What is Motorsport?

Motorsport, motor sports or motor vehicle racing is a general term widely used to describe the collection of organized, competitive sporting events that primarily involve the usage of motor vehicles, whether for racing or other non-racing competitions. The term was first used in this article, although its application is much broader than what’s covered here. For the purpose of the article we’ll only be discussing motor sports and specifically the term” Motorsport”. Other categories of motorsport could certainly be considered but for the purposes of this article the term “Motorsport” is applicable.

Regardless, of the terminology used there are two main categories of motorsport: endurance racing and competitive street racing. Endurance racing refers to long distance Formula One and 24-hour racing classes, whereas street racing is commonly known as drag racing. Road and street legal races are slightly different from those categorized as being professional sports racing and are usually only held on a private racetrack for the purpose of entertainment for the public. Road and street legal races tend to be more open to spectators than other classes of racing, and there are often television coverage available for spectator sports such as Motor Racing.

There are two distinct types of motorsport with vastly differing views on how they should be classified. As with all categories of sport the two can be easily confused, and there are often arguments between the two sides. For the purpose of this article any classification system that refers to any one of the two types of motorsport will be treated as such. One side will argue that it’s possible to classify motor racing as a form of motor sports, while the other will dispute this claim. While there are some who would argue that there is some relevance to the term, it’s not clear to what degree. We can say that Motor Sports refers to a set of events and activities that incorporate racing cars.