subject: Speeding On The Right Track [print this page] Driving comes to most of us quite naturallyDriving comes to most of us quite naturally. Weve learnt how to drive when we were quite young and most of us have taken to it like a duck takes to swimming. Some of us can maneuver in and out of tiny lanes with ease in spite of many obstructions. For some though, having a wide berth is essential. When it comes to speeding above 180 miles per hour it requires a lot of things besides guts. Firstly of course, one needs a machine built to run at such speeds and a stretch to attain such speeds. Welcome to the world of Formula One, privilege of a select few. The urge to push a car to its limits while driving is there in all of us; however, caution prevails when one thinks of the consequences of a slight miscalculation. The resulting disaster is best avoided.
Reckless racing on public roads may have been OK with a select few; however for most of us it still does not make any sense at all. Watching it as a sport though, is welcome to almost all. There are men and women willing to pay a high price just to watch people driving like maniacs and the adrenaline push is not only for the participants but for the onlookers as well. People thought it best to have this organized as a sport. Thus was born racing as a sport and the first ever of its kind was organized in the 1920s and was called the Italian Grand Prix that was held in Monza in Italy. This race was won by Carlo Salamano who was driving a Fiat. The grueling race consisted of 53 laps of the circuit which itself was 5.79 km and the total distance for the entire race was 306 km. Though the car was sturdy and built to withstand bursts of high speed, the safety devices available at that time were not as sophisticated as the ones available today. Grand Prix drivers ran a great risk and coming unscathed after each race was considered miraculous. Most number of wins was by Michael Shcumacher who has five wins to his credit. Born in 1969, Shcumacher won the German Junior Championship in 1984 at the age of 15. He had been karting since the age of 4, practicing on an improvised kart (built by his father) powered by a discarded lawn-mower engine. He went on to win the European Championship in 1987. Being a very fortunate person, he was noticed by many sponsors and ultimately joined Willie Webers team and proved to be the fastest in the team, which prompted Willie to become his manager in the future. That season he lost to Karl Wendlinger. He got the chance to join Jordans Formula One and he won the race at Spa in Belgium.
Nrburgring a motorsport complex built near a village called Nurburg in Germany became the venue for the European Grand Prix as well as notable races like German Grand Prix, Luxembourg Grand Prix and the grandest of all the Formula One. Every participating driver was required to hold a special license called the Super License, the highest class of racing license. The super machines themselves were normally sponsored by leading Auto Giants like Fiat, Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Mercedes with various companies being formed solely to participate in the races. On such corporation was the Benetton Group founded by Luciano Benetton and managed by his son Rocco Benetton and was later sold to Renault a reputed manufacturer. The tickets to the live races being prohibitively expensive and the venue at faraway locations has not deterred racing enthusiasts who get to watch the highlights as well as live races as the same is aired by popular service providers like Verizon FiOS TV
