When France Invented the Art of Going Dangerously Fast: The Tumultuous Birth of Motor Racing

Picture this: it's 1887, the automobile has just been invented, and already, a few French lunatics have decided it's not going fast enough. Rather than being content with those peaceful 10 mph jaunts that terrorized the neighbour's horses, our ancestors had this brilliant idea: "What if we organized a race?"

THE FIRST STEPS: WHEN 25 MPH WAS SENSATIONAL

In 1887, between Porte de Neuilly and Versailles, automotive pioneers proudly demonstrated that their contraptions could reach the dizzying speed of 25 mph. To put this in perspective, that's barely faster than a Sunday cyclist, but at the time, it was tantamount to defying the laws of physics! These intrepid mechanics wanted to prove that their "horsepower" surpassed actual horses. Mission accomplished, with infernal noise thrown in for good measure.

1894: THE FIRST REAL RACE (SORT OF)

Seven years later, in 1894, France struck another masterstroke by organizing the first true automobile competition in history: Paris-Rouen. Mind you, this wasn't yet a pure speed race, but a "reliability trial" – translation: "whoever arrives in one piece without exploding en route wins." A wise philosophy, considering early automobiles had about as much reliability as a paper umbrella.

This revolutionary trial gathered 69 brave (or unconscious) participants ready to cover the 126 kilometers separating the capital from the Norman city. Count Jules-Albert de Dion won the event at the wheel of his De Dion-Bouton, thus proving that French aristocracy had definitively abandoned carriages for noisier machines.

1895: PARIS-BORDEAUX-PARIS, THE BIRTH OF TRUE SPEED

The following year, organizers decided to spice things up. Gone was the gentle reliability nonsense: enter pure speed! Paris-Bordeaux-Paris became the first genuine automobile race – 1,178 kilometers of dusty road to be covered as quickly as possible.

Émile Levassor, driving his Panhard et Levassor, won this mechanical odyssey in a record time of 48 hours and 48 minutes. That's an average of 15 mph over the entire course – which, given the roads of the era and the relative reliability of the machines, was as much a sporting exploit as a technical prowess.

THE DRAMATIC TURNING POINT: PARIS-MADRID 1903

But like every good French story, this one had to have its tragedy. In 1903, the Paris-Madrid race turned into a nightmare. The racing cars, now capable of reaching 60 mph, launched themselves onto roads not closed to traffic, amidst spectators clustered on the roadside. The result? A massacre: several deaths, including driver Marcel Renault, and numerous injuries.

The emotion was such that authorities stopped the race at Bordeaux. No more city-to-city races on open roads! This tragedy marked the end of a carefree era and the beginning of a new, more secure age.

THE ERA OF CLOSED CIRCUITS: THE GORDON BENNETT CUP

From this tragedy was born a revolution: closed circuits. In 1903, the Gordon Bennett Automobile Cup inaugurated this new concept with a road circuit of 175 kilometers to be covered three times. No more spectators on the road, no more carts crossing unexpectedly, just pure speed in a controlled environment.

This French innovation – because yes, even after the Paris-Madrid drama, it was still France showing the way – would revolutionize motorsport. Performance exploded, engines became more powerful, and the art of going dangerously fast became codified.

THE LEGACY: WHEN FRANCE CREATED A MONSTER

In the space of a few years, France had created from scratch a new sport, established its rules, lived through its first tragedies, and found solutions to perpetuate it. From the peaceful reliability contest of 1894 to the closed circuits of 1903, our ancestors had laid the foundations of what would become Formula 1, rallying, and all the disciplines we know today.

So next time you watch a Grand Prix, remember: it all started with a few Frenchmen who thought 25 mph was decidedly not fast enough. And frankly, they were absolutely right.