| World Race 2011 Recreates Historic 1908 New York To Paris Race |
| Written by Deidre Woollard | |||
| Monday, 21 February 2011 02:27 | |||
 Imagine the scene, Times Square, February 12, 1908 over 250,000 people cheering the start of the race to circle the globe from New York to Paris by automobile. The historic event become the longest auto competition in history, a perilous adventure with uncertain roads and no friendly gas stations at every turn. The Great Auto Race covered 22,000 miles in 169 days as teams from Italy, Germany, France and the United States proved that the newfangled "horseless carriages" were more than just a mechanical curiosity. When he returned to the U.S., the winner of the event, George Schuster, driver of the American built Thomas Flyer, received a hero's welcome. Over a century has passed and the journey isn't quite as fraught with danger but the World Race 2011 takes over 25 cars on a worldwide trek for the new millennium. Cars will leave the Crowne Plaza Hotel Times Square in New York City bound for Paris on April 14th, 2011. They'll traveling west, through the United States with with stops planned at Buffalo, Sandusky, Detroit, Warsaw, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Dodge City, Denver, Gateway, Salt Lake City, and Reno. On Tuesday April 26th, they arrive in San Francisco and the cars will be loaded onto a ship bound for Beijing, China for the Asia-Europe leg of the Race. Racers rejoin their cars on June 4th and continue driving through China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, and Switzerland. On Thursday July 21, the teams make their entry into Paris with a finish at the Eiffel Tower. Price Team Racing will make history in the race, driving their multi-fueled Chevrolet Corvette, which is able to run on six different fuels. Jerry Garrett, a reporter for the New York Times will ride along with Jeff Mahl, the great-grandson of George Schuster who drove to victory in the original 1908 New York to Paris race. For more Times Square articles like Historic 1908 New York To Paris Race please visit the NYC Times Square History Section of TimesSquare.com
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