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Article by Marvin Maloney

For most folks, and you may very well be one of them, when they watch a motor racing event it’s just so easy to assume that the only wheels that are involved are the big wheels on the vehicles that the drivers are operating. The real truth of the matter, however, is that if you were to look behind the scenes, for instance in the shop where a vehicle is maintained, you would find loads of much smaller wheels in the form of castors. Castors are used to expedite a huge assortment of tasks; to speed them along and also make them so much easier.

For instance, so many of the components that make up today’s high-performance motor sports cars are really quite delicate. Sure they take a beating when they’re on the track but that’s after they’ve been bolted into the car. On the other hand, parts and even entire motors, once they’re removed from a vehicle have to be moved about on a cart with castors, so they don’t get damaged.

Then if you were to take a look around the shop where the vehicles are kept and maintained what you would find is that so many of the tools and machinery that are used to keep them in top working order are on castors. Consider a tool box full of hand tools for instance, that can easily weigh hundreds of pounds. It only makes perfect sense that it should be rolled over to the vehicle, so all the various hand tools are within easy reach of a mechanic.

Then on race day if you were to take a walk over to have a quick look at the area where the pit crew operates you are sure to find that almost everything there is on castors for convenience sake. Not only does it make all the necessary equipment faster to move which is important but the castors also make the tasks easier, and that for sure is just as important.

This is because the pit crew is only there temporarily. They come in and set up and then when it’s time to leave, after the race is done, castors make the job of packing up just as quick and easy.

Jacking castors make it a heck of a lot easier to get things in and out of a truck or trailer. Also who hasn’t witnessed jacking castors used on a race car to quickly change tires after it’s pulled in for a pit stop.

Take a walk around the racetrack facility, and you would find castors being used extensively from one end to the other. The food concession carts for example, all of the tools for the ground cleaning crew, and even all the tools of the trade for emergency safety personnel will be up on castors to make their jobs easier.

So the next time you go to the races or decide to watch them on TV, why not just for amusement’s sake take on a challenge to see how many areas you could see castors being used as the event unfolds.

