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110-789: The Luxembourg title was chosen in 1997 despite the race being held in Germany and not in Luxembourg's own territory as the Hockenheimring was already contracted to host the German Grand Prix . The Nürburgring had previously hosted the European Grand Prix in 1995 and 1996 , but it was renamed due to other changes in the 1997 schedule. Following the cancellation of the Portuguese Grand Prix ,

220-617: A caterpillar track. It is true that in 1770 he patented a "machine, that should carry and lay down its own road", but this was Edgeworth's choice of words. His own account in his autobiography is of a horse-drawn wooden carriage on eight retractable legs, capable of lifting itself over high walls. The description bears no similarity to a caterpillar track. Armoured trains appeared in the mid-19th century, and various armoured steam and petrol-engined vehicles were also proposed. The machines described in Wells's 1903 short story The Land Ironclads are

330-515: A defeat on the Japanese 6th Army with his massed combined tank and air attack, the Soviets learned a lesson on the use of gasoline engines, and quickly incorporated those newly found experiences into their new T-34 medium tank during World War II . Prior to World War II, the tactics and strategy of deploying tank forces underwent a revolution. In August 1939, Soviet General Georgy Zhukov used

440-523: A field gun in an armoured box on tracks . Major William E. Donohue, of the British Army's Mechanical Transport Committee, suggested fixing a gun and armoured shield on a British type of track-driven vehicle. The first armoured car was produced in Austria in 1904. However, all were restricted to rails or reasonably passable terrain. It was the development of a practical caterpillar track that provided

550-463: A half, and the Ostkurve corner, which lasted until 2001, was introduced for the first time. In that year, the track was also renamed to "Kurpfalzring". The track was damaged by tanks during World War II . After the war, the track was repaired, and renamed to "Hockenheimring". Former DKW and NSU factory rider and world record setter Wilhelm Herz became the manager of the track in 1954 and promoted

660-509: A humorous objection to this, remarking that the War Office pundits would probably contract the description to 'W.C.'s for Russia', and that we had better forestall this by merely labelling the packages 'Tanks'. So tanks they became, and tanks they have remained." This appears to be an imperfect recollection. He says that the name problem arose "when we shipped the first two vehicles to France the following year" (August 1916), but by that time

770-603: A large scale, and it was their superior tactics and French blunders, not superior weapons, that made the "blitzkrieg" so successful in May 1940. For information regarding tank development in this period, see tank development between the wars . Germany, Italy and the Soviet Union all experimented heavily with tank warfare during their clandestine and "volunteer" involvement in the Spanish Civil War , which saw some of

880-426: A mainstay of modern 20th and 21st century ground forces and a key part of combined arms combat. Modern tanks are versatile mobile land weapons platforms whose main armament is a large- caliber tank gun mounted in a rotating gun turret , supplemented by machine guns or other ranged weapons such as anti-tank guided missiles or rocket launchers . They have heavy vehicle armour which provides protection for

990-810: A meeting took place of the Inter-Departmental Conference (including representatives of the Director of Naval Construction's Committee, the Admiralty, the Ministry of Munitions, and the War Office). Its purpose was to discuss the progress of the plans for what were described as "Caterpillar Machine Gun Destroyers or Land Cruisers." In his autobiography, Albert Gerald Stern (Secretary to the Landship Committee, later head of

1100-591: A more traditional role in close cooperation with infantry units, but in the Battle of France deep independent armoured penetrations were executed by the Germans, a technique later called blitzkrieg . Blitzkrieg used innovative combined arms tactics and radios in all of the tanks to provide a level of tactical flexibility and power that surpassed that of the Allied armour. The French Army , with tanks equal or superior to

1210-567: A quarter-mile track for drag racing . It hosts one of the largest drag racing events in Europe, known as the NitrOlympx , and was one of the last Top Fuel circuits to race to 0.25 mi (0.40 km) before the FIA switched the nitro categories to the now-recognised 1,000 ft (300 m) distance in 2012. The Hockenheim Circuit hosted the German Grand Prix for the first time in 1970 when

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1320-584: A repeat of the German successes of 1940. Despite early successes against the Soviets, the Germans were forced to up-gun their Panzer IVs, and to design and build both the larger and more expensive Tiger heavy tank in 1942, and the Panther medium tank the following year. In doing so, the Wehrmacht denied the infantry and other support arms the production priorities that they needed to remain equal partners with

1430-691: A second race in Spain was added, with Jerez hosting the European Grand Prix along with the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona . Jerez was due to host the race again in 1998, but the rights to the European Grand Prix had been revoked from the organisers of the race after an incident on the podium in 1997. In 1999 the Nürburgring race returned to using the European Grand Prix title, which it held every year until 2007 . As it was,

1540-523: A small number of middle-ranking British Army officers tried to persuade the War Office and the Government to consider the creation of armoured vehicles. Amongst their suggestions was the use of caterpillar tractors, but although the Army used many such vehicles for towing heavy guns, it could not be persuaded that they could be adapted as armoured vehicles. The consequence was that early tank development in

