogne, to Rouen. Count Jules-Albert de Dion was first into Rouen after 6 hours 48 minutes at an speed of 19 km/h. He finished 3 minutes 30 seconds ahead of Albert Lemaître, followed by Doriot, René Panhard, in 1900, James Gordon Bennett, Jr. the owner of the New York Herald and the International Herald Tribune, established the Gordon Bennett Cup. He hoped the creation of an event would drive automobile manufacturers to improve their cars. Each country was allowed to enter up to three cars, which had to be built in the country that they represented and entered by that countrys automotive governing body. International racing colours were established in this event, in the United States, William Kissam Vanderbilt II launched the Vanderbilt Cup at Long Island, New York in 1904. Some anglophone sources wrongly list a race called the Pau Grand Prix in 1901 and this may stem from a mistranslation of the contemporary French sources such as the magazine La France Auto of March 1901. The name of the 1901 event was the Circuit du Sud-Ouest, the Grand Prix du Palais d’Hiver was the name of the prizes awarded for the lesser classes. The Grand Prix de Pau was the name of the awarded for the Heavy class. Thus Maurice Farman was awarded the Grand Prix de Pau for his victory in the Circuit du Sud-Ouest driving a Panhard 24 hp. In L’Histoire de l’Automobile/Paris 1907 Pierre Souvestre described the 1901 event as, dans le Circuit du Sud-Ouest, à l’occasion du meeting de Pau. ” The only race at the time to carry the name Grand Prix was organised by the Automobile Club de France. The circuit used, which was based in Le Mans, was triangular in shape
2.
World War I
–
World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
3.
French Grand Prix
–
The French Grand Prix was a race held as part of Fédération Internationale de lAutomobiles annual Formula One automobile racing championships. It was one of the oldest motor races in the world and it ceased shortly after its centenary in 2008 with 86 races having been held, a victim of finances and unfavourable venues. It is also one of four races to have held as part of the three distinct Grand Prix championships. The power of original organiser, the Automobile Club de France, the Grand Prix name referred to the prize of 45,000 French francs to the race winner. The franc was pegged to the gold at 0.290 grams per franc, dieppe in particular was an extremely dangerous circuit-8 people in total were killed at the 3 French Grands Prix held at the 79 km circuit. The 1906 race was the first ever Grand Prix, which was an event that originated from the Gordon Bennett races that had started in 1899. This race was run on a 66-mile closed public road circuit starting at the western French town of Le Mans, through a series of villages and back again to Le Mans. Hungarian Ferenc Szisz won this very long 12-hour race on a Renault from Italian Felice Nazzaro in a Fiat, where laps on this took around an hour. The 1913 race was won by Georges Boillot on a one-off 19-mile circuit near Amiens in northern France, Amiens was another extremely deadly circuit-5 people were killed during its use during pre-race testing and the race weekend itself. The 1914 race, run on a 24-mile circuit near Lyon is perhaps the most legendary race of the pre-WWI racing era and this was a hard-fought battle between the French Peugeots and the German Mercedess. Although the Peugeots were fast and Boillot ended up leading for 12 of the 20 laps the Dunlop tires they used wore out badly compared to the Continentials that the Mercedes cars were using. Boillots four-minute lead was wiped out by Christian Lautenschlager in a Mercedes while he stopped an incredible eight times for tires. Although Boillot drove very hard to try to catch Christian Lautenschlager, he had to due to tire failure, and Mercedes finished 1-2-3. Bugatti made its debut at the 1922 race at a 8.3 mile one-off public road circuit near Strasbourg near the French-German border- which was close to Bugattis headquarters in Molsheim. It rained, and the circuit was in a dreadful condition. This race became a duel between Bugatti and Fiat- and Felice Nazzaro won in a Fiat, the 1923 race at another one-off circuit near Tours featured another new Bugatti- the Type 32. This car was dubbed the Tank, owing to its streamlined shape. This car was fast on the straights of this public road circuit-
4.