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Article by Andrei Pitic

Motor Racing, competition or trial of speed between mechanically-propelled land vehicles (motor cars) over various tracks or courses. Competitors race together; or singly, in which case they are timed separately. This description covers a considerable variety of race, including autocross, drag-racing, grass-track racing, hill climbing and hill trials, karting, motor rally, rallycross, off-road racing, slalom, stock-car racing, and Grand Prix road racing. There are many sub-divisions and classes of vehicle.
Racing began soon after the invention of the first successful petrol-driven car (the Motor-Wagen of Karl Benz, late in 1885). In June 1895 there was a motor car race from Paris to Bordeaux and back–a distance of 1,178 km (732 mi) and this is often taken as the first proper motor race, though there has been a claim that a race took place in the United States in 1878, from Green Bay to Madison, Wisconsin which was won by an Oshkosk steamer. Grand Prix racing began with the French Grand Prix in 1906. Soon many races were being staged in Europe. A world governing body called the Association Internationale des Automobiles Reconnus was formed; in 1946 this became the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).
Between the world wars the sport boomed in Europe and America. Numerous circuits were built, and better and faster cars were developed. After World War II the growth and popularity of the sport increased, and many more races were introduced.
Track Racing
The commonest form of racing track is oval with banked corners, from 800 m (.5 mi) to 4,000 m (2.5 mi) in length. The difference between road and track racing ultimately led to different vehicle construction; several major types of racing car are now built. Pure racing machines, such as are used in Grand Prix road races or the Indianapolis 500, are built for power and endurance at speeds of more than 320 km/h (200 mph). Stock cars used to be production motor cars modified for track racing but are now made expressly for the purpose of racing.
Grand Prix Racing
There are 15 to 20 Grand Prix races around the world each year normally beginning in Australia or Brazil. In the list that follows the dates in brackets show the year in which they were first run: Argentine GP (1947); Canadian GP (1967); Dutch GP (1948); French GP (1906); German GP (1926); Hungarian GP (1987); Italian GP (1921); Japanese GP (1976); Las Vegas GP (1981); Mexican GP (1962); Monaco GP (1929); Moroccan GP (1925); Pescara GP (1924); Portuguese GP (1951–for sports cars); San Marino GP (1981); Spanish GP (1951); South African GP (1934); United States GP (1959); United States GP (East) (1982); United States GP (West) (1976).
In 1950 the FIA introduced a World Championship for Drivers. The number of points accumulated by a driver in a year would determine the winner. Since 1950 there have been eight British world champions–more than any other country: Mike Hawthorn, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, John Surtees, Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, Nigel Mansell, and Damon Hill. Other great drivers of the post-war era are Juan Manuel Fangio (Argentina), Alberto Ascari (Italy), Jack Brabham (Australia), Emerson Fittipaldi (Brazil), Niki Lauda (Austria), Nelson Piquet (Brazil), Alain Prost (France), Ayrton Senna (Brazil), and Michael Schumacher (Germany).
In addition to the Grand Prix Formula One races, there are also Formula Two, Formula Three, and Formula 3,000 competitions. Formula Two was introduced in 1947 and Formula Three in the early 1950s. A European Formula Two championship was inaugurated in 1967, and in 1975 a Formula Three Championship. These were discontinued in 1984 to be replaced by a new Supraveghere European Formula 3,000 International Championship, later renamed the FIA Formula 3,000 International Championship. Formula Three is camere supraveghere popular in Britain. In 1992 the British Formula 3,000 Championship was renamed F2 all this was recorded by camere de supraveghere on DVR.
Indianapolis
Since 1911 the major camere race in the United States has been Indianapolis 500 for which the Borg-Warner Trophy has been awarded annually to the winner since 1936. A. J. Foyt won the race four times; so did Al Unser and Rick Mears, and in 1994 it was won by Al Unser jnr. With crowds averaging 400,000 it is the best-attended single-day sports event in the world. Indy Car Racing (on oval tracks) is an important feature of the American scene and began in 1909. In 1978 Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. (CART) was created. It produces its own National Championship series and sanctions all Indy car racing–the PPG Indy Car World Series–except the Indianapolis 500 replay on DVR .
Sports Car Racing
Sports car racing has been popular from the outset. The most famous race is the Le Mans 24 Hour Race, inaugurated in May 1923. Jaguar, Ford, Ferrari, Porsche, and Matra-Simca have had many successes.
The World Sports Car Championship was introduced in 1953. Since then there have been numerous changes in format and car specification. In 1981 a championship for drivers was first introduced which became known as the World Endurance Championship. Five years later this became the Sports Prototype World Championship for cars and drivers.
Stock Car Racing
Stock car racing is another form of the sport which is very popular in the United States. It originated in the activities of bootleggers in the 1920s and became legalized in 1947. Stock cars are immensely heavy, very strong and fast machines in which the driver is protected by a steel cage. The first race was over the Daytona Beach course in 1948.
Motor Rallies
Motor rallies are events for cars usually run over public roads (and under ordinary traffic conditions and rules) with the object of keeping a specified schedule between checkpoints on a route which none of the competitors knows before the start. The first was held in 1907 from Beijing to Paris–a distance of about 12,000 km (7,500 mi). Five cars were involved and it was won by an Italian prince named Scipone Borghese (who had his chauffeur with him). The sport has grown in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere since World War II and there are now a great many rallies each year. The longest is the East African Safari (first run in 1953) over 6,234 km (3,874 mi). The most famous of all is the Monte Carlo Rally (instituted in 1911). A World Championship for makes of car was begun in 1968; and a drivers’ championship was instituted in 1977. In 1981 a championship for codrivers was introduced. French, British, Swedish, Finnish, German, and Italian drivers have excelled at this form of competition.

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