1650-491: A smaller caliber and lighter gun. These smaller tanks move over terrain with speed and agility and can perform a reconnaissance role in addition to engaging hostile targets. The smaller, faster tank would not normally engage in battle with a larger, heavily armoured tank, except during a surprise flanking manoeuvre . The word tank was first applied in a military context to British "landships" in 1915 to keep their nature secret before they entered service. On 24 December 1915,

1760-472: A step closer, insofar as they are armour-plated, have an internal power plant, and are able to cross trenches. Some aspects of the story foresee the tactical use and impact of the tanks that later came into being. However, Wells's vehicles were driven by steam and moved on pedrail wheels , technologies that were already outdated at the time of writing. After seeing British tanks in 1916, Wells denied having "invented" them, writing, "Yet let me state at once that I

1870-541: A total of 150. Production models of "Male" tanks (armed with naval cannon and machine guns) and "Females" (carrying only machine-guns) would go on to fight in history's first tank action at the Somme in September 1916. Great Britain produced about 2,600 tanks of various types during the war. The first tank to engage in battle was designated D1 , a British Mark I Male, during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (part of

1980-484: A variety of intense combat situations, simultaneously both offensively (with direct fire from their powerful main gun) and defensively (as fire support and defilade for friendly troops due to the near invulnerability to common infantry small arms and good resistance against heavier weapons, although anti-tank weapons used in 2022, some of them man-portable, have demonstrated the ability to destroy older generations of tanks with single shots ), all while maintaining

2090-469: Is Ernst Christ, a young timekeeper who felt that a racing track should be built in his hometown of Hockenheim. He submitted the plans to the mayor and they were approved on Christmas day, in 1931. This first layout of the track was around twelve kilometres long and consisted of a large triangle-like section, a hairpin in the city and two straights connecting them. In 1938, the circuit dramatically shortened, from twelve kilometres down to just over seven and

2200-474: Is also used colloquially. The Polish name czołg , derived from verb czołgać się ("to crawl"), is used, depicting the way of machine's movement and its speed. In Hungarian the tank is called harckocsi (combat wagon), albeit tank is also common. In Japanese, the term sensha ( 戦車 , lit. "battle vehicle") is taken from Chinese and used, and this term is likewise borrowed into Korean as jeoncha ( 전차 / 戰車 ); more recent Chinese literature uses

2310-711: Is only used for two events in August, the Public Race Days and the NitrolympX  [ de ] main event a week later. Originally named the Nitrolympics and featuring Top Fuel dragsters, it was renamed to NitrolympX. When the Hockenheimring was shortened in 2002, the drag strip was moved back, closer to the new tall Tower stands that allow an unusual view along the drag strip. Even though

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2420-504: Is really to Mr Winston Churchill that the credit is due more than to anyone else. He took up with enthusiasm the idea of making them a long time ago, and he met with many difficulties. He converted me, and at the Ministry of Munitions he went ahead and made them. The admiralty experts were invaluable, and gave the greatest possible assistance. They are, of course, experts in the matter of armour plating. Major Stern , (formerly an officer in

2530-512: The Samokhodnaya ustanovka families of AFV's for the Soviets: such turretless, casemate -style tank destroyers and assault guns were less complex, stripped down tanks carrying heavy guns, solely firing forward. The firepower and low cost of these vehicles made them attractive but as manufacturing techniques improved and larger turret rings made larger tank guns feasible, the gun turret

2640-585: The Cold War , the main battle tank concept arose and became a key component of modern armies. In the 21st century, with the increasing role of asymmetrical warfare and the end of the Cold War, that also contributed to the increase of cost-effective anti-tank rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) worldwide and its successors, the ability of tanks to operate independently has declined. Modern tanks are more frequently organized into combined arms units which involve

2750-615: The FIA to greatly improve spectator viewing, safety, and security at the track, claiming that the track was no longer suited to modern Formula One racing. In the early 2000s, F1 officials demanded the 6.823 km (4.240 mi) track be shortened and threatened to discontinue racing there, threatening to relocate to other tracks such as the EuroSpeedway Lausitz and sites in Asia . The state government of Baden-Württemberg secured

2860-608: The German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, plus either the European Grand Prix or the Luxembourg Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. From 2007, the Nürburgring and Hockenheimring alternated hosting the German Grand Prix, starting with the Nürburgring in 2007. Ongoing deficits of the Formula One races, amounting to up to 5.3 million Euro per race that had to be covered by the local communities, made it likely

2970-494: The Hussite-wars . The continuous " caterpillar track " arose from attempts to improve the mobility of wheeled vehicles by spreading their weight, reducing ground pressure, and increasing their traction. Experiments can be traced back as far as the 17th century, and by the late nineteenth they existed in various recognizable and practical forms in several countries. It is frequently claimed that Richard Lovell Edgeworth created

