Motorsports is part of the group of competitive events that involves the use of motorized vehicles, whether it be for racing or for recreational purposes. Some motorsports variations include auto car racing, motor rallying, motorcycle racing, air racing, kart racing, boat racing, hovercraft racing, lawn mower racing, snowmobile racing, and truck racing.
Some of the famous people who are part of the Motorsports Hall of Fame are: Smokey Yunick, Cale Yarborough, Gar Wood, Wood Brothers, Steve Wittman, Hump Wheeler, Joe Weatherly, AJ Watson, Rodger Ward, Jeff Ward, and Darrel Waltrip.
Some famous motorsports championships include, formula cars racing like formula BMW, formula Ford, formula GM Lotus; for sprint cars, national sprint tour, and world series sprintcars; for karts, world superkart championship, European superkart championship, and Australian superkart championship; for off-rad racing, local oil off-road racing series, and traxxas TORC series.
Car Motorsports
For details of auto car sports, see Auto Car Racing.
- Endurance Racing — a motorsport where teams of two or four race for long distances
- Autocross — a type of Auto Racing in which drivers navigate one at a time through a defined course on either a sealed or an unsealed surface in the shortest time.
- Autograss — a type of Auto Racing on natural surfaces such as grass or mud, usually held on quarter-mile oval tracks.
- Autospeedway — a motorsport similar to motorcycle speedway, but with cars.
- Drifting — car drivers take corners at speed and the back wheels slide out, and are judged according to the speed, angle, showmanship and line taken through a corner.
- Rally Raid (cross-country rallys) — an extended form of rally racing, conducted on an off-road course
- Rally Racing (car) — auto racing that mainly happens either on unpaved roads in races against the clock.
- Rally Cross — automobile sprint racing held on a closed racing circuit using rally-type cars.
- Hillclimbing (Car) — car drivers race on an uphill course in a time trial format.
- Sports Car Racing — a type of auto racing, in which sports cars are used.
- Sprint Car Racing — a racing sport that involves direct racing of high-powered small cars
- Stock Car Racing — a car racing sport in which production-based cars are used for racing.
- Touring Car Racing — a type of auto track racing, which uses heavily modified road-going cars.
- Formula Racing — motor racing using open-wheeled single-seat vehicles.
- Drag Racing — automobiles or motorcycles race down a straight track.
- Banger Racing — racing event which is done on a dirt track using scrap cars.
- Mud Bogging — an off-road motorsport that involves driving a vehicle through a muddy course.
- Demolition Derby — involves drivers hammering their vehicles against each other.
Motorcycle Sports
For details of sports involving motorcycles, see Motorcycle Sports.
- Enduro — a motorcycle sport with main objective to traverse a series of checkpoints, arriving exactly at a predetermined time. The courses are usually run over thick wooded terrain, sometimes with large obstacles.
- Endurocross — hybrid sport combining of elements from Supercross, Enduro, and Trials (also called indoor enduro)
- Supercross — an indoor dirt-bike racing sport that evolved from Motocross, using specifically built indoor dirt tracks.
- Supermoto — motorcycle riders compete on three different types of courses as part of a single race: a flat track course, a motocross course and a road course.
- Motorcycle Trials — a test of skill on a motorcycle whereby the rider attempts to cover rocky terrain without placing a foot on the ground. The winner is the rider with the least penalty points. Known in the US as "Observed Trials"
- Auto Race — a Japanese motorcycle speedway competition which is held on tarmac tracks, predominantly a gambling sport.
- Hill Climbing (Motorcycle) — riders use dirt bikes to climb an uphill course.
- Motocross — a form of motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits which include embankments and jumps.
- Freestyle Motocross — competition based upon points for acrobatic ability on an MX bike over jumps.
- Motorcycling Road Racing — a motorcycle sport involving racing motorcycles as teams or individuals around a circular track. At the elite level it is in the form of MotoGP racing. Also known as Moto racing and Bike racing.
- Motorcycle Sidecar Racing — rider and a passenger compete around a track in custom-built vehicles.
- Motorcycle Trials — a test of skill on a motorcycle whereby the rider attempts to cover rocky terrain without placing a foot on the ground. The winner is the rider with the least penalty points. Known in the US as "Observed Trials"
- Motorcycle Gymkhana — a motorcycle time trial sport around cones on a paved area. The winner is the competitor who completes the course in the shortest time. Time penalties are incurred by putting a foot down, hitting a cone, or going outside the designated area.
- Motorcycle Speedway — the motorcycles have one gear and no brakes, and race around a circular track. Also commonly known as just 'speedway'.
- Rally Racing (motorbike) — a navigation event on motorbikes on public roads whereby competitors must visit a number of checkpoints in diverse locations while still obeying road traffic laws.
- E-Bike Racing — cycling races on electric bicycles (e-bikes)
- Motoball — similar to football, except all players (except goalkeepers) are riding motorcycles, and the ball is much bigger (also called Motorcycle Polo).
Other Vehicles
- Kart Racing — an open-wheel motorsport variant that uses small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts (or go-karts).
- Lawn Mower Racing — motorsport where participants use race-modified lawnmowers.
- Tractor Pulling — a motorsport involving modified tractors that pull a weighted sled along a 10 meter wide, 100 meter track.
- Land Speed Records — in various vehicle classes, competitors attempt to create the fastest time over a fixed distance. Two runs are required in opposite directions within one hour to set a new mark.
Motorsports on Water and Ice
- Jetsprint (Sprint Boat Racing) — a high-speed boat racing sport in which a team of two riders, race through a course by themselves in a time-trial format.
- Drag Boat Racing — drag racing that is held on the water with boats
- Power Boat Racing — ocean-going powerboats race against each other.
- Jet Ski Racing — a water sport similar to powerboat racing, in which riders use jet skis to compete.
- Hovercraft Racing — racing events usually done on tracks, just like auto racing, but part of the track is water and there is some part which is grass.
- Hydroplane Racing — racing of hydroplanes on an oval course mostly on lakes or rivers.
- Ice Racing — racing of motorized vehicles on predominantly natural ice surfaces like frozen lakes or rivers.
- Ice Speedway — similar to Speedway Racing, though using bikes developed specifically for racing on ice. The bikes race anti-clockwise around oval tracks between 260 and 425 meters in length.
- Car Ice Racing — cars race across a strip of frozen water.
- Snowmobile Racing — riders on snowmobiles compete on purpose-built courses or on natural snow-covered terrains.
Related Pages
- Motorsport was a demonstration sport at the 1900 Summer Olympics.
- POLL: Should Motorsports be classified as a sport?
- Motorsport major events
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports