The world's most dangerous sporting event.

In the beginning, France dominated the automotive industry.

Paris was the start and finish of the first motor race in history - Paris to Bordeaux and return. All the major races of the early years were from one major city to another, and Paris was usually one of them. Paris-Rouen was next and other famous city-to-city races followed.

The Automobile Club of France was founded in 1895 to become the governing body of motor racing.

The Club held major inter-town races each year, including the first international race, from Paris to Amsterdam and back in 1898, Paris - Berlin in 1901, Paris - Vienna in 1902, and the granddaddy of them all, the Paris - Madrid of 1903.

The Automobile Club of France also held the first closed-circuit race meeting in 1900 and the first Grand Prix in 1906. This was the beginning of organised motorsport competition and these events have direct lineage all the way to Formula One and the Fédération Internationale de Sport Automobile (FIA).

But in the early years, safety was not one of the primary concerns. The safety measures were close to non-existent and the situation was compounded by the rapid evolution of the motorcar.

In 1894 Levassor's Daimler-engined Peugeot had averaged 24 kmh to win the first race. As competition improved the breed, the performance of the cars rapidly progressed.

By 1900, the faster cars could top 100 kmh, and average speeds had more than doubled. The engineering and metallurgical knowledge of the day meant that the exponentially mounting speeds were creating problems as the forces multiplied on every component. Suspension and steering breakages were common, with the deadliest apparently being projectile wheels hurtling onwards after an accident.

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