1.
German Grand Prix
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The German Grand Prix is a biennial automobile race that has been held most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race continued to be known as the German Grand Prix, because West Germany was prevented from taking part in international events in the immediate post-war period, the German Grand Prix only became part of the Formula One World Championship in 1951. It was designated the European Grand Prix four times between 1954 and 1974, when title was an honorary designation given each year to one grand prix race in Europe. It has been organized by AvD since 1926, the well-known ADAC hosts many other races, including a second German F1 race at the Nürburgring from 1995 until 2006 under the title of the European Grand Prix. In 1907, Germany staged the first of the Kaiserpreis races at the 73-mile Taunus public road circuit, entries were limited to touring cars with engines of less than eight litres. The race itself was a tragedy, a driver and his co-driver were killed 19 miles into the lap, göbel died of his injuries in hospital later on. Italys Felice Nazzaro won the race in a Fiat, like the Prinz-Heinrich-Fahrt, which was held from 1908 to 1911, it was a precursor to the German Grand Prix. The first national event in German Grand Prix motor racing was held at the AVUS race circuit in southwestern Berlin in 1926 as a car race. The AVUS circuit was made up of two 6-mile straights combined with two left-hand hairpins at each end, the first race at AVUS, in heavy rain, was won by Germanys native son, Rudolf Caracciola in a Mercedes-Benz. The event was marred by Adolf Rosenbergers crash into one of the marshals huts, the AVUS circuit was considered extremely dangerous even back then- so the event was moved. The German Grand Prix became an event in 1929. The Grand Prix moved to the new,28.3 km Nürburgring, located in the Eifel Mountain region in western Germany about 70 miles from Frankfurt and it was inaugurated on 18 June 1927 with the annual race, the ADAC Eifelrennen. There were two races on the Gesamtstrecke combined course, which were both sportscar races, where German pre-war great Rudolf Caracciola would win his second of six German Grands Prix. The 1930 and 1933 races were cancelled due to economic reasons, in 1931, the event began to use only the 14.2 mile Nordschleife, and this would continue onwards throughout the century. Caracciola would win the 1931 and 1932 events in a Mercedes, starting in 1934, there were often several races each year with the so-called Silver Arrows Grand Prix cars in Germany, e. g. the Eifelrennen, the AVUS race and several hillclimbs. Yet it was only the Grand Prix at the Nürburgring that was the national Grande Epreuve, the 1935 event was considered to be one of the greatest motorsports victories of all time. Italian legend Tazio Nuvolari, driving a hopelessly outdated and underpowered Alfa Romeo against state-of-the-art Mercedes, after a dreadful start, he was able to pass a number of cars, particularly while some of the German cars pitted. The small 42-year-old Italian ended up finishing in front of eight running Silver Arrows, second placed Hans Stuck was two minutes behind Nuvolari
2.
West Germany
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West Germany is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation on 23 May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990. During this Cold War era, NATO-aligned West Germany and Warsaw Pact-aligned East Germany were divided by the Inner German border, after 1961 West Berlin was physically separated from East Berlin as well as from East Germany by the Berlin Wall. This situation ended when East Germany was dissolved and its five states joined the ten states of the Federal Republic of Germany along with the reunified city-state of Berlin. With the reunification of West and East Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany, enlarged now to sixteen states and this period is referred to as the Bonn Republic by historians, alluding to the interwar Weimar Republic and the post-reunification Berlin Republic. The Federal Republic of Germany was established from eleven states formed in the three Allied Zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, US and British forces remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Its population grew from roughly 51 million in 1950 to more than 63 million in 1990, the city of Bonn was its de facto capital city. The fourth Allied occupation zone was held by the Soviet Union, as a result, West Germany had a territory about half the size of the interbellum democratic Weimar Republic. At the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided among the Western and Eastern blocs, Germany was de facto divided into two countries and two special territories, the Saarland and divided Berlin. The Federal Republic of Germany claimed a mandate for all of Germany. It took the line that the GDR was an illegally constituted puppet state, though the GDR did hold regular elections, these were not free and fair. For all practical purposes the GDR was a Soviet puppet state, from the West German perspective the GDR was therefore illegitimate. Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952, in addition to the resulting ten states, West Berlin was considered an unofficial de facto 11th state. It recognised the GDR as a de facto government within a single German nation that in turn was represented de jure by the West German state alone. From 1973 onward, East Germany recognised the existence of two German countries de jure, and the West as both de facto and de jure foreign country, the Federal Republic and the GDR agreed that neither of them could speak in the name of the other. The first chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who remained in office until 1963, had worked for an alignment with NATO rather than neutrality. He not only secured a membership in NATO but was also a proponent of agreements that developed into the present-day European Union, when the G6 was established in 1975, there was no question whether the Federal Republic of Germany would be a member as well. With the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall, East Germany voted to dissolve itself and accede to the Federal Republic in 1990. Its five post-war states were reconstituted along with the reunited Berlin and they formally joined the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, raising the number of states from 10 to 16, ending the division of Germany
3.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
4.
