automobile racing

Competitive racing of motor vehicles. It has forms as diverse as hill-climbing, stock-car racing, rallying, sports-car racing, and Formula 1 Grand Prix racing. The first organized race was from Paris to Rouen, France, in 1894.

Purpose-built circuits include: Indianapolis, US; Brands Hatch, Brooklands (to 1939), Donington, Silverstone, UK; Hockenheim, Nurburgring, Germany; Monza, Imola, Italy; and Interlagos, Brazil. Street circuits include Detroit, USA, and Monte Carlo, Monaco. In Grand Prix racing (instituted in 1906) a world championship for drivers has been in existence since 1950, and for constructors since 1958. The first six drivers and automobiles in each race are awarded points from ten to one, and the cumulative total at the end of a season (normally 16 races) decides the winners. Other leading events apart from the world championship are the Le Mans Grand Prix d'Endurance, first held in 1923, and the Indianapolis 500, first held in 1911.

Rally-driving events include the Monte Carlo Rally, the Acropolis Rally, and the Lombard–RAC Rally (formerly the RAC International Rally of Great Britain), first held in 1927. Road races such as the Targa Florio and Mille Miglia were tests of a driver's skill and a machine's durability in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1950s, until they were judged to be too dangerous to be held on public roads.

Specialist makes of automobile include Bugatti, BRM, Mercedes-Benz, Alfa Romeo, Auto Union, Ferrari, Porsche, Lotus, Brabham, Williams, and McLaren. There are also races for modified mass-produced automobiles; time-checked events, often across continents, are popular, the toughest being the Safari Rally, run every Easter.