Auto racing (orautomobile racing, '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.
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 ParistoBordeaux. It was won by Emile Levassor, who was however disqualified since he didn't drive in a required four-seater car.
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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Nowadays, there are many categories of auto racing. A classification:
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.
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 Rallying 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.
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) and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM, German Touring Car Championship).
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.
Stock car racing could be called the American variant on touring car racing. Usually conducted on ovals, the cars raced are slightly upgraded production cars, taken "from stock".
The main stock car racing series is the US NASCAR series.
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 Daytona 500.