3080-522: The Republican side were equipped with cannon, and of those 64 nearly all were World War I vintage Renault FT tanks, while the 331 Soviet supplied machines had 45mm main guns and were of 1930s manufacture. The balance of Nationalist tanks were machine gun armed. The primary lesson learned from this war was that machine gun armed tanks had to be equipped with cannon, with the associated armour inherent to modern tanks. The five-month-long war between

3190-629: The Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg , Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route . Amongst other motor racing events, it has hosted the German Grand Prix , most recently in 2019 . The circuit has very little differences in elevation. The circuit has an FIA Grade 1 licence. Originally called "Dreieckskurs" (triangle course), the Hockenheimring was built in 1932. The man behind it

3300-577: The Second Battle of El Alamein , the Afrika Korps, crippled by disruptions in their supply lines, had 95% of its tanks destroyed and was forced to retreat by a massively reinforced Eighth Army , the first in a series of defeats that would eventually lead to the surrender of the remaining Axis forces in Tunisia . When Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa ,

3410-513: The T-34 , one of the predecessors of the main battle tank . Less than two weeks later, Germany began their large-scale armoured campaigns that would become known as blitzkrieg ("lightning war") – massed concentrations of tanks combined with motorized and mechanized infantry , artillery and air power designed to break through the enemy front and collapse enemy resistance. The widespread introduction of high-explosive anti-tank warheads during

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3520-776: The Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company in Birmingham and tested in Switzerland and Norway, and can be seen in action in Herbert Ponting 's 1911 documentary film of Scott's Antarctic Terra Nova Expedition . Scott died during the expedition in 1912, but expedition member and biographer Apsley Cherry-Garrard credited Scott's "motors" with the inspiration for the British World War I tanks, writing: "Scott never knew their true possibilities; for they were

3630-478: The Arab world, tanks are called Dabbāba (after a type of siege engine ). In Italian, a tank is a " carro armato " (lit. "armed wagon"), without reference to its armour. Norway uses the term stridsvogn and Sweden the similar stridsvagn (lit. "battle wagon", also used for "chariots"), whereas Denmark uses kampvogn (lit. fight wagon). Finland uses panssarivaunu (armoured wagon), although tankki

3740-477: The British War Office . In Russia, Vasiliy Mendeleev designed a tracked vehicle containing a large naval gun. All of these ideas were rejected and, by 1914, forgotten (although it was officially acknowledged after the war that de Mole's design was at least the equal to the initial British tanks). Various individuals continued to contemplate the use of tracked vehicles for military applications, but by

3850-626: The British and French built thousands of tanks in World War I, Germany was unconvinced of the tank's potential, and did not have enough resources, thus it built only twenty. Tanks of the interwar period evolved into the much larger and more powerful designs of World War II . Important new concepts of armoured warfare were developed; the Soviet Union launched the first mass tank/air attack at Khalkhin Gol ( Nomonhan ) in August 1939, and later developed

3960-412: The Cold War had been hammered out in the closing stages of World War II. Large turrets, capable suspension systems, greatly improved engines, sloped armour and large-caliber (90 mm and larger) guns were standard. Tank design during the Cold War built on this foundation and included improvements to fire control , gyroscopic gun stabilization, communications (primarily radio) and crew comfort and saw

4070-486: The Committee in view of his experience with the engineering methods it was felt might be required; the two other members were naval officers, and a number of industrialists were engaged as consultants. So many played a part in its long and complicated development that it is not possible to name any individual as the sole inventor of the tank. However leading roles were played by Lt Walter Gordon Wilson R.N. who designed

4180-501: The English-derived 坦克 tǎnkè (tank) as opposed to 戰車 zhànchē (battle vehicle) used in earlier days. The modern tank is the result of a century of development from the first primitive armoured vehicles, due to improvements in technology such as the internal combustion engine, which allowed the rapid movement of heavy armoured vehicles. As a result of these advances, tanks underwent tremendous shifts in capability in

4290-697: The F1 drivers decided at the French Grand Prix to boycott the allegedly dangerous Nürburgring unless major changes were made. The next year the German Grand Prix went back to the Nürburgring until the 1976 German Grand Prix . From 1977 to 2006 , the Hockenheimring hosted the German Grand Prix with the exception of 1985 , when the race was held at the reconfigured Nürburgring. In July 2006, Bernie Ecclestone announced that from 2007 onwards, there would be only one Grand Prix per year in Germany. Since 1995 , there had been two Grands Prix every year in Germany;

4400-460: The FT was its engine located at the rear. This pattern, with the gun located in a mounted turret and the engine at the back, has become the standard for most succeeding tanks across the world even to this day. The FT was the most numerous tank of the war; over 3,000 were made by late 1918. Germany fielded very few tanks during World War I , and started development only after encountering British tanks on

4510-561: The German tanks in both quality and quantity, employed a linear defensive strategy in which the armoured cavalry units were made subservient to the needs of the infantry armies to cover their entrenchment in Belgium. In addition, they lacked radios in many of their tanks and headquarters, which limited their ability to respond to German attacks. In accordance with blitzkrieg methods, German tanks bypassed enemy strongpoints and could radio for close air support to destroy them, or leave them to

