Special stage rallies
In a stage rally, competitive driving takes place on closed roads or off the public highway. Stage rallies are the basis for WRC and professional rallying. The emphasis of stage rallies is on speed and driving ability. Navigation of such events is based heavily on pacenotes.
Many Stage rallies also include super special stages where two cars compete head to head on mirrored courses with a crossover. Although the cars are on separate courses, the crossover allows them to drive each side of the course once and travel the same distance. Such stages are usually held in stadiums so both spectators and press can see the entire stage unfold and emulate the excitement of wheel to wheel racing.
Stage rallies evolved from Road Rallies - motor rallies in the early days were all road rallies, but gradually they started to incorporate the idea of a "special stage", which would consist of a competitive section off the public road or with some other unique quality. More and more of these special stages were added to get around the increasing number of restrictions about what could be allowed on the public road, and eventually the entire sport evolved into the two separate forms that exist today.
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Motorcycle sport is a broad field that encompasses all sporting aspects of motorcycling. The disciplines are not all races or timed-speed events, as several disciplines test a competitor's various riding skills.
The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, but due to security threats in Mauritania, which led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, events from 2009 to 2019 were held in South America. From 2020 to 2022 the rally has been held in Saudi Arabia. From 2023, the rally is expected to take place entirely in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The rally is open to amateur and professional entries, amateurs typically making up about eighty percent of the participants.
Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests, navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. Rallies may be short in the form of trials at a single venue, or several thousand miles long in an extreme endurance rally.
The World Rally Championship is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and teams. The series currently consists of 12 three to four-day rally events driven on surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice. Each rally is usually split into 15–25 special stages which are run against the clock on up to 350 kilometres of closed roads.
Governments and private organizations have developed car classification schemes that are used for various purposes including regulation, description, and categorization of cars.
Autocross is a timed competition in which drivers navigate one at a time through a defined course on either a sealed or an unsealed surface. It is a form of motorsports that emphasizes safe competition and active participation. Autocross differs from road racing and oval racing in that generally there is only one car on the track, driving against the clock rather than other cars. As an entry-level motorsport it provides a stepping stone for drivers looking to move into other more competitive and possibly expensive forms of racing.
The Carrera Panamericana was a border-to-border sedan rally racing event on open roads in Mexico similar to the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in Italy. Running for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954, it was widely held by contemporaries to be the most dangerous race of any type in the world. It has since been resurrected along some of the original course as a classic speed rally.
Off-roading is the activity of driving or riding in a vehicle on unsurfaced roads or tracks, made of materials such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain. Types of off-roading range in intensity, from leisure drives with unmodified vehicles to competitions with customized vehicles and professional drivers. Off-roaders have been met with criticism for the environmental damage caused by their vehicles. There have also been extensive debates over the role of government in regulating the sport, including a Supreme Court case brought against the Bureau of Land Management in the United States.
A road rally is a car rally that takes place on the public road. It is a popular sport in the United Kingdom, especially Wales, and has traditionally been the core of the "grass roots" of club-based amateur motorsport. However it has declined in popularity since the 1980s and now stage rallies are probably generally more popular with amateurs. A very similar sport is the 12-car rally, which runs to broadly the same rules.
MotorWeek is an automotive news and information program focused on car road tests, previews, and maintenance tips. The program is produced by Maryland Public Television for PBS and also airs on commercial station MAVTV.
RallyCross, also known as RallyX, is a type of car competition in the United States and Canada, sanctioned by Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). It is a timed event that involves solo driving on grass or dirt and can be considered "autocross on the dirt." As with autocross, the emphasis is on driver skill and handling rather than absolute speed, with frequent corners generally keeping speeds below 60 mph (100 km/h). In many ways RallyCross is to rally racing as autocross is to road racing.
A regularity rally, also called time-speed-distance or TSD rally, is a type of motorsport rally with the object of driving each segment of a course in a specified time at a specified average speed. The rally is usually conducted on public roads, but sometimes includes off-road and track sections. Contestants usually compete in teams composed of an amateur driver and navigator. Teams usually start a regularity rally at fixed intervals, creating a field that is spread along the course.
Andrew Cowan was a Scottish rally driver, and the founder and senior director of Mitsubishi Ralliart until his retirement on 30 November 2005.
Motorcycle racing is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and land speed record trials.
Motorsport is a popular spectator sport in Australia, although there are relatively few competitors compared to other sports due to the high costs of competing. The oldest motorsport competition in Australia is the Alpine Rally which was first staged in 1921 followed by the Australian Grand Prix, first staged in 1928. The most widely watched motorsport category is Supercars, especially at the Bathurst 1000. Other classes in Australia include Australian GT, Formula 3 and Formula Ford, Superbikes, as well as various forms of speedway racing.
Rally raid, also known as cross-country rallying, is a form of long distance off-road racing that takes place over several days. The length of the event can be as short as 2–3 days for a cross-country baja to as long as 15 days with marathon rallies like the Dakar Rally; with other cross-country rally events lasting 4–5 days. With skill in navigation being key, the driving skill and endurance of riders, drivers, co-drivers, and machines are put to the test. The total distance covered can be anywhere between 600 km to over 5,000 km with terrain ranging from sandy dunes, forest roads, mountain roads, and dry river beds; among others.
The following is a glossary of terminology used in motorsport, along with explanations of their meanings.
The Silk Way Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road race. The first Silk Way Rally was raced in 2009 from Kazan, Russia to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. From 2010 to 2013, the race has taken place in Russia. The 2016 edition had a Moscow-Astana-Beijing route, the 2017 edition starts in Moscow and finishes in Xi'an, China. From 2009 to 2011, the rally was part of ASO's Dakar Series. The rally compete in three categories - moto, cars and trucks.
Terminology related to road transport—the transport of passengers or goods on paved routes between places—is diverse, with variation between dialects of English. There may also be regional differences within a single country, and some terms differ based on the side of the road traffic drives on. This glossary is an alphabetical listing of road transport terms.
