Road racing

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.

Road racing's origins were centered in Western Europe and Great Britain as motor vehicles became more common in the early 20th century. After the Second World War, automobile road races were organized into a series called the Formula One world championship sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), while motorcycle road races were organized into the Grand Prix motorcycle racing series and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM).^[1] The success and popularity of road racing has seen the sport spread across the globe with Grand Prix road races having been held on six continents.^[2] Other variations of road racing include; open-wheel racing, sports car racing, touring car racing, stock car racing, superbike racing, truck racing, kart racing and endurance racing.