Circuit de la Sarthe
–
The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe located in Le Mans, Maine, France, is a semi-permanent race course most famous as the venue for the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race. The track also includes roads that remain open to the public most of the year. The circuit, in its present configuration, is 13.629 kilometres long, making it one of the longest circuits in the world, capacity of the race stadium, where the short Bugatti Circuit is situated, is 100,000. Le Mans is a race where up to 85% of the time is spent on full throttle, meaning immense stress on engine. Even with the modifications put in place over the years, the Sarthe circuit is known for being very fast. This classic configuration was 8.369 miles long and remained almost unaltered even after the 1955 tragedy and its frighteningly narrow pit straight was narrowed off to make room for the pits and was part of the road itself, without the road becoming wider just for the pits. The pit straight was about 12 feet wide and the race track, the pit area was modified at a cost of 300 million francs, the signalling area was even moved to the exit of the slow Mulsanne corner, and the track was resurfaced. With cars getting ever faster in the 1960s, criticism rose, especially when drivers were killed. Since 1965, a smaller but permanent Bugatti Circuit was added which shares the pit lane facilities, for the 1968 race, the Ford chicane was added before the pits to slow down the cars. The circuit was fitted with Armco for the 1969 race, one of the Porsche Curves was affectionately named Maison Blanche and a short straight with a slight kink and two chicanes before the pits named the Ford chicanes were all added. In 1979, due to the construction of a new public road and this redesign led to a faster double-apex corner as well as requiring the removal of the second Dunlop Bridge. In 1986, because of construction of a new roundabout at the Mulsanne corner and this created a right hand kink prior to Mulsanne corner. In 1987, a chicane was added to the very fast Dunlop curve where cars would go under the Dunlop bridge at 180 mph, the Le Mans circuit was changed between the Dunlop Bridge and Esses, with the straight now becoming a set of fast sweeping turns. This layout allowed for a transition from the Le Mans circuit to the Bugatti circuit. This layout change would require the tracks infamous carnival to be relocated because the area it had once occupied became runoff. As part of the development, a new extended pit lane exit was created for the Bugatti Circuit and this second pit exit re-enters the track just beyond the Dunlop Chicane and before the Dunlop Bridge. Following the fatal crash of Danish driver Allan Simonsen at the 2013 race at the exit of Tertre Rouge into D338, the radius will be moved in approximately 200m for safety reasons with new tyre barriers at the exit. Le Mans was most famous for its 6 km long straight, called Ligne Droite des Hunaudières, a part of the route départementale D338
5.
Le Mans
–
Le Mans is a city in France, on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department, Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region. Its inhabitants are called Manceaux and Mancelles, since 1923, the city has hosted the internationally famous 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance sports car race. First mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy, the Roman city Vindinium was the capital of the Aulerci, Le Mans is also known as Civitas Cenomanorum, or Cenomanus. Their city, seized by the Romans in 47 BC, was within the ancient Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis, a 3rd-century amphitheatre is still visible. The thermae were demolished during the crisis of the century when workers were mobilized to build the citys defensive walls. The ancient wall around Le Mans is one of the most complete circuits of Gallo-Roman city walls to survive, as the use of the French language replaced late Vulgar Latin in the area, Cenomanus, with dissimilation, became known as Celmans. Cel- was taken to be a form of the French word for this and that, and was replaced by le, gregory of Tours mentions a Frankish sub-king Rigomer, who was killed by King Clovis I in his campaign to unite the Frankish territories. As the principal city of Maine, Le Mans was the stage for struggles in the century between the counts of Anjou and the dukes of Normandy. When the Normans had control of Maine, William the Conqueror successfully invaded England, in 1069 the citizens of Maine revolted and expelled the Normans, resulting in Hugh V being proclaimed count of Maine. Geoffrey V of Anjou married Matilda of England in the cathedral and their son Henry II Plantagenet, king of England, was born here. The airfield was declared operational on 3 September and designated as A-35 and it was used by several American fighter and transport units until late November of that year in additional offensives across France, the airfield was closed. Le Mans has an old town and the Cathédrale St-Julien, dedicated to St Julian of Le Mans. Remnants of a Roman wall are visible in the old town and these walls are highlighted every summer evening in a light show that tells the history of the town. Arboretum de la Grand Prée Part of the former Cistercian abbey de lEpau, founded by Queen Berengaria, jardin des Plantes du Mans Musée de la reine Bérengère, a museum of Le Mans history located in a gothic manor house. Musée de Tessé, the arts museum of the city, displaying painting. Le Mans has an oceanic climate influenced by the mild Atlantic air travelling inland, summers are warm and occasionally hot, whereas winters are mild and cloudy. Precipitation is relatively uniform and moderate year round, at the 1999 French census, there were 293,159 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Le Mans, with 146,105 of these living in the city proper
6.
