1908 New York to Paris Race

The following year the course would be from New York City, USA, to Paris, France, with a planned 150-mile (240 km) ship passage from Nome, Alaska, across the Bering Strait to East Cape, Siberia.

Six cars representing four nations were at the starting line for what would become a 169-day ordeal (making it, in terms of time taken, still the longest motorsport event ever held).

The American Thomas Flyer was in the lead at the end of the United States leg, arriving in San Francisco[2] in 41 days, 8 hours, and 15 minutes.

[citation needed] Eventually, the roads improved as Europe approached and the Thomas Flyer arrived in Paris on July 30, 1908, having covered approx 16,700 km to win the race.

The winning Thomas Flyer is on display in Reno, Nevada, at the National Automobile Museum, alongside the trophy.

While the planned Great Race 2008 was cancelled as the approval and permits to travel through China were recalled, a second effort was mounted in 2011.

World Race 2011 began in Times Square April 14, 2011, as competitors set out to retrace the route taken in 1908 from New York to Paris.