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4620-499: The Luxembourg Grand Prix provided a moment in history, as Renault -powered cars took the first four places at the finish with Jacques Villeneuve ( Williams - Renault ) taking first place. The race was also Villeneuve's final Formula One victory. For a long time it looked as if Mika Häkkinen would take his first Formula One win as he pulled away at the front from his McLaren teammate David Coulthard . However, in

4730-616: The Mechanical Warfare Supply Department) says that at that meeting: Mr. (Thomas J.) Macnamara ( M.P. , and Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty ) then suggested, for secrecy's sake, to change the title of the Landship Committee. Mr. d'Eyncourt agreed that it was very desirable to retain secrecy by all means, and proposed to refer to the vessel as a "Water Carrier". In Government offices, committees and departments are always known by their initials. For this reason I, as Secretary, considered

4840-661: The NitrolympX had retired in 2007. As the dragstrip can only be prepared for professional drag racing after the last major circuit event, mainly the Formula One race, the grip is often sub par compared to permanent drag strips that host two Euro Championship events each year, like Santa Pod Raceway in England or Tierp Arena in Sweden. The best performances on the full quarter-mile were significantly below those in Santa Pod, and

4950-639: The Royal Naval Air Service) a business man at the Ministry of Munitions had charge of the work of getting them built, and he did the task very well. Col Swinton and others also did valuable work. Whilst several experimental machines were investigated in France, it was a colonel of artillery, J.B.E. Estienne , who directly approached the Commander-in-Chief with detailed plans for a tank on caterpillar tracks, in late 1915. The result

5060-483: The Somme. The A7V , the only type made, was introduced in March 1918 with just 20 being produced during the war. The first tank versus tank action took place on 24 April 1918 at the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux , France, when three British Mark IVs met three German A7Vs . Captured British Mk IVs formed the bulk of Germany's tank forces during World War I; about 35 were in service at any one time. Plans to expand

5170-477: The Soviet Union and the Japanese 6th Army at Khalkhin Gol ( Nomonhan ) in 1939 brought home some lessons . In this conflict, the Soviets fielded over two thousand tanks, to the around 73 cannon armed tanks deployed by the Japanese, the major difference being that Japanese armour were equipped with diesel engines as opposed to the Russian tanks equipped with petrol engines. After General Georgy Zhukov inflicted

5280-578: The Soviets had a superior tank design, the T-34 . A lack of preparations for the Axis surprise attack, mechanical problems, poor training of the crews and incompetent leadership caused the Soviet machines to be surrounded and destroyed in large numbers. However, interference from Adolf Hitler , the geographic scale of the conflict, the dogged resistance of the Soviet combat troops, and the Soviets' massive advantages in manpower and production capability prevented

5390-669: The Soviets, when entering World War II six months later (December 1941), the United States' mass production capacity enabled it to rapidly construct thousands of relatively cheap M4 Sherman medium tanks. A compromise all round, the Sherman was reliable and formed a large part of the Anglo-American ground forces, but in a tank-versus-tank battle was no match for the Panther or Tiger. Numerical and logistical superiority and

5500-576: The US, Charles de Gaulle in France, and Mikhail Tukhachevsky in the USSR. Liddell Hart held a more moderate view that all arms – cavalry, infantry and artillery – should be mechanized and work together. The British formed the all-arms Experimental Mechanized Force to test the use of tanks with supporting forces. In the Second World War only Germany would initially put the theory into practice on

5610-402: The United Kingdom was carried out by the Royal Navy . As the result of an approach by Royal Naval Air Service officers who had been operating armoured cars on the Western Front, the First Lord of the Admiralty , Winston Churchill , formed the Landship Committee , on 20 February 1915. The Director of Naval Construction for the Royal Navy, Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt , was appointed to head

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5720-400: The Xiongnu's powerful cavalry charges , and allowed Han troops to utilize their ranged weapons ' advantages of precision . This forced a stalemate and allowed time for his troops to recover strength, before using the cover of a sandstorm to launch a counteroffensive which overran the nomads . Many sources imply that Leonardo da Vinci and H. G. Wells in some way foresaw or "invented"

5830-438: The basis of blitzkrieg in the opening stages of World War II. During World War II , the first conflict in which armoured vehicles were critical to battlefield success, the tank and related tactics developed rapidly. Armoured forces proved capable of tactical victory in an unprecedentedly short amount of time, yet new anti-tank weaponry showed that the tank was not invulnerable. During the Invasion of Poland, tanks performed in

5940-522: The best ET was set in 2005: 4.873 sec. and 458 km/h by Brady Kalivoda (USA). In 2012, some Pro classes could not find traction as Formula One had demanded a new surface. In subsequent years, the organizers provided a better track, with support from Santa Pod personnel and machinery. In 2016, Hockenheim, and mainland Europe, finally saw the first 3-second Top Fuel 1000 ft passes, with 3.939 sec. and 486.91 km/h (302.55 mph) by Anita Mäkelä (FIN). An overall European record for Super Street Bike

