The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. To the general public, the FIA is mostly known as the governing body for many auto racing events, such as the well-known Formula One. The FIA also promotes road safety around the world.
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorised vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two-wheeled motorised vehicles under the banner of motorcycle racing, and includes off-road racing such as motocross.
The FIA Super Licence is a driver's qualification allowing the holder to compete in the Formula One World Championship.
Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a motor racing Touring Cars category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Formula" created for the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in 1990. The FIA organised a World Cup for the category each year from 1993 to 1995, and adopted the term "Super Tourer" from 1995.
The World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) is a major organ within the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's governance structure. Its primary role is amending current regulations and drafting new regulations for all of international motor sport. One of the main duties of the WMSC is to allow motor sport to: Continue to develop with an emphasis on maintaining safety for the drivers and spectators, and to encourage competitive motoring innovation which adheres to environmental standards. The FIA's largest motorsport championships include the FIA Formula One World Championship, the World Endurance Championship (WEC), and the FIA World Rally Championship. The World Motor Sport Council's membership is chosen by the FIA General Assembly, which contains representatives from national automobile clubs (ASNs) throughout the world. It is one of two FIA World Councils; the other council is responsible for administrating "issues affecting the automobile in society. The World Motor Sport Council meets a minimum of three times a year to consider proposals from specialist FIA Commissions and subsidiaries. It has a current membership of 28 members, including the FIA President Mohammed bin Sulayem and Formula One chairman Stefano Domenicali.
In relation to international motorsport governed by the FIA, Group N refers to regulations providing 'standard' large scale series production vehicles for competition. They are limited in terms of modifications permitted to the standard specification by the manufacturer making them a cost effective method of production vehicle motorsport. Often referred to as the "showroom class", Group N contrasts with Group A which has greater freedom to modify and tune the cars to be more suitable to racing. Both Groups may have the same or similar models homologated by a manufacturer.
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The International Sporting Code (ISC) is a set of rules which are valid for all auto racing events that are governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). North American domestic racing, such as NASCAR and IndyCar are outside the FIA's jurisdiction and hence not governed by the ISC. Motorcycle sport is also exempt since the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) is responsible for this sport, not the FIA.
Production vehicles or production cars are mass-produced identical models, offered for sale to the public, and able to be legally driven on public roads. Legislation and other rules further define the production vehicle within particular countries or uses. There is no single fixed global definition of the term.
Group 5 was an FIA motor racing classification which was applied to four distinct categories during the years 1966 to 1982. Initially Group 5 regulations defined a Special Touring Car category and from 1970 to 1971 the classification was applied to limited production Sports Cars restricted to 5 litre engine capacity. The Group 5 Sports Car category was redefined in 1972 to exclude the minimum production requirement and limit engine capacity to 3 litres. From 1976 to 1982 Group 5 was for Special Production Cars, a liberal silhouette formula based on homologated production vehicles.
The Group 4 racing class referred to regulations for cars in sportscar racing, GT racing and rallying, as regulated by the FIA. The Group 4 class was replaced by Group B for the 1983 season.
The Group 3 racing class referred to a set of regulations for Grand Touring Cars competing in sportscar racing and rallying events regulated by the FIA. These regulations were active, in various forms, from 1957 to 1981
Group 6 was the official designation applied by the FIA to two motor racing classifications, the Prototype-Sports Car category from 1966 to 1971 and the Two-Seater Racing Cars class from 1976 to 1982.
The Group 2 racing class referred to regulations for cars in touring car racing and rallying, as regulated by the FIA. Group 2 was replaced by Group A in 1982.
The Group 1 racing class referred to FIA regulations for cars in touring car racing and rallying. Throughout their existence the group retained a definition of being standard, series production touring cars, and of having a character of being unmodified or not specifically prepared for racing. The class was introduced in the then new Appendix J of the International Sporting Code in 1955 and was replaced by Group N in 1982.
Group E is a formula racing class governed by the FIA for racing cars. Group E was first mentioned in Appendix J of the International Sporting Code in 1990.
FIA Formula 4, also called FIA F4, is an open-wheel racing car category intended for junior drivers. There is no global championship, but rather individual nations or regions can host their own championships in compliance with a universal set of rules and specifications.
The Group N-GT was a motor racing category launched by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile in 2000. The first cars were homologated on 1 March, 2000 by Porsche and Ferrari. A total of eight different models from six marques were homologated throughout the class existence.
Within the motorsport discipline of rallying, Group Rally1 is a formula of rally car specifications for use at the highest level of international rallying in the World Rally Championship (WRC) as determined by the FIA. Despite the use of the word 'Group' in the name, there are not multiple classes or subclasses of car and so 'Rally1' may be used alone with the same definition. Rally1 cars were used for the first time in the 2022 WRC season and replaced the outgoing World Rally Car used in the manufacturer's championship. Though they may run on any individual rally as permitted by the organiser, they will not be used in any other championship.
