Road racing

Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily closed public roads. The objective is to complete a set number of laps in the least amount of time, or to accumulate the most circuit laps within a set time.

Road racing emerged in the early 20th century, centered in Western Europe and Great Britain, as motor vehicles became more common. After the Second World War, automobile road races were organized into a series called the Formula One world championship sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA); motorcycle road races were organized into the Grand Prix motorcycle racing series and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Road races, originally held almost entirely on public roads, were largely moved to closed-circuit tracks to increase public safety.

The sport has spread across the globe; Grand Prix road races have been held on six continents. 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.

The first organized automobile race was held on July 22, 1894, from Paris to Rouen, France. The first held in the United States was a 54-mile competition from Chicago to Evanston, Illinois and return, held on November 27, 1895. By 1905, the Gordon Bennett Cup, organized by the Automobile Club de France, was considered the most important race in the world. In 1904, the Association Internationale des Automobiles Clubs Reconnus was formed by several European automobile clubs. In 1904 the FIM created the international cup for motorcycles. The first international motorcycle road race took place in 1905 at Dourdan, France.

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. 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. The first 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race was held in 1923. The Automobile Racing Club of America was founded in 1933 and became the Sports Car Club of America in 1944.

The great majority of road races were run over a lengthy circuit of closed public roads, not purpose-built racing circuits. 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. 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 Montlhéry in 1924.

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. Donington Park was the first permanent park circuit in the United Kingdom and held its first motorcycle race in 1931. 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. Public safety concerns ultimately caused the number of road racing events on public roads in Europe to decrease over the years. 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.

After the First World War, automobile and motorcycle road racing competitions in Europe and in North America went in different directions. 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. Automobile dirt track racing would develop into stock car racing. American racing also branched out into drag racing.