6050-453: The changes and stated their preference for the old circuit. The change in the track layout also saw the installation of a new memorial to Jim Clark. This is located at the outside of the current track's turn 2, where the old track continued out into the forests, and the new shortened track turns to the right. The new track has a seating capacity of 120,000, due to new large grandstands sponsored by Mercedes-Benz . The complex also features

6160-477: The combined force of tanks and airpower at Nomonhan against the Japanese 6th Army; Heinz Guderian , a tactical theoretician who was heavily involved in the formation of the first independent German tank force, said "Where tanks are, the front is", and this concept became a reality in World War II. Guderian's armoured warfare ideas, combined with Germany's existing doctrines of Bewegungskrieg (" maneuver warfare ") and infiltration tactics from World War I, became

6270-496: The contract between the Hockenheimring and Formula One Management would not be extended after the Grand Prix of 2010. However, in October 2009 the contract for the circuit to hold the German GP was extended to 2018, with the FOA agreeing to cover any losses the event incurs. Neither Hockenheim nor the Nürburgring hosted a Grand Prix in 2015 or 2017 after the Nürburgring failed to complete an agreement with Formula 1's commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone . From 1986 to 1988,

6380-410: The crew, the vehicle's munition storage, fuel tank and propulsion systems. The use of tracks rather than wheels provides improved operational mobility which allows the tank to overcome rugged terrain and adverse conditions such as mud and ice/snow better than wheeled vehicles, and thus be more flexibly positioned at advantageous locations on the battlefield. These features enable the tank to perform in

6490-414: The direct ancestors of the 'tanks' in France". In 1911, a Lieutenant Engineer in the Austrian Army, Günther Burstyn , presented to the Austrian and Prussian War Ministries plans for a light, three-man tank with a gun in a revolving turret, the so-called Burstyn-Motorgeschütz. In the same year an Australian civil engineer named Lancelot de Mole submitted a basic design for a tracked, armoured vehicle to

6600-410: The earliest examples of successful mechanized combined arms —such as when Republican troops, equipped with Soviet-supplied tanks and supported by aircraft, eventually routed Italian troops fighting for the Nationalists in the seven-day Battle of Guadalajara in 1937. However, of the nearly 700 tanks deployed during this conflict, only about 64 tanks representing the Franco faction and 331 from

6710-399: The end of the 1986 race , pushing his McLaren towards the line before giving up. He was placed 3rd when he ran dry and was eventually classified 6th, gaining a valuable championship point that would help him with his second World Championship . Many problems came to light during the 2000 German Grand Prix , which was won by Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello from having started 18th on

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6820-412: The fastest official race lap records at the Hockenheimring are listed as: Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat . Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower , strong armour , and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; their main armament is often mounted within a turret . They are

6930-441: The financing for the redesign by Hermann Tilke for the 2002 German Grand Prix . The stadium section remained mostly intact, despite a new surface and a tighter Turn 1 ("Nordkurve"). However, the circuit was dramatically shortened, with the long, forested straights section chopped off in favour of more tight corners. More than half of the first straight and almost all of the straight between the Ostkurve and Senna chicane were cut and

7040-464: The first forest straight, showing vulnerable security facilities in the forest and leading to the deployment of the safety car that neutralized a comfortable lead for the two Mercedes-powered McLarens . Later on, French driver Jean Alesi collided with Brazilian Pedro Diniz in the braking zone for the third chicane and his car spun uncontrollably down the track, which caused him to suffer dizziness for three days. These events prompted much protest from

7150-465: The first time in September 1915 and served to develop the form of the track but an improved design, better able to cross trenches, swiftly followed and in January 1916 the prototype, nicknamed "Mother", was adopted as the design for future tanks. The first order for tanks was placed on 12 February 1916, and a second on 21 April. Fosters built 37 (all "male"), and Metropolitan Railway Carriage and Wagon Company , of Birmingham, 113 (38 "male" and 75 "female"),

7260-416: The fourth car (Michael Schumacher's Ferrari ) which also led to its retirement two laps later. 1998 saw Mika Häkkinen gain revenge for his engine failure at the previous race by taking victory at this one, with Michael Schumacher second despite qualifying on pole, and Häkkinen's teammate Coulthard third. Häkkinen also, like Villeneuve the year prior, went on to win the World Championship in the final race of

7370-416: The future arrangements were under discussion for transporting the first landships to France a question arose as to how, from a security point of view, the consignment should be labelled. To justify their size we decided to call them 'water-carriers for Russia' —the idea being that they should be taken for some new method of taking water to forward troops in the battle areas. Lt.-Col. Swinton ... raised

7480-469: The gearbox and developed practical tracks and by William Tritton whose agricultural machinery company, William Foster & Co. in Lincoln, Lincolnshire , England built the prototypes . On 22 July 1915, a commission was placed to design a machine that could cross a trench 4 ft wide. Secrecy surrounded the project with the designers locking themselves in a room at the White Hart Hotel in Lincoln. The committee's first design, Little Willie , ran for

