Auto racing (also known as automobile racing, motor racing or autosport) is a sport involving racing automobiles. It is one of the world's most popular spectator sports, it is also perhaps the most thoroughly commercialised.
History
The beginning
Auto racing began almost immediately after the construction of the first successful gas-fueled autos. In 1894, the first contest was organised by a Paris magazine, Le Petit Journal. The event, not a race, but a reliability test, was judged to select the car showing the best performance.
A year later, the first real race was staged, running from Paris to Bordeaux. It was won by Emile Levassor, who was however disqualified since he didn't drive in a required four-seater car.
City to city racing
With both automobile construction and racing dominated by France, the French automobile club, the ACF, staged a number of major international races, usually from or to Paris, connecting with another major city in Europe or France.
These races, very successful, came to a stop in 1903, when 8 fatalities among drivers and spectators caused the French government to forbid open-road racing.
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The Gordon Bennett Trophy
The 1930s
The 1930's perhaps started the radical differentiation of racing vehicles from high-priced road cars, with Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz constructing massively-powerful, streamlined vehicles that produced up to 450 kilowatts with the aid of multiple superchargers, and weighed less than 750 kilograms (the maximum weight permitted, in a rule diametrically opposed to current racing regulations). Extensive use of aluminium alloys was required to reach the light weight, and in the case of the Mercedes, the paint was removed to squeeze the vehicle under the weight limit.
Categories
Nowadays, there are many categories of auto racing. A classification:
Single-seater racing
Single-seater racing is perhaps the most well-known category with the public. The cars are especially designed to race with, and therefore only have one seat. The wheels of the car are not covered, and the cars are often covered with wings in order to 'stick' the car to the ground, allowing for greater speeds.
Single-seater races take place on specially designed closed circuits. Many of the single-seater races in North America are conducted on so-called ovals.
The best known single-seater racing class is the Formula One, which involves an annual world championship. This championship attracts major international car manufacturers, making it also a technological battle. In North America, there are two classes, the ChampCars? and Indy Racing League, which have the same nature but are technologically more restricted.
There are are variety of other categories of such racing, from kart racing (a low-cost category using minimalistic vehicles on miniature tracks) up.
Rally racing
Rally racing, or rallying, is conducted with upgraded production cars on public roads or through nature. A rally is typically conducted in a number of stages, in which each of the entrants drives a course, which they have been allowed to scout earlier. Based on notes taken by the co-driver during this reconnaisance, the driver can attempt to use as little as time possible for the course. Competition is based on time, though lately some head-to-head stages have emerged.
The main rally championship is the World Rally Championship (WRC), but there also some regional championships, while most countries have their own national championships.
Famous rallies include the Monte Carlo Rally and the Rallye San Remo. Another famous rally-like event (actually a rally raid) is the Paris-Dakar Rally.
Touring car racing
Like rallying, touring car racing is done with (upgraded) production cars, but it is conducted on closed circuits. The format in which touring car races are conducted varies, but all cars drive at the same time against each other.
As of now, there is no big international championship in touring car racing. Most countries have their own national championships, the most prestigious being the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM, German Touring Car Championship), and V8 Supercars in Australia.
Stock car racing
Stock car racing could be called the American variant on touring car racing. Usually conducted on ovals, the cars raced are superficially similar to production cars but are in fact purpose-built racing machines which are all very similar in construction (historical stock cars were much closer to production vehicles).
The main stock car racing series is the US NASCAR series. The most famous race in this series is the Daytona 500. Nascar also runs the Busch Series, a junior stock car league and the Craftsman Truck Series, a pickup truck race series.
Nascar also runs the Featherlite series of "modified" cars. The cars, as their name suggests are heavily modified from stock form. With powerful engines, large tires, and light open-wheel bodies Nascar's oldest series is arguably its most exciting one.
Drag racing
In drag racing, the objective is to complete a certain small distance, laid out of over a straight stretch of road, in the shortest possible time. The vehicles, often monstrously equipped with massive engines and wings, virtually explode upon the start signal. After completing the distance, usually in around 10 seconds, braking is done using parachutes.
Drag racing is often done in a head-to-head fashion, where two cars battle each other, the winner proceeding to the next round.
Drag racing is mostly popular in the United States.
Sports car racing
In sports car racing, production versions of sports cars and prototype cars compete with each other on closed circuits. The races are usually conducted over long distances, and cars are driven by teams of two or three drivers, switching every now and then. Due to the big difference between 'normal' sports cars and industrial prototypes, one race usually involves many racing classes.
Famous sports car races include the 24 hours of Le Mans and the 24 hours of Daytona.
Offroad racing
In offroad racing, various classes of specially modified vehicles, including cars, compete in races through off-road environments. In North America these reces often take place in the desert, for instance, the famous Baja 1000.