Duesenberg
–
Duesenberg Motors Company was an American manufacturer of race cars and luxury automobiles. It was founded by brothers August and Frederick Duesenberg in 1913 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the brothers moved their operations to Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1916 to manufacture engines for World War I. Cord added Duesenberg to his Auburn Automobile Company, with the market for expensive luxury cars severely undercut by the Depression, Duesenberg folded in 1937. In 1913, brothers Fred and Augie Duesenberg founded Duesenberg Motors Company, Inc. on University Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota, to build engines, the brothers were self-taught engineers and built many experimental cars. Duesenberg cars were considered some of the best cars of the time, in 1914, Eddie Rickenbacker drove a Duesy to finish in 10th place at the Indianapolis 500, and Duesenberg won the race in 1924,1925, and 1927. The fledgling company sidestepped into aviation engine manufacturing when Colonel R. C. Bolling, the end of World War I stopped this project before it could ever mature. In 1921, Duesenberg provided the car for the Indy 500. In 1923, Jimmy Murphy became the first American to win the French Grand Prix when he drove a Duesenberg to victory at Le Mans. At the end of World War I, they ceased building aviation and marine engines in Elizabeth, New Jersey at the corner of Newark Avenue, was established in 1920 to begin production of passenger cars. The plant was located on a 17-acre site on West Washington street at Harding street until 1937, although the Duesenberg brothers were world-class engineers, they were neither good businessmen nor administrators, they were unable to sell all the units of their first passenger car, the Model A. This had the Duesenberg Straight-8 engine, the first mass-produced straight eight engine in the U. S, the Model A was a lighter and smaller vehicle than the competition. It was among the most powerful and the fastest cars of its time, among the celebrities who purchased this model were Tom Mix and Rudolph Valentino. The model experienced various delays going from prototype to production, deliveries to dealers did not start until December 1921. Sales lagged and the goal of building 100 Duesenbergs each month proved far too high, in 1922 no more than 150 cars were manufactured, and only 650 Model As were sold over a period of six years. The brothers continued to create excellent engines for cars, boats, on March 8,1920, these men became president and vice president of the Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Corporation of Indianapolis. Fred was chief engineer and Augie his assistant, and both were salaried as employees, van Zandt quit after a year, and business went from bad to worse in 1923. In 1924 the company went into receivership, but somehow it survived that year, in 1925, the firms name was changed to Duesenberg Motors Corporation and Fred assumed the title of president. Fred and August struggled to keep the company, but to no avail, Model X Duesenbergs are very rare
7.