7590-440: The gearbox and hull, and by William Tritton of William Foster and Co. , who designed the track plates. This was a prototype of a new design that would become the British Army's Mark I tank , the first tank used in combat in September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme . The name "tank" was adopted by the British during the early stages of their development, as a security measure to conceal their purpose (see etymology ). While

7700-428: The grandstands. It hosted first ever World RX of Hockenheim , round 2 of FIA World Rallycross Championship in 2015 as supporting event of DTM. WRX also combined with the DTM for an event there in 2017. Official record lap times are only set during the race. The fastest ever lap on the track is 1:11.212 set by Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari SF71H during qualifying at the 2018 German Grand Prix . As of October 2024,

7810-430: The grid. The race finished in changeable weather conditions, with pouring rain in the stadium sector and almost completely dry forest straights. All the overtaking moves that took place during the race were in the chicanes of the forest sector, meaning hardly any spectators saw most of the best action. Midway through the race, a former Mercedes-Benz employee, who had been dismissed, breached the track's security barriers on

7920-584: The increasingly sophisticated tanks, in turn violating the principle of combined arms they had pioneered. Soviet developments following the invasion included upgunning the T-34, development of self-propelled anti-tank guns such as the SU-152 , and deployment of the IS-2 in the closing stages of the war, with the T-34 being the most produced tank of World War II, totalling up to some 65,000 examples by May 1945. Much like

8030-452: The infantry. A related development, motorized infantry , allowed some of the troops to keep up with the tanks and create highly mobile combined arms forces. The defeat of a major military power within weeks shocked the rest of the world, spurring tank and anti-tank weapon development. The North African Campaign also provided an important battleground for tanks, as the flat, desolate terrain with relatively few obstacles or urban environments

8140-427: The insistence of Colonel J.B.E. Estienne , rejected in favour of char d'assaut ("assault vehicle") or simply char ("vehicle"). During World War I, German sources tended to refer to British tanks as tanks and to their own as Kampfwagen . Later, tanks became referred to as " Panzer " (lit. "armour"), a shortened form of the full term " Panzerkampfwagen ", literally "armoured fighting vehicle". In

8250-550: The mobility needed to exploit changing tactical situations. Fully integrating tanks into modern military forces spawned a new era of combat, armoured warfare . Until the invention of the main battle tank , tanks were typically categorized either by weight class ( light , medium , heavy or superheavy tanks ) or doctrinal purpose ( breakthrough- , cavalry- , infantry- , cruiser- , or reconnaissance tanks). Some are larger and more thickly armoured and with large guns, while others are smaller, lightly armoured, and equipped with

8360-598: The modern tank. During the 119 BC Battle of Mobei of the Han–Xiongnu War , the Han general Wei Qing led his army through a fatiguing expeditionary march across the Gobi desert only to find Yizhixie chanyu 's main force waiting to encircle them on the other side. Using armored heavy wagons known as "Wu Gang Wagon" ( Chinese : 武剛車) in ring formations that provided Chinese archers , crossbowmen and infantry protection from

8470-469: The name "tank" had been in use for eight months. The tanks were labelled "With Care to Petrograd," but the belief was encouraged that they were a type of snowplough. The term "tank" is used throughout the English speaking world, but other countries use different terminology. In France, the second country to use tanks in battle, the word tank or tanque was adopted initially, but was then, largely at

8580-459: The necessary independent, all-terrain mobility. In a memorandum of 1908, Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott presented his view that man-hauling to the South Pole was impossible and that motor traction was needed. Snow vehicles did not yet exist, however, and so his engineer Reginald Skelton developed the idea of a caterpillar track for snow surfaces. These tracked motors were built by

8690-406: The new Autobahn A 6 separated the village from the main part of the track, a new version of Hockenheim circuit was built, with the "Motodrom" stadium section, designed by John Hugenholtz , who also designed Suzuka . After Jim Clark was killed on 7 April 1968 in a Formula 2 racing accident, two fast chicanes were added and the track was lined with crash barriers in 1970. A small memorial

8800-527: The old course either for future F1 events or for historic car events. There was and still remains a great deal of criticism of the track redesign, in terms of ruining the previous unique technical challenges of the old Hockenheim circuit and delivering a new homogenised "assembly line" circuit without the character of the previous layout, whilst being beset by the perceived problems of other Tilke circuits. Several drivers and team principals, including Ron Dennis , Jarno Trulli and Juan Pablo Montoya , criticised

8910-578: The outbreak of the War no one in a position of responsibility in any army seems to have given much thought to tanks. The direct military impact of the tank can be debated but its effect on the Germans was immense, it caused bewilderment, terror and concern in equal measure. It was also a huge boost to the civilians at home. After facing the Zeppelins, at last Britain had a wonder weapon. Tanks were taken on tours and treated almost like film stars. From late 1914

9020-399: The proposed title totally unsuitable. In our search for a synonymous term, we changed the word "Water Carrier" to "Tank," and became the "Tank Supply" or "T.S." Committee. That is how these weapons came to be called Tanks. He incorrectly added, "and the name has now been adopted by all countries in the world." Lieutenant-Colonel Ernest Swinton, who was secretary to the meeting, says that he

