The Western India Automobile Association (WIAA) was founded in 1919 and is one of the largest motoring organisations in Asia with over 108,000 members. [1] [2] [3] The head office is located in Mumbai with branches in Ahmedabad, Pune, Nagpur, Jaipur and Goa. [4] The association has reciprocal service arrangements with automobile associations and clubs all over the world.
The beginnings of Western India Automobile Association goes back to 1904. The inaugural car rally in India from New Delhi to Mumbai in 1904 was organized by the Western Motor Union. Subsequently, the union merged with WIAA, which currently collaborates with the global motorsports governing body, FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile). [3]
Until 1970, WIAA stood as the foremost motorsports association in India, consistently organizing and promoting motorsports events nationwide. However, in 1971, the WIAA committee concluded that sustaining active involvement in motorsports demanded increased staffing and capital. Consequently, a decision was made to discontinue active participation in motorsports. It was during this pivotal year that FMSCI, the Federation of Motor Sports Club of India, was established. [3]
In 2006, WIAA elected Nitin Dossa as its chairman and director. [5]
Upon Nitin Dossa's entry into WIAA, he brought with him a wealth of experience in car rallying, effectively revitalizing motorsports within the organization. Under his leadership, WIAA successfully hosted its inaugural all-women car rally a decade ago. In 2019, marked another significant milestone as, for the first time, the rally was organized entirely by an all-women crew. This achievement is not only a first in India but also stands as a global milestone, with FIA acknowledging that a car rally of this magnitude has never been organized by an all-women crew before. [3]
In 2019, WIAA celebrated its 100th anniversary at which point it had more 108,000 members. [6] [3] The association held its celebration event at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel’s ball room, the same venue that hosted its first ever AGM back in 1919. [6]
The association is empowered under the Motor Vehicles Act and Rules to:
The association is also represented on various Central and State Government bodies, including the State Road Safety Councils and Accident Prevention Committees. It periodically organizes courses and camps on road safety, advanced driving and car pollution for the benefit of motorists in general, conducts Vintage and Classic Cars/Bikes rallies empowering Women drivers round the globe.
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non-racing disciplines.
Rallying 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 Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo is a rallying event organized each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. From its inception in 1911 by Prince Albert I, the rally was intended to demonstrate improvements and innovations in automobiles, and promote Monaco as a tourist resort on the Mediterranean shore. Before the format changed in 1997, the event was a “concentration rally” in which competitors would set off from various starting points around Europe and drive to Monaco, where the rally would continue to a set of special stages. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast France.
The World Rally Championship is an international rallying series owned and governed by the FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the second oldest of the FIA's world championships after Formula One. Each season lasts one calendar year, and separate championship titles are awarded to drivers, co-drivers and manufacturers. There are also two support championships, WRC2 and WRC3, which are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC, but with progressively lower maximum performance and running costs of the cars permitted. Junior WRC is also contested on five events of the World Rally Championship calendar.
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is an international organisation with two primary functions surrounding use of the automobile. Its mobility division advocates the interests of motoring organisations, the automotive industry and motor car users in the fields of road safety and traffic circulation. The sport division is a governing body for many international motorsport championships and disciplines, including Formula One.
Motorsport(s) or motor sport(s) are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific terms automobile sport, motorcycle sport, power boating and air sports may be used commonly, or officially by organisers and governing bodies.
Autocross is a form of motorsport in which competitors are timed to complete a short course using automobiles on a dirt or grass surface, excepting where sealed surfaces are used in United States. Rules vary according to the governing or sanctioning body, such as the length of the course, the amount of permitted attempts, or whether competitors start the course individually at intervals or at the same time as others. In this latter form, Autocross differs from other forms of motor racing by using a system of heats or alternative timing methods for the classification rather than racing for position and declaring the first across the finish line as the winner.
Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. The objective is to complete a predetermined number of circuit laps in the least amount of time, or to accumulate the most circuit laps within a predetermined time period. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on public roads. However, public safety concerns eventually led to most races being held on purpose-built racing circuits.
Mohammed Ahmad Sultan Ben Sulayem is an Emirati former rally driver and current president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body of many auto racing events including Formula One.
The British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) is one of the biggest organising clubs for motor racing in the United Kingdom.
ASN Canada FIA was founded in 1990, after Canada's original National Sporting Authority, Canadian Automobile Sport Clubs (CASC), was expelled from the FIA. In a then-unprecedented motion, the country's sporting authority was entrusted completely to a single person, Benoit Mailloux.
Charles J. Moran Jr. was an American racing driver and official.
Historic motorsport or vintage motorsport, is motorsport with vehicles limited to a particular era. Only safety precautions are modernized in these hobbyist races. A historical event can be of various types of motorsport disciplines, from road racing to rallying.
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.
Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) is a rallying National Championship in different classes with a series of rounds, organised under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), which is the Governing Body or ASN of India recognised by FIA culminating with National Champion Driver and Co-Driver. The driver and co-drivers's championship are based on a point system. The championship first received its National Championship Title status in 1988. Aroor Arjun Rao of Mangaluru is the reigning National champion. Supported by MRF Tyres, he drives for Mandovi Racing team in a Maruti Baleno. The 2024 National Championship begins in Chennai from 15 March 2024 with the South India Rally (SIR) which is also a round of the APRC Asia Cup.
The Polski Związek Motorowy is an automobile club and the governing body of motorsports in Poland. It is based in Warsaw.
Molly Anne Taylor is an Australian rally car driver. She is the 2016 Australian Rally Champion, the first and only woman to win the Australian Rally Championship and the youngest regardless of gender, and the 2021 Extreme E Champion.
The Croatia Rally is an international rallying event based in Zagreb, Croatia and is planned to be the third round of 2021 World Rally Championship. The event is organised by Automobile Clubs D.T. Motorsport and Cro Dakar Team with the support of Croatian Car and Karting Federation and was a round of the European Rally Championship from 2007 until 2013. The event was known in the past as Delta Rally and Croatia Delta Rally. It has been a tarmac rally since at least the late 1980s.
The 2018 FIA WRC2 Championship was the sixth season of WRC2, a rallying championship organised and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, running in support of the World Rally Championship. The championship was open to cars complying with R4, R5, and Super 2000 regulations.
Groupe de Développement Sportif is Canada's national motorsport authority, as delegated by the FIA.
 | This article about an organisation in India is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about an automotive organization is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |