Form of motorsport racing on paved roads
Road racing
is a
North American
term to describe
motorsport
racing
held on a paved
road surface
. The races can be held either on a
closed circuit
or on a
street circuit
utilizing temporarily closed public
roads
. The objective is to complete a predetermined number of circuit laps in the least amount of time, or to accumulate the most circuit laps within a predetermined time period. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on public roads. However, public safety concerns eventually led to most races being held on purpose-built racing circuits.
Road racing's origins were centered in Western Europe and Great Britain as motor vehicles became more common in the early 20th century. After the Second World War, automobile road races were organized into a series called the
Formula One
world championship sanctioned by the
Federation Internationale de l'Automobile
(FIA), while motorcycle road races were organized into the
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
series and sanctioned by the
Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme
(FIM).
[1]
The success and popularity of road racing has seen the sport spread across the globe with Grand Prix road races having been held on six continents.
[2]
Other variations of road racing include;
open-wheel racing
,
sports car racing
,
touring car racing
,
stock car racing
,
superbike racing
,
truck racing
,
kart racing
and
endurance racing
.
History of road racing
[
edit
]
Early road racing
[
edit
]
The first organized automobile race was held on July 22, 1894, from
Paris
to
Rouen
, France.
[1]
[3]
[4]
The first held in the United States was a 54-mile competition from
Chicago
to
Evanston
, Illinois and return, held on November 27, 1895.
[1]
[5]
By 1905, the
Gordon Bennett Cup
, organized by the
Automobile Club de France
, was considered the most important race in the world.
[1]
[4]
[6]
In 1904, the
Association Internationale des Automobiles Clubs Reconnus
was formed by several European automobile clubs.
[7]
In 1904 the FIM created the international cup for motorcycles.
[8]
[9]
The first international motorcycle road race took place in 1905 at
Dourdan
, France.
[8]
[9]
After disagreeing with Bennett Cup organizers over regulations limiting the number of entrants, the French automobile manufacturers responded in 1906 by organizing the first
French Grand Prix
race held at Le Mans.
[6]
[10]
During the 1910s, the
Elgin National Road Races
held on public roads around
Elgin, Illinois
attracted competitors from around the country and drew large crowds of spectators.
[11]
[12]
[13]
The first
24 Hours of Le Mans
endurance race was held in 1923.
[14]
The Automobile Racing Club of America was founded in 1933 and became the
Sports Car Club of America
in 1944.
Race course evolution
[
edit
]
The great majority of road races were run over a lengthy circuit of closed public roads, not purpose-built racing circuits.
[15]
This was true of the Le Mans circuit of the 1906 French Grand Prix, as well as the
Targa Florio
(run on 93 miles (150 km) of Sicilian roads), the 75 miles (121 km) German
Kaiserpreis
circuit in the
Taunus
mountains, the 48 miles (77 km) French circuit at Dieppe, used for the
1907 Grand Prix
and, the
Isle of Man TT
motorcycle road circuit first used in 1907.
[16]
[17]
[18]
The exceptions were the steeply banked egg-shaped near oval circuit of
Brooklands
in
England
, completed in 1906, the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
, and the oval, banked speedways constructed in Europe at
Monza
in 1922 and at
Montlhery
in 1924.
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
Road racing on public roads was banned in Great Britain in 1925 when a spectator was injured at the
Kop Hill Climb
event. The
Royal Automobile Club
(R.A.C.) and the
Auto-Cycle Union
(A.C.U.) stopped issuing permits for races on public roads, a policy that has not changed to this day.
[15]
Donington Park
was the first permanent park circuit in the United Kingdom and held its first motorcycle race in 1931.
[23]
As automobile and motorcycle technology improved, racers began to achieve higher speeds that caused an increasing number of accidents on roads not designed for motorized vehicles.
[1]
[24]
Public safety concerns ultimately caused the number of road racing events on public roads in Europe to decrease over the years.
[24]
Notable exceptions are the
Mille Miglia
which was allowed to continue until 1957 and, the
Pau Grand Prix
which has been held on the city streets of Pau, France since 1933.