9130-454: The race to only that many passes through the stadium. During the mid-1980s "turbo era" of Formula One where fuel was restricted to either 220 (1984–1985), 195 (1986–1987) or 150 (1988) litres for races for the turbo powered cars, Hockenheim also saw drivers, including World Champion Alain Prost , at times fail to finish due to simply running out of fuel near the end of the race. Prost ran out at

9240-401: The rest was connected with a new long straight called the "Parabolika", with a small kink being added between the first straight and the new one. A small right-left-right complex was added to the remaining part of the final straight, with a new grandstand overlooking it. In an extremely controversial move, the old forest section was torn up and replanted with trees, eliminating any chance of using

9350-465: The run off was cut in half it remains one of the longest in drag racing. The NitrolympX usually host most European Drag Racing Championship , sanctioned by FIA or FIM, plus jet dragsters and other entertaining events on the Saturday night show that draws 40,000 spectators. The drag strip in 2008 was christened Rico Anthes Quartermile after the German former Top Fuel driver and long-time organizer of

9460-547: The season at Suzuka ; this meant that every winner of the Luxembourg GP went on to win that year's World Championship. A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship. Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg ( German: [ˈhɔkŋ̍haɪmʁɪŋ ˌbaːdn̩ ˈvʏʁtəmbɛʁk] ) is a motor racing circuit situated in

9570-580: The second half of World War II led to lightweight infantry-carried anti-tank weapons such as the Panzerfaust , which could destroy some types of tanks. Tanks in the Cold War were designed with these weapons in mind, and led to greatly improved armour types during the 1960s, especially composite armour . Improved engines, transmissions and suspensions allowed tanks of this period to grow larger. Aspects of gun technology changed significantly as well, with advances in shell design and aiming technology. During

9680-421: The setting up of racing cars difficult, since a choice had to be made – whether to run low downforce to optimize speed through the straights and compromise grip in the stadium section, or, run more downforce to optimize grip through the stadium section and compromise speed on the straights. The long track length also meant that a typical Formula One race had only 45 laps, limiting the spectators' experience of

9790-475: The space of one lap, both McLarens had pulled out of the race with blown engines allowing Villeneuve to move close to an eventual World Championship . Michael Schumacher 's race was over by the end of the first lap after his brother Ralf Schumacher collided with his teammate Giancarlo Fisichella at the first corner; this caused immediate retirement for three out of the four cars involved (Ralf, Fisichella, and Ukyo Katayama ), and also caused suspension damage to

9900-519: The start–finish straight was used for 1/8 mile drag racing. In 1989, a proper drag strip was built by connecting the Opel-Kurve and the first turn entering the Motodrom section. The finish line was at the beginning of the forest, with a very long run-off on the straight in the forest. Competitors had to travel around the full race track in opposite direction to return to the paddock. The drag strip

10010-503: The successful use of combined arms allowed the Allies to overrun the German forces during the Battle of Normandy . Upgunned versions with the 76 mm gun M1 and the 17-pounder were introduced to improve the M4's firepower, but concerns about protection remained—despite the apparent armour deficiencies, a total of some 42,000 Shermans were built and delivered to the Allied nations using it during

10120-402: The support of infantry , who may accompany the tanks in infantry fighting vehicles , and supported by reconnaissance or ground-attack aircraft . The tank is the 20th-century realization of an ancient concept: that of providing troops with mobile protection and firepower. The internal combustion engine , armour plate , and continuous track were key innovations leading to the invention of

10230-399: The tank programme were under way when the War ended. The United States Tank Corps used tanks supplied by France and Great Britain during World War I. Production of American-built tanks had just begun when the War came to an end. Italy also manufactured two Fiat 2000s towards the end of the war, too late to see service. Russia independently built and trialed two prototypes early in the War;

10340-444: The tank. Leonardo's late-15th-century drawings of what some describe as a "tank" show a man-powered, wheeled vehicle surrounded by cannons. However, the human crew would have difficulty moving the heavy vehicle over long distances, while usage of animals was problematic in a space so confined. In the 15th century, Jan Žižka built armoured wagons known as ‘ Wagenburg ’ containing cannons and used them effectively in several battles during

10450-461: The track successfully; Grand Prix motorcycle racing events were held, with the German motorcycle Grand Prix alternating between the Hockenheimring and other tracks. This version of the circuit was just over seven and a half kilometres long and consisted of the original two long straights, with the Ostkurve in the forest and the original hairpin inside Hockenheim joining them together. In 1965, when

10560-434: The tracked, two-man Vezdekhod and the huge Lebedenko , but neither went into production. A tracked self-propelled gun was also designed but not produced. Although tank tactics developed rapidly during the war, piecemeal deployments, mechanical problems, and poor mobility limited the military significance of the tank in World War I, and the tank did not fulfil its promise of rendering trench warfare obsolete. Nonetheless, it