Hydraulics
–
Hydraulics is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids or fluids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the version of pneumatics. Fluid mechanics provides the foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the applied engineering using the properties of fluids. In fluid power, hydraulics are used for the generation, control, hydraulic topics range through some parts of science and most of engineering modules, and cover concepts such as pipe flow, dam design, fluidics and fluid control circuitry, pumps. The principles of hydraulics are in use naturally in the body within the heart. Free surface hydraulics is the branch of hydraulics dealing with surface flow, such as occurring in rivers, canals, lakes, estuaries. Its sub-field open channel flow studies the flow in open channels, the word hydraulics originates from the Greek word ὑδραυλικός which in turn originates from ὕδωρ and αὐλός. Early uses of water power date back to Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, other early examples of water power include the Qanat system in ancient Persia and the Turpan water system in ancient Central Asia. The Greeks constructed sophisticated water and hydraulic power systems, an example is the construction by Eupalinos, under a public contract, of a watering channel for Samos, the Tunnel of Eupalinos. An early example of the usage of hydraulic wheel, probably the earliest in Europe, is the Perachora wheel, notable is the construction of the first hydraulic automata by Ctesibius and Hero of Alexandria. Hero describes a number of working machines using hydraulic power, such as the force pump, in ancient China there was Sunshu Ao, Ximen Bao, Du Shi, Zhang Heng, and Ma Jun, while medieval China had Su Song and Shen Kuo. Du Shi employed a waterwheel to power the bellows of a blast furnace producing cast iron, Zhang Heng was the first to employ hydraulics to provide motive power in rotating an armillary sphere for astronomical observation. In ancient Sri Lanka, hydraulics were used in the ancient kingdoms of Anuradhapura. The discovery of the principle of the tower, or valve pit. By the first century AD, several irrigation works had been completed. The coral on the rock at the site includes cisterns for collecting water. They were among the first to use of the siphon to carry water across valleys. They used lead widely in plumbing systems for domestic and public supply, hydraulic mining was used in the gold-fields of northern Spain, which was conquered by Augustus in 25 BC
8.
Ballot (automobile)
–
Ballot was a French manufacturer, initially of engines, that also made automobiles between 1919 and 1932. Édouard Ballot became well known as a designer of reliable engines and he helped Ettore Bugatti in developing his first engines. The Ballot brothers, Édouard and Maurice, founded their company beside the Boulevard Brune in south-central Paris, Edouard Ballot was a former naval officer, which explains the anchor that featured in the badges on the cars. Before World War I the factory concentrated on marine and industrial engines, the company was re-founded as Etablissements Ballot SA in 1910. There is little sign that Edouard Ballot himself took much interest in automobiles until December 1918 and that was the month in which he had a significant conversation René Thomas, a leading racing driver who back in 1914 had won the Indianapolis 500 race driving a Delage. Ballot was persuaded to build four 4. 8-litre cars that would carry the Ballot name and compete in the forthcoming Indianapolis 500 race, Ballots cars competed in the 1919 race, two of them finishing in 4th and 11th places. Ballot was sufficiently encouraged to return the next year, and in the 1920 Indianapolis 500 race a Ballot driven by René Thomas finished in 2nd place, a Ballot vehicle driven by René Thomas also finished second in the 1919 Targa Florio. More successes followed, on sides of the Atlantic. Ralph DePalma, an American national champion and winner of the 1915 Indianapolis 500, finished second in the 1921 French Grand Prix, Goux went on to win the inaugural Italian Grand Prix at Brescia, Italy in 1921, driving a Ballot. Second place was taken by the team leader Jean Chassagne on a sister car, a Ballot with a straight-eight-cylinder 4. 9-litre engine competed in the 1921 French Grand Prix. As well as racing engines, the made a range of road engines which were fitted to their own production cars. The first of Ballots own road cars was the 1921 2-litre Ballot 2-litre sports tourer, in 1923 the Ballot 2 LT and a sport version, Ballot 2 LTS followed. By the time of the 19th Paris Motor Show in October 1924, the 2-litre sports tourer again appeared on the manufacturers stand at the show The car still used a four cylinder overhead camshaft 1,994 cc engine, and it sat on a 3,110 mm wheelbase. It was priced, in base form, at 33,000 francs. From 1927, eight-cylinder engines were used, in 1931 the company was taken over by Hispano-Suiza. Swift decline followed, the last model was practically a Hispano-Suiza, and only the chassis was provided by Ballot
French Grand Prix
Jimmy Murphy
Italian Grand Prix