Quiz on races

Race to the finish line

1 Actor Paul Newman was also a top racing car driver who even placed second in the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1979. But which other leading man was also an accomplished race car driver, who placed second at Sebring in 1970 and also registered a patent the same year for a specially-designed bucket seat for racers?

2 Mythology. What specific ruse did Hippomenes use to beat Atalanta in a foot race after many suitors were beaten by her and lost their lives as well?

3 What, started in 1780, could easily have been named the Bunbury instead of its present name?

4 What is the relevance of Windsor Castle and the Royal Box in White City Stadium in international racing?

5 Which specific racing sport first became popular in Belgium in the 19th-century with specially-bred racers called Voyageurs and has a competitive version called One Loft Racing?

6 What happened in the world of racing between Harald Schmid’s victory in Berlin on August 26, 1977, and Danny Harris’s victory in Madrid on June 4, 1987?

7 Still on athletics. In which way does a Swedish relay race differ from a normal relay race?

8 Motorcycle racing. On which legendary British course was the first-ever World Championship in Grand Prix motorcycle racing held in 1949 and won by Harold Daniell?

9. Films. With which specific racing car would you associate a yellow on black 1963 California license plate with the registration OFP 857?

10. What specific innovation in competitive swimming was first used by David Berkoff, who used it to break a world record in 1988, and then by Denis Pankratov who used it to win the 100m butterfly gold in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics?

Answers

1 Steve McQueen, who designed the seat for the film Bullitt, still remembered for its iconic car chases

2 He slowed her down by tempting her with three golden apples rolled in front of her every time she went ahead

3 The legendary Epsom Derby. It was decided that the Epsom race would be named after either the Earl Of Derby or one of his guests, Charles Bunbury. The term expanded to any regular competition between geographically close rivals

4 The exact length of the marathon, fixed as 26 miles 385 yards, was decided on the basis of the course in the 1908 London Olympics which was run between these two landmarks

5 Pigeon racing, also a favourite of Indian nawabs, including the Nawab of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah

6 Edwin Moses won an incredible 122 consecutive 110 m hurdles races, breaking two world records and earning three World Cup titles and one Olympic gold medal in the process pricess

7 The racers run different distances. The first set of racers run 100 m, the second 200 m, the third 300 metres with the final leg over 400 metres.

8 The Isle of Man, which has been a regular motorcycle race venue since 1909

9 Herbie, the Volkswagen in the Herbie film series, the first of which was the The Love Bug in 1968.

10 The underwater dolphin kick. Though Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte also use the technique, it use is now limited to the first 15 m

_{Joy Bhattacharjya is a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup; Follow Joy on Twitter @joybhattacharj}

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