1-192-989 - National Motor Museum/Heritage Images

Selwyn Francis Edge in a Napier, 1903 Gordon Bennett race. The Gordon Bennett Races were organised by James Gordon Bennett, proprietor of the New York Herald newspaper to help promote the motor industry. The first race was held between Paris and Lyon in 1900, but in 1903 the race was staged on a circuit for the first time, at Athy in Ireland. The Gordon Bennett Races are regarded as the birth of the idea of Grand Prix motor racing. Selwyn Francis Edge was disqualified from the 1903 race for receiving a push start, having won the previous year's event.