Motorsports Trivia Thread!

[TenEightyOne]

That would be the Chaparral 2H.

Arguably the fault of John Surtees, pesky driver requested a different seating position. Chevrolet also found that low profile/drag didn't equate to downforce and had to fit a wing in testing.

 

[Obelisk]

That would be the Chaparral 2H.

Correct. (dang it!)

 

[Dotini]

What was the first major race won by a front wheel drive car?

 

[TenEightyOne]

What was the first major race won by a front wheel drive car?

Must be a Parisienne "Victoria"? Races were rather more sedentary then, of course. I'm taking this answer carefully after your insightful and kindly patient re-education of my thoughts on single seater history

 

[Dotini]

(dang it!)

I used to hang out with Jim Hall and Hap Sharp back in the day when they brought their Chaparral 2Cs to my home track at Kent, Washington.

 

[Dotini]

Must be a Parisienne "Victoria"?

Heh heh, no, a "major race" is somewhat like pornography - you know it when you see it.

 

[Obelisk]

I used to hang out with Jim Hall and Hap Sharp back in the day when they brought their Chaparral 2Cs to my home track at Kent, Washington.

You awesome man. Did they ever go back there with the 2J?

 

[Dotini]

You awesome man. Did they ever go back there with the 2J?

No sir. The 2J was strictly for the Can-Am series. The dangerous Pacific Raceways circuit was briefly a part of the west coast fall season pro-racing scene and later the USRRC circuit that preceded the glory years of the Can-Am.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Heh heh, no, a "major race" is somewhat like pornography - you know it when you see it.

The Paris-Rambouillet-Paris race of October 1899 (100km in all) wasn't major? Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks, I guess

 

[Dotini]

What was the first major race won by a front wheel drive car?

Hint: The Indy 500 has been won several times by a front drive car.

 

[Obelisk]

There were an awful lot of FWD indy 500 cars.

Technically speaking, John Walther Christie' 1905 racer was the first FWD to win an event (the Lozier trophy at Ormond Beach, 50 miles). I say technically because all of the other racers broke down.

 

[TenEightyOne]

There were an awful lot of FWD indy 500 cars.

Technically speaking, John Walther Christie' 1905 racer was the first FWD to win an event (the Lozier trophy at Ormond Beach, 50 miles). I say technically because all of the other racers broke down.

Probably not major enough and probably in the wrong century

 

[Dotini]

What was the first major race won by a front wheel drive car?

2nd hint: The Indy 500 has been won 6 times by a front drive, first appearing in 1925 with an impressive 2nd place. Front wheel drive had a great advantage at the "brickyard" for many years. This was because the primitive crankcase ventilation systems then employed would inevitably leave a fine mist of oil settling around the track which caused greater handling problems for the rear drive cars. As crankcase breathers improved and the bricks were gradually replaced with asphalt, the greater weight, complexity and cost of the front drive cars made them uncompetitive. The final win for front drive came in 1949.

So, in what year did the front drive score its first win??

 

[TenEightyOne]

A pure punt; 1927?

 

[Obelisk]

A pure punt; 1927?

I say 1926.

 

[Dotini]

A pure punt; 1927?

Nein

I say 1926.

Ixnay

The front wheel drive cars were extremely expensive to manufacture, and were never fielded by more than a handful of well-heeled racers.

 

[DK]

Would it be 1929?

 

[Liquid]

1928.

 

[epic_apri_39]

1930?

 

[Dotini]

1930?

We have a winner!

Billy Arnold won the 1930 Indy 500 in a front drive Miller-Hartz, leading 198 of 200 laps.

 

[epic_apri_39]

In the first Nogaro race in the 2015 European GT4 Series, the number 6 and 18 cars were penalised. Why?

 

[Liquid]

Underweight?

 

[DK]

They jumped the start?

 

[TenEightyOne]

In the first Nogaro race in the 2015 European GT4 Series, the number 6 and 18 cars were penalised. Why?

Something to do with Pro/Am driver status?

 

[epic_apri_39]

Underweight?

They jumped the start?

Something to do with Pro/Am driver status?

Neither of these.

It's something to do with their actions in the race, not technical.

 

[Pezzarinho17]

Penalised, not disqualified... Hmm...

Something like racing / crashing after the race had finished?

 

[Liquid]

Cutting the circuit.

 

[Grippy]

heavy contact

 

[epic_apri_39]

Nope.

 

[Grippy]

Yellow flag out, still speeding