Dan Gurney
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Daniel Sexton Gurney is a retired American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racings highest levels starting in 1958. The son of a Metropolitan Opera star, he was born in Port Jefferson, New York, Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, and Trans-Am Series. Gurney is the first of three drivers to have won races in Sports Cars, Formula One, NASCAR, and Indy Car, in 1967, after winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans together with A. J. Foyt, he spontaneously sprayed champagne while celebrating on the podium, apart from starting this tradition, he also was the first to put a simple right-angle extension on the upper trailing edge of the rear wing. This device, called a Gurney flap, increases downforce and, if well designed, at the 1968 German Grand Prix he became the first driver ever to use a full face helmet in Grand Prix racing. Dan Gurneys father, Jack Gurney, was a graduate of Harvard Business school with a masters degree, dans three uncles were each MIT engineers. His grandfather was F. W. Gurney who was responsible for the invention of the Gurney Ball Bearing, after moving to California, young Dan quickly became caught up in the California hot rod culture. At age 19, he built and raced a car that went 138 miles per hour at the Bonneville Salt Flats and he then became an amateur drag racer and sports car racer. He served in the United States Army as a mechanic during the Korean War. Gurneys first major break occurred in the fall of 1957, when he was invited to test Frank Arcieros Arciero Special and it was powered by a 4. 2-litre reworked Maserati engine with Ferrari running gear, and a Sports Car Engineering Mistral body. This ill-handling brute of a car was very fast, but even top drivers like Carroll Shelby and he finished second in the inaugural Riverside Grand Prix, beating established stars like Masten Gregory, Walt Hansgen and Phil Hill. This attracted the attention of famed Ferrari North American importer Luigi Chinetti, Gurney, teamed with fellow Californian Bruce Kessler, had worked the car up to fifth overall and handed over to Kessler, who was then caught up in an accident. This performance, and others, earned him a test run in a works Ferrari, in just four races that first year, he earned two podium finishes, but the teams strict management style did not suit him. In 1960 he had six non-finishes in seven races behind the wheel of a factory-prepared BRM, Gurney was known to give the brake pedal a reassuring tap just before hard application — a habit Gurney himself jokingly referred to as the chicken-shit school of braking. Gurney was particularly noted for an exceptionally fluid driving style, on rare occasions, as when his car fell behind with minor mechanical troubles and he felt he had nothing to lose, he would abandon his classic technique and adopt a more aggressive style. He produced an effort, made up the deficit and won the race with a dramatic last-lap pass of runner-up Bobby Unser. After rules changes came in effect in 1961, he teamed with Jo Bonnier for the first full season of the factory Porsche team, scoring three second places. He came very close to scoring a victory at Reims, France in 1961
5.
Porsche in motorsport
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Porsche has been successful in many branches of motorsport of which most have been in long distance races. The Porsche 917 of 1969 turned them into a house, winning in 1970 the first of over a dozen 24 Hours of Le Mans. With the 911 Carrera RS and the Porsche 935 Turbo, Porsche dominated the 1970s, and even has beaten sports prototypes, Porsche is currently the worlds largest race car manufacturer. In 2006, Porsche built 195 race cars for international motor sports events. Some aspect of the car almost invariably, was being developed, notable early successes in the USA also included an overall win in the 1964 Road America 500 for an under-2-litre RS-60 driven by Bill Wuesthoff and Augie Pabst. The 90x series of cars in the 60s saw Porsche start to expand from class winners that stood a chance of overall wins in tougher races where endurance and handling mattered, to likely overall victors. Porsche first expanded its 8-cyl flat engine to 2.2 litres in the 907, then developed the 908 with full three litres in 1968. Based on this 8-cyl flat engine and a loophole in the rules, the 4. 5-litre flat 12917 was introduced in 1969, eventually expanded to five litres, and later even to 5.4 and turbocharged. Within few years, Porsche with the 917 had grown from underdog to the supplier of the fastest and most powerful car in the world. Even though introduced in 1963, and winning the Rally Monte Carlo, the water-cooled Porsche 996 series became a success in racing after the GT3 variant was introduced in 1999. The Porsche 917 is considered one of the most iconic racing cars of all time and gave Porsche their first 24 Hours of Le Mans win, Porsche scored a couple of unexpected Le Mans wins in 1996 and 1997. A return to racing in the USA was planned for 1995 with a Tom Walkinshaw Racing chassis formerly used as the Jaguar XJR-14. This is a feat Porsche had also achieved in the 956 era, between 1998 and 2014, Porsche did not attempt to score overall wins at Le Mans and similar sports car races, focusing on smaller classes and developing the water-cooled 996 GT3. Nevertheless, the GT3 and the LMP2 RS Spyder won major races overall during the period, in 2015, a Porsche 919 Hybrid hybrid car driven by Nick Tandy, Earl Bamber and Nico Hülkenberg won the 83rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Porsche LMP1 program went on to win the victory in the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship. The 919 program has gone on to win the 84th running of Le Mans in a 919 driven by Neel Jani, Romain Dumas. In the 1960s, Porsche grew into a competitor in sports car racing. In CanAm, Porsche cooperated with Penske, while in Deutsche Rennsportmeisterschaft, customers like Kremer Racing, Georg Loos, after appearing as Martini Porsche in the mid-1970s, the factory entered as Rothmans Porsche in the mid-1980s
Graham Hill
Dan Gurney
Bruce McLaren
Ricardo Rodriguez
Jo Bonnier
Tony Maggs
Giancarlo Baghetti
Jo Siffert
Carel Godin de Beaufort
Lucien Bianchi
Jack Brabham
Maurice Trintignant
Wolfgang Seidel