10670-471: The war years, a total second only to the T-34. Tank hulls were modified to produce flame tanks , mobile rocket artillery , and combat engineering vehicles for tasks including mine-clearing and bridging . Specialized self-propelled guns, most of which could double as tank destroyers , were also both developed by the Germans—with their Sturmgeschütz , Panzerjäger and Jagdpanzer vehicles—and

10780-514: The wider Somme offensive ) on 15 September 1916. Bert Chaney, a nineteen-year-old signaller with the 7th London Territorial Battalion, reported that "three huge mechanical monsters such as [he] had never seen before" rumbled their way onto the battlefield, "frightening the Jerries out of their wits and making them scuttle like frightened rabbits." When the news of the first use of the tanks emerged, Prime Minister David Lloyd George commented, It

10890-556: The world he was known as the "Instructional Demonstration Unit." "Little Willie's" hull was called in the shop orders a "water carrier for Mesopotamia"; no one knew that the hull was intended to be mounted on a truck. Naturally, the water carrier began to be called a "tank". So the name came to be used by managers and foremen of the shop, until now it has a place in the army vocabulary and will probably be so known in history for all time. (*F.J. Gardiner, F.R.Hist.S.) D'Eyncourt's account differs from Swinton's and Tritton's: ... when

11000-532: The years since their first appearance. Tanks in World War I were developed separately and simultaneously by Great Britain and France as a means to break the deadlock of trench warfare on the Western Front . The first British prototype, nicknamed Little Willie , was constructed at William Foster & Co. in Lincoln , England in 1915, with leading roles played by Major Walter Gordon Wilson who designed

11110-455: Was clear to military thinkers on both sides that tanks in some way could have a significant role in future conflicts. In the interwar period tanks underwent further mechanical development. In terms of tactics, J.F.C. Fuller 's doctrine of spearhead attacks with massed tank formations was the basis for work by Heinz Guderian in Germany, Percy Hobart in Britain, Adna R. Chaffee, Jr. , in

11220-564: Was ideal for conducting mobile armoured warfare. However, this battlefield also showed the importance of logistics, especially in an armoured force, as the principal warring armies, the German Afrika Korps and the British Eighth Army , often outpaced their supply trains in repeated attacks and counter-attacks on each other, resulting in complete stalemate. This situation would not be resolved until 1942, when during

11330-465: Was instructed to find a non-committal word when writing his report of the proceedings. In the evening he discussed it with a fellow officer, Lt-Col Walter Dally Jones , and they chose the word "tank". "That night, in the draft report of the conference, the word 'tank' was employed in its new sense for the first time." Swinton's Notes on the Employment of Tanks , in which he uses the word throughout,

11440-562: Was not their prime originator. I took up an idea, manipulated it slightly, and handed it on." It is, though, possible that one of the British tank pioneers, Ernest Swinton , was subconsciously or otherwise influenced by Wells's tale. The first combinations of the three principal components of the tank appeared in the decade before World War One. In 1903, Captain Léon René Levavasseur of the French artillery proposed mounting

11550-459: Was placed near the first chicane (which was named after him), at the site of his accident. In 1982, another chicane was added at the Ostkurve ( east curve ), after Patrick Depailler was killed there in 1980, and the first chicane was made slower as well. For the 1992 German Grand Prix , the Ostkurve was changed yet again, from a quick left turn into a more complex right-left-right chicane, after Érik Comas crashed there in 1991 . The second chicane

11660-544: Was published in January 1916. In July 1918, Popular Science Monthly reported: Because a fellow of the Royal Historical Society * has unintentionally misled the British public as to the origin of the famous "tanks", Sir William Tritton , who designed and built them, has published the real story of their name ... Since it was obviously inadvisable to herald "Little Willie's" reason for existence to

11770-479: Was recognized as the most effective mounting for the main gun to allow movement in a different direction from firing, enhancing tactical flexibility. During the Cold War , tension between the Warsaw Pact countries and North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) countries created an arms race that ensured that tank development proceeded largely as it had during World War II. The essence of tank designs during

11880-439: Was renamed after Ayrton Senna , after his death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix . This version used to be quite large, with a very long and very fast section going through forests essentially consisting of four straights of roughly 1.3 km (0.81 mi), separated by a chicane sequence, followed by a more tight and twisty "stadium" section (so called because of all the grandstands situated there) named Motodrom . This made

11990-460: Was set by Garry Bowe (GB) with 7.04s 340.69 km/h (211.69 mph). The DTM ( Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters ) series has regularly raced at the Hockenheimring since its revival in 2000. In most years, the DTM has competed there twice during a season. Located in the stadia section of the track, the rallycross track uses a section of track from turns 11 to 16, combined with a dirt section in front of

12100-578: Was two largely unsatisfactory types of tank, 400 each of the Schneider and Saint-Chamond , both based on the Holt tractor . The following year, the French pioneered the use of a full 360° rotation turret in a tank for the first time, with the creation of the Renault FT light tank, with the turret containing the tank's main armament. In addition to the traversable turret, another innovative feature of

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