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"Motor sports." Culture, Sport, Q-files Encyclopedia, 11 Jun. 2026.
https://www.q-files.com/culture/sport/motor-sports.
Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.
Motor sports 2026. Culture, Sport. Retrieved 21 September 2026, from
https://www.q-files.com/culture/sport/motor-sports
Culture, Sport, s.v. "Motor sports," accessed September 21, 2026.
https://www.q-files.com/culture/sport/motor-sports
Motor sports
Motor sports are competitive sports that use powered vehicles such as cars, motorcycles or powerboats. The main car events are circuit races such as Formula One, IndyCar and Le Mans. There have been motor sports almost since the invention of the car, with the first motor races, which later became known as Grand Prix races, held in 1896. Major championships for other vehicles include the F1 Powerboat World Championship and the Road Racing Grand Prix for motorbikes.
Formula One
Formula One (F1) is a season of races that has been run since 1950. The fastest single-seater racing cars in the world—light, strong and as streamlined as jet fighters—compete on circuits or closed-off public roads. The sport is controlled by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), and over the years many different rules have been set for the features of engines and chassis both to make the race safe and to keep the races competitive. For example, from 2014 the engines must be turbocharged 1.6-litre V6s, limited to run at no more than 15,000 revolutions per minute. In 2026 a new rule was introduced, requiring power output to be roughly a 50-50 split between the internal combustion engine and the hybrid electrical system.
Formula One events
An F1 season consists of 24 races, held at circuits all over the world. Each event lasts a weekend, with practice sessions on the Friday and qualifying laps on the Saturday to decide positions on the grid for Sunday's race. One feature of F1 races is the pit stop, when cars leave the track and stop in the pit lane for a team of mechanics to change their tyres in order to improve grip or speed. The first ten finishers score points, from 25 for first to 1 for tenth. The team and individual prize is decided by the points total at the end of the season.
IndyCar
IndyCar is the name for a series of races in the USA using single-seater (also known as open-wheel) cars, which always have wheels outside the main body of the car. All cars have the same carbon fibre chassis and a 2.2-litre, twin-turbocharged V6 engine. Of the 18 races in the series, 12 are on roads and six on oval tracks. The best-known internationally is the Indianapolis 500, named after the 500 miles (804 kilometres) drivers zoom around its 2.5-mile (4-kilometre) track. Points are scored for placings, from 50 for first position to 5 for 33rd, plus points for leading during a race.
24 hour Le Mans
This is an endurance race held every year in June at Le Mans, France, where cars must race for 24 hours without breaking down. The first 24 hour Le Mans race was in 1923. Three drivers take shifts of about two hours at a time to hurtle round a 13-kilometre (8-mile) course made up of closed public roads and a motor racing circuit. The winner is the team that covers the greatest distance.
The record distance is 5410.7 kilometres (approximately 3362 miles), at an average speed of 216.7 km/h (134.6 mph), set in 2010 by Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller driving the Audi R15 TDI.
There are three classes of Le Mans racing car: Hypercar, the top-tier category; LMP2, purpose-built, open-cockpit cars; LMGT3: racing versions of everyday sports cars.
Rallying
A rally sends contestants at timed intervals on a set route along closed public roads to drive to the next point in the route. The first international motor rally was held in 1907 with a route from Beijing in China to Paris, France, a distance of 12,000 kilometres (7500 miles). Rally drivers drive as fast as they can with the help of a co-driver, or navigator, who is equipped with notes to warn about the conditions ahead.
The major title today is the World Rally Championship series, made up of 14 three-day events around the world. The drivers face a variety of challenges, from the ice and snow of Scandinavia to the rocky tracks and heat of Greece—and, since 2026, the deserts of Saudi Arabia. As in F1, points are awarded to the first ten finishers. Top-tier Rally1 vehicles are purpose-built silhouette racing cars (they are designed to mimic the appearance of standard road cars). Second-tier vehicles are modified versions of road cars. Both categories have four-cylinder 1.6-litre turbocharged engines.
Motorcycle racing
The major competition is the Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix, which has been held since 1949. The bikes are either racing models or modified versions of ordinary models, and there have been various engine-size classifications over the years. Since 2012, all motorbikes have four-stroke engines, and are divided into three classes according to engine capacity: MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3. A fourth class, the MotoE class using electric motorcycles, gained World Championship status in 2023.
The racing programme is 22 rounds held at 18 different venues around the world. In each, qualifying rounds decide who starts near the front. A total of 22 riders race non-stop on the oval circuit for about 45 minutes. Points are scored by finishing position, from 25 points for the winner to one point for 15th place.
Powerboating
The major race for powerboats is the UIM F1H2O World Championship. Up to 24 boats race for exactly 30 minutes around circuits of up to 2 kilometres (1.25 miles) long, containing a mix of high-speed straightaways and twisting turns. The boats are tunnel-hull catamarans with twin hulls and a lightweight, streamlined design so that the boat skims across the waves on a cushion of air with only a few centimetres of its 6-metre (20-foot) frame touching the surface at a time. A 2.5-litre engine powers a boat from standstill to 160 km/h (100 mph) in under 2 seconds and at up to 225 km/h (140 mph) during races. There are up to 10 events in a season, held on lakes or wide rivers at different locations around the world.
Consultant: Sean Callery
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