[1]
[25]
[26]
After the First World War, automobile and motorcycle road racing competitions in Europe and in North America went in different directions.
[1]
[27]
Automobile and motorcycle racing in the United States was typically
oval track racing
on paved tracks such as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the
Milwaukee Mile
track, or on
dirt tracks
using widely available horse racing circuits.
[1]
[27]
Automobile dirt track racing would develop into
stock car racing
. American racing also branched out into
drag racing
.
[1]
Road racing traditions in Europe, South America, Great Britain and the
British Commonwealth
nations grew around races held on paved, public roads such as the
Circuit de la Sarthe
circuit near the town of
Le Mans
,
France
, the
Spa-Francorchamps
Circuit in Belgium and the
Mount Panorama Circuit
in Australia.
[27]
Certain European race circuits were situated in mountainous regions where the topography meant that the roads featured numerous curves and elevation changes, allowing the creation of sinuous and undulating race courses such as the
Nurburgring
in the
Eifel
mountains of Germany and the
Circuit de Charade
in the
Chaine des Puys
in the
Massif Central
of France.
[28]
These circuits presented such a challenge that they were both feared and respected by racers. The 20.8 km (12.9 mi) long Nurburgring with more than 300 metres (1,000 feet) of elevation change from its lowest to highest points, was nicknamed "The Green Hell" by
Jackie Stewart
, due to its challenging nature.
[29]
The sinuous track layout of the Charade circuit caused some drivers like Jochen Rindt in the
1969 French Grand Prix
to complain of
motion sickness
, and wear open face helmets just in case.
[28]
Post-war era
[
edit
]
In 1949 the FIM introduced the Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship with the
1949 Isle of Man TT
being the inaugural event.
[17]
[30]
With the exception of the Monza circuit, all the Grand Prix races were held on
street circuits
. The Association Internationale des Automobiles Clubs Reconnus was renamed the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile in 1946 and, plans were developed for a road racing world championship. In
1950
, the FIA created the Formula One world championship, a competition of seven rounds that included the Indianapolis 500.
[31]
[32]
A Formula I manufacturers' championship was begun in 1955.
The success of American racers such as
Phil Hill
and
Dan Gurney
in Formula One in the late 1950s sparked to a renewal of interest in road racing in the United States and, led to the construction of new road racing circuits such as
Riverside International Raceway
,
Road America
and
Laguna Seca
.
[27]
The 1964
United States motorcycle Grand Prix
was held at the
Daytona International Speedway
and led to increased international prominence for the
Daytona 200
road race which peaked in 1974 with the victory by 15-time world champion
Giacomo Agostini
.
[27]
[33]
Racing hazards and safety
[
edit
]
The dangers associated with the increasing speeds at road races were highlighted by the
1955 Le Mans disaster
.
[34]
With spectators seated near the edges of the circuit, two race cars came into contact causing one of the vehicles to crash into the embankment, where it exploded in a ball of flames and then plowed through the crowd of spectators.
[34]
In addition to the driver of the race car, 83 spectators were killed and 120 were injured.
[34]
Auto racing was temporarily banned in several countries after the Le Mans disaster until safety was improved for spectators.
[34]
Switzerland would not allow circuit racing until the
Zurich ePrix
in 2018.
[35]
The Formula One championship experienced its worst tragedy during the
1961 Italian Grand Prix
at Monza, when driver
Wolfgang von Trips
lost control of his
Ferrari
and crashed into a stand full of spectators, killing 15 and himself.
[31]
[36]
In 1970,
Jochen Rindt
won the
Formula One drivers' championship
posthumously, the only man to do so, underlining the continuing risks associated with road racing.
[31]
The tragedies highlighted the need for improved safety standards for both drivers and spectators; safety would continue to be an issue throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
[31]
When motorcycle racer
Gilberto Parlotti
was killed while competing in the
1972 Isle of Man TT
, it sparked a rider's boycott of the event led by multi-time world champion,
Giacomo Agostini
, a close friend of Parlotti.
[37]
Once the most prestigious race of the year, the event was increasingly boycotted by the top riders, and in 1976, the Isle of Man TT finally succumbed to pressure for increased safety in racing events and had its world championship status revoked by the FIM.
[37]
Another motorcycle racing incident occurred at Monza during the 1973
Italian motorcycle Grand Prix
when a racing accident claimed the lives of world champion
Jarno Saarinen
and
Renzo Pasolini
.
[38]
After the von Trips accident in 1961, the Monza Circuit had been lined with steel barriers as a result of demands by automobile racers. Most auto racers believed steel barriers would improve safety for auto racers and spectators, but they had the opposite effect for motorcyclists and proved fatal for Saarinen and Pasolini.
[38]
[39]
The dangers of street circuits was further exposed at the
1975 Spanish Grand Prix
held on the twisty, tree-lined
Montjuich circuit
in Barcelona.
[40]
The racing drivers found that the circuit's safety barriers had been shoddily installed and threatened to strike if the barriers were not brought up to standard.
[40]
Under pressure from race organizers, the race was started only to be stopped after 29 laps when the car of
Rolf Stommelen
plowed into the crowd, killing four spectators.
[40]
Safety improvements
[
edit
]
By the late 1970s, the popularity of Grand Prix road racing attracted
corporate sponsors
and lucrative television contracts which, led to an increased level of professionalism.
[31]
[37]
Road racers organized to demand that stricter safety regulations be adopted by sanctioning bodies in relation to race track safety and race organizers requirements.
[31]
[37]
Race circuits that had originally been public roads were widened and modified to include
chicanes
and
run-off areas
while, some circuits were shortened to reduce the amount of safety personnel required. These changes saw a dramatic decrease in deaths and accidents.
[41]
Modern road racing on public roads
[
edit
]
By the 1980s, motorcycle Grand Prix and the Formula One races were held on purpose built race circuits with the exception of the
Monaco Grand Prix
held on the city streets of Monaco. Street circuits such as the
Montjuic circuit
and the
Opatija Circuit
with their numerous unmovable roadside obstacles, such as trees, stone walls, lampposts and buildings, were gradually removed from world championship competition.
[31]
[41]
Although events held on closed public roads such as the Isle of Man TT, lost their world championship status due to their considerable safety risk, their popularity continued to flourish leading to a branch of road racing known as
Traditional Road Racing
.
[42]
Traditional road racing on closed public roads is popular in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and parts of Europe. The
Duke Road Racing Rankings
was established in 2002 to establish rider classifications in traditional road racing events such as the
North West 200
and the
Ulster Grand Prix
.
In Formula One, street circuits have made a comeback with the
Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit
and the
Baku City Circuit
joining the Circuit de Monaco as part of the world championship. There are no street circuits being used in MotoGP racing.
[
citation needed
]
. In North America, racing on public streets takes place at the
Grand Prix of Long Beach
, the
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
, the
Detroit Grand Prix
, and the
Honda Indy Toronto
.
Road racing proliferation
[
edit
]
The popularity of Formula One and motorcycle Grand Prix racing led to the formation of road racing world championships for other types of vehicles. In 1953, the FIA sanctioned a world championship for sports car racing which combined the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Mille Miglia, the
12 Hours of Sebring
, the
24 Hours of Spa
and the
1000km of the Nurburgring
.
[43]
NASCAR
held its first road race in 1957 at the
Watkins Glen International
circuit with
Buddy Baker
as the winner.
[44]
The FIA launched the
European Touring Car Championship
in 1963.
[45]
The FIA created the International Karting Commission (CIK) in 1962 and, in 1964, the first CIK
Karting World Championship
was won by
Guido Sala
.
[46]
[47]
Karting has become a significant step in the development of road racers including Formula One world champion
Lewis Hamilton
. The
European Truck Racing Championship
was founded in 1985.
[48]
A
Superbike World Championship
for road-going production motorcycles was created in
1988
.
[49]
As road racing grew in popularity it eventually expanded across the globe with Grand Prix road races having been held on six continents.
[50]
Expansion of the Formula One and MotoGP series has resulted in many dedicated tracks being built, like in
Qatar
in the
Middle East
,
Sepang
in
Malaysia
, and
Shanghai
in
China
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
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