ingle-seater racing
Main article: Open wheel car
The best-known variety of single-seater racing, Formula One, involves an annual World Championship for drivers and constructors
In North America, the cars used in the National Championship (currently the IndyCar Series, and previously CART) have traditionally been similar though less sophisticated than F1 cars, with more restrictions on technology aimed at controlling costs.
Single seater racing is not limited merely to professional teams and drivers. There is a large amateur 'club racing' scene catering for those who want to race single seaters against similar people all over the world. In the UK the major club series are the Monoposto Racing Club, BRSCC F3 (Formerly ClubF3, formerly ARP F3), Formula Vee and Club Formula Ford. Each series caters for a section of the 'market', with some primarily providing low cost racing whilst others aim for an authentic experience using the same regulations as the professional series (BRSCC F3).There are other categories of single-seater racing, including kart racing, which employs a small, low-cost machine on small tracks. Many of the current top drivers began their careers in karts. Formula Ford once represented a popular first open-wheel category for up-and-coming drivers stepping up from karts and now the Formula BMW series is the preferred option as it has introduced an aero package and slicks, allowing the junior drivers to gain experience in a race car with dynamics closer F1. The Star Mazda Series is another entry level series.
Students at colleges and universities can also take part in single seater racing through the Formula SAE competition, which involves designing and building a single seater car in a multidisciplinary team, and racing it at the competition. This also develops other soft skills such as teamwork whilst promoting motorsport and engineering.
In 2006, producer Todd Baker was responsible for creating the world's first all-female Formula racing team. The group was an assemblage of drivers from different racing disciplines, and formed for an MTV reality pilot which was shot at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
In December, 2005 the FIA gave approval to Superleague Formula racing which debuted in 2008 whereby the racing teams are owned and run by prominent sports clubs such as AC Milan and Liverpool F.C..
After 25 years away from the sport, former Formula 2 champion Jonathan Palmer reopened the F2 category again, most drivers have graduated from the Formula Palmer Audi series. The category is officially registered as the FIA Formla Two championship. Most rounds have two races and are support races to the FIA World Touring Car Championship.
Touring car racing
Main article: Touring car racing
The major touring car championships conducted worldwide are the V8 Supercars (Australia), British Touring Car Championship, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), and the World Touring Car Championship. The European Touring Cup is a one day event open to Super 2000 specification touring cars from Europe's many national championships.
The Sports Car Club of America's SPEED World Challenge Touring Car and GT championships are dominant in North America. America's historic Trans-Am Series is undergoing a period of transition, but is still the longest-running road racing series in the U.S. The National Auto Sport Association also provides a venue for amateurs to compete in home-built factory derived vehicles on various local circuits.Sports car racing
Main article: Sports car racing
Sports prototypes, unlike GT cars, do not rely on road legal cars as a base. They are closed wheel and often closed cockpit purpose built race cars intended mainly for endurance racing. They have much lower weight and more down force compared to GT cars making them much faster. They are raced in the 24 hours of Lemans and in the (European) Lemans series, Asian Lemans series and the American Lemans series ALMS. These cars are referred to as LMP (Lemans prototype) cars with LMP1 being run mainly by manufactures and the slightly less powerful LMP2 cars run by privater teams.These races are often conducted over long distances, at least 1,000 km (621 mi), and cars are driven by teams of two or more drivers, switching every few hours. Due to the performance difference between production-based sports cars and purpose-built sports prototypes, one race usually involves several racing classes each fighting for their own championship. Another prototype and GT racing championship exists in the United States, which began in 2000, the Grand-Am, sanctions its own endurance series the Rolex Sports Car Series which consists of slower and lower cost race cars compared to LMP and FIA GT cars.
Famous sports car races include the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 24 Hours of Daytona, 24 Hours of Spa-Franchorchamps, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and the 1,000-mile (1,600 km) Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. There is also the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring on the infamous Nordschleife track and the Dubai 24 Hour which is aimed at GT3 and below cars with a mixture of professional and pro-am drivers.
Production car racing
Production car racing or known in the US as showroom stock, is an economical and rules restricted version of touring car racing, mainly to restrict costs.Many series follow the Group N regulation with a few exceptions. There are several different series that are run all over the world, most notably, Japan's Super Taikyu and IMSA's Firehawk Series which ran between the 1980s to 1990s all over the United States.
One-make racing
See also: One-Design
One-make, or single marque, championships often employ production-based cars from a single manufacturer or even a single model from a manufacturer's range. There are numerous notable one-make formulae from various countries and regions, some of which – such as the Porsche Supercup and, previously, IROC – have fostered many distinct national championships. Single marque series are often found at club level, to which the production-based cars, limited modifications, and close parity in performance are very well suited. Some of the better-known single-make series are the Radical European Masters, John Cooper Mini Challenge, and Clio Cup, and at a more modest budget, Ginettas, Caterhams, BMWs, and MX5s. There are also single-chassis single seater formulae, such as Formula Ford, Formula Renault, Formula BMW, and Formula Vee, usually as "feeder" series for "senior" race formula (in the fashion of farm teams).Stock car racing
Main article: Stock car racing
Stock car racing is the most popular form of racing in North America.Primarily raced on oval tracks, stock cars resemble production cars but are in fact purpose-built racing machines which are built to tight specifications.
The largest stock car racing governing body is NASCAR(National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing). NASCAR's premier series is the Sprint Cup Series, its most famous races being the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400. NASCAR also runs several feeder series. The Nationwide Series, and Camping World Truck Series (a pickup truck racing series) conduct races across the entire continental United States. The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series conducts races across Canada and the NASCAR Corona Series conducts races across Mexico. NASCAR also governs several smaller regional series.NASCAR also governs the Whelen Modified Tour. Modified cars are best described as hybrids of stock cars and open-wheel cars. They are heavily altered from stock, with powerful engines, large tires, tubular chassis and light bodies. The Whelen Modified tour is NASCAR's oldest series.
Semi Contact Formulas include BriSCA F1, F2 and Superstox - where bumpers are used tactically.
Non-contact formulas include National Hot Rods, Stock Rods and Lightning Rods.
UK Stock car racing started in the 1950s and grew rapidly through the 60s and 70s.
Rallying
Main article: Rallying
Rallying at international and most national championship levels involves two classes of homologated road legal production based car; Group N Production cars and more modified Group A cars. Cars compete on (closed) public roads or off-road areas run on a point-to-point format where participants and their co-drivers "rally" to a set of points, leaving in regular intervals from start points. A rally is typically conducted over a number of "special stages" of any terrain, which entrants are often allowed to scout beforehand at reduced speeds compiling detailed shorthand descriptions of the track or road as they go. These detailed descriptions are known as "pace notes." During the actual rally, the co-driver reads the pace notes aloud (using an in-helmet intercom system) to the driver, enabling them to complete each stage as quickly as possible. Competition is based on lowest total elapsed time over the course of an event's special stages, including penalties.The top series is the World Rally Championship (WRC), but there also regional championships and many countries have their own national championships. Some famous rallies include the Monte Carlo Rally, Rally Argentina, Rally Finland and Rally GB. Another famous event (actually best described as a "rally raid") is the Paris-Dakar Rally. There are also many smaller, club level, categories of rallies which are popular with amateurs, making up the "grass roots" of motor sports. Cars at this level may not comply fully with the requirements of group A or group N homologation. Rallying is the most widely used motor sport around the world as it can race on any circuit type. As well as the WRC other major rally events include the British Rally Championship, Intercontinental Rally Challenge, African Rally Championship, Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and endurance rally events like the Dakar Rally.
Targa Racing (Targa Rally)
Main article: Rallying
Drag racing
Main article: Drag racing
In drag racing, the objective is to complete a given straight-line distance, from a standing start, ahead of a vehicle in a parallel lane. This distance is traditionally ¼ mile (400 m), though 1/8 mile (200 m) has become popular since the 1990s. The vehicles may or may not be given the signal to start at the same time, depending on the class of racing. Vehicles range from the everyday car to the purpose-built dragster. Speeds and elapsed time differ from class to class. Average street cars cover the ¼ mile in from 12 to 16 seconds whereas a top fuel dragster takes 4.5 seconds or less, reaching speeds of up to 530 km/h (329 mph). Drag racing was organized as a sport by Wally Parks in the early 1950s through the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association). The NHRA was formed to discourage street racing.Launching, a top fuel dragster will accelerate at 3.4 g (33 m/s²), and when braking parachutes are deployed the deceleration is 4 g (39 m/s²), more than the Space Shuttle experiences. A top fuel car can be heard over 8 miles (13 km) away and generates a reading of 1.5 to 2 on the Richter scale.
Drag racing is two cars head-to-head, the winner proceeding to the next round. Professional classes are all first to the finish line wins. Sportsman racing is handicapped (slower car getting a head start) using an index (a lowest e.t. allowed), and cars running under (quicker than) their index "break out" and lose. The slowest cars, bracket racers, are also handicapped, but rather than an index, they use a "dial-in". Bracket racing has been viewed as the main cause of the loss of public interest in drag racing. People don't understand why the slower car wins or why somebody needs to hit the brakes to avoid going too fast. Many local tracks have also complained that bracket racers will also go out of their way to spend as little as possible while at the track by bringing their own food, beverages, fuel and supplies thus, making it more difficult for tracks to make money on these events. This causes gate prices to rise and tracks losing interest in having such events.Off-road racing
Main article: Off-road racing
In off-road racing, various classes of specially modified vehicles, including cars, compete in races through off-road environments. In North America these races often take place in the desert, such as the famous Baja 1000. In Europe, "offroad" refers to events such as autocross or rallycross, while desert races and rally-raids such as the Paris-Dakar, Master Rallye or European "bajas" are called "cross-country rallies."Kart racing
Main article: Kart racing
Despite their diminutive size, karting's most powerful class, superkart, can have a power-to-weight ratio of 440 hp/tonne.Historical racing
Main article: Historic motorsport
As modern motor racing is centered on modern technology with a lots of corporate sponsors and politics involved, historical racing tends to be the opposite. Because it is based on a particular era it is more hobbyist oriented, reducing corporate sponsorship and politics. Events are regulated to only allow cars of a certain era to participate. The only modern equipment used is related to safety and timing. A historical event can be of various different motorsport disciplines. Notably some of the most famous events of them all are the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival in Britain and Monterey Historic in the United States. Championships range from "grass root" Austin Seven racing to the FIA Thoroughbred Grand Prix Championship for classic Formula One chassis.While there are several professional teams and drivers in historical racing, this branch of auto sport tends to be contested by wealthy car owners and is thus more amateur
