The following is an overview of the events of 2016 in motorsport, including the major racing events, award ceremonies, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, and births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.
The calendar includes only annual major non-championship events or annual events that had significance separate from the championship. For the dates of the championship events see related season articles.
| Date | Event | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| 2–16 January | 38th Dakar Rally | [1] |
| 30–31 January | 54th 24 Hours of Daytona | [2] |
| 21 February | 58th Daytona 500 | [3] |
| 28–29 May | 44th 24 Hours of Nürburgring | [4] |
| 29 May | 74th Monaco Grand Prix | [5] |
| 100th Indianapolis 500 | [6] | |
| 4–10 June | 98th Isle of Man TT | [7] |
| 18–19 June | 84th 24 Hours of Le Mans | [8] |
| 30–31 July | 68th 24 Hours of Spa | [9] |
| 31 July | 39th Suzuka 8 Hours | [10] |
| 21 August | 26th Masters of Formula 3 | [11] |
| 9 October | 59th Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 | [12] |
| 20 November | 63rd Macau Grand Prix | [13] |
| Date | Event | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| 2 December | FIA Prize Giving Ceremony |
| First race | Championship | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| 7 February | Intercontinental GT Challenge | [14] |
| 27 March | BRDC British Formula 3 Championship | [15] |
| 2 April | Touring Car Endurance Series | [16] |
| 3 April | TCR Spanish Series | [17] |
| 16 April | ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship | [18] |
| 14 May | GT3 Le Mans Cup | [19] |
| 21 May | TCR Thailand Touring Car Championship | [20] |
| TCR Benelux Touring Car Championship | [21] | |
| 11 June | F4 Spanish Championship | [22] |
| 2 July | Formula 4 United States Championship | [23] |
| 5 August | Formula 4 South East Asia Championship | [24] |
| 18 November | 2016–17 Formula 4 UAE Championship | [25] |
| Last race | Championship | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| 9 October | Auto GP | [26] |
| 16 October | European Junior Cup | [27] |
| 23 October | Renault Sport Trophy | [28] |
| 27 November | GP2 Series | [29] |
| Date | Venue | First event | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 April | Paris Street Circuit | Paris ePrix | [30] |
| 21 May | Berlin Street Circuit | Berlin ePrix | [31] |
| 19 June | Baku City Circuit | European Grand Prix | [32] |
| 9 October | Hong Kong Central Harbourfront Circuit | Hong Kong ePrix | [33] |
| Date | Venue | Last event | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 July | Battersea Park Street Circuit | London ePrix | [34] |
| Date | Month | Name | Age | Nationality | Occupation | Note | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | January | Maria Teresa de Filippis | 89 | Italian | Racing driver | First female Formula One driver | [35] |
| 13 | Mike Salmon | 82 | British | Racing driver | [36] | ||
| 16 | Bob Harkey | 85 | American | Racing driver | [37] | ||
| 19 | Mike MacDowel | 83 | British | Racing driver | [38] | ||
| 26 | Barney Hall | 83 | American | Motorsport commentator | Specialised on NASCAR | [39] | |
| 4 | February | Dave Mirra | 41 | American | Racing driver | [40] | |
| 10 | Lennie Pond | 75 | American | Racing driver | [41] | ||
| 3 | March | Alan Henry | 68 | British | Motorsport journalist | [42] | |
| 7 | Bobby Johns | 83 | American | Racing driver | [43] | ||
| 26 | Yoshimi Katayama | 75 | Japanese | Racing driver | [44] | ||
| 31 | Bertil Roos | 72 | Swedish | Racing driver and instructor | [45] | ||
| 23 | April | Attila Ferjáncz | 69 | Hungarian | Rally driver | Hungarian Rally champion (1976–1982, 1985, 1990) | [46] |
| 29 | Don White | 89 | American | Racing driver | [47] | ||
| 14 | May | Andre Wicky | 87 | Swiss | Racing driver and team owner | [48] | |
| 21 | Eddie Keizan | 71 | South African | Racing driver | [49] | ||
| 28 | June | Andre Guelfi | 97 | French | Racing driver | [50] | |
| 29 | Carl Haas | 87 | American | Racing driver and team owner | [51] | ||
| 7 | July | Peter Riley | 85 | British | Rally driver | [52] | |
| 3 | August | Chris Amon | 73 | New Zealander | Racing driver | Winner of the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans | [53] |
| 7 | Bryan Clauson | 27 | American | Racing driver | [54] | ||
| Jack Sears | 86 | British | Race and rally driver | First BTCC champion | [55] | ||
| 9 | Bill Alsup | 78 | American | Racing driver | [56] | ||
| 2 | September | Blackie Gejeian | 90 | American | Racing driver | Also known as hot rod builder | [57] |
| 8 | Hannes Arch | 48 | Austrian | Air racer | Red Bull Air World Race champion (2008). | [58] | |
| 10 | October | Tony Adamowicz | 75 | American | Racing driver | [59] | |
| 24 | Jack Sellers | 72 | American | Racing driver | [60] | ||
| 15 | November | Paul Rosche | 82 | German | Engineer | [61] | |
| 19 | Jacques Henry | 74 | French | Rally driver | [62] | ||
| 10 | December | Herm Johnson | 63 | American | Racing driver | [63] |